Mark one convertible - what to look for?
Discussion
So the other half has decided she would like a soft top and has now settled on the mini. Got about 5.5 k to splash out so looks like it'll get us an early version (04/05).
What are the key things to look for, did they suffer from anything different to the standard car?
Looks like some (a lot!) Of that age don't have aircon (but do have a cassette player!) -is there a handy spec guide anywhere as not really getting the whole chilli/salt/pepper thing!
Finally, will a mini one seem horribly under powered as she's used to the wrx as a daily driver :-)
cheers guys!
What are the key things to look for, did they suffer from anything different to the standard car?
Looks like some (a lot!) Of that age don't have aircon (but do have a cassette player!) -is there a handy spec guide anywhere as not really getting the whole chilli/salt/pepper thing!
Finally, will a mini one seem horribly under powered as she's used to the wrx as a daily driver :-)
cheers guys!
MINI One - 90bhp but can be remapped up to just above Cooper power. It won't however be as quick as the Cooper as the gear ratios are different.
MINI Cooper - 115bhp
Cooper S - 170bhp
Works - 210bhp
A Cooper for me would be the best bet, I had a Cooper Convertible, and it was a great fun little car.
Standard spec is 15" wheels, and not much else. Chili pack got you the half leather sports seats, a 16" wheel upgrade, chrome line exterior, two height adjustable seats, and a few other bits and pieces.
Things to watch out for... the big one is the roof mechanism. They can fail, and if they do you're looking at the thick end of a £1000 bill, so make sure the roof operates smoothly. Also inspect the roof for signs of wear above the rear side windows. There is a pinch point here when the roof is folded, they all wear/rub, make sure it hasn't gone through the fabric.
Engine is a pretty bullet proof Tritec 1.6, proper old school cast iron block, just make sure it has been well serviced. Gearbox is also fine as all convertibles have the later Getrag gearbox.
MINI Cooper - 115bhp
Cooper S - 170bhp
Works - 210bhp
A Cooper for me would be the best bet, I had a Cooper Convertible, and it was a great fun little car.
Standard spec is 15" wheels, and not much else. Chili pack got you the half leather sports seats, a 16" wheel upgrade, chrome line exterior, two height adjustable seats, and a few other bits and pieces.
Things to watch out for... the big one is the roof mechanism. They can fail, and if they do you're looking at the thick end of a £1000 bill, so make sure the roof operates smoothly. Also inspect the roof for signs of wear above the rear side windows. There is a pinch point here when the roof is folded, they all wear/rub, make sure it hasn't gone through the fabric.
Engine is a pretty bullet proof Tritec 1.6, proper old school cast iron block, just make sure it has been well serviced. Gearbox is also fine as all convertibles have the later Getrag gearbox.
The Mini One will seem underpowered, but it is essentially the same as a Cooper mechanically so can be mapped easily to get a tad more power out of it.
The only issues that I can think of that are on the cabrios and not the hatches are the wear issues with the roof. They are prone to shiny spots and premature wear which can obviously cause big problems. I've heard of several having to be replaced under warranty.
Also if neither of you have driven one then be wary that the rear visibility is appalling. With the roof up you can see out of the middle of the rear window but the roll bar things block everything else, and you can't see your blind spots at all, and with the roof down you can't see anything out of the rear view as the roof sits in the way.
Check that all the parking sensors work too, their standard due to the bad visibility.
The packs are pretty straightforward, Salt is the lowest spec pack, followed by Pepper and Chilli is the highest one. Chilli isn't available on the Mini One though.
Also one of the major issues on all the Gen 1 Minis is the gearboxes, the prefacelift (pre-54) non S cars had a Midlands gearbox which is terrible, the Cooper S and the post facelift cars have a Getrag which is much better (the S gearbox is 6 speed too). So avoid the prefacelift cars unless you find a clean one with very little mileage or it could end up costing you.
Plus you may or may not know about the power steering pump issues as they can be problematic, the best way to diagnose it is by listening to the noise when turning the wheel.
The only issues that I can think of that are on the cabrios and not the hatches are the wear issues with the roof. They are prone to shiny spots and premature wear which can obviously cause big problems. I've heard of several having to be replaced under warranty.
Also if neither of you have driven one then be wary that the rear visibility is appalling. With the roof up you can see out of the middle of the rear window but the roll bar things block everything else, and you can't see your blind spots at all, and with the roof down you can't see anything out of the rear view as the roof sits in the way.
Check that all the parking sensors work too, their standard due to the bad visibility.
