Hi, my name is Scott and I'm a car addict. Just picked up my fifth MINI a couple days ago, in the past I've had an 06 R53 S, an 08 R56 S, an 09 R56 JCW, and an '11 JCW. Had good luck with all of them, but there were other cars in between, my priorities changed, and/or I just wanted something new.
15 months ago I traded the '11 and also an Audi TT-RS in on a new 991 Porsche, something I'd always thought was unattainable to me. I'm now back to a point where I wanted to add a second car again, and although I looked around, another MINI kept coming to forefront. Almost all of my cars have been bought new, so searching for a used one required some new skills for me. I finally narrowed it down to four cars and this one won out.
It's an '11 MCS with 29K miles. One owner, bought and serviced locally with just the options I required. Manual, no sunroof, xenons, 17's, Ipod/Bluetooth, the only thing missing I had hoped for was HK. Drives like new, got some new tires after trade-in, and looks great after a hand polish and wax this weekend. Once these things are in your blood, it's hard to stay gone.

 

If you named all of your cars you could have make your own mix of "mambo No.5" :D

 

Congrats on the 991...

Can you give a short say on your experience between the 53 and 56. I'm looking to buy a used MCS but unsure which way to go..

regards,

Mike

 

Nice car! Enjoy it.

 

Congrats again on the MINI. Nice pics. Now the 991 has a friend.

 

Not everyone will agree with me, but I think the R56 was a huge step up from the R53. I never noticed a huge difference in the way they handled, and I prefer the "turbo surge" of the new motors. The only thing I missed was the supercharger whine, but I didn't miss the abysmal gas mileage of the R53 compared to the R56.
Both generations had their service issues. In general a late model 05-06 R53 would have been the best version, and I think the newer the R56 the better due to ongoing changes. I always doted over my cars, didn't abuse them, and never had any major issues. I'm hoping the prior owner of my new car did the same, it seems so on paper.

 

Thank you for your feedback....enjoy your new rides!