Good.

Good research. 3.5K is the private party price. I don't think the dealer uses that price.

I think they use the "Buy From a Dealer" price. I guess you could try to have them give you the "Private Party" price.

 

IMO if your looking for a first gen Mini I would at least go take a S for a dirve before you decide one way or the other. When I bought mine I test drove 10 or so, there was Zero doubt in my mind the S was the only way to go. But that is just my taste, you should check em both before taking one off the table.

 

I somewhat agree with what bav is saying. I highly recommend you take a look at the car and learn about MINIs. These cars are a lot of fun.

...and let us know how the test drive went!

 

Post test drive report: When I showed up, they had the vehicle running. The first thing I did was pop the hood so I can look at the engine. The hood was REALLY hot. I mean seriously hot. I'm thinking this could be an issue?

IMO, engine compartment looked 'average' for a car with 100k on it - it was dirty but no obvious oil issues on the top end. You can tell the engine bay was not cleaned often (I try to keep my cars clean inside and out). I was then informed that a new battery will be going in because they had to jump it to get it running and they just left it running for me. Ground looked ok (no drips) but I don't know where it was before I got there.

Moving to the interior, gear shift handle - broken. Pedals - no rubber. Both simple fixes imo as I would put much nicer ones in anyways. Half the a/c & heat controls would not light - may be simple fix. Everything else 'looked' ok. It was dark out so I only had limited lighting. A/C took a minute to get cold. It had heated seats and they worked (alot better than my truck). All external lights worked.

Moving on to the Driving: Clutch was heavy compared to other vehicles. Shifting (trans) seemed normal. While in motion, there was a constant whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr coming from the back - initial thought was tires but after looking at them, they're in good condition, Now I'm thinking axle, brakes, wheels? When putting the clutch in to stop, the motor seemed to stutter, like it wanted to die but revved back up.

Post drive walk around: No obvious damage or dents, dings. Tires look almost new. Undercarriage was dirty and the front (engine / trans area) looked greasy. No obvious leaky spots though.

My thoughts at this moment: Vehicle will obviously require some things to come back up to snuff.

 

At least try the S model

And keep looking. That one doesn't sound all that great.

 

I'm fairly certain that I would LOVE an 04-06 S. I'm trying to aim for the 04-06 Base or S. They seem to have the least problems of Gen 1. Like I said, I saw this one listed earlier for 7k .. then it dropped .. so I had to go look.

 

honestly, get an 04-06 S.

 

Sounds like a money pit, I'd walk away. Plenty of these cars out there.

 

this guy

 

I thank you guys for your help. I shall continue looking.

 

Forget the 2004 model ... it's a pre-facelift.

Get a 2005 or 2006 model.

The base model will have a Getrag transmission rather than the problematic Midlands unit, and nice looking bumpers.

The S model will have a more efficient supercharger (+7 horsepower / +7 torque) and a transmission geared for slightly better acceleration.

 

a late 04 can also be a facelift model. The 3 spoke steering wheel is the dead giveaway, assuming it wasn't converted. Otherwise the headlights will tell you or other numerous ways.

 

Numerous ways: You can also identify a facelift by the engine bay (passenger side engine mount redesigned) and the tail lights/rear fog light. A centered white backup light is a dead giveaway for a pre-facelift, and are rarely converted. Both these methods can be seen with online photos.

 

I'm happy to hear that you gave it a test drive. It sounds like the previous owner did an offload so he/she didn't have to put money into it. WALK, unless you get it for $2,000.

 

Good advice Wis .. and thanks for all the help. I'm keeping my eyes open for 05-06 Base / S (or late 04). I'm trying to absorb all the info I'm reading.

 

The fog light thing on the facelift model, can you change that back to a backup light? What exactly does rear 'fog light' do?

It seems the easiest ways to tell a facelift model, would be the reverse lights in the tail light assembly / rear tail light cluster (no orange blinker), clock in the speedo and possibly the 3 spoke steering wheel?

 

3 piece dash instead of 5, some colors were only offered certain years.

 

They need a 'thanks' button on here so I can thank y'all.

 

Do all the Gen 1's (01-06) have the headlights come up with the hood / bonnet?

 

sure do, the facelift headlights are slightly different though

 

The facelift was effective with July 2004 production. These are considered 2005 models and will have VINs indicating so (the 10th character will be "5").

 

as taken from http://www.bimmerownersclub.com/foru...-the-bmw-mini/ "To add to the confusion, "model years" are often used to describe the updates and revised models and these usually change in September, but some changes and options became available "mid season" and thus the model year descriptions can be misleading. The "facelift" MINI in July 2004 is also considered the 2005 model year MINI."

 

A broken gear shift handle, no rubber on the pedals and dead battery indicate neglect as these are relatively inexpensive items to fix.

Good luck to you in your search for the perfect MINI. The 05-06 Base (manual)/ and the S are good cars.

 

Thanks Wis .. I'll keep you guys in tune with what I see.

 

The rear fog light thing on the facelift model, can you change that back to a backup light? What exactly does this rear 'fog light' do?