Figured I'd post this on here before I jump into yet another project... just to get some thoughts.

Here's the story: a family member has a 2002 Mini Cooper (non-s) with somewhere around 135k on it. Car is beautiful looking, but has a number of mechanical issues:
1. Blown midlands 5speed transmission (most likely)... long story, but yeah, it sounds like it.
2. Steering wheel grinds/clicks when you turn/SRS light on sometimes (sounds like clock spring)
3. TPMS is kinda wonky, light comes on randomly
4. Rear brakes need attention, but might just be e-brake cable(s).
5. Glove box is broken

He'll sell it to me for cheap... around 1k. I'm mostly a VW guy, but can pull engines/transmissions and would plan to do all of the labor. I'll either have to rebuild or replace the midlands trans with a rebuilt unit. My thing is, I won't have room for another car long-term (I'm working on restoring an old rabbit) but I could see buying/repairing it, then I'd probably drive it through winter/spring and sell it in the summer. If it does come to selling it, I like to keep things transparent, so my labor would all be documented. I'm thinking I could probably do this and turn a small profit. A decision has to be made on the car soon though. I guess worst case scenario... I imagine the parts are worth enough to justify buying it?

Also, it does have some new parts including a fuel pump and clutch. I can't remember much else though.

Just looking for some additional opinions. Most of all, I certainly wouldn't want to see it end up in the salvage yard.

 

I just bought an 02 with what I thought was a blown head gasket but turned into a cracked piston and messed up block and crank. But that's neither here or there.


The cost of a rebuild kit for the Midlands is I think about $300 on Ebay. Don't know the extent of the damage though. Sounds like you also need a new steering rack or pump. Those are the only 2 expensive parts. Even if you spend another $1k, it'll be worth it. KBB value is still at $4.5K or so. Assuming nothing else major is wrong with the car like a blown motor as was the case with mine, you should be in the green.


Make sure to mod the cooling fan and bypass the resistor. I have seen 2 motors now blown because of overheated/broken down oil.

 

you could also just swap the getrag 6 spd in there and never have to worry about the tranny again. sounds like a fun project

 

Yeah, I'm figuring between $500-$1000 to fix the trans. My only worry is that I haven't actually SEEN the transmission yet. My biggest worry would be if the trans case has any holes/damage, as I've heard it can happen on these. I've considered a getrag swap, but I don't see any sense in modding the engine or getting more horsepower out of it, so I figure a rebuilt midlands should last awhile under normal driving and it will get it back on the road faster so that it doesn't take up precious garage space.

Interesting on the power steering stuff. I've heard somewhere that there was an extended warranty on the pump... but I'm not sure if this car would qualify. I don't recall there being any problems with the steering, but that the steering column made clicking and grinding sounds. I figured there might be a bad bearing in the column or something. I'll be searching the forums over the next few weeks until I get the car... trying to absorb as much knowledge as possible.

Thanks for the help and kind words so far! Who knows, maybe I'll fall in love with it and keep it, lol... That's a dangerous thought...

 

seems like a waste if its not even an S...
just my 2 cents

 

I've rescued two "troubled cars" as one mechanic called them. Since then, I keep remembering a quote on an X5 forum - something like "people don't dump good cars with a bad transmission or engine. They sell lemons that have already exhausted their owners money and spirits."

I'm still trying to finish up my 2nd troubled car - a 2003 MC-S. There are lots of MC-S out there in this condition - dealers are quoting 40 hours labor and $4-5k in parts and people are just walking away.

Surprises to look out for - cranks (for my model at least) are no longer available, so if the tranny problems resulted in excess wear on the thrust bearing, you are in for some fun and expense. After waiting a month to see if a backorder to Germany on the crank would work (it never came in), I finally found an overpriced one on ebay.

Someone suggested looking for parts on ebay UK - I had never tried that before, but there are sources for parts that sell there but not in the US. Heads apparently sell for much less in the UK than here for whatever reason, even with the high shipping costs.

Spent a ton of time trying to free up one knuckle that had every fastener rusted/jammed tight - needed to get the knuckle out of the way to remove the half shaft to remove the engine - ended up buying a used knuckle off ebay and then new struts (they were shot anyway), control arm, inner and outer ball joints and a wheel speed sensor since nothing would come loose. The other side was fine - a little hard to break free but the usual kroil oil, patience and impact worked... Turned out someone had been in there before - the joints in the lousy imported half shaft rattled like a baby toy. Found an original half shaft on ebay and rebooted it.

Good luck if you decide to go for it!

 

02 justa with 135k, why bother?

 

If I were you and were to take this on, I would have a contingency fund for the unexpected problems you will find...

You could call a dealer and give them the last 7 of the VIN and ask if the power steering pump & fan are covered. It certainly seems like it fits the criteria outlined in the letter I received regarding the EHPS: less than 13 years since in service date, less than 150,000 miles, 2002-2005 model year.

Some folks are perfectly happy with the Justa, and view the supercharger in the S as a maintenance liability. But you are bound to get S drivers who just don't see things that way!

 

Imo not worth the risk...
Lots of old coopers around for the price you pay+parts, even if you value you time very low...guessing you might need a different tranny if it locked up as opposed to just making noise...with that many miles...might need lots more...the real reason it was not worth fixing....
I'd call it a parts car....2002 cars are undervalued on the used market...some items like suspension, may not meet the production standard parts (some dealers did swap them out IF the car came in for service)..with EARLY 2002 cars..engine mounts, suspension parts, and a few items like the wiring are diffent from late 2002 production onward......a few other oddities like you get get locked into a 2002 (pre-boden cable on the doors, they are electric) of the battery dies...just odd crap...first year production stuff from a new fsctory , making a new car with new suppliers and new engineers....get the picture?!
If you know some track folks....MIGHT make a decent track car IF the suspension is not the EARLY ones (coilovers, etc do not fit)....

