Could this MINI be fixed by the home mechanic? Advice needed

[finglas]

Hi folks, looking for some advice and hopefully you can help me out

My mother has an 07 plate MINI cooper. 64k miles on it. Now recently there have been a few lights came on. It has been in at the garage and they have said theres two issues. One is there is a problem with the steering column lock and they are quoting approx 500 quid to fix. Next the car is cutting out when it comes to a stop and theres an engine management light on. Garage reckoned it might be burning oil and thag there could be big problems with it. On top of this someone dented the car and left the scene and now my mother has 200 quid insurance excess on that so all in its looking at well over 1k to fix it and she doesnt feel its worth it.

Anyway i am writting here to get some opinions on the idea of me trying to fix the car myself. I dont know much about cars but i have an old e46 and know i need to learn more so i am keen to give it a go! Im also between work at the moment and at a loose end so i have the time to try and learn how to go about fixing the issues.

What i want to know is, id it realistic that an amateur diy mechanic with fairly limited knowledge could learn enough to tackle these kinds of problems?

It just seems a shame to trade the car in or sell it with such problems, given how much money would be lost on it. Plus 64k miles and only 9 years old. Surely there must be some life in it yet!!

Would appreciate any advice folks.

Thanks again,

Jamie

[Collectingbrass]

Is the garage that have quoted a main dealer or an independent? I'd try and find a good indie and see what they say. I'd also do some googling and see whether the symptoms are common, in which case there should at least be some known fixes.

It might also be seeing what We Buy Any Car would give you for it as it is and when it's fixed, the difference may not be worth the spend or effort.

[Dogwatch]

The insurers won't fix the bodywork, they'll write it off.

[steveo3002]

the burning oil bit could be bad news

if its got some mot why not try it on ebay with a honest description

[Private Pile]

That's definately worth an hour of your time doing some research on a mini forum.
As someone above asked, was it a main dealer or local Indy that advised you?

[benjijames28]

I rekkon it's worth saving. As for burning oil, depends how much your talking and how many miles a year the car will actually do. If it's only like 4k or something then is 50 quid a year on oil really a problem for a few years? Certainly cheaper than a newer car.

Depends what u want. Having a reliable car provides peace of mind , maybe it's time your mum parts with this one.

[finglas]

Thanks everyone for getting back to me with your thoughts, greatly appreciated.

It was an independent garage that quoted that price. I think they are fairly expensive on labour. Talking £40-50/hour although maybe thats just about average ?

Thanks again everyone

Jamie

[finglas]

Thanks everyone for getting back to me with your thoughts, greatly appreciated.

It was an independent garage that quoted that price. I think they are fairly expensive on labour. Talking £40-50/hour although maybe thats just about average ?

Thanks again everyone

Jamie

Edited by finglas on Monday 3rd October 00:54

[Petrolhead_Rich]

the lock will require some special tools, removal of parts of the dash/steering column and possibly(probably) airbags...

...then you'll need to reset/program the new lock and reset airbags with a proper diagnostic tool (not just a cheap one off ebay)

...that's before you look at turbo replacement/engine rebuilds for the oil burning issue....

You don't sound that confident, so no offence, but I wouldn't "try having a go" as you could end up with a very very big repair bill when you break it more than it already is IMO...

[finglas]

hi petrolheadrich, im not that confident lol so no offence taken. Thanks for letting me know, I appreciate the advice. Does sound like quite a complex job so i think it probably is best I leave it!

Just frustrating to have to sell the car for very little or to pay so much in repairing it but guess thats just motoring!

thanks,

jamie

[HustleRussell]

Experimenting on other people's cars is always a bad idea.

Burning oil doesn't necessarily indicate a big expensive problem.

[finglas]

Hustlerussel, thanks i wasnt going to experiment on it as such. was going to buy it and sorta take it on in an attempt to sort it out then sell it on. I understand what you mean though

cheers,

jamie

[Petrolhead_Rich]

finglas said:

hi petrolheadrich, im not that confident lol so no offence taken. Thanks for letting me know, I appreciate the advice. Does sound like quite a complex job so i think it probably is best I leave it!

Just frustrating to have to sell the car for very little or to pay so much in repairing it but guess thats just motoring!

thanks,

jamie

no worries, I'd start with simpler tasks, like servicing and radio/speaker changes before setting about ripping a dashboard and steering column out!! Airbags are dangerous things!!

[Elliot2000]

Bmw sell the individual part fr the steering lock on these cars now separate from the whole column, so all u need to do is take the lower plastic trim off of the steering column and chisel out two bolts to remove the old unit- less than 100£ parts, the chiselling out of the bolts will take the longest time as they are tamper proof ones.

It's a cooper right and not an s? So no turbo, which simplifies it a fair bit on the cutting out and poor running- it's low mileage so I'm guessing a few thousand miles a year max and mostly very short journeys? Those engines don't like it- the crankcase breathers aren't very good and all the warming up phases from the short journeys ends up causing a lot of condensation within the rocker box and causes corrosion on the camshafts and sensor wheels. You can normally replace the cam cover with integrated breather and clean up the camshafts and sensor wheel if it's only light corrosion, then Give it an oil change and make sure a regular long run is done in the car every so often and it will be fine.

Obviously I ain't seen the car so can't be certain this is ur issue, but it is pretty common, cam sensors can also fail fairly often too

[finglas]

Elliot2000 thanks very much for getting back to me i appreciate it. The car has spent its life basically just doing small short journeys so i guess what you say certainly could be the problem.

Thanks very much,

Jamie