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As MINIs are allowed to come play with the big BMW boys, I thought I'd share this beauty I bought today. Pics were taken just under a week ago after I took it for a test drive.   62K miles 2007 Mini Cooper S (second generation), complete with full leather interior, sports suspension, 17" alloys and the Chilli pack, along with some more extras. Going to take some getting used to the power of the engine, but I think I'm going to be having a lot of fun.  Lots to take in reading the owners manual though, this is going to take me ages.
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Feb 10, 2014 22:20
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keykey posted:Since Mini's are allowed to play here too, does anybody know of an mpg gauge add on for the R53? I do mostly country driving to work and I'm still in the process of figuring out what gears are better for what speeds, etc. I'm not 100% sure as it depends when your car was made, but if you have the Chilli pack installed (or if it was selected on its own), you should have an onboard computer that will show your average mpg along with another option to tell you what gear to be in. There should be a button at the end of your left ancillary, try pressing it a few times and seeing what options it gives you. Only thing to bear in mind is the fuel consumption on the R53 Cooper S wasn't very good at all, so you might be a tad disappointed. I've got an R56 Cooper S, and I've found so far that my car's engine and fuel consumption seems happier along these rough lines: 0-10mph - 1st 10-20mph - 2nd 20-30mph - 3rd 30-40mph - 4th 40-50mph - 5th 50mph+ - 6th My typical average mpg around town is about 35mpg, and when I'm cruising out on the A roads I typically get about 45-50mpg. Speaking of Mini's being allowed to play here too, I attended the preview event for the 2014 Cooper model tonight at my local dealership and snapped a few photos if anyone was interested. Two examples of the classic Mini. The red one is a 1960s Austin Mini Cooper S with quite the rallying pedigree, and the blue one is a 1990s Rover Mini belonging to the wife of a work colleague of mine.  Going from right to left we have a first generation BMW Mini Cooper S, can't say I'm overly keen on the colour, then we have a black 2nd generation BMW Mini Cooper Inspired by Goodwood, and then in the background we have the new 2014 Mini Cooper.  I had to get a better look at the Goodwood Mini, especially given this would have retailed for £41,000 when new. The exterior itself is pretty classy on its own.  The interior is sickeningly luxurious. Can't say I care much for that automatic gearbox though.  The diesel version of the 2014 Mini Cooper.  Sitting inside the above Cooper. The ignition is that big red switch in the bottom middle of the centre console, and it has a red glow around it that pulses on and off.  The 2014 Cooper S model. Unfortunately people kept walking in front of it, so this was the best shot I could get.  Interior of the Cooper S. The mood lighting in this version of the Cooper S is considerably more noticeable than in my R56 Cooper S. Was also delighted to see it has a manual transmission.  Overall quite impressed after having a good poke around in the new models, although I can't say that the almost tweed feeling of the cloth seat fabric appealed to me at all, but the cloth in the Cooper S was basically like the old models, so it might be a case of just choosing what you want. Still prefer mine though, these interiors might be nice, but they aren't red.
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Mar 13, 2014 23:29
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Given the infamy of the Mini Cooper S death rattle, does this sound normal to you guys or am I just being paranoid? http://youtu.be/jqNDDvScyfg Sorry for the shaky vid and wind.
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Aug 29, 2014 19:32
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Enigma89 posted:I have no idea but you have beautiful tile/stones/whtaever for your driveway. The orange/blue reminds me of the south of France. Thanks, I'm afraid the tiles are just the pathway leading to the front door alongside the driveway, the driveway is rather worn out concrete and tarmac. Which actually has a massive and remarkably useful pothole which stops me from reversing too far into the house 
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Aug 29, 2014 20:28
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Ahaha BMW wants £550 to fix the tiniest loving rust spot on my car. Its like less than 3mm long and not even 1mm wide, and its right at the edge of the metal where it joins onto the plastic wheel arch. gently caress that, I can get a treatment kit and a touch up pen with some paint for £20. I'll do the bugger myself.
