Looking to buy a cooper this week if I can. I've done a bit of research but it seems that every time I hit find something, it comes with 3 more problems I hadn't heard about before.

I know the clutches seem to have odd wear patterns that vary from user to user and the p/s cooler fan that burns out from road debris and fries the p/s pump/rack. Now I discovered the issue with the oil seal inside the blower which can leak and lose all the fluid and destroy the gears that apparently only 1 company offers for sale and costs 1200 dollars to fix.

Is there anything else substantial enough that I should know about? And so that I should check for physically? I'm very car savy so if I can do it without a lift just shoot away. Only really looking at 05-06 R53's so whatever is really prone to those. Appreciate the advice!

-Rod