Girlfriend wants a mini, we went and test drove this mini earlier today. Craigslist ad claims it's a John Cooper Works edition, but I never saw any emblems or anything, just the S. The exhaust was dual and in the center, though. It had the Sport mode button.

It drove really well, the clutch was stupid easy to use (felt like an on/off switch almost) and the fellow has all maintenance/recall records for the car as performed by the local BMW shop. It's a one owner, flew over to the US in a C130.

One thing I did notice was a loud clacking noise at start-up that went away. I chalked it up to the car having been sitting for a month, but upon doing some research found that something similar has been a widespread problem with R56 motors. He did mention that the BMW dealer had done recall work on the head (rebuilt it I believe).


So..is this actually a JCW?

EDIT: Oh, and the mirror caps glow in the dark..

 

it does not look like a John cooper works from the engine and there are no emblems. All 07+S have a sport button. In my opinion buy one from carmax or some place else and get a warranty just in case, because if something breaks on the cooper you will pay BMW premium prices to get it fixed. I am getting my 08 cooper s from carmax on saturday. or get him to lower the price a decent amount. It is not that expensive though.

 

It's an S with an added JCW package. Waymotorworks has all the specifications that come in that package. I bet it doesn't have red JCW big brakes.

 

The loud clacking noise is probably a faulty timing chain tensioner. It is covered under warranty... if there is any time left on it.

I have an '07 and it has been trouble free once the timing chain issue was solved.

 

The loud clacking noise previously mentioned will cost $1500 to repair if it is out of warranty and requires all the timing chain parts. At 23000 miles last week that is what failed on my 2007 S and what it cost to repair. MINI is chasing away repeat customers by not issusing a service bulletin/recall.

 

Are you joking?

Have you not checked out the rest of this forum?

If you buy a used 2007 "S" you are a "Loony Tunes"!!

(and personally I would not buy a 2008-2012 either pending absolute proof of reliability - base is fine).

 

I'd get that timing chain rattle checked out and see if there is any warranty left. Take it to a MINI dealership and have it thoroughly looked over. Personally I'm wary of the first year of any model, and '07 is the first year of the second gen.

 

Maintain any car and you won't have to be afraid of it breaking on you. Don't buy an R56 MCS? Ha! Toxictv is not the loony one here.

Edit: However, that particular car has too many miles for my taste. I just bought a 2007 MCS with my BF two months ago and it only has 45k on it. Runs like a champ!

 

That's a joke!!! Ha-ha!!

4 extra oil changes, 100% CBS maintenance, plugs 10K early, full check (at my own expense by private BMW mech), careful proper driving (not a yank), etc.

i would rather rely on my fellow members statements (check this forum) than blithe falsisms

crunch the numbers:

# NAM 2005 engine failure reports, divided by "2007 S NAM owners" = >50%!!!

never mind the thousands of MINI owners not on NAM

 

Not a JCW, for sure. Plus, it looks like the TPMS was going off in that one picture? Could be something little, or not? Just noting. I agree with the others. This isn't a good deal, owner is obviously bullshitting and for that mileage you could get one with half that, at least. Keep looking. Lol.

 

Yea man i bought an 07 MCS in march came fully loaded with nav ipod sirius pana roof with 57k miles and i got it for only 14k=)

 

if its a 2007 it can only have the tunning kit on it because our JCW model was not available then. So if it is a JCW (well if it has the kit added) it would have the exhaust, but no brakes. JCW cars were not available until august of 2009 if my memory serves me correctly. And the tunning kit only takes the hp from 172 to somewhere around 189 or something like that it isnt much.

 

Thank you for the vast amount of information folks. Sounds like '07 just isn't a good year. Thanks! =D

 

Just my .02 cents, but I bought my 07 MCS used with 36K miles back in January and since then it has spent approximately 2 plus months in the shop. During it's last 4 week stay the warranty expired, which has me a little concerned, but MINI has worked with me thus far with having this repeat issue addressed (it's currently back in the shop after having it back one day). On the plus side, MINI has worked hard to address the issue, and I'm not complaining about the 2010 Cooper S Convertible that they loaned me...on the negative side the car is only 4 years old with now 40K miles on it. In my mind not nearly enough miles to justify the copious amount of warranty work that has been done on it. I love my car when it runs right (approx 1 month of the 10 months I've owned it)...and I have to say I even still 'like' it when it's not running right. But I expect a car to run 'right' longer than 1 month out of 10. I can't speak for any other MINI out there, but if I run across another 07 MCS I'm running the hell away as fast as I can. If you do buy one, get a damn good extended warranty.