Well, it seems my journey with my R56 is over only after a month and a half.

I've been having issues with the turbocharger (posted a thread about it in the stock forum), and decided to take it into Mini after having consulted Mini's Headquarter's Correspondent. I had been keeping in touch with her for a while, and she finally agreed to help me out with my repairs by paying for a fraction of the costs for repairs after realizing that I've had the following problems thus far: turbocharger failing, water pump failing, timing chain tensioner replacement (covered by them), and another timing issue altogether.

I dropped the car off to Mini today, they told me it would cost me $330 for an inspection. Fine, no problem. I'm paying $15,000 for school at the moment per semester, so I have to REALLY take it easy on my expenses. They just called me moments ago and told me the inspection would actually cost me $990 and that they would need it for another day. No dice.

So to tally it up (and these are just guesstimates):

Inspection - $990
+Turbocharger Replacement - $1,800
+Water Pump Replacement - $900
+Timing Issue Fix - ~$600
x .25% dealer discount
$3,217.50

Mini, I'd imagine, would only be covering maybe 25% of the cost, so that's still $2,413.50 I'd have to pay out of pocket. No bueno.

So I've decided to sell the car. As much as I love my Mini, and as much as I enjoyed driving it, this is my second one and was legitimately a heartache to own. I would be scared every time I drove it, always thinking about what's going to break next in the back of my head. So I'm going to try and aim for something a bit more reliable.

Options so far: facelifted Mercedes W203 C230 (mother owned one, it was insanely reliable), BMW 335i (not entirely sure on its reliability, but I'll look into it before I commit to the purchase), or an 07 Mercedes E350 sedan (again, not entirely sure on its reliability, but I'll look into it).

I'm really, really sad. I ****ing love my Mini, it's the greatest car I've ever owned and driven, but this reliability thing is not cool for a student. I mean, I'm not one to buy a car new under any circumstances because you're essentially throwing money away (with a Mini, you throw away a cool $10k right off the lot, and another $5k once the warranty is up). It's been fun, but I'll be heading to the dealer auction next week to pick up something new. It won't drive as fun as my Mini, but hopefully it won't bury me in debt.

Today is a really, really sad day for me. :(

Keep on motoring.

 

Your not still under warranty?

 

Nope. My options are VERY limited.

A) Sell the car and take a pretty big hit (lose about $4k), or
B) Fix the problems with Mini's help (assuming I predicted those prices accurately) and then buy their extended warranty which would cost me a solid $5k or so.

Either way I look at it, I'm pretty ****ed.

 

Bought my MINI new and I've only lost about $7,000 total in value.

 

I don't understand. You have been unhappy with your single-turbo Mini which is a BMW product yet you are considering a BMW 335 which is a bi-turbo?

 

I also noticed this....you are complaining that you can't afford to keep up your mini yet you are considering a BMW or a Mercedes?????? Maybe consider a toyota!

 

you do know the 335i's have HPFP problems, right? which in retrospect, should end up costing more than the MINIs. trust me, I was thinking of getting one before I went to build my 2011 MINI. if you still want to stay in the BMW family, think of a E46 330i, or a E92 328i, if you want something still fun, but reliable as a atomic clock, think about getting a 2007+ Honda Civic Si Coupe or Sedan. just my 2 cents.

 

Its sad that this story keeps being repeated again and again.

My car has been reliable. Others that I know of personally have not.

Its strange that the car continues to have these issues.

We have another car which in 70K miles has never burped once. Its a basic Mercedes 2008 C300 sedan, Luxury addition. Its available on the markets now for around $20K for one like mine to 35K for a new one.

It gets new oil on schedule, it has never had another issue. Perhaps worth trying to find one that fits your needs????

Good luck. We miss everybody that leaves here.

 

Yeah I would get a cheaper car to finish school then get something better, btw agreed that 335i would be expensive car to maintain. I graduate from school next week. Thank god. I'm ready to put some more money in my car =]

 

I agree with the others, a BMW, Mercedes, or any European car is not what you need right now. Get a Honda, Toyota, maybe even a Ford Fiesta or Focus. I just had a preview of what I'll be forking out when my warranty is up (a $475 tire) so I feel your pain.

