I am proud to be posting here--I had over 99,000 miles on my '08 R56 before any problems! I have read many threads over the years about all kinds of problems with the MINI (as you would with any car), but curiosity, intrigue and FUN just got the better of me and made me give it a try.

Four years and nearly 100,000 miles later with no issues other than the most fun / least hassle I think I've ever had with a vehicle. I've been cross-country (round-trip), to NYC (twice), to the Upper Peninsular of MI (and back again), and many other places in the last four years. All with smile on my face!

I feel for those that have had problems, but probably in large part thanks to reading this website religiously for a couple years (some good tips and great advice from posters here!), my MINI experience has been great!

 

Many more Happy Years of Motoring Tedswoods!!

 

almost 12K on my 12 MCS JCW .... just perfect

 

Had the whole timing assembly replaced about 3 weeks ago in 3 days while the dealer was completely booked up, and 100% covered under warranty at 48,500 miles
Anyone in the ct area I highly recommend new country mini in Hartford, I haven't had anything but good experience with them and SA marissa is extremely nice
Other than that no issues, and today marks 1 year with my mini and 19k miles later I still smile when I'm driving it through the twisties

 

Comet[Info in sig] has hit 12K in 14 months. Which a lot for me. I am not one to drive for pleasure, well until I got Comet. Belong to a MINI club now and enjoy driving.

Love this Car.

So far:
I have had my radio go crazy while my my car was off and discharge my battery. Dealer did software update. Fixed.

3 flats related to terrorist nails. Isn't there some law against them?

Some sensor repair under a open recall or whatever. Had no issues. This was done during my oil change at no cost. Didn't even know about it.

2 oil changes. One I paid for and the other scheduled.


So basicly no real issues.

 

Just barely over 7800 miles in my 2012 MCS and it's been at the dealer since last Saturday still.............. :( was hoping to post "trouble free" on this thread too !

 

When anyone hits 20-30k miles then you should get excited to say trouble free :-P

 

I traded my 2011 Racing Green S with 28,000 trouble free miles for a Nissan cube for my wife.

Anyway loved the car should not have traded it...as a side note it held it's value very well, and now actively looking for my next one.

 

Let's get a few more posts on this thread I'm interested to see some more high mileage Mini's here. If you've had a relatively trouble free high mileage car please post what you've got!

 

Update 2 to my previous post: My MINI has over 51k miles and finally needed new rear brakes. So far no major repairs, but I have a small oil leak that will require a $3 part in the next month and then a belt will need to be replaced in the next few months. My mechanic assured me that these are normal wear and tear items. Given that my MINI dealt with 100+ degree weather in Dallas and 4 degrees 6 months later in Boston, I think that it is doing extremely well. I want to keep mine forever!

 

My "JUSTA GP" just returned from the dealer for its' first maintenance program oil change at 16,500 miles ( I did one at 2,500 and 10,000 myself). The base Cooper has performed beyond my expectations!

But, the dealer decided to upgrade the software because they claim it was telling them to replace the brakes at 16,500 (I didn't get any notification on the tach?). Needless to say, it did not need brakes at all and it was running perfectly. I reluctantly agreed to let them "do their thing" to it.

The next thing I know I get a call from the dealer stating the software upgrade FAILED and won't recognize the IHKS A/C & Heating Control Module and they want my approval to replace it. Well, I'm a little peeved that they started messing with my perfectly good running Cooper to begin with, but I really have no choice but to let them finish what they started...

THREE DAYS LATER I get my car back with BMW getting billed for: new IHKS & IHKA modules, rear brake pads and sensors, the planned oil & filter change and complementary new whiper blades, plus hours and hours of labor.

I know they didn't replace the rear brake pads, because they didn't have the wheel lock key and it states on the receipt that they were good (yet it also states they replaced them). I have to wonder if this was all just a way for the dealer to bill BMW for big bucks! I have no way of knowing if these repairs needed to be made at all, it was running perfectly when I took it in for a simiple oil & filter change.

The reason I am so skeptical is I went through this with VW years ago; dealer making unnecessary repairs and billing VW for them under warranty, and in some cases billing myself for additional parts they broke while doing recall repairs (couldn't take my car if I didn't pay them!). In the end they damaged some wiring connectors that caused engine faults for the next serveral years. At one point they claimed it needed a new transmission and wanted to bill VW for it. I pulled the car from that dealer and took it to the dealer I bought it from many miles away. They identified the "real" problem within 30 minutes; a damaged connector from previous dealer repair work. Even with a letter stating the damage was cuased by previous dealer repair, VW customer service was no help at all. They claimed it was an issue between me and the dealers involved because each dealer is independently operated.

