For a glimmer of light, I've had no out of warranty expenses with mine. It uses about a cup of oil every 6,000 miles and I haven't had any issues with carbon, water pump or the high pressure fuel pump. The timing chain tensioner was replace at 15k miles and everything works well. AC is very cold and I'm averaging about 36mpg :-)

 

One quart of oil every 5000 miles is great especially for an 07 MCS, my 07 MCS burns about a 1/8" to 2/8" of an inch of oil (Mobil1 0W-40) every 400-500 miles while on the freeway. A little more when driving aggressively or city driving which I drive spirited. When I got my valves walnut blasted (48,000, now 55,000) it wasn't as bad as most I have seen on NAM.

Interestingly enough the valves that had the most carbon deposit those cylinders scored the lower of the four on my compression test. My research has shown the carbon deposits build-up in those cylinders effects the rings somehow. Every fourth fuel up I use a can of BG 44K which cleans the oily deposits in the combustion chambers. I used to have pretty bad pre-ignition, after a few cans of BG 44K there's no more pre-ignition anymore even it hot weather.

You are one of the lucky ones!

 

I may be damning myself here, but my 2011 MCS R56 has had zero problems that were not covered by the factory warranty. That warranty expires 1/2015. I have 30k on him/her, and my only issue outside of the warranty has been tires wearing out rapidly, and that is on me. Squeaks/rattles? None. It feels really solid driving down the road, and the handling is, of course, exceptional. Every door closes solidly, and it feels tight. I change my Mobil 1 0w40 every 5k, and do not notice more than maybe a half-quart going away between oil and filter changes. For all the "hype" about these cool little cars being "ticking time bombs"? Not in my case. The N18 pulls hard, the trans is a bit hard to "feel" with R so close to 1, but I got that figured out. Pull it into second at a light, and 1st is straight forward. Quirky? Yes. Fun? Unbelievably! Never have driven an R53, or an N12/14/16. But from my standpoint, this 2011 N18 MCS R56 is THE ultimate commute car! If you like flinging around turns like they aren't even there, and like getting 28 MPG while beating the snot out of a canyon-carver up and down the mountains, I am not sure where you can find a better car.

 

you have to understand one thing though. 95% of the posts are people with issues. People dont post if they dont need help. This is just how it is and will be. Yes the 2nd gen has issues, but i sometimes wonder how many are out there that are problem free and just not on this sight. I will say i had to replace the engine on my car, but i feel like that is my problem. I didnt know the proper care. Now on my second N14 engine, im not burning oil and it feels solid. My A/C works great, but i can and know how to charge it myself. I cannot say that it is not loud though. Overall, i think you should find a mini that you can fall in love with. Something you enjoy. Every model mini has an issue in something or other in my opinion.

 

Totally agreed, the people having problems are always the loudest, which is why I find industry ratings and such to be bull.

I still think the number of unrelated, individual cases of N14 failures is unacceptably high, and that's coming from a diehard BMW/German enthusiast and someone with a pretty reliable N14 in the family. BMW has made similar mistakes before, which were also posted online enough by the unfortunate few that the real-life probability of occurrence became exaggerated. See: E46 subframe failure, early E46 M3 bearing failure, early E90/2 335i HPFP failure.

 

oh yeah...the n14 has THAT too...

 

My local dealer performs between 3-5 timing chains a week, we don't hear from them at all because they either don't have the time or just don't bother with internet forums. I'm sure many come here to do research but never end up posting.

 

Hmm perhaps I'm unusual in the way I approached buying an English car. You see all my previous experience was with the Austin-Healey Sprite MK II. Absolutely fantastic fun car to drive. But a pain in the @$$ to maintain. Having to regularly adjust valve lash or synchronize the downdraft carbs. Grrrrr! My Gen 1 really surprised me however. It had 176K on it when I traded it in on a Gen 2 N18. The Gen 1 had lulled me into a false sense of security with BMW products as it only required a minimal amount of routine maintenance to keep up. Imagine my unadulterated horror however when I found out after buying the Gen 2 that the engine was the product of an unnatural act with Peugeot.

