Mini reliability?

^Already replaced the valve body. Rev Max can kiss my ass. It was better but the valve body resulted in slams into reverse and drive when cold (which wasn't there before the VB replacement) and stutter shifts from 1st to 2nd. That was immediately after install and reprogramming of the trans - special dealer tool required of course.

I know how to fill the trans oil but what a pita it is to do with the trans oil needing to be the right temp and the planets aligned and...

We can agree to disagree on the convertible. I didn't like it. You like it. It's all good. I have tried an NG Saab 900 and a Rabbit cabrio and an SLK and a Miata and an RX7 convertible. :) To each their own. :)

In reply to amg_rx7:

Fair enough on the cabrio.

I replaced my valve body twice. Same issues with hard shifts on 1-2 and 2-3. The first reman replacement was better than the stock one, but got worse over the course of a year. It was replaced with another reman unit which was a 95% fix. The 5% issue is a small rev flare on 2-3 and occasional hesitations to shift 1-2 at certain medium throttle input. I need to make sure the oil level is exact because these things are sensitive to that. I also agree that this is the dumbest way to fill a tranny ever conceived.

If I were you I would request a replacement VB from RevMax if you can. It seems rebuilds are not 100%. A new tranny is upwards of $5k so a retry of the VB seems like the way to go.

Good luck. P.S. There is a reman place called Valve Body Builders here in Ontario. I believe that is where mine were sourced from. You can try them if you are not dealing with RevMax. Lucky for me I bought an aftermarket warranty with my used MINI so my tranny work has not cost me anything.

I'm in the "an R52 is still enough" group. Any convertible that you can jack up using the front jacking point, lifting the entire side of the car, and still be able to open-close the doors without nary a rub or hint of tightness, qualifies as "stiff" to me. Hell, I've lifted more than a few non-convertible cars that can't do that. Is it stiff compared to the hard-top? Of course not. But compared to my co-worker's '96 Mustang convertible, our R52 was a vault.

Back to the OP's question: automatic or manual? As much as I love MINI's, I wouldn't recommend the automatic version from any model range.

amg_rx7 wrote: Regarding the convertible, I really did not like the R53 chassis convertible Mini. Way too much cowl shake and the chassis felt sloppy comparatively. Also, lots of wind inside the car made it rather uncomfortable to drive top down on the highway. Pretty terrible IMO.

I instructed someone in a R53 convertible at an autocross and didn't think it was too bad. Maybe I'm just used to it since my TR6 has cowl shake that is comparatively like a lap dance done by a gorilla.

My 2006 Cooper S was very solid with only an O2 sensor, thermostat housing and engine mount going bad in 60k miles. OTOH, I may have sold it before the real fun began.

My wife's 2011 S has been generally good, but there have been a load of little things under warranty. That expires this month, so we'll see what happens. I'd be less nervous if it wasn't a MINI.

Aspen wrote: In reply to amg_rx7: Fair enough on the cabrio. I replaced my valve body twice. Same issues with hard shifts on 1-2 and 2-3. The first reman replacement was better than the stock one, but got worse over the course of a year. It was replaced with another reman unit which was a 95% fix. The 5% issue is a small rev flare on 2-3 and occasional hesitations to shift 1-2 at certain medium throttle input. I need to make sure the oil level is exact because these things are sensitive to that. I also agree that this is the dumbest way to fill a tranny ever conceived. If I were you I would request a replacement VB from RevMax if you can. It seems rebuilds are not 100%. A new tranny is upwards of $5k so a retry of the VB seems like the way to go. Good luck. P.S. There is a reman place called Valve Body Builders here in Ontario. I believe that is where mine were sourced from. You can try them if you are not dealing with RevMax. Lucky for me I bought an aftermarket warranty with my used MINI so my tranny work has not cost me anything.

Tried that. They started making excuses telling me it was probably the trans or the oil level was off or.... Sounded more like they just wanted to string me along. They told me to remove it and send it back and wait for them to check it out. It was my and my wife's DD so I couldn't afford the month of down time dicking around shipping valve bodies back and forth and renting a car for the duration.

If they had any semblence of quality control, they wouldn't have so many people having to send it back for a second valve body replacement.

I'll come in not as a MINI owner but as a pro technician in a Euro shop. The cars are a BLAST to drive, and while they aren't practical for me right now, there is someone out there it's perfect for. I know I mostly only see the broken ones, but my impression is that the card are put together in such a way that doing one repair is stupid because you'll pass two other issues by. This goes for the r50/52/53 as well as the r56. My biggest problem with them is that when something fails, it's expensive. I just quoted a power steering pump for a guy on an 03 and it was close to $1000. Wouldn't have a problem with that problem if it was a rare failure, but it's common and can be caused by the pump, the commonly leaky houses, or the commonly failed cooling fan.

