MINI Cooper S

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jimmy156

Original Poster:

3,681 posts

186 months

Monday 18th August 2014
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sagarich said:
Great snaps!

I was super impressed with the little mini.

Following you on the twisties around Goodwood the car looked so stable and agile. Plus I was really surprised how strong your engine pulls, pretty much matching me in a straight line.

Great little car!
Not bad considering the 80bhp defecit biggrin

Max M4X WW

4,789 posts

181 months

Monday 18th August 2014
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jimmy156 said:
Max - Brownie points to you, well done! I looked at your profile thinking you must be local, i grew up in Haslemere, i will keep an eye out for your M135i!
You were both in the year below me at school smile

sagarich

1,210 posts

148 months

Monday 18th August 2014
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Max M4X WW said:
jimmy156 said:
Max - Brownie points to you, well done! I looked at your profile thinking you must be local, i grew up in Haslemere, i will keep an eye out for your M135i!
You were both in the year below me at school smile
Ah, yes I know. You're mates with Jamie. He's got a C63 now hasn't he?

I think I may have see your M135i out and about... Looks great in superman spec!

hackjo

354 posts

159 months

Monday 18th August 2014
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Gorgeous S you have there!

We have a Roadster S and like yours, it's a fantastic car. They are seriously fun to drive and can shame more exotic machinery in corners at times.

Much nicer car than the new F'ed 56. Good choice!

Court_S

12,764 posts

176 months

Monday 18th August 2014
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That looks really nice.

The R56 has really grown on me....especially given how ugly the F45 Cooper S is.

When they first came out I hated the because I was (and still am) a massive R50/3 fan boy...I still think they're the best looking of the Mini's because the proportions were perfect to me. I loved my R53 Cooper S (also had a Cooper and a One). My Main issues were pretty petty....gear knob, steering amongst a few other bits. But as I said, I've really warmed to these and yours is a lovely spec. The R56 felt a fair bit quicker than my R53 too.

Hopefully my next company car will be an F56 Cooper....looking forward to having a Mini again. I know a lot of people hate them, but I love them.

jimmy156

Original Poster:

3,681 posts

186 months

Thursday 21st August 2014
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Thanks for the nice comments,

I am still in the honeymoon phase a bit, trying to find excuses to drive it every day hehe

I noticed a small (2cm?) scratch that i hadn't noticed before, it might be new but i expect i just didn't spot it when i bought it. It really is tiny and wouldn't have even registered on previous cars. But as the bodywork is pretty much perfect on this it has really irked me! I will just have to get over it though as it isn't worth getting sorted professionally, i might have a go with some good polish to see if i can improve its appearance.

Interesting you should say that it felt a fair bit quicker than an R53 Cooper S as i have just returned from a little drive thinking to myself how quickly you get used to acceleration speeds. I don't know whether its the relatively fat torque curve meaning it shoves just as hard at 2k rpm as it does at 6k rpm, meaning although the car is still acceleration, that rate at which it is accelerating doesn't change much throughout the rev range, or if i have just got used to it. Obviously it doesn't feel slow, i guess i have just stopped being surprised by how fast it feels hehe

jimmy156

Original Poster:

3,681 posts

186 months

Friday 29th May 2015
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Thought i would update this with a few pics i took after i cleaned the car yesterday.

IMG_5002 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

IMG_5006 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

The upright windscreen and frontal area mean i have had to have a chip repaired on the windscreen and have picked up a few stone-chips too.

Weirdly, the boot has managed to open itself whilst in the garage (would be impossible to close the garage door with it open) meaning i have slammed the garage door into the open boot when trying to get into the garage. Que lots of swearing! Only minor damage caused but very annoying, and i have no idea how it happens!

IMG_5008 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

IMG_5019 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

I had a warning message a few months ago and the car went into 'get you home' mode. Turned out to be the high pressure fuel pump which was replaced under warranty. No other issues with the car, its using a tiny amount of oil, less then 1l in 10,000miles.

Still very much enjoying the car. Managed 47.1mpg on a recent drive home from leeds and enjoyed a good blast around the dales whilst i was up there.

IMG_5014 by jimmyb156, on Flickr


jimmy156

Original Poster:

3,681 posts

186 months

Tuesday 11th August 2015
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So one year on from buying the car i thought i would update this, even if none reads it i find it useful to track my ownership of the car to occasionally update this thread! The car is currently on 38,150mi, from memory i bought the car with a shade under 24,000mi on the clock, so its done around 14,500mi in a year, which is a fair bit more than i had envisaged (C.10k pa). The car is currently averaging 41.3 mpg, with truly missed driving. It gets used for commuting, long trips up north, trips to the shops and Sunday morning blasts. The only type of driving that i don't do a whole lot of is town driving, which will help to boost the mpg a bit.

IMG_6142 by jimmyb156, on Flickr


IMG_6138 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

The car still looks great IMO and other than a few stonechips the only bodywork issue that has appeared is a slight scuff where i bashed the garage door against the open boot. I have also added a PH smiley to the boot, in stealth black biggrin

IMG_6145 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

The car past its first MOT with me (and second ever) with no issues at all, as you would expect i suppose. A few weeks before it needed new discs and pads on the front (£250) and in a few 1000 miles it will need the same on the rear. The car is still on the four Bridgestone Potenza tyres that were on there when i bought it with a good amount of tread left. They seem to be holding up well, along with offering good levels of grip wet and dry, so will probably be replaced like for like when the time comes.