So, I can say "I" continue to have a trouble free Cooper to date and those repairs where on BMW's dime, but I have to wonder if it was all a money grab by the dealer from BMW? I can't tell you that is actually the case, just a concern.

She runs great and the brakes are tighter now (higher firmer pedal). I just hope this isn't the beginning of crazy software issues or another dealer service nightmare.

Fingers crossed and all system go for now!

ADDED 4/2/13: Was finally able to talk to the SA today after the holidays. The invoice had language and typo errors all over it. The only parts actually replaced were: 1) Oil, filter and oil change kit. 2) Replaced the IHKS A/C & Heater module because it would talk to them during their reset/recode. 3) Wiper blades front and rear. No brakes or sensors were replaced. Just a couple days of software headaches and lots of warranty labor apparently. I'll have to address the oil overfill myself (about 5/8" extra on the dip stick, about 1/4" above the top of the top bulb onto the metal rod).

 

Made it 83,400 miles today before needing the cylinder head cover replaced. Did have the boot handle sticking problem but I don't count it because it was no big deal and repaired w/o issue.

 

At 36k miles right now, no trouble to report! I just change oil every 7500 miles and check all the fluids every week.

 

We bought our 09 Cooper S with 48k on the clock, she has 63k on the clock now, put on in 12 months. Completly trouble free, I replaced the rear pads and rotors at 59k and keep the oil changed. 31mpg in town and 34.5 on the road. I consider it to be trouble free. Although there is a service light that says it is overdue for service which I have no idea what that is, that came on around 60k. I don't do well with dealer and cars trying to tell me what to do. Guess I am use to American made cars that you can maintain quite easily as this one has been also to this point.

 

Just hit 87000 on my 08 Cooper today and still as much fun as 50000 miles ago when I first bought it. No problems to report. I little rattle in my dash, that I will fix one day, but that is it. Still love driving this thing!

 

I could be biased, but I sincerely believe that the 2008s were the best MINI year of the 2ng Generation (Non-S)!!

 

Since you mentioned 2008's, I'll add that my MC Hartop now has 129,800 trouble-free miles. When I first got it, my 16 year-old son and I drove it the full length of Rt. 66, starting in Chicago and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. The following month it was at the Atlantic Ocean delivering our daughter to college in Maine. That was almost 5 years ago, and while we don't abuse the car, we don't baby it either. It earns its keep. Snow tires make it go like a little tank in the Ohio winters.
We are now shopping for a new one; not because we are getting rid of this one, but because this one may have to go to college with our son next fall for his senior year.

 

Just clicked over 25,000 miles this morning.

Still no issues...just a lot of fun motoring!

 

He's gonna love it, so many girls will be all over him. Friends of mine who are women, absolutely call it a chick-magnet.

As for 2008s, I didn't have good luck with my straight Cooper:-/. But loving my 11' MCS. Only had a couple issues but nothing that couldn't be fixed. 48k miles baby!

 

I think I can add my car to this thread, even though it's another Clubman. It's a 2008, and just had its 5th birthday, but only 50,000 miles. It looks and feels new, has had almost no issues except for some body hardware issues like a difficult door latch.
Just this week I was told that my thermostat housing is leaking and must be replaced. MINI wants $570, and local Independent garage wants $350.
Mine is one reason that Consumer Reports now has the "Clubman" as a solid red dot for reliability. I put Clubman in quotes, because they don't distinguish between the S and the Cooper in their high reliability ranking.
(they also list it as Rear Wheel Drive on the owner survey !)

 

111K Miles on stock motor.

RMW Tuned for about 50-60k of them.

Replaced:
OEM Water Pump (51k)
OEM Thermostat Housing (55K)
OEM Valve Cover (90k)
OEM HPFP (65K)

At 111K the timing chain is in need of replacement, but at 111k miles i can expect that.

Other than that i havent suffered huge issues outside of 21 axles and 2 transmission, but thats not related to something else.

 

ah yes....my run of no issues is finally over. After 54k solid miles, my thermostat housing needs replaced. My coolant went from max to way below minimum on a 40min drive around town. Part is here, but won't install 'til this weekend when I have time...

 

Clicked over 30k miles this morning. Still just motoring!

 

I just passed 90000 in mine! I was so mad, I looked away and forgot and when I looked back, it was 90005!

 

I have driven 28k trouble free miles on my 2012 cooper in the last 18 months.