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Nov 13, 2014 20:13
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So if the 3 series is for poors who can't afford a REAL BMW, does that make the 1 series Babby's First Beemer? I ask because I quite like the look of the 1 series coupe and will probably go for one if I need to get something bigger than a Mini in the future.
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Nov 14, 2014 19:59
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Admirable Gusto posted:There's no Mini thread so this is the appropriate place right They're actually very reliable on the whole, its just one particular generation and model of Mini, specifically the early R56 (2006-2014 Cooper S) that became notorious for timing chain tensioner failures. Which if left unchecked would basically destroy the engine, hence the infamy of the "death rattle". No other Mini has been affected by this to the same scale, and the issue was resolved with new tensioners from about 2009 onward. The F56 Mini has a completely new engine which does not suffer from the issue. Its worth mentioning that this wasn't limited to Minis either, other cars that used the same engine (such as the Peugeot 207 and the Citroen DS3) suffered from the same issue. I'm not sure if its the same with the newer models, but my generation of Cooper S (R56, yes the same one that had the tensioner problem) goes through oil pretty quickly, so its really important you check and top up your oil. Mine gets through about a litre every 1200 miles or so. Oh, and whatever you do for the love of god don't get both sport suspension and run flat tyres. Lord Ludikrous fucked around with this message at 10:08 on Nov 16, 2014 |
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Nov 16, 2014 10:03
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Admirable Gusto posted:Thanks, this is really helpful Ah thats fair enough. I'm not sure to be honest, when I was having a play with customising a car on the Mini website runflats were a selectable option that was not enabled by default. I know they come standard with BMWs and my generation of Cooper S when it was in production. I've got a triple whammy of sports suspension, 17 inch rims and runflat tyres, and every time I go over a pothole or some bumpy country road its like being on the bridge of the Enterprise when its being shot at.
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Nov 16, 2014 19:56
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I need a better paying job.   Sad thing is for the power, upholstery and features, thats very cheap compared to other high end marques like Audi or Mercedes.
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Nov 23, 2014 10:47
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Data Graham posted:So hey, apparently BMW has decided it's the only car company left on earth that consciously chooses to put manual transmissions in things, huh? To what automotive god should I address my blood sacrifice? They seem to be the only premium marque still putting in traditional level operated hand brakes as well. Seems that Mercedes have opted for the foot pedal design, and Audi have gone with the god awful button operated electronic parking brake. Vile evil things.
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Nov 30, 2014 22:33
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MINI have announced the new Mini Cooper S John Cooper Works hatchback. A 2.0l twin turbocharged engine at 231bhp on a car that weighs less than 1200kg.  
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Dec 13, 2014 09:58
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Chemmy posted:It's "TwinPower" which is BMW marketing speak for a dual scroll turbo, there aren't two of them. Welp, shows how much I know. coolskillrex remix posted:where are you getting curb weight? If indeed its 1200kg then its not bad if they keep it around $30,000 well equipped. I was looking at the weight of a standard Cooper which is 1190kg. I've checked again and the weight for a Cooper S which is what this is based on is 1250kg, I can't seeing it being too much heavier (might even be lighter). A Cooper S with a decent level of equipment is about £22,000, it will be interesting to see how much more this will be.
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Dec 14, 2014 01:52
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So I did something rather dumb yesterday, in that I didn't properly secure my fuel cap after I'd filled up and drove about a mile before I realised. In that time a yellow engine warning light has appeared. Having googled about it looks like an improperly closed fuel cap will set off a warning light on both Mini's and BMWs, and it would be a heck of a coincidence if the engine developed a problem without any prior issues after this event. However, the information I've found is unclear on how long it takes for the light to go away once it realises there isn't a leak or anything. The car feels just fine, the engine behaves and sounds perfectly well, and there is no detectable loss of power. The car is going in for some other bits to be done on Wednesday anyway, and when I dropped by they didn't find any problems or errors logged with the fob. Presumably I've got nothing to worry about?
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Feb 1, 2015 14:54
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Thanks guys, looks like it was the fuel cap after all. It went off this morning, looks like the commute to work and back on Monday was enough to convince the car there weren't any problems. Dropping the car off at the garage for some suspension work to be done, heres hoping the courtesy car they issue me for the day is a BMW. 