The supercharger water pump drive is another example of the complicated engineering used.

Right now I have an 08 CVT base in the shop with broken timing guides. Car was dropped off at another shop for a noise, turned out it had less than a quart of oil, no external leaks. The valve guides and stem seals are identical to the BMW N62 that we had in that burned a quart a week. Same part numbers. It will be getting all new stem seals, timing components, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something else. The car has less than 80k on it, which is the real tragedy.

If I could afford to live with a MINI, I would. Especially one still under warranty. Extended warranty would be even better. Do your research, and if you still wanna do it, do it and sip all that Haterade with a smile on your face.

spork wrote: I just quoted a power steering pump for a guy on an 03 and it was close to $1000.

Seeing this makes me question your knowledge of MINI's. If you're pricing it "by the book" then yes - it's a $1000 repair. In reality, there is a TON of 'fat' in that time estimate. A remanufactured pump is $230-$400 from Rockauto and takes at most 2 hours to R&R. An hour after you've done it a few times. Yes, I've done it and I'm not a professional tech - just a DIY-er with a lot of fancy tools.

Maybe it's because I've torn them apart and put them back together so many times, but I find MINI's one of the easier modern cars to work on. I'll take a MINI over a BMW any day.

Yes, but you're looking at this as a DIY'er who gets parts from RockAuto. I'm looking at this as a guy who gets parts that his shop can stand behind for a year with a warranty, no questions. Fat time or no, you'll be hard pressed to find a shop who will cut any profit incentive out of the job AND consistently do good work. The OP said the car would be for his mom. Who is gonna do the work? I figured the perspective would be welcome.

I tried really hard to not hate on MINI, because I really do like them. They are a blast to drive. Like I said, I see the expensive side of things.

'08 S hardtop here with a sixty mile daily commute.

Had timing guides and tensioner replaced under recall High pressure fuel pump under extended warranty

Both the issues are well documented online.

Outside of that the only non maintenance issue that came out of pocket after almost 120k was a leaking thermostat hosting and a bit of extra oil.

Nothing left me stranded and outside the numerous onerous trips to a sketchy dealer for little things, the car is a blast.

I would imagine a 2011-13 would be better sorted out than mine as a second year model...

In reply to Ian F:

Rockauto's pricing is awesome, it's better than wholesale price from most of the brick and motar stores many times, but with rock auto you have to wait on shipping and most of the time customers cant wait a week for a part. Then the parts get marked up, because well it's a business, and you dont sell stuff for the same price you buy it, then there is labor.

From the parts mark up and labor you have to pay for all those fancy tools you have, in a shop they are called overhead, along with rent, insurance, labor, everything. A lot of that fat people think of when getting an estimate is a lot more lean when you look at it from a business perspective.

Ive been in the auto industry for a long time, and I have tools and connections, and I could own pretty much anything but exotics and keep them maintained and running fine within my lowly means, but I am not the majority of people. We can sit and talk about how we pulled something from the junkyard for 10 dollars or how some random tiny shop makes an upgraded part for a quarter the price of the OE, and because of that, these or any other car arent that bad to own, but this stuff isnt an option for most people. Plus we are cars guys so generally we maintain our cars better, and have a higher tolerance for unreliable cars and high auto costs because we like them and this is a hobby for us.

As far as consumer affair complaints go compared to toyota. Mini sold a record (at the time, dont have current numbers) 301K cars world wide in 2012, Toyota's worldwide sales were over 6 Millions cars the same year. So for every Mini made Toyota made 20 cars. So if there are 20 complaints for every mini complaint then they probably are on similar field, plus toyotas dont have the greatest rep the last few years.

There is a reason these cars are thought of as fun but not great cars, it's based in reality. If these cars didnt break and werent expensive, how come everyone says they are?

I would without a doubt own one, but i'd never recommend one to someone unless they knew what they were getting into or had the same abilities and tools as myself.

Opti wrote: I would without a doubt own one, but i'd never recommend one to someone unless they knew what they were getting into or had the same abilities and tools as myself.

That is pretty much it right there. Good car for me, not so good for a someone who is going to go to a dealer or shop for every repair.

Based on all of the responses, it looks like a Mini is out of the question for a casual hobbyist like me. What a shame, SUCH a neat looking little car with so much promise. I was very much hoping that it could be my next car, but I would have to be able to do at least half of the repairs myself in order to make a car viable.

Even though I didn't begin the thread, thanks for all of the great info, you saved me from making a costly mistake.

