Recent Diesel Engine Help Requested...1.5 or 2.0?

[jshell]

I've tried a bit of searching and I'm completely new to Mini's, but missus wants one and it's going to be either a 1.5D or the 2.0D in a 15 or 65 plate Cooper or Cooper S.

Can any of you point me to a source of info, give me opinions (helpful ones) or help in the selection of which engine to go for given identical spec'd cars?? Car will be mostly long, cross-town drives with a three/four hour drive every other month.

Cheers!

[daydotz]

Try minif56.com can't go wrong with either

[jshell]

daydotz said:

Try minif56.com can't go wrong with either

Thanks! Didn't know that existed.

[335d]

There is a pretty strong petrol bias at minif56.com, so they will try hard to push you in that direction, but it is not a bad forum.

I have just been through this process looking for a car for my other half, although in her case I felt that I shouldn't go quicker than a 1.5 litre Cooper / Cooper D as she's not a very confident driver.

I test drove both of those 2 models and driven normally, there is nothing in it - both reasonably lively and very smooth, although the diesel is clearly a diesel on start up, and it runs out of steam at the top end, so if you wanted a car to really push hard, the petrol would be the better bet. On my test drives, the OBC read 34ish for the petrol and 47ish for the diesel. You can get much higher figures by driving gently, if that's your thing.

We wanted a very specific bunch of options up to about a year old, so we were open to either model. The only car we found on the Mini site was a Cooper D (1.5) so we bought it. I really like it - the handling is superb.

In terms of options - the car comes with very little from the factory and if you don't specify Visual Boost or preferably Media XL, you end up with a tiny 2 line orange display within the large 'dinner plate' on the dash which looks about 20 years out of date. The basic steering wheel is a horrible 2 spoke plastic one and the basic seats are pretty basic.

Fortunately lots of the used ones have the Chili Pack which adds decent sport seats, leather multi-function steering wheel, storage stuff, and lots of other bits. I would make sure it has this.

The basic sound system is a bit tinny - but Media XL seems to add more speakers and isn't too bad. Harmon Kardon would have been nice, but isn't so common.

The ride is pretty firm on 17" wheels - so do consider smaller wheels. Our car has 16" non-runflats and I would avoid larger.

Try and get a car with TLC included, which is a 5 year service pack for a car of that age. It has since been downgraded to 3 years for 2017 cars. If it has 5 year TLC, you can then add TLC XL, adding 3 years to the service pack for £275, but do this quickly as it's going to be discontinued soon.

[jshell]

Thanks, that info is much appreciated. We test drove the 1.5 td in BRG and to be honest even I loved it. Mistake I made was to show my wife a picture of the 2.0td with the additional/different body details! Now she won't have anything else, so we're looking at the 2.0 SD's from Motorpoint as they're all around 12,000 miles, have Chilli/Media XL and are cheaper than the lower specced dealers cars. I know they're ex-fleet or hire, but they're good spec, still fully warranted, cheaper and Motorpoint seem to have majority really good reviews.

https://www.motorpoint.co.uk/vehicleadvert/mini/ha...
https://www.motorpoint.co.uk/vehicleadvert/mini/ha...

[335d]

jshell said:

Thanks, that info is much appreciated. We test drove the 1.5 td in BRG and to be honest even I loved it. Mistake I made was to show my wife a picture of the 2.0td with the additional/different body details! Now she won't have anything else, so we're looking at the 2.0 SD's from Motorpoint as they're all around 12,000 miles, have Chilli/Media XL and are cheaper than the lower specced dealers cars. I know they're ex-fleet or hire, but they're good spec, still fully warranted, cheaper and Motorpoint seem to have majority really good reviews.

https://www.motorpoint.co.uk/vehicleadvert/mini/ha...
https://www.motorpoint.co.uk/vehicleadvert/mini/ha...

I can certainly see the appeal of the SD, although I haven't tried one. Chili and Media XL are two of the key options and the price looks pretty good. I think you need to add £99 to the price as a preparation fee or some other Ryanair-esque scam, but still a decent deal. I believe the last owner will be Alphabet, BMW's lease arm, so it could actually have been a single user staff car, or a fleet or hire car.

I do see TLC as having some value on a car like that, and it's only available within a month of new, so in your shoes I would consider paying a small premium to buy from a Mini dealer if it has TLC.

