Hello everyone, I am currently looking at a 2011 Cooper S with 104000 miles.

I e read through the pages and couldn't find any specific information on what to look for on a 2011.

Is 104k mikes too much? This will be a second car btw. I'm also looking at 2006 Cooper S, but I assume a 5 year newer car would be better?

I just done know if 104k miles is too much on a Cooper S. I'm trying to not spend more than 9k on a car and wanted something fun to drive with good gas mileage.

Thanks for the help!

 

The 2nd generation 2011 is a better vehicle than the 1st generation cars. They solved some problems that make a difference.

104K on a well-maintained car isn't a killer. 80K on a poorly maintained car may be a killer. Check service records and find out all you can about the car and check whether any recalls have been donw.

 

You would want to get the complete vehicle service history and find out if all the "problem issues" have been addressed.

HPFP. High Pressure Fuel Pump. These have been problematic for a few model years, so much so that they have a 120,000 mile warranty.

Cracked Thermostat housing. Some years had issues with the thermostat housing cracking.

Turbo oil line heat shield upgrade. A small clip with some insulation to isolate the oil line from the turbo's heat.

Timing chain tensioner bolt. I think by 2011 they had the problem worked out, but,,,,,

Thermostat wiring harness. It needed to be upgraded to a higher temperature wiring insulation. There are stories about the wiring harness catching on fire. Mine was replaced when they did the cracked thermostat housing.

The valves on the head are prone to carbon fouling, so you may want to see if you can have valves walnut bead blasted and cleaned as a condition of sale. It's a couple hundred bucks to have it done, if you don't want to do it yourself. BMW actually makes a tool adapter to clean them out, so it's a known issue.

Look at the oil service interval, if possible. When these cars first came out it was "condition based". Then it became condition based, or 15,000 miles. Then BMW came out and recommended 10,000 miles, but that was for non-turbo charged vehicles.
I've been running turbo charged cars and motorcycles as the daily drivers for many years. Clean oil is critical, and it's cheap insurance. I change oil about every 5000 miles. I'm not OCD about it, but the frequency coincides to changing oil going in and out of winter and in and out of summer.

I am coming up on 130,000 on my 2009 S and it still runs great. I have 50,000 on my 2013 JCW. Both of mine get driven a lot.

 

I would get the VIN and go to the MINI dealership, ask service what has been done and anything outstanding, then i would get an inspection. The 2011+ Cooper S engines have been good.

 

Thanks for the info guys will get the service records and look it over good.

Are there options in a 2011 that are a must, like sports package, manual, navigation, etc..

 

Personally, if you're looking for a more reliable, driver oriented, spirited car, buy a first gen. You could rival a Harry Potter novel with the amount of recalls & class actions that are circling the second gens right now.

At over 100k miles I would recommend asking for a THICK folder of maintenance records on the car, there are many maintenance items, service intervals that are quite detrimental to the survival of the car and your financial situation.

But if it is an LCI car, they fixed a few of the problems the early 2nd gens had, which makes it a better car than the 07-10 cars.

 

I was also looking at 2006's. Would a low mileage 06 S be a more reliable car? Reliability would be my most highes priority!

 

Personally speaking, yes.

Of all the work we do on Gen 1 cars it is either maintenance or modification, on the other hand most of the work we're doing on Gen 2 cars is timing chains, large coolant leaks, oil leaks, HPFP issues, clutches, head work, more oil leaks, and rear end link clunks.

For every 15-20 timing cassettes we do on a Gen 2 we might do 2 gen 1 kits.

The first Gen cars have proven to us that they are the stronger of the cars, easiest to make power with, most reliable, hold a higher resale value, and ease of maintenance.

 

Thank god I found this forum before I purchased a 2011! Looks like I can now find a 2006 with low mileage nicely equipped for my price cap! Thanks again for the amazing help!!

 

Glad I could be of help, it's not that we despise the 2nd gens (because they keep us REALLY busy) but we're quite partial to the 1st gens, tried and true.

The LCI engines did fix earlier problems though, so if you did decide to get a 2nd gen definitely go LCI.