TeamEvil wrote: Based on all of the responses, it looks like a Mini is out of the question for a casual hobbyist like me. What a shame, SUCH a neat looking little car with so much promise. I was very much hoping that it could be my next car, but I would have to be able to do at least half of the repairs myself in order to make a car viable. Even though I didn't begin the thread, thanks for all of the great info, you saved me from making a costly mistake.

Honestly my friend had never really worked on cars before he bought his MINI and he has done any repairs needed in my garage. The only time we have no had the tool that was needed was a crank pulley puller (standard auto parts ones didn't work). Anything you could possibly need to know how to do is on Pelican Parts. I really don't think they are out of reach of your standard automotive hobbyist.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/MINI/MINI_Tech_Index.htm

I'll second the don't let them scare you off comments. I have an '06 S with 98,000 miles and it's been a great car. No real issues at all. Every time I think something bad has happened, it's always something inexpensive and easy. Really, it's just like a BMW for better or worse, and has the same issues. If you could live with a BMW you can live with a MINI. And if you can do the work yourself, it's not so bad. Even though many of the parts are buried in the engine bay, it's fairly straightforward.

If you've ever owned any British or Italian car, the MINI is a piece of cake. If you've owned a Porsche or BMW, then the MINI is similar in many regards. In fact, I would place it far higher than the E36 in reliability. Sure parts are more expensive, maybe, but my MR2 parts would rival it.

I just think the MINI gets a bad reputation, and in many instances it is not based on merit.

racerdave600 wrote: If you've ever owned any British or Italian car, the MINI is a piece of cake. If you've owned a Porsche or BMW, then the MINI is similar in many regards. In fact, I would place it far higher than the E36 in reliability. Sure parts are more expensive, maybe, but my MR2 parts would rival it. I just think the MINI gets a bad reputation, and in many instances it is not based on merit.

It absolutely is based on merit. The OP is not asking this as a dyed in the wool car guy who does motor swaps every other weekend. He made it pretty clear that he ISN'T that sort of person.

These threads are so frustrating sometimes; remove yourself from the fact that every single person on this forum is in the .1% of car guys, let alone the population of the country. Not everyone wants (or has the ability) to swap a power steering pump themselves. Newsflash: that is NOT what people expect having to do themselves to their cars.

At the risk of further living up to the prediction for this thread, I'll pile on the "had very few problems" bandwagon. 2006 Cooper S with a manual transmission. The remote lock sensor went dead early in its life and was fixed under warranty.

Heck, it's almost a 9 year old car at this point. Find me a 9 year old car that hasn't had SOME issue.

Keep up with the regular maintenance (don't just wait for the idiot lights to tell you that service is required) and I think most MINIs are pretty decent.

HiTempguy wrote:

racerdave600 wrote: If you've ever owned any British or Italian car, the MINI is a piece of cake. If you've owned a Porsche or BMW, then the MINI is similar in many regards. In fact, I would place it far higher than the E36 in reliability. Sure parts are more expensive, maybe, but my MR2 parts would rival it. I just think the MINI gets a bad reputation, and in many instances it is not based on merit.

It absolutely is based on merit. The OP is not asking this as a dyed in the wool car guy who does motor swaps every other weekend. He made it pretty clear that he ISN'T that sort of person. These threads are so frustrating sometimes; remove yourself from the fact that every single person on this forum is in the .1% of car guys, let alone the population of the country. Not everyone wants (or has the ability) to swap a power steering pump themselves. Newsflash: that is NOT what people expect having to do themselves to their cars.

Right, but then why ask this particular group in the first place?

This is like when people at work ask me what car they should buy.

"I want something sporty." Me: Miata.

"No, I don't want a convertible." Me: Mustang, Camaro, Corvette...

"But I want it to get good gas mileage" Me: MINI, GTI, Focus ST...

Person looks at me strangely. Me: OK, fine. Go buy an Accord. I hear they're well rated.

Person walks away happy.

HiTempguy wrote:

racerdave600 wrote: If you've ever owned any British or Italian car, the MINI is a piece of cake. If you've owned a Porsche or BMW, then the MINI is similar in many regards. In fact, I would place it far higher than the E36 in reliability. Sure parts are more expensive, maybe, but my MR2 parts would rival it. I just think the MINI gets a bad reputation, and in many instances it is not based on merit.

It absolutely is based on merit. The OP is not asking this as a dyed in the wool car guy who does motor swaps every other weekend. He made it pretty clear that he ISN'T that sort of person. These threads are so frustrating sometimes; remove yourself from the fact that every single person on this forum is in the .1% of car guys, let alone the population of the country. Not everyone wants (or has the ability) to swap a power steering pump themselves. Newsflash: that is NOT what people expect having to do themselves to their cars.