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Feb 3, 2015 23:17
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So I didn't get a BMW for my courtesy car. Instead I ended up with a Mini Cooper Roadster, which I have to say was an absolute blast to drive. Even though its winter and freezing cold outside, this failed to stop me from putting the roof down and tearing around the English countryside on my lunch break. I also took the opportunity to have a sit in some of the BMWs at the dealership, and found the 1 series far too cramped, the Z4 horrifically cramped (like is this actually made for small middle aged men?), but holy poo poo the 2 series was perfect. Loads of leg room, an excellent driving position, and the wheel and gearstick were all perfectly placed. I could never be happy with an eco shitbox.
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Feb 4, 2015 20:15
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GentlemanofLeisure posted:I'm sure you're talking about the current gen Z4 (e89) which I've sat in, and found similar to my '07 M Coupe. It made me feel claustrophobic the first day I had it, but I got used to it really quickly. However, when I get in my e46, it feels cavernous inside now. To be honest I was actually visibly shocked at how bad the space was in the 1 and Z4. I wouldn't even call it claustrophobic for me, there literally was not enough room. I'm fairly tall and above average build admittedly and have found a lot of cars to feel cramped in the foot well so its nothing new, but its peculiar how a Mini being a much smaller car feels a lot roomier inside, at least for the driver. I had a look at the Z4 as it happened to be right there and have no plans to ever get one, but I was seriously considering a 1 series should I need something larger than a Mini in the future and can honestly say that idea has gone right out the window. The 2 series on the other hand, now thats a car I can see myself living with.
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Feb 4, 2015 22:35
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So my R56 Mini Cooper S had a couple of misfires the other day, and has lately been idling very roughly after a cold start with a fair bit of fluctuations in the revs. After a few minutes and some gas it goes away and it seems to run fine, so I took it out onto the motorway to give it a good run as it has mostly been doing short trips over the last few weeks. Seemed to be running ok but a yellow CEL came on. So I popped in at BMW on my way home today and they tell me its showing a fault on cylinder 3, and thats likely to be either a dodgy sparkplug, a problem with the fuel mixture, or carbon build up in the engine. So its going to be booked in to be looked at within the next week or so. It had a full service at the start of the year and has only done about 750 miles since, would it be in vain to hope that one of the sparkplugs just happens to be bad?
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Apr 2, 2015 20:14
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This is the oil line to my Cooper S turbocharger. Phone posting so can't adjust the size sorry. This is going to be expensive isn't it?
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Jun 12, 2015 15:03
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the poi posted:It's actually not that bad if you do it yourself (I have no idea how much a mechanic would charge). The line itself is pretty cheap, and the grey plastic fender cover retainers you will inevitably break are as well. You basically slide the front clip forward (service position!) and pull the downpipe and some heatshields. Yeah, thing is I have neither the confidence, experience nor the space to do something like this myself. If I had a garage or something I'd have a crack at it but hey ho. I popped the heat shield off to take a good look at it and there is some play in the pipe, but the leak itself doesn't seem to be too serious at the moment. Whilst there is oil on the areas under the pipe its clear that its been there for a long rear end time, and there never has been nor is there any oil on the ground where its been parked. Its going in for a proper investigation in about a week and a half, and I've got the car booked in for a walnut shell blasting on the upcoming Saturday and they've said they'll have a nose around whilst the car is in with them. Incidentally my local main BMW dealer who I live about a 3 minute drive away from who I bought the car from in the first place does walnut shell blasting for an eye watering £500. Unfortunately I couldn't find a single indie garage on my side of the M25 that does it (or even knows what it is). As luck would have it, another main BMW dealer in the next county in the sticks about a 50 mile drive away does it for £250.  Plus its a pretty pleasant drive there as well.2015 has been expensive, so far the car has had: A full service MOT 2 new tyres New rear brake discs and pads Handbrake adjustment New interior trim - cupholders and 12v adaptor Lord Ludikrous fucked around with this message at 16:45 on Jun 13, 2015 |
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Jun 13, 2015 16:41
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So I had my Cooper S walnut shell blasted today, and holy poo poo its almost like having a new car. Any hesitation or surging is gone, replaced with a nice smooth power curve and it revs up so damned nice now. The only downside is the oil leak is still present, and the tech who worked on it thinks there is a slight leak from the water pump as well. The car is going in to get the oil leak sorted on Wednesday so worst case scenario I'll have both the turbo oil pipe and the water pump replaced at the same time.
