RE: Shed of the Week: Mini Cooper S
Discussion
This inspired me to go and put the battery back on my track slag R53 which has been sat around for three months.
It fired straight up and I had an amusing hour getting the rust off the brake discs and warming everything through before a run to get some fresh petrol and a decent drive back home again.
Great little cars. This example seems very overpriced to me, however. I gave £2k for mine on a 55 plate with 87k miles on it - admittedly the suspension was tired despite a recent MoT pass, but since it was going to get replaced with track stuff anyway that was fine with me.
The brakes are probably the biggest weakness as standard, but cheap and easy to upgrade with the R56 brake setup.
It fired straight up and I had an amusing hour getting the rust off the brake discs and warming everything through before a run to get some fresh petrol and a decent drive back home again.
Great little cars. This example seems very overpriced to me, however. I gave £2k for mine on a 55 plate with 87k miles on it - admittedly the suspension was tired despite a recent MoT pass, but since it was going to get replaced with track stuff anyway that was fine with me.
The brakes are probably the biggest weakness as standard, but cheap and easy to upgrade with the R56 brake setup.
robemcdonald said:
I had one of the first of this generation of cooper S. The car cost £17K with the Chilli pack and a few options; Blue and Black leather and a minidisk player. (in case there is any doubt I also had a HD DVD player and my ability to predict the correct future technology is terrible)
I was offered £20K for it by the dealer within a week of picking it up, god only knows what he would have sold it on for. I kept it for a year and sold it back to the dealer for £15K.
I really liked it. I never had an issue with being a man in a mini either. It was best car I ever had for impressing the ladies.
Nice little car.
I bought a 6 month old 54 reg Cooper for 12k, six months later sold it to a bmw dealer for 12.5k. I was offered £20K for it by the dealer within a week of picking it up, god only knows what he would have sold it on for. I kept it for a year and sold it back to the dealer for £15K.
I really liked it. I never had an issue with being a man in a mini either. It was best car I ever had for impressing the ladies.
Nice little car.
I liked it but hated how easy the interior scratched, how bad the interior space was, how it pulled to the left which meant you always steered to the right on straights to compensate, then there was how easy the alloys kerbed.
Buy a 2002 one now though? No way. It's too leggy.
The reviews on cardealerreviews arent good yet weirdly the reviews for the seller on autrotrader are five stars
Edited by Sa Calobra on Friday 15th February 16:13
Had a 53 reg grey one with a black roof for about 8 months, before moving on to a sensible family car.
Mixed feelings really. Handling was awesome, interior looked funky. A lot of people liked it, especially female. Was reasonably practical for size although usually had to drop the seats to get the weekly shop in.
Supercharger whine got annoying after a while - reminded me of a Dyson. Acceleration was good, just very linear - no big surges in power.
But the ride was shocking - even the slightest bumps were horrendous. If I was keeping one, I would definitely ditch the run flats. Also, shocking fuel economy for a 1.6, even if it's supercharged. I've had a Golf 1.8T, Golf 2.3 V5, Celica 190 to name a few - this was by far the thirstiest. I think I averaged 27 mpg, even with sensible driving.
And had the fuel pump go which is common and was expensive. And did not like the £305/year tax.
So meh. Glad I had one, but would not have the same car again. And would avoid this one for a start
Mixed feelings really. Handling was awesome, interior looked funky. A lot of people liked it, especially female. Was reasonably practical for size although usually had to drop the seats to get the weekly shop in.
Supercharger whine got annoying after a while - reminded me of a Dyson. Acceleration was good, just very linear - no big surges in power.
But the ride was shocking - even the slightest bumps were horrendous. If I was keeping one, I would definitely ditch the run flats. Also, shocking fuel economy for a 1.6, even if it's supercharged. I've had a Golf 1.8T, Golf 2.3 V5, Celica 190 to name a few - this was by far the thirstiest. I think I averaged 27 mpg, even with sensible driving.
And had the fuel pump go which is common and was expensive. And did not like the £305/year tax.
So meh. Glad I had one, but would not have the same car again. And would avoid this one for a start
Cambs_Stuart said:
Might be a result of the cat N incident.
The dealer has some nice cars on their website (2018 Porsche 911 audi R8 v10 etc). Could be they're just tying to get rid.
Looks like it could be a bargain. Espcially if you could get the dealer to chuck in a warranty for a few months.
As per previous post don't be fooled by the cars there they are rip off merchants who sell 50K 500BHP cars with barely legal tyres, their PRE Sale inspection misses a list of things I picked up once on a ramp and I am in IT. The dealer has some nice cars on their website (2018 Porsche 911 audi R8 v10 etc). Could be they're just tying to get rid.
Looks like it could be a bargain. Espcially if you could get the dealer to chuck in a warranty for a few months.
You won't get a warranty out of them , you will be lucking if the car makes it a mile down the road.
Had a couple of these
What surprised me was that they were, to all intents and purposes, an ‘inverse TARDIS’; unlike the ‘proper’ Mini which seemed to have loads of interior space, this apology for using the Mini name had a paucity of space for both passengers and their paraphernalia.
I too found that fuel economy was a lot poorer than expected (the first one I bought, from its original owner near Manchester, returned 36mpg on a steady 70mph cruise)
Having two small kids at the time, the MINI isn’t equipped to carry a ‘normal’ family. Not no way.
Interior build quality, (or lack of) was awful imho, tacky and flimsy are just two words to describe it, the whole shebang feeling like it would self destruct if one of our small children even breathed upon it
Others may know the answer to this but if the supercharger on this particular example needs a little rejuvenation, will the costs of doing so virtually be the same as the purchase price?