Since then I've learned to live with the fact that reliability has been a step backwards. But there is no doubt about the giddy up difference between the two generations. So all things considered I'm pretty happy with the Gen 2.

 

The problem is that people in need of a vehicle fall in love with the charm of MINI during their test drive and subsequently purchase “pre owned” 2007 - 2010 MINI Cooper S models without doing their homework first. Too often they bite off more than they can chew and afford to maintain. These are not good used cars for the average person to buy…there is just way too much financial risk involved!

For those of us who bought new, in my case a 2008 MINI Cooper S, we had a lot of fun and trouble free miles, topped with warranty coverage before the costly problems started. At least we got our money’s worth out of our cars.

Unless, you've got a garage full of tools, coupled with mechanical aptitude, the thirst for getting your hands dirty and lastly at a minimum $3,000 dollars in a maintenance account…I would not recommend buying a car with the N14 engine.

Oh, one more thing…several spare quarts of SYN 5-30 motor oil can come in handy as well!

 

My brand new 92' VW GTi 16v did just that right out of the showroom....and had no Tubo to facilitate that. My best guess, in both these examples they were designed with higher than usual piston ring /wall gap tolerance.


I can name a handful of my personal friends with R56 S models / N14 engines with 0 issues.

 

My wife bought a new 2014 Countryman, and I got a new 2013 Countryman, and we love both cars. We would recommend them without question.

 

As the owner of a 2007 Cooper S (bought new) I can confirm the things being said about oil consumption and the timing chain are unfortunately true. That having been said I also love this car and would have buy it again if given the chance.

In fairness this car has never failed me, and never left me stranded, but that's most likely partially because I'd proactively take it in whenever I'd start to hear the timing chain issues resurface (and you can hear them). Also thankfully I had bought a BMW extended warranty, so all the major repairs were always covered. However in the interests of providing you with the best info possible to make you decision, I beleive the timing chain tensioner has been replaced at least twice on its own (with newer revisions each time) and the entire timing chain cartridge assembly has been changed twice now as well. It does also seem to burn about a quart every 1000 miles.

From my experience with this car and engine throughout the years I can say the key (to minimizing issues) may be in maintaining it's oil levels at the optimum levels (which given its rate of consumption is a bit of a challenge) I know this can be said of any car but this engine in particular seems to be very very sensitive to oil pressure issues (which since the tensioner is at least partially supported by oil pressure can then snowball into timing chain issues, etc.)

All of this having been said the car has been immensely fun to own, and it has been pretty solid overal apart from its specific weaknesses, but given the potential costs involved I would have to agree that it is a risky car to buy used without some sort of warranty coverage.

 

The base MINI Cooper doesn't get much respect around here. The "S" seems to be the only thing that most people seem to consider when talking MINI. That model has little to recommend it, IMHO, especially as a used car. Fake hood scoop (I hate fake hood scoops!), stretched timing chains & broken tensioners, carbon, leaking oil lines, burning oil pumps, fuel pump failures... all "S" specific problems. My advice... stay away.

The (Gen 2) base Cooper is the much better choice. It is basically the same car as the "S", sans turbo and related hassles. All the important stuff - the base model's exterior, interior, steering, suspension, engine, transmission, instruments - - are the same as the "S". Fuel mileage is better. Reliability is much better - not even in the same league. Handling, ride, shifting, and braking are all essentially the same.

The "S" does accelerate better than the base, this is very true. That's good. But how often do you get to enjoy this? A brief blast on an on-ramp to highway speed once in a while and that's about it. Nowhere near worth the sacrifices necessary over the tamer base model, again IMHO.

Not generalizing here, but... if you love telling people "my car has a turbo!" and you like to picture yourself as a wannabe street racer... go for the "S" and put up with the issues.

For everybody else the base Cooper is fun, funky and fast enough.

IMHO...

 

Someone else said it better than I can. A Mini is like a high-maintenance girlfriend. If you're cool with crappy reliability, and place the abstract 'fun' over mundane things Consumer Reports quantifies as important, the Mini can be a blast (excluding those bloated things masquerading as Minis with 4 doors).

Just understand you're buying into a high maintenance girlfriend lifestyle.

