Lol, yea go find me a Walbro High pressure fuel pump that will run at 120bar....you'd be famous. That's nearly 2000psi. Walbro's run at ~70psi lol...

And if you're car is problem free, then great...enjoy it! I'm not knocking the R56, I have one and as I said I do love it...otherwise it'd be long gone. I'm merely stating what I know and see everyday....to help answer the OP's question.

 

Your expectation is a little high on a 2000 psi fuel pump.
http://realstreetperformance.com/sto...on-test-5.html

 

Porthos

Just me no comp. Is going to do a recall on the issues that the mini is having. There cerdabilite would be shot to hell. There is no safty issues with the mini and it problems so they will fix the cars that break on the down low.

Like I said I had an 07 mcs that I loved but its on a used car lot now and I am in a jcw.

 

You clearly aren't getting the picture of what a HPFP is.

They run at 120bar which is ~1740psi. The extreme high pressure is unique to direct injection motors.

 

I'm right there with every other potential buyer that has concerns, but I have to disagree hugely with you... There are THOUSANDS of MINIs on the road. a huge percentage of which will never even touch a forum. Most people start searching the internet to find answers to a problem. Thus in a forum you hear more bad than good. i.e. "I am having such and such issue, does anyone know anything about it?" not "oh man my car is running so awesome I just had to find someplace to rave about it." 90% of owners will just go about their day to day without saying anything.

 

Sure, the average soccer-mom who bought the car because it was "cute" and "gets good milage" probably doesn't post up here about how good the car runs - but I'm not the average soccer mom and I sure as hell don't drive like one. I firmly believe that communities like this represent a like-minded cross section within the general MINI community, and I value the information that's available here. Yes, problems are probably blown out of proportion because these online communities are a natural forum of discussion about such things. But by the same token, they also give a focused view on what kind of problems exist within the enthusiast segment of the market.

 

If you expect your MINI to hold together like a commuter-car, you shouldn't pound it like a NASCAR. Racers should suck it up and rebuild their cars after every race.

 

I've had my R56 for a year and I've covered about 6000 miles. Although obviously still pretty new, zero problems and no complaints.

 

You're right.. this is a community of like minded folks.. and the info is always awesome and free flowing. That's why I joined up . I'm just saying the people on forums represent a small number of the total ownership, and a lot of users are here for problem info, so I think the percentages are a little skewed is all.

 

40k+ on my '07. I had the chain tension fix under warranty and I get an intermittent bulb warning which I assume is meant to remind me that it's a British car.

Funnily enough I had second thoughts about buying an R56 because of the problems that I'd heard about with the R53.

As for track use, I wouldn't recommend FWD if you want a reliable track car. Too much work going on in the front end. If you want an inexpensive, reliable track car buy a Miata.

 

Had my R56 for 14 months and put 8000 miles on it. Only problem I have had is the A/C compressor was noisy. This was fixed at my one year service along with an oil change and fluid top off. I too read all of the complaints on this and other forums about their R56 MINI's but went ahead and purchased because there were also lots of trouble free cars. I will drive the car for the four years it is under warranty and then decide if an extended warranty is in order. I plan on keeping this car for at least 10 years so hopefully it will be one of the dependable ones. I love my MINI.....

If you want a bullet proof car by a Honda or a Toyota but you will be totally bored driving them. I can barely stay awake when I drive my wife's Honda CR-V but it will probably last forever.....

 

Just posting as I am looking at a 2006 MCS with 51,000 miles on it right now. It has a leaking rear main seal (which I cant see drip though) and had the timing chain replaced a couple years ago under warranty.

As this is out of warranty I am worried.

 

Well, after weeks upon weeks of painfully exhausting deliberation, I do believe I've come to the conclusion of this dilemma: Drove an '07 350Z yesterday that is simply too good to refuse at the price it's at. I can already tell it's going to be tough for me to get rid of my R53 (such an awesome car, truly awesome), but in exchange I get to go back to my Z-car roots and live out my RWD fantasies - and by the time I run out of body-parts / first-born children / etc to sell for gas money to feed the damn thing, post-refresh JCW's aught to be a little more affordable

It's been good, but I know I'll be back sooner or later.

