MINI Cooper S - new (second hand) purchase!

[Mins21]

Hi all

I am new here, and in fact the car I purchased was advertised for sale here I believe!

Anyway - I love the car and am definitely a MINI convert as I used to believe they were girls cars...(oh how wrong I was!)

I have just had it serviced (second service under the TLC package - inspection 1), and it drives well using Shell V-Power fuel.

Just a few points:

The air con smells a bit - like dead fish or something...is this covered under warranty to be be fixed etc.

When I had it serviced the fella told me that the brake pads/discs etc would need replacing soon - can I get this done somewhere else without affecting warranty?

I'll probably wait until the warranty finishes next year then get the engine remapped to give me 185BHP or so...can't wait!

all in all I love the car!

anyhoo - just wanted to say hi to you all

Min

[wiz 1]

Hi Mins21 Welcome to the site.

Agree about the V power makes a big diference to the regular Morrisons stuff I normally use, have to make quite a trip to the nearest Shell garage.If your getting the brakes done get a quote of the MINI dealership just had my rear pads done £98 all in half that was parts so thought it was pretty good.

[ehyouwhat]

Oddly I always found that my MINI ran better on the BP Ultimate fuel than the Shell version, but that was pre V-Power rebrand. Is the newer fuel any different?

[byff]

Just picked up my new (second hand) 02 Cooper S aswell. I'll be using Shell V power or BP Ultimate as I'm used to the stuff coming from a Cerbera, so might aswell keep to the good stuff.

I'm having a bit of trouble with the sat-nav which I've put on a seperate thread and a clonky steering wheel when going from lock-to-lock.

Don't know what recalls it's had and if they've been done, so will be popping in to my local dealer to check it out on Wednesday.

[burns76]

Hi there!

My aircon has a bit of a whiff to it as well ~ seems to be when I've switched the engine off, then restarted within an hour or so. You'll get used to it!

I also have the occasional clunky steering (chap above mentioned), but when I try to replicate it so I can tell Mini what's wrong, I can't do it! So I'm waiting to see if it gets any worse or any more frequent. But if you find a quick fix in the meantime, shout up!

On the brakes issue, how do you know when they need changing? Had my 2nd service this weekend (the first proper one they do) and they marked on the sheet that there is 4mm left on the pads, but didn't say what percentage of wear that is. It has to go back for some work the weekend after next so if the pads need changing it'd be handy to know before I go (and no, I don't expect Mini to advise me, as my experience with them this weekend wasn't good!). Sorry to thread-hijack!

[gonzales]

Just to throw the whole petrol choice into chaos, I have driven with BP ultimate and Tesco regular and tesco 99 RON and have noticed no difference at all in the running of the car or the acceleration. The only difference noticed was in the cost to my pocket.

Congrats on buying the mini guys. Top car and a good laugh.

If you struggle with dealerships try a few in your local area. I have had no end of trouble with HWJ and now will only take my car to Williams BMW to have it looked at.

[Marki]

byff said:

I'm having a bit of trouble with the sat-nav which I've put on a seperate thread

Whats up with your satnav ???

[b.johnson]

ehyouwhat said:

Oddly I always found that my MINI ran better on the BP Ultimate fuel than the Shell version, but that was pre V-Power rebrand. Is the newer fuel any different?

yes the fule is different, it is 99 ron as apposed to optimax was 97ron. it is i belive the only (real) 99ron fuel you can buy from a pump, Tesco 99ron is 4% biofuel befor anyone grills me on that.
i use it in my car an i can notice the difference.

[Mins21]

Found out that the aircon can usually be sorted by blasting the aircon for about 10 minutes (weat a jumper!), and then the heat for another ten minutes...this will build up the ice so to speak and the heat will kill the bacteria that builds up and causes the smell...

I still have to get the brakes done - just not sharp enough and dont have a bite to them!...also want to change the tyres ro non-runflats as the pain that runflats cause is annoying! Anyone know where I could get R90s on non-runflats for a decent price? I love those rims!

cheers

[baSkey]

Mins21 said:

Found out that the aircon can usually be sorted by blasting the aircon for about 10 minutes (weat a jumper!), and then the heat for another ten minutes...this will build up the ice so to speak and the heat will kill the bacteria that builds up and causes the smell...

I still have to get the brakes done - just not sharp enough and dont have a bite to them!...also want to change the tyres ro non-runflats as the pain that runflats cause is annoying! Anyone know where I could get R90s on non-runflats for a decent price? I love those rims!

cheers

only fleabay.

i was going to get those rims but decided that as it was our only car and they would inevitably get kerbed i would go with the bullets (rareish at the time) as 'normal' wheels are so much easier to repair..!

[Byff]

Mins21 said:

I still have to get the brakes done - just not sharp enough and dont have a bite to them!...

I bought some discs and pads from eBay for about £40 + £20 postage and they turned out to be mintex branded, chuck in another £15 for the local garage to fit them because I'm getting far too lazy to be working on cars myself.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BRAKE-DISCS-PADS-FRONT-VENTE...

They are so much better than the old ones, hardly any fade and good bite from them. I would love to feel what the JCW (or equivalent) are like.