R50 Cooper Facelift 2005 ... Worth it? Opinions

[rgv250ads]

Hi, spent a few weekends now looking at an R50 for Mrs RGV.

seems decent '02 and '03 cars are within £500 of decent '05 Facelift models.

When did the gearbox get an upgrade for the R50 as i keep reading there was a decent upgrade from the factory sometime late 2004.

Is the £500 or so extra purchase price for the 'facelift' R50 worth it over the first 3 years of production. Our budget is really around the £3000 mark but we're seeing some 2005 Facelift ones advertised for high 3's and it's making me ask the question if the leap to a facelift one is justified.

What were the other big ticket headline for the facelift?

I am worried about the 2001>2004 gearbox and steering reliability, but those cars are much cheaper.

Let me know your thoughts.

[Feirny]

June 2004 they moved from the Midland box to the 5 speed Getrag, which is a much better box, but they still have their problems.
Other things were the front and rear bumpers, along with the lights were all revised.
Top mounts were changed early 2002 as the early ones were awful.

If the midland box were to go, recon boxes are more readily available, Getrags are difficult to come by, I know this as we sell them (when we have them).

[rgv250ads]

Feirny said:

If the midland box were to go, recon boxes are more readily available, Getrags are difficult to come by, I know this as we sell them (when we have them).

Cheers Feirny,
so of the two, is the Midland box less robust?

What i'm trying to assertain is if we plump for a car with a Getrag box are we likely to be in the 'unlicky' category if it has problems. Or am i over egging this pudding and the midland box is actually okay and you'd be unlucky to suffer woes with them aswell?

What are the refurbishment costs of both boxes, or put another way, fixing the common faults on both Midland Vs Getrag.
Also, how do i know the car i'm looking at is Midland or Getrag. is there a tell tale casing mark, "Engine Number after XXXYYYZZZ" set-up, or something to distinguish. Mid 2004 could be slap bang in the middle of our car potentials!

Cheers in advance.

Edited by rgv250ads on Sunday 1st March 17:10

[Feirny]

rgv250ads said:

Cheers Feirny,
so of the two, is the Midland box less robust?

What i'm trying to assertain is if we plump for a car with a Getrag box are we likely to be in the 'unlicky' category if it has problems. Or am i over egging this pudding and the midland box is actually okay and you'd be unlucky to suffer woes with them aswell?

What are the refurbishment costs of both boxes, or put another way, fixing the common faults on both Midland Vs Getrag.
Also, how do i know the car i'm looking at is Midland or Getrag. is there a tell tale casing mark, "Engine Number after XXXYYYZZZ" set-up, or something to distinguish. Mid 2004 could be slap bang in the middle of our car potentials!

Cheers in advance.

Edited by rgv250ads on Sunday 1st March 17:10

Yes the midland is weaker, but you'd be unlucky if a getrag went on you. If driven with mechanical sympathy and looked after they're ok, also if the correct gearbox oil is used then you should be ok.
Midlands are cheaper to fix at about £450 for a recon box on exchange plus fitting and a new clutch. A getrag is about £750 on the same basis.
It tends to be the diff bearing that goes on them, if you catch it whilst it's noisy then you're ok, but if it goes then they like to exit the box through the casing and then most places won't take it as an exchange.

If you put the last 7 of the VIN into this http://www.bmwarchive.org/vin/bmw-vin-decoder.html then it will tell you the production month, 06/2004 on is getrag.

[rgv250ads]

Invaluable gearbox info, thanks for the detail.

Anyone else care to chip in with facelift opinions. Is the cabin a hugely better place to be for example?

[Bellatrix]

I read through this info and then looked for a 2005 model.

http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-gui...

[rgv250ads]

Bellatrix said:

I read through this info and then looked for a 2005 model.

http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-gui...

Thanks alot Bellatrix.

[0llie]

I don't think the facelifted car is worth a huge premium over a pre-facelifted one, but it depends how much you want to spend. If you're looking at £4k for a facelift model, you could get a very nice pre-facelift one for over £1k less, and leave £600 in the bank should the gearbox ever go pop (you'll get a 1yr warranty with this too).

The later cars are supposedly better built with fewer rattles and better panel gaps (I'm not 100% convinced on this, I've had 2x 2002 and 1x 2001 car, all are/were absolutely fine), and has slightly different bumpers, wheel options and upholstery.

Alternatively, buy one that has a noisy gearbox. I purchased a MINI One last year (62k miles, low owners, good spec etc.) for £1200, and sold it for £2500 earlier this year.