I paid £14k for a 13 month old Cooper D 5 door with a good spec, 7k miles and a list of about £23.5k. This was about a week and a half ago and Motorpoint were selling similar age cars for £13k, but in addition to the Chili / Media XL which Motorpoint had, our one had - darkened rear glass, TLC, HUD, heated seats, parking sensors. Plus we get some extra protection from buying direct from a Mini dealer, so the £1k premium (after negotiation) seemed good value to me.

Before you reserve a Motorpoint one, have a good search of the Mini site, and of course you can generally knock down a dealer price, but Motorpoint won't budge I believe.

Whichever route you choose, I expect you'll really enjoy the new toy. Good luck. They are great cars.

[335d]

Probably worth adding that the SD comes with firmer suspension than the Cooper D, and I see those examples have 17" wheels. I test drove a Cooper with 17" wheels and found it on the unforgiving side, so we decided to look for one with 16" wheels.

I suspect that the combination of sports suspension and 17" wheels would be too much for us, so do make sure you take an extended test drive before you buy one.

I like firmish suspension too, having added AC Schnitzer springs to my 335d, just to put these comments in context. Even with 16" wheels on the Cooper D, the turn in is very sharp and handling seems excellent to me, although the wheels look a little small.

[jshell]

I think that's the main thing putting me off is the firm suspension so I am thinking of getting a nice set of smaller alloys and keeping the orignals for re-sale time. False economy, possibly, but 'happy wife, happy life' and all that. She much prefers the SD looks.

So, I have reserved one and waiting for it to be transferred up to Glasgow. It's dark blue with a white roof/door mirrors, Chilli/Media XL/perforated leather - whatever that means. A 15 plate with 13k on it for a decent price. I have had to put a deposit on it, but if I reject the car I have been promised that the deposit is refundable...so they say.

I'll let you know how we get on!

[335d]

The SD certainly has more presence than the ordinary Cooper D. The car sounds a nice spec - I hope it works out.

[jshell]

335d said:

The SD certainly has more presence than the ordinary Cooper D. The car sounds a nice spec - I hope it works out.

Will post about it either way...

[watchnut]

I would look at how many miles a year you will be doing before buying a diesel. you pay more for them, the fuel costs more, they cost more in servicing, and you get particulate filter issues if the commute is short in time/miles and engine not up to temperature in a high gear often

I tried to convince my father not to buy a diesel recently, but he was sold the great MPG line, and now wishes he had listened, with modern petrol engines being a great as they are you nay need to be doing +15k a year to make diesel pay. I have never heard anyone who does high miles complain of particulate filter issues........

I am a great diesel fan for MPG....but I do +35k miles a year

[jshell]

It's gotta be better than the diesel Cayenne for the school run! To be honest though, I prefer the way diesel cars drive. Together with the thimble sized mini fuel tank it means a little fewer trips to the pumps too!

[watchnut]

Can't argue with that...easier to park too!

down sides of the mini are

small fuel tank
make sure you get one with a spare wheel
leg room in the back is very poor if driver over 5 foot 8".....(if you have no legs you would be fine sitting behind driver)
boot is very small ....so no big shopping trips unless kids are at home
I hate the indicator switch....a light tap and it goes only 3 times....pants design
reverse gear has to have a "quick" nudge to get into through 2 gates....it is surprising how people struggle with it

every thing else is great!

[jshell]

So, picked it up a couple of days ago. Delighted with it, the look, handling and to be honest this bloody thing is quick! The seats are comfy and even had the wife's friend sit behind me and I'm 1m 96cm tall.

I'll see how it goes, although it's the wife's car.

The entertainment/nav/endless systems are mesmerising!

[335d]

Congrats. Looks great. They are a lot of fun.

[daydotz]

Very nice

[Mcbeth]

Nice choice, all the best with it.
Just to clarify, the S models don't have firmer suspension than the coopers unless it has the cost option 'sports suspension'.
(I work for MINI)

[335d]

Mcbeth said:

Just to clarify, the S models don't have firmer suspension than the coopers unless it has the cost option 'sports suspension'.
(I work for MINI)

I was told by our dealer that S and SD did come with sports suspension when we were considering which model to go for recently. That was one of the factors which put us off the S and SD, as the Cooper felt quite firm enough to us.

I have just checked the brochure and I can see that you are right - it's an option on all 3 levels (One/Cooper/Cooper S). I guess we would have ended up with a Cooper / D in any case, but good to know, cheers.