R56 Cooper S

[Matt97]

The initial message was deleted from this topic on 24 February 2020 at 19:37

[white_goodman]

Congratulations! Looks like a really nice example and the colour scheme and wheels that I would favour too. I've had an R56 Cooper (not an S) as my daily, for just over a year now. I would have liked a Cooper S but for my limited budget, I could get a much nicer Cooper (mine's a 2009), plus I had read about the S being more susceptible to reliability issues (death rattle etc) but yours has had the timing chain and tensioner done, so that's some piece of mind. Mine's red on red, which looks OK (I think that a white/black roof might be a bit pretentious on a non-S) and it's on 16s. Anyway, it's great on fuel, is a blast to drive and more comfortable and refined on longer journeys than I could have reasonably expected. Reliability has been pretty good so far too, something that I was concerned about coming from a Honda Civic. The control weights are surprisingly heavy, which I think surprises a lot of people who drive it compared to other super-light small cars but they are very BMW in feel. I like it and it feels very stable in slippery conditions for a light, short wheelbase car. I may "upgrade" to a later R56 Cooper S (possibly a convertible) in time, as although the latest MINI looks like a great mechanical package, it has lost something in terms of styling and character on the inside in my opinion.

Out of interest, how does yours ride on 17s? The ride on mine is pretty atrocious. A bit better and more tied-down than my wife's old Fiat 500 but not much better. It's probably my least favourite aspect of the car.

Anyway, looks like a good buy and still a top choice in my opinion, in terms of styling, a quality feel and a fun drive. Enjoy!

[Matt97]

white_goodman said:

Congratulations! Looks like a really nice example and the colour scheme and wheels that I would favour too. I've had an R56 Cooper (not an S) as my daily, for just over a year now. I would have liked a Cooper S but for my limited budget, I could get a much nicer Cooper (mine's a 2009), plus I had read about the S being more susceptible to reliability issues (death rattle etc) but yours has had the timing chain and tensioner done, so that's some piece of mind. Mine's red on red, which looks OK (I think that a white/black roof might be a bit pretentious on a non-S) and it's on 16s. Anyway, it's great on fuel, is a blast to drive and more comfortable and refined on longer journeys than I could have reasonably expected. Reliability has been pretty good so far too, something that I was concerned about coming from a Honda Civic. The control weights are surprisingly heavy, which I think surprises a lot of people who drive it compared to other super-light small cars but they are very BMW in feel. I like it and it feels very stable in slippery conditions for a light, short wheelbase car. I may "upgrade" to a later R56 Cooper S (possibly a convertible) in time, as although the latest MINI looks like a great mechanical package, it has lost something in terms of styling and character on the inside in my opinion.

Out of interest, how does yours ride on 17s? The ride on mine is pretty atrocious. A bit better and more tied-down than my wife's old Fiat 500 but not much better. It's probably my least favourite aspect of the car.

Anyway, looks like a good buy and still a top choice in my opinion, in terms of styling, a quality feel and a fun drive. Enjoy!

Thank you. You can pick up a reasonable early R56 cooper s hatch for little money now. I personally don't mind the way it rides with the 17s & run flats, it fairly firm but that's what I expected. The other car i test drove was horrendous, it crashed about over the smallest of bumps. If you were looking at a cooper s I'd test drive a few both convertible and hatchback to see what you think.

[Matt97]

So the car has been away to have the bodywork issues sorted. It took longer than I expected but of what I've looked at the repairs seem to be okay so far. Both rear quarters, boot and both doors have been painted. These are a couple of stills taken from a video I received...

[Matt97]

Not much to report so here's a couple of snow photos . I had to save a friend and give them a lift to work on Friday as they were stuck yards away from their house, turns out an M135i isn't the best in the snow! I thought the Mini was pretty good in the snow, no winter tyres either.

[lewishollings]

Matt97 said:

Not much to report so here's a couple of snow photos . I had to save a friend and give them a lift to work on Friday as they were stuck yards away from their house, turns out an M135i isn't the best in the snow! I thought the Mini was pretty good in the snow, no winter tyres either.

I have a 118d M Sport and these snow days were unbearable, I don't mind driving in the snow usually. slow and steady as a general rule to avoid danger but I live on a sloped street.. Couldn't get to work 3 days last week.

Watching the girlfriends Citigo breeze past was painful.

[Shed TVR]

Nice MINI op! I really rate these as drivers cars, surprisingly quick and a great chassis. I would watch out for the timing chain - even when they've been replaced they can fail again down the line, listen for a diesely rattle on startup. Watch out for oil consumption also as it's fairly common for these to use up to a litre every 1000 miles and the standard dipstick is rubbish.

If you get the chance, take the inlet manifold off and have a look at the valves as they can get coked up and lose you a fair bit of power. Not a major issue if this has happened as it's fairly cheap to get them walnut blasted.

A couple of good little mods to do would be to fit 2 oil catch cans which reduces the oil consumption, and delete the stupid sound generator pipe and resonator so you get some more turbo noises and a bit more boost

[Matt97]

lewishollings said:

I have a 118d M Sport and these snow days were unbearable, I don't mind driving in the snow usually. slow and steady as a general rule to avoid danger but I live on a sloped street.. Couldn't get to work 3 days last week.

Watching the girlfriends Citigo breeze past was painful.

I bet you couldn't wait for the snow to disappear!

Shed TVR said:

Nice MINI op! I really rate these as drivers cars, surprisingly quick and a great chassis. I would watch out for the timing chain - even when they've been replaced they can fail again down the line, listen for a diesely rattle on startup. Watch out for oil consumption also as it's fairly common for these to use up to a litre every 1000 miles and the standard dipstick is rubbish.

If you get the chance, take the inlet manifold off and have a look at the valves as they can get coked up and lose you a fair bit of power. Not a major issue if this has happened as it's fairly cheap to get them walnut blasted.

A couple of good little mods to do would be to fit 2 oil catch cans which reduces the oil consumption, and delete the stupid sound generator pipe and resonator so you get some more turbo noises and a bit more boost

Thanks you , not sure about you but I've driven a fair few of these and I've found some go quite well and others seem a bit down on performance! A lot of people like to slate the N14 but I've spent over four years working on them so I know what I've let myself in for! Like you mentioned the oil consumption needs to be monitored, I like to check it weekly just to be safe even though I don't so huge miles.

It had a de-coke in 2017, but I have access to a walnut blaster if I ever needed it which is useful

Thanks for the mod ideas as well.

[jimmy156]

Nice MINI OP, i have had my R56 s for coming up for four years now, and still loving it. We recently bought my wife a 1.4 Peugeot 207 as a run about, i reckon this is the cheapest way to make the MINI feel a fk lot faster

Obligatory pic!
IMG_9450_edited-1 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

My mileage will be increasing significantly form september, so will be interesting to see how it handles the motorway miles. The only thing to keep going wrong on mine is the HPFP which has gone twice, replaced under warranty both times though!

[Matt97]

jimmy156 said:

Nice MINI OP, i have had my R56 s for coming up for four years now, and still loving it. We recently bought my wife a 1.4 Peugeot 207 as a run about, i reckon this is the cheapest way to make the MINI feel a fk lot faster

Obligatory pic!
IMG_9450_edited-1 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

My mileage will be increasing significantly form september, so will be interesting to see how it handles the motorway miles. The only thing to keep going wrong on mine is the HPFP which has gone twice, replaced under warranty both times though!

Great photo . You should be fine with the higher motorway miles, I presume you've got cruise control as well? I've seen the fuel pumps fail but haven't seen a car go through two in four years but atleast you had warranty!