Dude, go back and read my post, or did you at all. I've pretty much had zero problems with my car, zero. How is that difficult for someone with so few tools. All I did state is that if you wanted to do it yourself, it's not all that hard to work on. Have you owned one yourself or are you just repeating what you've heard?

My point was, that compared to almost every other car we praise on here, it's as good as most of those, and better in many cases.

If anything, I would!d rather buy a performance car like a mini, gti, corvette, etc. Rather than an accord. Buy it at the end of the depreciation cycle, and there is always another enthusiast out there to buy it.

racerdave600 wrote: My point was, that compared to almost every other car we praise on here, it's as good as most of those, and better in many cases.

No, it isn't. It is not as reliable as a miata, a civic, a insert car here.

Your anecdotal evidence is worth SFA. Sorry dude. The reason why people come on here and ask us these questions is exactly because we are the type of people we are; we'll have fixed all of the E36 M3ty things ourselves, and through our experiences, will be able to share this with them. Then they can decide whether the aggravation is worth it.

Once again, referencing back to the VAG, they have had serious problems in the past. It should also be noted, with ANY new car, that the overall quality and reliability has gone up REMARKABLY in the past two decades. It certainly isn't the 90's anymore. But there are some serious, ruining ownership issues with MINI's that will bankrupt you if you don't do your own work. Thats a pretty important pitfall to avoid, have you ever been stuck with a car you can't fix, can't afford to pay someone to fix, and then sell it for a pittance? It sucks.

I know the roadster is a newer design but I believe the convertible came out late in the first generation. Im not up to snuff on all the iterations, but if looking at a used one, do not ever get the CVT, they are a common failure, and according to a friend who had one and my tranny guy. If it dies the repair is generally more than the car is worth.

Do not get a CVT

The current convertible (4-seats vs. the Roaster 2-seat) is R56 based and uses a normal automatic.

TeamEvil wrote: Based on all of the responses, it looks like a Mini is out of the question for a casual hobbyist like me. What a shame, SUCH a neat looking little car with so much promise. I was very much hoping that it could be my next car, but I would have to be able to do at least half of the repairs myself in order to make a car viable. Even though I didn't begin the thread, thanks for all of the great info, you saved me from making a costly mistake.

That's your loss, then.

I'll put it this way. I'm heavily involved with our local MINI club in Philly and have been for a decade now. This is a social club first: they go for drives, food meets, the occasional car show (rare). By in large, they are NOT "car people" and their car discussions usually revolve around what wax brand to use. A few do the occaional track day, even fewer autocross. Any work they need done is at a dealer or one of the local indie shops (usually Helix).

Do people have problems now and then? Absolutely. But in general, the dealers take care of them in warranty. Most go to Helix afterwards. Yes, some will have enough and bail out, but for the most part, they deal with it or buy a newer model because they love the car and community around it.

Even the much-maligned CVT isn't always doomed. I have one friend with an '04 Cooper with over 150K miles on the original CVT.

Ian F wrote:

TeamEvil wrote: Based on all of the responses, it looks like a Mini is out of the question for a casual hobbyist like me. What a shame, SUCH a neat looking little car with so much promise. I was very much hoping that it could be my next car, but I would have to be able to do at least half of the repairs myself in order to make a car viable. Even though I didn't begin the thread, thanks for all of the great info, you saved me from making a costly mistake.

That's your loss, then. I'll put it this way. I'm heavily involved with our local MINI club in Philly and have been for a decade now. This is a social club first: they go for drives, food meets, the occasional car show (rare). By in large, they are NOT "car people" and their car discussions usually revolve around what wax brand to use. A few do the occaional track day, even fewer autocross. Any work they need done is at a dealer or one of the local indie shops (usually Helix). Do people have problems now and then? Absolutely. But in general, the dealers take care of them in warranty. Most go to Helix afterwards. Yes, some will have enough and bail out, but for the most part, they deal with it or buy a newer model because they love the car and community around it. Even the much-maligned CVT isn't always doomed. I have one friend with an '04 Cooper with over 150K miles on the original CVT.

Not sure why people trash European cars. I work for a local unviersity and lots ofs tudents drive beater VW's for 4 years through school with enar zero issues. These are often hand me down cars or craigs lsit specials with over 150K on them. Lots of them are perfectly relaible.

I would buy a VW Diesel current generation as a family car other than the HPFP and Intercooler icing issues.

Opti wrote: I know the roadster is a newer design but I believe the convertible came out late in the first generation. Im not up to snuff on all the iterations, but if looking at a used one, do not ever get the CVT, they are a common failure, and according to a friend who had one and my tranny guy. If it dies the repair is generally more than the car is worth. Do not get a CVT

Agree, but there are more options than jsut a CVT car.