Than you're pretty lucky compared to others. I've seen some people in my area get stuck with a lemon from 07-08 MCS.

 

IMHO.... you buy this car because it is fun to drive.... do not kid yourself about the maintenance.... while tires, brakes, oil etc are no more demanding than other similar performance cars, many of the other common cited problem issues are unique to the R56 Mini S and it is not a matter of if, but when these must be addressed and paid for - I do not know any Mini R56 drivers that have NOT had these issues at some point. I still like my Mini even though I seriously considered letting her go for a Miata after spending 6K this year.

 

Put it this way - for the amount of parts and labor I've put into my 07 S, I could almost buy another 07 S (including engine rebuild and tranny replacement, all the other issues)

They are great when they are running. ;-)

 

I've had my 2007 MCS for 6 months.
Even though I'm up north in Canada the car was originally from Florida.

When I got it, it had 58,000km on it and now I'm just close to 70,000km.
I don't wail on the throttle but I do sprint here and there considering my commute is 25km each way with a mix of highway and city driving.

- Timing chain tensioner service bulletin covered by warranty
- Waterpump service bulletin covered by warranty
- Exhaust service bulletin covered by warranty
- Oil changes every 4000km, 3 so far
- New manual transmission fluid, once
- New coolant, once
- New brake rotors and pads front and back

And *knock on wood* so far there are no leaks of any kind or anything that requires significant repairs.

I had zero information from the previous owner with zero maintenance records because the car was off of a used car lot. I had to go with whatever the salesperson said.

IMHO I probably wouldn't have decided on this car as quickly and recklessly as I did 6 months had I known its gremlins and zero history. But I've been very lucky I haven't come across any issues, so far.

 

Along the same lines, our 2009 has only 29K miles and hasn't had problems. We're at the end of the four year warranty although I purchased the 72 mo warranty when new....should I consider also adding mechanical extended warranty at this time or should I be ok with the 72 month ''bumper to bumper' with mechanical exceptions I'm being pitched? Having a hard time getting info from dealer.