R59 known issues
 

Hi all, figured I would start an issue thread to better track any issues with the R59. This might help as buyers only have the option of used now.

2012 R59 S - 42k miles :
Temperature sensor (warranty )
Battery dead (warranty )
Sat radio dead (warranty - new head unit )
*Top and sub frame* (warranty - wear marks - replaced )

The biggest /most expensive for a prospective buyer would be the top. Check for wear marks. For a limited edition sports car though, the problems seem to be equally limited. ��

mileage would help

2104 S no issues in 12,200 miles

...for a *prospective* buyer...

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2013 MC R59 (10/2012 build); 30,215 miles

- Folded top rattle (started at ~10K and fixed with a small piece of weatherstrip foam on the top's resting point)
- Wear marks on top (barely visible and no progression in the last 15K miles)

No other issues. One of my more reliable MINIs. :thumbsup: Lots of aesthetic mods.

2012 S with 36,000 miles. Stock except for JCW steering wheel and JB+.

The N18 thermostat oil seepage issue, fixed under warranty.

Rattle/creak in driver's side door, adjusted twice under warranty, second time they also replaced latch.

Defective tach, LCD developed bubbles, fixed under warranty.

Typical Gen2 dashboard creaks, occasional rattle when top is down (manual top so foam fix not an option). Not fixed.

Dust has gotten in the speedo, I suspect it's ash from last summer's wildfires. Can't clean and dealer won't do anything.

My top is always down and has developed fabric on fabric wear marks at the folds. Dealer will replace under warranty but I haven't decided yet.

I suspect this is about par for a Gen2 Mini.

What? already giving-up when it showed to be this trust worthy!?

2.5yrs - over 26,000 miles - so far so good but little things if the latest one doesn't turn out to be something.

- Door handle tend to require grease frequently or becomes hard to open for my wife. It probably doesn't help I like to give it a thorough wash.

- Top down tends to rattle a tiny bit when going over harsher bumps. Mentioned it to the shop during my last service. They didn't find anything and said it's to be expected with convertibles. I'm not too worried about it if I can find where to put the little piece of foam.

- Very slight top wear marks. It has actually gotten better. I'm not worried about it.

- Bad summer tire wear after slightly less than 17,000 miles. I need to figure out if it's from the tires, the type of tires, or from the car drive train geometry. Winter tires are on. It's on the list of things to take care of before the spring! (can't come soon enough!)

- Slowly creeping rattle noise from plastic side door cover panels. Monitoring for the time being. It is not very noticeable yet.

- Last, mystery clunk noise developping recently. looking into it this weekend. I may need to take the car in soon to figure out what's going on and hope it's nothing important.
I've started a thread here for those interested: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post4166062

Aside from that the car has been good so far. It sounds like a lot of little issues but really it has been a reliable car thus far.

2015 MINI Roadster S; 8,500 miles; no issues

Not at all. That was just the editor in me coming out (and the OP subsequently fixed his post).

Too much invested (emotionally and financially) to give it up any time soon. :wink:

Looks too nice also with the JCW kit on a Cooper R59. ;)

24,800 miles, 2015 roadster s

my speaker bar behind the seats fell off randomly
i already need new front tires
one of my fender things went askew and made a massively horrible noise, even though i hadn't hit anything
top wear marks
put my knee through my driver door lower speaker grille, totally my fault though

still loving the hell out of it.

Thanks for the update. Which speaker bar ?

That's good to hear. Probably one of the most thoroughly and well modded Mini Roadsters on the planet. It's a keeper, I would say. :thumbsup:

I haven't been able to take the Roadster out much this Winter. It has been a very sloppy season this year so far. Don't have any issues to report since purchase in November. Hopefully will get out in it more as the weather starts to warm and improve. I did notice some noise when the top was down going over some some sharper road bumps, but nothing that I wouldn't expect from all those metal bars folded up in the well.

Even with only a few miles piled up on it so far, it's still my favorite car.

~45k miles - water pump leaking - replaced under warranty.

Thank goodness for that warranty. Good area to drive in Manassas all year round pretty much. Love that area... lots of history. Like that Roadster, and looks pretty familiar for some reason!

Was it the plastic housing water pump ?

It was the original stock N18 water pump.

Yea only 2 R59s in my town. My neighbor has a R58 though. The other guy drives his R59 in the Manassas xmas parade. ��

Christmas parade Roadster has to be BRG with red stripes?

My water pump is gone to. 57,000 miles plastic one fixing it myself.

I dont have that many R58 and R59 around me here :(

Must have been right before the plastic to metal housing switch. Did mine on the r56 and it has been fine, i found the old one has a crack at the very bottom of the pump near the bolt and it was seeping out, that was right after i started up the car and fixed the thermostat leak.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...9-no-heat.html


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...2241336a38.jpg

Now at 31k miles and trouble-free. Looking forward to MTTS 2018 this summer. Will drain/fill radiator, change oil/filter and put in new plugs before that journey. Did half of MTTS 2016 and attended BMWCCA O'Fest in New Orleans last year. Loving every motoring mile so far...

I will chime in here, just bought a 2013 R59 for my wife apx. 2 weeks ago. Have been going over the car and really have not found anything wrong with it. Used car with 25k on it, I cleaned the top today and treated it with 303, did see some wear marks but noting to worry about. Checked brake pads, still look good front and back. Paint is excellent.

Wife and I had the car on a road trip yesterday with the British Car Club, wife driving it is her car. I had set a speed alarm at 90 when learning how to configure the car. Running on the interstate the alarm went off, she asked what is that ? You are doing 90. Big eyes don't think she has ever driven a car above 70. She did the same thing on the return trip, I have created a crazy driver.

Love this car.

Glad you like it. The Coupe and Roaster can be fun cars,

Old thread revived, and nice to hear that Roadsters are still fun to own and drive. Still very happy with ours. We're not having an open Winter here in Maine, so the Roadster has been staying in the garage. Last Winter had longer periods of clean dry road surfaces allowing for some short drives to maintain the battery every couple of weeks. This Winter's frequent rain and snow events have kept the roads mucky, sanded and salted at least a couple of times a week. Was forced to put the battery tender on a couple of times already, but today the sun came out and so did the Roadster. Only ran it around the driveway for about 20 minutes and cycled all the electrics, plus ran the A/C. Would like to see our roads dry before the next rain and snow that's forecast by Thursday.

No issues with it so far. Top down mode 95% or more of the time and have noticed the "rattle" a little more frequently over sharp bumps. Will address it as soon as it warms up a little. "Free" maintenance period ends in May. Expect to take over the oil change duties, which I've always done with our cars after warranty. Not a problem for me and actually prefer doing it. Really looking forward to Spring and the beginning of the Mini Motoring season! :thumbsup:

UPDATE...just rolled over 32,000 miles....no issues although my battery needed a thorough re-charge this winter. Gave me the excuse to buyer a charger ;-) Will get new coolant and summer tires before MTTS in July.

2012 with 84k now. Waterpump replaced at 73k, otherwise no issues whatsoever.