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Jun 20, 2015 22:13
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So, got an engineers report from BMW after they've done a proper investigation of the car, and this is whats been highlighted. Transmission - Offside diff seal leaking gear oil Engine - Turbo oil feed pipe broken leaking oil Engine - Cam cover weeping oil Engine - Sump gasket leaking oil Engine - Chain tensioner weeping oil Cooling - Coolant pump leaking I'm getting the turbo pipe feed replaced because thats pretty damned critical, but they said the rest is advisory and recommended it be looked at within the next 8 months or so, but it isn't crucial. I've got an insured warranty with Mini so I should be able to get the tensioner dealt with under that, and they're seeing if they can get anything else done under the warranty. For a lot of these oil leaks I'm honestly thinking its going to be more economical to keep topping up oil over the next however many years rather than getting all this poo poo fixed, the only drops I've ever seen on parking spaces/driveway are from the turbo pipe. Lord Ludikrous fucked around with this message at 13:56 on Jun 24, 2015 |
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Jun 24, 2015 13:53
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concise posted:If there's anything you should learn from this thread at all it's that BMW cooling systems are time bombs. Priority jobs in my opinion are turbo oil feed pipe and the water pump. Given that they specify weep vs. leak, I would imagine the diff seal and sump gasket are ready for replacement as well. Yes this is a very true, did anyone in here read the thread in E/N about the dude who was going to walk across the US, then gave up and drove across the US, and a certain system in his BMW broke down and stranded him? Well as this is in with the main dealer, you can imagine this isn't especially cheap. What I'm doing is I'm getting the turbo oil feed replaced tomorrow, and they're going to try and push the other stuff through on warranty. If they can't I'm going to hold off and shop around some independent specialists. I can't imagine the pump, diff seal and sump gaskets are too labour intensive compared to the oil feed.
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Jun 24, 2015 14:41
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Tashan Dorrsett posted:Oh no way, I stopped after he gave up on walking across the US after covering less miles than several YLLS goons trail-run in an afternoon. The gear list was amazing. I love how he thought he could drive across the US after giving up on his walk because of a broken stroller. Go and read all of it, it just gets more hilarious with each update. Apparently he didn't look after his BMW well at all, and it was showing some problems well before he set out on his trip. Anyways, car has been in with the garage since yesterday getting the turbo oil feed fixed, and as they were putting the car back together one of the bolts holding the turbo bent and is now useless, and the replacement doesn't get here until tomorrow. Given its very warm and sunny out, you can understand why I've never been so pleased that something broke in my car, because I get to keep this for another day. 
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Jun 25, 2015 19:12
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Got my baby back yesterday and she's running sweeter than ever. Its seems that with the broken oil feed the oil pressure for the turbo must have been below normal and affecting its operation, as the car is now boosting much earlier and better along with the turbocharger itself being considerably louder. The plastic trim on the front left arch is starting to peel which is annoying but its very cheap to replace the arch, but that will have to wait until I'm done with the water pump and differential seal. I've also been chucking in 99 octane petrol lately and the car seems to like it, its certainly made the exhaust more lively. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OExu46cEe8U
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Jun 27, 2015 18:49
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Pierced Bronson posted:Yikes, usually turbos just grenade when that happens. The thing spins well over 100,000 rpm; you'd think that decreased oil flow would let the CHRA bearings overheat like immediately. Well in fairness thats what I think might have happened, might not be the case. I do know for certain performance wise its basically at the level of a brand new one and leagues ahead of what it was before, especially bearing in mind I've been driving around a brand new Cooper S for the last 2 days and thats a pretty solid benchmark.