 

Production date is found on the driver side door data plate with the VIN...

 

I tend to agree with this. To buy it to pour all that work into it and sell it for not much would be aggravating. I wouldn't do it unless I were going to keep it, wanted the fun of doing it, and had a cheap parts car from which to draw on. I can't speak to the differences between 2002 and later cars.

Might someday the 2002 MY be MORE desirable being the first stateside year? I mean several years down the road...

 

So it seems I'm getting a good idea of both sides of the coin here... I have some more info on the car since I posted this. I haven't seen the car in person for about 2 years.

He has confirmed that there doesn't appear to be any external damage to the transmission and it is not locked up. It grinds and lurches a lot in first/second though and is not drivable.

Power steering system is currently OK. The clacking/grinding is the bearings in the steering column.

Here's a big one: The engine was replaced only a year before the trans died. The old one threw a rod on cyl 3 and blew two holes in the block . The replacement is from a 2003 and has approx. 30k less than the car. Don't know if this is a plus or minus really...

Has upgraded cat-back exhaust with a decent euro sound to it. I believe it is a borla, but not sure.

Any idea what I might be able to fetch in parts? I'd feel more comfortable about it if I knew I could recoup my money by selling the interior, body parts, etc. The body is perfect, interior is nice, exhaust is new, etc.

 

With the "just-a", aka known as the cooper, aka NON-S, the motor is fairly low value...lots of CVT coopers are getting junked/parted out, basicly the same block, and many of those are sub 100,000 mile cars..similar for the interior......tranny is bad so no value there...any rust?

 

Keep in mind that you are getting responses from enthusiasts and so you are getting biased opinions about desirability of the car. In reality, the car hasn't changed much over the years which maintains the desirability to the layman. Engine troubles and tranny troubles is only something that people in the know, know about. If you look online at the ratings for Mini Cooper reliability, it is pretty good.


And so the masses still like them regardless of what year, as long as you stay within the KBB value of the car of course and if you're going to go above for some reason, then you better be offering a new tranny or something to justify the price.


The only reason these engines haven't lasted is because of the stupid cooling fan resistor which fails and causes the coolant to be maintained at a much higher temperature. If it wasn't for that, the engine would keep going on its merry way to over 200K. Easy fix though. Just FYI..

 

Yeah, thanks for the info on the coolant fan low speed resistor... I'll definitely fix it while I have the car apart. I think I'll just bypass the resistor to have it run on high, and leave a pigtail in case I want to add a resistor later without having to go back to service mode. I bet he would have never noticed this problem.

 

I brought my 03 Mini with 66k on it back from the dead and it was alot worse. It had no wheels ,motor and the CVT tranny in a boxes.Also salvage title. Paid $1300.00. I had no clue what I was getting in to at the time. Knowing what I know now I might have passed on it. I found wheels a complete motor with 90k and rebuilt the CVT. Its a fun little car to drive. Good luck with yours. Any pictures of your Rabbit. I had a 76 and a 86 Cabby. Regret selling the 76.

 

So I have a black '84 rabbit vert, and a helios blue '87 cabriolet (mostly complete parts car). I may restore both, but I'm starting with the '84 and will see how much of my budget is left for the '87. The helios blue is unfortunately in much worse shape, but its a more desirable color. For the '84 I'm planning a repaint in light yellow, an ABA swap (maybe with a 16v head), new top, new interior and all of the misc stuff that goes with it. The engine is ready to come out of the '84 now, and will probably be pulled this weekend. Overall though, its a long term project... the mini would hopefully be more short-term (fix trans and drive).

'84:


'87:

 

While MikeN is correct in that this is a common reason, it's far from the only reason these engines self destruct. A far more common reason is mysterious oil consumption or even the thermostat housing/gasket leaking.

If needed, pony up and get a new fan & housing or DT's replacement: http://www.detroittuned.com/dorman-gen-1-fan-relay-kit/

 

Based on the 2 blown engines I have taken apart, what I saw was piston rings seized in the piston because of oil solidifying in the seats. The oil scrubbers get completely clogged and then oil gets pushed in the sealing rings. Because of all the grime in there, the rings don't have any place to move and adjust to the wall.


I think the reason is that once the resistor fails, the car is ran at a higher sustained temperature which breaks down the oil real fast and causes the grime build up on the piston rings. Eventually that leads to oil consumption I would imagine.

 

That or on the unmodified pre-2005 cars, the PS fan gets stuck, which in time then blows a 5 amp fuse...and renders the radiator fan inop by de-powering the relay for it...car then overheats at traffic lights, OK when moving....amazing how often folks keep driving a car with a RED light that keeps turning on...
Pre2005 model year car can be rewired in about 15 minutes...
7500 or 5000 mile oil changes help lots...but some folks still insist on using the 15,000 mile factory oil change....

 

Yea I definitely don't follow the 15k mile interval, maybe 8k at the most in my 335i. But I try to use LiquiMOLY every time and that is top quality product for BMWs. I highly recommend their additives.


I got another '06 Mini that I'll be working on. I definitely need to check out if the fuses are good.

 

maketoast heres my 76 I put a 16v rocco motor in it. Its in Pittsburg now.

 

Nice... I'm in Pittsburgh too. Maybe I'll see it around someday. Going to the oktoberfest show which is coming up soon, so who knows...

 

You might, but its been 8-10 years. Should have kept it because it was a swallowtail.