 

Nice, I'm sure you'll have a blast in it!

 

there's a huge logic problem with this statement. it's like me saying, i work in a clinic that specializes in helping people with hyperhydrosis. every day, we have patients come in to get treated. in fact, our phones are ringing off the hook. obviously, hyperhydrosis is rampant.

the reality: hyperhydrosis affects only 2.8 percent of the american population.

 

I totally agree.

 

what is hyperhydrosis?

 

Frequent or constant excessive sweating.

 

I've had my MINI for 10 months, and It has been good so far the chain tensioner was replaced along with the flywheel at 24k. I love the car , but I cannot lie that it has issues.

 

My personal problems...

08' MCS

02 sensor (dealer said due to poor gas (a general problem in Greece)
Clutch (Dealer found it defective and changed it no questions asked)
Sunroof gets stuck (just needs lubrication every now and then)
Cold Start issue (repaired no questions asked)
BURNS A LOT OF OIL IN TRAFFIC CONSTANTLY (Athens is essentially 1st, 2nd gear)
HPFP (poor gas again FML)
Windows sometimes won't go up and come back down due to the surrounding plastic sticking to windows (just lube it up)

 

i have the stuffed 02 sensor too. going to ty get it fixed next week, obviously not at dealer though.

 

I would not own a mini cooper without an extended warranty.
have a 2007 S with 48k on it that went out of warranty in feb 2011 and i did not buy an extended warranty. BIG MISTAKE
History of issues while under warranty
Engine control unit
Turbo waste gate spring
thermostat housing
Since warranty expired have had to
Replace High Pressure fuel pump
Carbon cleaning
Replace two exhaust valves and clean the other two
Broken oil line to the turbo
Replace Auxiliary water pump
I paid 2200 for the extended warranty after this happened but am still out over 5k in repairs to the dealer and they discounted the price!
No car no matter who makes it should have problems like this.
THERE ARE NO MORE MINI COOPERS IN MY FUTURE EVER. BASED ON THE FORUM THEIR QUALITY IS NOT IMPROVING.
Everytime i drive this POS i wonder what will break next. Without an extended warranty, i would sell this car immediately and curse someone else with it.

 

My personal issues at 65k have been:

52k - Water pump
54k - Thermostat housing split
63k - Timing Chain Tensioner
65k - HPFP Failure

I would say the Water pump, thermostat, timing chain tensioner were extremely easy to do myself and only cost me parts. So in total around ~$250 in parts. Which isnt that bad to me.

HPFP was warranty.

 

At nearly 36K miles, I still have the same trouble with mine. Every 400 miles or so its gas tank gets all empty.

Oh, and its rear deck lid needs to have the tape on the lock mechanism replaced so it won't rattle.

I lost a thermostat housing at 800 miles. Since then its been like owning a Maytag.

I talk to my SA every once in awhile. Usually we talk about girls.

 

I THOUGHT I WOULD PUT MY 2 CENTS ON THIS POST FOR YOU. I BOUGHT A 2007 MCSm ABOUT 6 MONTHS AGO WITH AROUND 60000 MILES ON IT... I HAVENT HAD ONE PROBLEM WITH IT AT ALL... IT DEPENDS ALL ON HOW PEOPLE DRIVE, TAKE CARE OF THERE CAR, AND REGULARLY CHECK THE BASIC THINGS ON A CAR. I WAS RAISED AROUND CARS AND HAVE LEARNED A CAR WILL LAST, NO MATTER WHAT KIND, AS LONG AS YOU TAKE CARE OF IT... AND WITHTHAT I HAVE NEVER HAD A CAR FAIL OR FALL APART. ONLY THING NORMAL MAINTENANCE. BUT YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND TO THAT NORMAL MAINTENANCE, INCLUDES TIMING CHAIN (TENSIONER) AND OTHER THINGS LIKE THAT!!!