The packs are pretty straightforward, Salt is the lowest spec pack, followed by Pepper and Chilli is the highest one. Chilli isn't available on the Mini One though.
Also one of the major issues on all the Gen 1 Minis is the gearboxes, the prefacelift (pre-54) non S cars had a Midlands gearbox which is terrible, the Cooper S and the post facelift cars have a Getrag which is much better (the S gearbox is 6 speed too). So avoid the prefacelift cars unless you find a clean one with very little mileage or it could end up costing you.
Plus you may or may not know about the power steering pump issues as they can be problematic, the best way to diagnose it is by listening to the noise when turning the wheel.
sorry about the MX5 comment but given the choice thats where my money would go
the wifes cooper drop top has a snapped cable so I'm a tad negative at the moment - we bought it with the problem from my daughter to "help her out" but I'm going to strip it myself to attempt a repair soon.
Apart from that its good fun I was surprised to hear that all convertibles have getrag boxes as I was convinced it used the midland box it's a 2004 model - the box sounds a bit noisy too me?
Also the steering pump issue hasn't been a problem - yet - but we did have a 2002 cooper previously and the pump was noisy from the day we got it and 3 years down the line we sold it and it was still noisy but never packed up so who knows ?
"Engine is a pretty bullet proof Tritec 1.6, proper old school cast iron block, just make sure it has been well serviced. Gearbox is also fine as all convertibles have the later Getrag gearbox."
good luck with your search !!
the wifes cooper drop top has a snapped cable so I'm a tad negative at the moment - we bought it with the problem from my daughter to "help her out" but I'm going to strip it myself to attempt a repair soon.
Apart from that its good fun I was surprised to hear that all convertibles have getrag boxes as I was convinced it used the midland box it's a 2004 model - the box sounds a bit noisy too me?
Also the steering pump issue hasn't been a problem - yet - but we did have a 2002 cooper previously and the pump was noisy from the day we got it and 3 years down the line we sold it and it was still noisy but never packed up so who knows ?
"Engine is a pretty bullet proof Tritec 1.6, proper old school cast iron block, just make sure it has been well serviced. Gearbox is also fine as all convertibles have the later Getrag gearbox."
good luck with your search !!
srdtvr said:
sorry about the MX5 comment but given the choice thats where my money would go
the wifes cooper drop top has a snapped cable so I'm a tad negative at the moment - we bought it with the problem from my daughter to "help her out" but I'm going to strip it myself to attempt a repair soon.
Apart from that its good fun I was surprised to hear that all convertibles have getrag boxes as I was convinced it used the midland box it's a 2004 model - the box sounds a bit noisy too me?
Also the steering pump issue hasn't been a problem - yet - but we did have a 2002 cooper previously and the pump was noisy from the day we got it and 3 years down the line we sold it and it was still noisy but never packed up so who knows ?
"Engine is a pretty bullet proof Tritec 1.6, proper old school cast iron block, just make sure it has been well serviced. Gearbox is also fine as all convertibles have the later Getrag gearbox."
good luck with your search !!
All convertibles are facelift cars, the convertible was launched on June 26th 2004 and introduced the facelift to the MINI range. AS such, all convertibles have the Getrag gearboxes, and the revised under bonnet bits and pieces such as the smaller 'triangle' airbox as opposed to the pre-facelifted big square airbox.the wifes cooper drop top has a snapped cable so I'm a tad negative at the moment - we bought it with the problem from my daughter to "help her out" but I'm going to strip it myself to attempt a repair soon.
Apart from that its good fun I was surprised to hear that all convertibles have getrag boxes as I was convinced it used the midland box it's a 2004 model - the box sounds a bit noisy too me?
Also the steering pump issue hasn't been a problem - yet - but we did have a 2002 cooper previously and the pump was noisy from the day we got it and 3 years down the line we sold it and it was still noisy but never packed up so who knows ?
"Engine is a pretty bullet proof Tritec 1.6, proper old school cast iron block, just make sure it has been well serviced. Gearbox is also fine as all convertibles have the later Getrag gearbox."
good luck with your search !!
The power steering pumps shouldn't be so much of a problem on the convertibles either. The pumps were bench tested at the plant in Oxford, and the quieter of the pumps were allocated to convertibles. Since all the pumps whine to a degree, MINI thought of owners in top down situations by fitting the quieter ones to those cars.
My Cooper Convertible I collected new on the 17th July 2004, so was one of the very first cars. So early in fact that under the bench rear seat was written on the foam "R52 Trial No. 5" in black marker pen!
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