IMG_6152 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

The interior still looks new to me, excluding a whole in the drivers floor matt put their by the previous owners high heels, i should really sort that! I cleaned the front seats with some Gliptone Leather cleaner and followed with some Gliptone leather conditioner, a few days ago. The seats were starting to pick up a few marks and the straw that broke the camels back was a mechanic leaving some marks on the drivers seat. They came up nicely as you can see below, i was a little disappointed that the car didn't really get the "as new" leather smell that the product (and reviews) promised, but it smells a little of leather now.

Before:
IMG_5978 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

IMG_5979 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

After:

IMG_5980 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

IMG_5981 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

Overall i am still loving the car, and looking to do my first trackday before the end of the year. I will probably update again when i have done that!

IMG_6131 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

Edited by jimmy156 on Wednesday 12th August 15:40

LeeBash

47 posts

138 months

Tuesday 11th August 2015
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Love these, I'm considering one myself fairly soon so its good to see/hear owners experiences.
Can you get roof bars on these, or do they need roof rails from the factory?

jimmy156

Original Poster:

3,681 posts

186 months

Tuesday 11th August 2015
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LeeBash said:
Love these, I'm considering one myself fairly soon so its good to see/hear owners experiences.
Can you get roof bars on these, or do they need roof rails from the factory?
You can get roof bars, either from MINI directly or i think Thule make them for the MINI as well.

Bigbox

589 posts

210 months

Tuesday 11th August 2015
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I have exactly the same car (colour and spec!), one year older but only 18k miles.

Love it too - it's a great fun car that ticks so many boxes and is surprisingly spacious inside, moreso than a CLS i recently drove where i kept banging my head on various bits of the cockpit!

Thanks for saving me the bother of a reader's cars write up wink

I normally only keep cars for a year but have had this for almost 18 months. May be looking at swapping soon, only i can't decide what to after my Mini experience

jimmy156

Original Poster:

3,681 posts

186 months

Saturday 30th July 2016
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Two year ownership update...

Car now seems to be using a small amount of oil... which is a pain as the dipstick on MINI's is a complete joke and almost impossible to read. I would say it is maybe using around 1l per 5000mi or so, which i can cope with. I am going to keep an eye on it to make sure that it doesn't increase.

I have recently put 2x Pirelli PZero's on the front after putting some on the rear a few months ago. First impressions are that they are solid, perhaps a little stiffer then the Bridgestones they replaced (the Pirelli's are 88, compared to the Potenza's that were 84).

It just went through its MOT without a single advisory.

Still loving the car, can't see it going anywhere for a while!

steve-5snwi

8,593 posts

92 months

Saturday 30th July 2016
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I've had my clubman cooper s for 3 years, I've only had to top the oil up once in 3 years but then mine gets an oil change every three years. Mine has pro race 1.2's as these along with no run flats make a difference, I've also added a jcw steering wheel and gear knob as well as a sports cat. I love mine and doub't I'll change him for a few more years. I love the fact it's quick without being stupid fast and it just makes you smile.

jimmy156

Original Poster:

3,681 posts

186 months

Saturday 28th January 2017
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Little update on the MINI,

Having had the high pressure fuel pump replaced under warrenty in December 2014, it failed again this January.

BMW have been pretty decent about it, as the part was 1 month out of warranty they have offered to pay for 100% of the part cost, whilst i paid for the labour.

It seems the fuel pumps really are a week point on the R56 Cooper S. Apparently running the tank very low on fuel regularly can cause premature wear, especially if driven enthusiastically with low fuel, as all the petrol is pushed away from pump during cornering, meaning it ends up pumping some air. With this in mind i will be filling up on 2 bars rather than 1 from now on.

paulrandall

377 posts

208 months

Saturday 28th January 2017
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I love my Cooper S in Eclipse Grey, but the best improvement by far has to be the Blackline lights.

Managed to get these nearly half price from a Mini dealer, but there are really worth it IMO.



Then I decided to dechrome a few bits (headlight/grill surround) and upgrade the sidelights to LED.

My HPFP also went, so I'll be sure not to run it with an empty tank.

jimmy156

Original Poster:

3,681 posts

186 months

Saturday 28th January 2017
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Thats a good looking MINI you have there.

I must admit that i do think there is a bit too much chrome on these as standard, yours looks very smart.

Are the blackline lights the ones that i see usually on coupes/roadsters like this (its hard to tell from your photo)



If so, then again i totally agree that these look the business... i imagine they are quite expensive though? I am not usually one to change something that is in perfectly good working order for cosmetic reasons.

paulrandall

377 posts

208 months

Saturday 28th January 2017
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No, headlights are standard although I do like the black ones.

You can find the Blackline lights for just under £300 (If you visit Mini Torque under Costswold Mini there are 40% now)

This includes the rear lights and smoked indicators.

paultownsend

2,229 posts

182 months

Sunday 29th January 2017
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Great little cars. My other half has exactly the same with black lounge leather.
Can I ask, do you still get pops and bangs in sport mode? Ours is a late 2010 but aparantly soon after Mini realeased a software update to remove the pops and bangs on overrun. So ours is quiet in both modes. We get a few farts and that's it!

jimmy156

Original Poster:

3,681 posts

186 months

Sunday 29th January 2017
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Still got the pop and bangs in sport mode here. It's nothing crazy like a jag f-type, but it's still does a few burbles and a crack when you lift off. It's not really audible when you are pushing along at speed to be fair, you hear it more around town.

paulrandall

377 posts

208 months

Sunday 29th January 2017
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I believe the N18 engine pops a lot better than the N14.