My wife's Lexus IS is nearly as fun, has more miles, and is literally $5,000 less expensive to drive over the last 2 years (based on repair costs only).

Having said all that, I do enjoy my high maintenance girlfriend.

Obviously, there's no way to explain a high maintenance girlfriend to your wife. My experience suggests wives prefer low maintenance girlfriends.

I hope your choice proves to be the right one!

 

after reading this thread, I'm thinking I better go out and sell my 2009 silver clubman while I still can. I have had absolutely no problems with it at all. I live in NC and the summers are really hot, but the AC does fine. I change the oil every 8000 miles and so far that's it. Had to change the tires. Run flats don't get the wear. I had no idea that I should expect a lot of repairs . Counting my blessings and maybe thinking about putting a for sale sign on it.

 

I have a 2004 JCW with 107000 miles. I am the 4th owner. Previous owners were **** about keeping the PM's current and kept all receipts which I now have in my file drawer. Yes, things were done when needed. Multiple small repairs while under warranty and the most costly was replacing the water pump at 50k. I love this car and have had no problems. AC works great. Being in Oregon the temps have gotten into the 90's and I kept cool. I can't get over how smooth the ride is! I've been told the sound it puts out when taching it up to 5k between shifts is the best ever heard (although I've never heard it) because the interior is so quite. Oh sure I can hear a slight growl but it's nothing like those fart can mufflers the rice burners have.
Maybe you just got a bad one. I'd try it again if you like it so much... Just my $.02 worth

 

My 2008 has 53K miles and I am on my 4th Timing chain. I have been assured that this one is the "fixed" one. I also had a heat shield installed (recall) after I had already paid $849 to fix a leaky turbo line - a known issue.

 

Is your car an S model or a base?

 

Your going to sell your 2009 Clubman and yet you have had no problems at all with it? A little paranoid don't you think? You can go to any brand and model car forum and find enough bad things to say about them no matter the brand, car makers are going to have bad apples. I find Major recalls almost common these days, your always hearing about it on TV.

 

Got a 05 R53 with 101k and a 06 R53 with 80k and no major issues that was not warranty covered. I think they look more classic than the new design directions BMW is heading. Bigger and more futuristic looking things.

 

I've always had a hard time going longer than 5000 miles before changing the oil. Learning the factory setting on the odometer is 15000 blew me away!!! With the JCW I intend to keep it changed every 3000. I can't keep my foot outta it so it's getting fresh synthetic to be sure it's well lubed

 

Consumer Reports named Mini the #1 most unreliable brand last year. Why would you buy another one if you're concerned about things like reliability?

My '08 R56S has been alright so far (30,000 miles), but it's had the timing chain recall done, a new water manifold, and has issues with the right window and locks.
My wife's '13 R56S has been in a few times for HTC related issues, battery failure, valve cover failure, and rough idle. The dealership sucks to deal with and everything is super expensive, even though I'm an auto tech and take care of them myself. Neither of us would buy another Mini.

 

It's literally the most unreliable make on the road right now. Run like hell.

 

I have an 08 R56 S. Sure, its had its share of problems when I owned it for over a year now. I'm the third owner and I had an extended warranty that covers timing chain, thermostat, temperature sending unit and most recently, I had to pay for a carbon cleaning out of pocket that wasn't covered.

When you buy a used performance car, expect it to have been abused. I'm sure more things will go on it but that's what cars do. None are made to last forever these days. And none are made the same. Every car is different.

Despite the reliability issue, I still have a blast and drive it everyday, all year round including through snow. I got it when it had 62k and it now has almost 93k.

I believe every car manufacturer has its bad cars. Its a gamble when choosing. If you want the car based on the fun factor, go for whatever model suits you. If not, you're best bet would to try a different brand of car

 

Don't know what all the hate is on the R56 N14 Engine. I have a Cooper S convertible that's given me hardly any issues. I've replaced the tensioner and the thermostat. Never had an issue with it consuming oil. Never had an issue with the timing belt/chain. My mechanic says it's in great shape. He specifically works on MINI and BMW.

It's been a reliable car since day one and I'm always in it.. however, I do need to get the intake walnut blasted or whatever every once in a while.