Mini Cooper S Sidewalk | Shed of the Week
Summer is done. So of course Shed thinks you should buy a convertible...
Shed doesn’t particularly like talking about New Minis as he can’t fathom all the R52, R53, R56 stuff. It just confuses him and heaven only knows what ‘pack’ this week’s sub-£2k Sidewalk is nearest to. Mini nerds are welcome to come along and explain it to us on the forum if they’ve got nothing better to do.
All Shed is prepared to do here is to blend in his own wafer-thin slice of Mini knowledge with what his Amstrad has reluctantly heaved up, namely that the first Cooper Sidewalk was sold in 2007 and 2008 as a limited edition Mini with a choice of four paint colours, bi-colour leather steering wheel and gearknob, Sidewalk interior trim, floor mats, badges and door inserts, 17-inch Night Spoke alloy wheels on the Cooper S versions, and English leather upholstery which Shed thought was supposed to be in David Dickinson Brown, or Malt Brown as it was more officially known. He’s not sure why it’s black in this car, but he is grateful for that.
Later Sidewalks had the 192hp and 206lb ft 2.0-litre turbo engine, wheels that Edward Scissorhands would have liked and a roof printed with a unique woven graphic arrow pattern, which sounds a bit prison-y, but our gen-one Sidewalk came as either a normal 1.6 Cooper, a 100-off JCW edition or, as here, with the 168hp and 162lb ft supercharged Cooper S engine. That was a poky lump when you got a few revs on it, more than 4,000 let’s say, so you shouldn’t be expecting to get much more than 10,000 miles out of the front tyres irrespective of whether you gear up the blower or not.
The 17-inch wheels do look spiffy but the ride will be far from plush even without the optional run-flat tyres. The rear visibility on the convertibles was rubbish even if you hadn’t managed to persuade your two mates to force themselves into the back for the lols, so the rear parking sensors you might think would be redundant on a Mini (and that thankfully came with every Sidewalk) were in fact more or less essential. Otherwise when the roof was down you’d be praying for the rubbish visibility you had when it was up. It was best to look at the Mini soft-top as a two-seater with back seats that folded down to create a slightly less miserable amount of luggage space.
The vendor’s pics suggest that the roof on this one does work, which they didn’t when the motors packed in, as they regularly did. When they were working the roof did operate quickly, in 18 seconds to be precise. More than a few soft tops were replaced under warranty though, only for the replacement ones to also fail, often out of warranty. One owner had his roof changed three times in the space of two months as the material kept tearing. Others found that the top wouldn’t close properly, causing wind noise and rattles.
The big problem with Minis generally was the number of big problems they tended to get. Many would look at fabric-roofed ones like this and immediately think ‘leaks’ but the most bothersome leakages on Minis were more likely to be electrical ones that could be difficult to trace. Brake lights could stick in the on position. Beyond electricity, boot lids might not shut. If you locked the glove box you might not be able to unlock it again. In the course of trying to sort out one trim rattle dealers sometimes unwittingly triggered two or three new ones. Not everyone found the front seats to be very comfortable. Mini auto gearboxes weren’t great so it’s good that this one has the manual, although they weren’t infallible either, sometimes lasting for less than a year before expiring.
Shed is giving up trying to get definitive answers from the internet on the cost of annual road tax, so the figure of £365 which he obtained for this one should be seen as advisory at best. The cost figures you’ll be given for servicing at BMW dealers might seem equally outlandish, mainly because they are. Any dealer invoice will not be Mini, especially in London where last year average non-marque-specific garage labour rates were found to be £141 an hour. You could knock £94 off that by living in Huddersfield, but the downside with that is that you’d have to live in, or at least near to, Huddersfield.
The thing about Huddersfield though is that it’s better than you might think – and that’s what it has in common with the Mini. Almost all of the negative Mini reviewers you’ll read online will reel off a load of defects and then conclude by saying how much they loved the car. That’s the spell these little cars can weave.
The defects noted on the January ‘23 MOT test for our shed were for the parking brake not working like it should, a non-excessive oil leak, worn CV boots, a seeping power steering component, and slight play in a track rod end ball joint. Shed knows all too well that seepage is always a possibility whenever rod ends and slight play are on the agenda, and you can double that when dodgy boots and BJs are involved, but he reckons that none of these issues should be a deal breaker.
As for the car, I had a convertible Sidewalk from new in 2008, in the same colour but with the brown leather. I liked it! But as the Cooper it did feel like it needed more performance. Downsides, as pointed out, it has a firm ride that feels harsh when you're not wanting to push on, the rear visibility was rubbish, the boot space was tiny, plus there's something about the design that means the rear bootlid gets filthy really quickly - and not in a good way, like the postmistress. But these all seemed minor for a car that was fun, seated four and didn't cause me any issues. Even the roof was handy, as it didn't need to be fully opened, but could be opened to just be a huge sunroof.
. Btw, love Shed’s final paragraph 
Cheap plasticky interior with nowhere to rest your arm on the door (annoyed me more than it should once I realised). Not worth it for the (admittedly awesome sounding) supercharger.
I'm sure I read that they're banned from driving tests due to the poor rear visibility.
Being a fan and owner of proper Minis these never really appealed but I can see the reason why they do to so many people.
I'd imagine you'd need to handy with the spanners or big garage bills could mean heartache.
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