 

Get a Suzuki Sidekick. I bought mine new 15 years ago and she's still running and has never once had a mechanical problem. I jump it, Redline it, and abuse the crap out of it. Still going!!!

 

If you are out of warranty, I'd run it by Danny at MiniCorsa in North Hollywood. He'll give you an honest evaluation of the state of your motor, as well as prices that will be well under what the dealer is asking. Danny *knows* Minis.

 

Hate to hear stories like this.... I had my Mini 2 weeks, then she sat in the shop for 2 weeks getting an axle rebuilt. Still needs new rims, but so far so good. I would be heartbroken if I had to give her up!!

 

From Seinfeld episode "The Dealership"

 

+1 to all the comments about going with a reliable Japanese-made car since you said you are going to school on alimited budget. Keep messing around with BMWs and Mercs and you'll be pedalling to school on an old bike.

 

+1 on MiniCorsa. That's probably the best solution for a Mini out of warranty.

You should see the fine mist of coffee all over my computer after you mentioned getting a 335 BMW because you can't afford to fix your Mini. And so what if your Mom's Mercedes was reliable? Mercedes reliability has really declined lately. Even so - very high risk cost exposure. If you can't tolerate the cost of this repair you shouldn't even be thinking about these other cars. Forget it. Agree with others. Get a Honda or something and get through school. That's your priority right now.

 

What's a $990 inspection? I don't mean offense but you really don't seem to understand the value of money, that's insane if they're charging you for the inspection even after doing the work. Typically diagnostic fee is waived if the repairs are authorized. Even then the only time I can see a $1k diag fee is if they disassemble the engine and then put it back together with no repair authorization. Insane.

If that's your dealer I'd find an indy mechanic. I was also a service advisor for MB, you're better off with the MINI.

 

BMW 335i = HPFP failures.
All E46 BMW = suffers from sub-frame failures.

If I want to stay with BMW, get a 2006 E90 330i/xi. To my experience, it has been reliable for me after 5 years.

 

Just food for thought, if you love the MINI driving experience (and not the turbo engine experience), and you're on a budget, find a used '02-06 that has the tritek engine... My car's 6 years old, of which I've owned it a year and a half, and I paid ~16k for it. So I get 5mpg less than you... To me that's worth it for the supercharger whine and "more reliable" engine.

 

If you want an extra dose of reliability, you could look for an 05/06 R50. Won't touch an R53 in the straights, but lots of fun to push to the limits and more or less bulletproof.

 

Subframe failures with the E46 generally don't happen after the 2001 model year. I had mine (2004) inspected at the time of purchase and there weren't any issues with my subframe.

The E46 is the last easy to maintain BMW 3 series. Look for an '03-'05 330i if the OP must have a European car. Otherwise, the OP should look at a nice Japanese car like a used Acura TSX or Lexus IS300.

 

I just re-read your post and am confused. Where did you buy your MINI 1.5 months ago? Seems like if you're having all of these problems immediately you should be talking about who sold you this car only to fall apart on you 1.5 months later. Now you're talking about going to a dealer auction like that's some sound financial move to make. Don't you have to fix the MINI up anyway to sell it? Plus, I would NEVER buy a car at a dealer auction. There's your next car that will fail in a month or so.

 

Sounds like the PO figured this Mini was a lemon and dumped it. You were an unsuspecting buyer and is getting screwed. I would go back to the dealer you bought it from and try to work something out. If they knew this car had all these problems, they shouldn't have sold it you that way.

 

I may be wrong, but I believe the OP stated in another thread that he deals in used cars and that he picked up the car at a used car dealer / vendor auction. I have no experience with these auctions and could be wrong, but I believe the cars there are bought at purchaser's risk.

 

Not only that, he was bragging about how he was going to turn a profit (easily no less) on the MINI when he sold it.