Anything I should woirry about with a 2007 auto trans in a cooper S? I ve always had sticks. Car has 99K miles looks well taken care of but have not yet driven it.

Al

 

It is important to change the automatic trans fluid. You should use a full synthetic type, like Redline (sorry, I can not remember the number right now), or similar.
Change the filter also. (this will help keep it healthy for a long time.)
On the engine, there are known issues with dirty oil causing run ability issues, so it is important to replace the engine oil and filter every 5000 miles and only use 100% synthetic oil.
These cars run well, if maintained well. They are European, so they do require regular maintenance.
Understand that at 100K miles the cam chain and guides should be replaced. (this is the same with most cars)
A plus is being able to work on your own cars!

 

Funny, having moved from europe where oil changes are typically every 10000 or 12000 miles, to north america where people like to change oil every 3 or 5000 miles its seems odd to say they are european cars so they require more regular maintenance... The whole selling point of 100% synthetic is it takes longer to break down so you shouldn't have to change it as frequently as all that,, although I'm not sure I'm as optimistic as the BMW engineers in setting a 12000 mile change interval.

 

There are many posts on NAM by people who have had their oil tested (Blackstone is one lab doing oil testing) and drive many miles in a year so they can do checks at 5k, 7k, 9k, 10k, etc in a reasonable time period. What they report is that synthetic oil are good for an extended interval. One person I remember reading said that his tests results would support a 10k mile interval. That said, I would see 5k miles as cheap insurance.

On early MINIs (Gen I) BMW/MINi used an algorithm to estimate the oil change interval. On our 2004 MC, I remember seeing intervals of 27,000 miles. I remember that this change shortly after I got my 2007S and both cars had much shorter service intervals (10k to 15k if I remember correctly). I’ll also note that the manual for our 2004 say “... or one year, whichever comes first” for the service interval.

Oh, as for oil level, it needs to be kept full. Don’t let it go down to the low mark. Any oil starvation will quickly cause problems with these engines.

As for a 2007 MCS with an AT, if it has been well taken car of, with reasonable oi change intervals and other up keep, IT should be a reasonable purchase. The AT itself, give the limit number of issues discussed here on NAM, seems to be pretty good.

Hope it goes well with the purchase and let us know how you make out.

 

I guess the OP needs to consider whether they are going to miss the involvement of shifting their own gears, especially if they have always driven stick. For me personally unless my commute involved sitting for long periods in heavy traffic I would always prefer to have three peddles over two, so the fact that its an automatic would rule it out for me no matter how appealing it might otherwise be, Id just miss the satisfaction of a well executed heel toe down shift and booting it out of a corner at 4000rpm.

When I first got my R52 it took a while to adjust to the peddles being so close together, but now I have figures out why its a lot of fun to hone those archaic skills!

 

Really did want the stick but I'm trying to be flexible. This car seems to have a lot going for it so it may be worth the switch to an automatic. I have not yet driven it but only seen it and talked to the dealer today we will see. Will keep yall posted

 

This only works in theory. The acids from combustion along with sludge cause running issues. Yes the oil is still good, but the filters are usually too course to effectively "clean" the oil.
This is a do what you think is right thing! Oil is still pretty cheap here.

I to am a stick kinda guy! I need the third peddle! (for the real fun!)

 

Given the car is used you should worry about the transmission along with everything else.

Be sure to give the car a thorough used car check out. Below I've pasted something you might find of some value:

The Mini is just a used car so you should inspect/check everything.

My general advice is to visit the car cold, open the hood and check the oil level if you can at the engine, look to verify the other vital fluid levels are ok. Get a feel for how the engine compartment looks. Afterwards, leave the hood open.

In the car start the engine. Be sure all warning lights come on and then go off once the engine has started. Pay particular attention to the CEL. Be sure the A/C is off. You test the A/C later.

Let the engine idle from cold. You want to listen for any signs of ticking/noises or any other signs the engine may not be healthy. A rough idle, backfires, spitting back, anything out of the ordinary.