What surprised me was that they were, to all intents and purposes, an ‘inverse TARDIS’; unlike the ‘proper’ Mini which seemed to have loads of interior space, this apology for using the Mini name had a paucity of space for both passengers and their paraphernalia.
I too found that fuel economy was a lot poorer than expected (the first one I bought, from its original owner near Manchester, returned 36mpg on a steady 70mph cruise)
Having two small kids at the time, the MINI isn’t equipped to carry a ‘normal’ family. Not no way.
Interior build quality, (or lack of) was awful imho, tacky and flimsy are just two words to describe it, the whole shebang feeling like it would self destruct if one of our small children even breathed upon it
Others may know the answer to this but if the supercharger on this particular example needs a little rejuvenation, will the costs of doing so virtually be the same as the purchase price?
We took one of these - a bright yellow example - up to the Evo Triangle for a Modern Classics Shoot. We ragged the s
t out of it up to Wales, behaved ourselves for the cameras - although my mate did forget to turn at a tight right hander and almost drove us into a reservoir - and then ragged it back. It was great fun, even though it had a few issues. Proper little pocket rocket and a proper bargain. We had plans to turn it into a track car, but he sold it instead.
t out of it up to Wales, behaved ourselves for the cameras - although my mate did forget to turn at a tight right hander and almost drove us into a reservoir - and then ragged it back. It was great fun, even though it had a few issues. Proper little pocket rocket and a proper bargain. We had plans to turn it into a track car, but he sold it instead. HorneyMX5 said:
Steering wheel is correct for a pre facelift car. 3 spoke wheel came later.
I had exactly the same wheel on my 55 plate facelift too - so it just depends what was specced on it when newI also chose 16” alloys after trying a demo car on 16” X-lites and comparing it to my friend’s car on the usual 17” S-spokes
A further improvement in ride and mpg was wrought by having normal tyres rather than RFTs at the first tyre change - not to mention a 10kg weight saving
Ran it for 8 years from new ( until the TLC pack came to end ) and it was a great little hatch. Had 2 young lads but there was enough room for days out etc plus everything was screwed together well although the plastic seat backs scratched easily
Loved the supercharger whine and the way the LSD pulled you into the apex when driving quickly - had the JCW airbox and it gave it a bit of extra noise on the throttle
Wouldn’t mind another R53 sometime but I don’t think I’d choose this particular SOTW - rather have a last of the line - got a newer Cooper at the moment which I’m enjoying
HorneyMX5 said:
Love mine and don't feel ashamed falling out of it or being seen in it.
IMG_0772 by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr
IMG_0777 by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr
IMG_0788 by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr
Shameless Readers Car thread pimp: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
The shed of the week? I'd swerve it. There's better examples out there for the money, but it does highlight how much a bargain these things are currently.
Get one and:
Poly bush the no doubt dead front arm bushes
Ditch any run flats
fit 15% reduced supercharger pulley
Decent alignment
a good service
any enjoy a genuinely quick and fun little hot hatch for peanuts.
Always enjoy reading your Reader’s Car thread chap IMG_0772 by Nicholas Horne, on FlickrIMG_0777 by Nicholas Horne, on FlickrIMG_0788 by Nicholas Horne, on FlickrShameless Readers Car thread pimp: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
The shed of the week? I'd swerve it. There's better examples out there for the money, but it does highlight how much a bargain these things are currently.
Get one and:
Poly bush the no doubt dead front arm bushes
Ditch any run flats
fit 15% reduced supercharger pulley
Decent alignment
a good service
any enjoy a genuinely quick and fun little hot hatch for peanuts.
CrippsCorner said:
I've been driving my Cooper S around for over 3 years now, great little thing. I preferred my previous Clio 182 out the box but with the right mods it's a blast. It's also been so, so reliable... I had a sticky throttle body to sort out (£40) and a battery replacement, other than that it's been spot on! Seems I'm in the minority though.
My mate has a 2012 JCW and it's a POS! He's spent more on repairs than my R53 cost in the first place :
He must have bought a duff then!My mate has a 2012 JCW and it's a POS! He's spent more on repairs than my R53 cost in the first place :
Have had my JCW direct from the factory from new in July 2012.
Still got it, just CAN'T let it go... immense fun!
Oh, and spent sweet f all, except usual tyres etc.
I tried a GP2 when I got a good offer exchange, but it was too mad (plus only 2 seats) so stuck with the JCW.
I was however quite taken with the GP2 red air intakes and thought I'd like some to match my red/white paintwork. £195 for a couple of plastic replacements painted red, and the pain of removing fitting, you must be joking!
So I trialed them a Chilli white coat, didn't like, didn't match. Spent 5 quid on a can of Chilli Red, just the biz. Another saving!
Car still goes like stink. Really ought to change it but haven't found anything as much fun.
Nearly 200 quid for 2 red plastic intakes! 
white... not right.
5 quid Chilli Red aerosol - job done!
That doesn't seem particularly dear for what it is to be fair - but the CO2 emissions are painful!
Mrs Tidy bought a new R50 Mini One in 2003 and the Halogen headlights are woeful - on dipped beam as well as main beam.
Still she did chose non-runflats with a spacesaver spare, so ride quality wasn't bad.
But when she bought an R56 Cooper in 2006 she opted for Xenons - among loads of other things that added about 50% to the basic list price!
I always liked driving her Minis though - they're just so planted.
Shed is doing well so far this year.
Mrs Tidy bought a new R50 Mini One in 2003 and the Halogen headlights are woeful - on dipped beam as well as main beam.
Still she did chose non-runflats with a spacesaver spare, so ride quality wasn't bad.But when she bought an R56 Cooper in 2006 she opted for Xenons - among loads of other things that added about 50% to the basic list price!
I always liked driving her Minis though - they're just so planted.
Shed is doing well so far this year.
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