Get out of the car and walk around the car checking body panel finish, alignment, and gaps. Note the condition of the wheels, looking for any curb rash. Check the tires. Ideally they should be factory sanctioned tires and in good condition. Check the brakes, look at the rotors for signs of damage/excessive wear -- a lip around the rotor outer diameter.

Check the hood and trunk hinges for any signs the fasteners have had wrenches on them. At the front carefully check the radiator fasteners for any signs of wrenching. Do *not* stick your hands into the engine compartment with the engine running. For careful check of the radiator fasteners check these before *you* start the engine. Be sure you have the key in your pocket so no one can start the car while you are looking inside the engine compartment.

After some few minutes -- the longer the better -- of idling and with the engine still running ok and sounding ok have the seller take you on a test ride. The route should be around 15 miles long and chosen to give the driver a chance to demo the car as you intend to use it. What is wanted is a mix of city driving with stop and go, steady moderate speed cruising on like a boulevard, and some highway/freeway driving.

If equipped with an automatic while it is still "cold" have the driver perform an K-turn to see how the transmission responds to repeated and rapid changes in direction.

Ideally there should be some opportunities -- once the engine is up to temperature -- for some rather hard acceleration with the driver starting out from a standstill or a slow roll and accelerating hard up through at least a couple of gears. No need to smoke the tires or try to duplicate the factory's 0 to 60mph time but you want to experience the engine under hard acceleration to verify it pulls good, runs right, and afterwards shows no ill effects from the hard acceleration.

While a passenger of course pay attention to how the transmission shifts, how the car rides, feels. The car should not want to pull to one side or the other and the hard acceleration should give the driver a chance to perform a hard braking. No tire lock up but you want to verify the brakes have plenty of bite and the car tracks straight under hard braking.

With the transmission up to temperature, or at least warmer -- have the driver do the K-turn test again.

After the 15 mile test ride then back at the starting point -- leaving the engine running -- get behind the wheel and drive the car over the same 15 mile test route and drive it pretty much the same way although since the car is unknown to you you can dial back on the hard acceleration test. You don't want to let the car get away from you and wrap it around a telephone pole.

After your 15 mile test drive then at the starting point if you still like the car confirm all systems work. From the head lights to the tail lights. From the horn to the back up camera (if fitted). The A/C. Check all the controls. The wipers. Everything.

At this point if you still like the car and believe you can buy it for a good price -- based on your market research -- it is good idea to arrange to have the car given a pre-purchase inspection (PPI) by a tech who is qualified to evaluate the car. A Mini dealer tech can be used. These guys evaluate trade ins all the time.

This PPI gets the car in the air so a check can be made for any leak sign. At the same time a check can be made for any signs of damage or damage repair.

The test ride and drive are important. The engine runs about an hour and should have plenty of time to run through all the readiness monitor tests. If any fail this should have the CEL on. It should get the engine and the drive train plenty warm. An engine might not leak cold, just sitting there, but hot...

During both the test ride and test drive, you want to really experience the car in its natural state: engine running and on the road. All cars generally look good on the lot. But it is how they look and run and feel and sound and smell on the road, or after being on the road, that really matters.

If possible you'd like to know the service history of the car. Some brands the dealer service computers are connected but with other brands, not.

Unless the seller can supply paper work the services are current or you can run the VIN through a Mini dealer (perhaps) to know what services were done and and when, get the service schedule and see which services are due or close to being due and budget for those. Also adjust your offer to reflect what you will have to spend to bring the car up to spec.

Tires should be on good condition as so should brakes. If tires are worn unevenly budget for an alignment assuming wear is not severe enough to suspect the car's bent. In this case you don't want an alignment you want to walk away from the car.

Remember these things: Price is not fact only an opinion. And there is always another car. If you find something seriously negative about a car don't feel you have to buy it. There is another car out there you'll like just as much if not more than this one and it won't have any negatives.

 

Thanks for all the information