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Jun 27, 2015 19:17
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Welp, started my Cooper S up to head home from work today and when getting some revs the engine made a rattling noise which sounded worryingly like the timing chain rattle. Car has been absolutely fine, oil level is fine etc, drove in perfectly ok and was perfectly fine when I went for petrol on my lunch break 5 hours prior. Drove it as I normally would and the noise went away after about 4 minutes. If it does it again when I start it tomorrow its going straight into the garage. If it is a faulty tensioner it should be covered by the extended warranty but its typical this should happen when I'm going away next Friday. I honestly love my car but I do think that if I ever get another Mini its going to be a regular Cooper. They might not have as much oomph as the S but having done my research they seem to be so much more reliable and a drat sight cheaper to fix and run.
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Oct 21, 2015 22:18
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1 series coupes are frustratingly expensive compared to other used BMWs. As someone who hasn't really done any of my own work to the inner workings of a car, but would be willing to learn, which would be better out of a late E46 or an early E90? Edit - looking at rough costs a facelift E90 could be on the cards as well. Lord Ludikrous fucked around with this message at 14:15 on Jan 30, 2016 |
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Jan 30, 2016 14:09
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Well ideally a non turbo petrol engine. Don't get me wrong, as the owner of a Cooper S I enjoy the extra oomph of a turbo but I can just see it being another thing to break. Unless of course the BMW turbo engines are fairly bulletproof in which case ignore everything I just said. Unfortunately it seems that about 70% of BMWs in the UK have Diesel engines. I've driven a fair few diesel cars and the only one that I liked was an Audi A4 Avant turbo diesel.
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Jan 30, 2016 20:07
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So I took a new BMW 320d automatic out for a test drive on Saturday and absolutely loved it, and have basically decided in the coming years that when the time comes to replace my Cooper S I would like to grab a 3 series. I figured that if I opt for something like newer ex-company cars with high mileage that have basically spent their lives on the motorway as opposed to an older car with lower miles thats probably been doing urban driving I could bag an F30 within my price range. Given the nature of urban driving versus motorway cruising, is buying a 4 year old BMW with 100k+ on the clock a bad idea? For example, would I be a moron if I was to get something akin to this? http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/bmw/3-series/used-bmw-3-series-2-0-320d-sport-4dr-nottingham-fpa-201603172065179 I'm pretty confident I'd be able to tell just from sitting in and driving a car if it had been a motorway cruiser or a taxi.
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Mar 22, 2016 20:11
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SuperDucky posted:I'm glad I re-read this like 7 times. You're going to have to explain this to me.
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Mar 22, 2016 20:23
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SuperDucky posted:I'm saying that maintenance on a BMW chassis that's just now beginning to enter non-warranted status is almost assuredly going to be a crap shoot, definitely requiring expensive coding or a crash course in INPA, etc. I just can't fathom owning anything BMW, well, *any* vehicle I'd be doing any kind of maintenance on out of warranty, built after ~2011/2. I see your point. Its worth mentioning though that I don't have any real experience in performing maintenance on cars so it would most likely be going into a garage somewhere. Also me getting a new car is at least 2 years away I believe so the F30 will be a bit older by that point. Honestly though if I had the space to do it I'd grab a cheap old E46 and use that as a way to learn how to work on cars, but I have nowhere to put another car.
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Mar 22, 2016 23:05
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These are my two front strut mounts.  How bad is it and how long do I have before I have to replace them?
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May 3, 2016 19:14
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ultrabay2000 posted:Hard to tell with those pictures but they look .... okay? I assume that's a mouse nest in the one. What car is this? Sorry forgot to mention that in my post, its a 2007 R56 Mini Cooper S. The car feels and drives fine and the only reason I'm a bit concerned is because I can see the separation between the bearing cap and the rubber and have no idea if thats part of the normal wear process or if I'm looking at early stages of the mount failing. The clump of stuff is a dead wasp and some detrius that keeps finding its way in. Its like the fourth wasp corpse to appear, every time I get rid of one another one seems to die and take it's place.
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May 3, 2016 19:47
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BlackMK4 posted:Those don't look as cracked as I've seen. With that said, make sure that they are the same depth because they collapse over time. So this is just basically normal wear and its more of a case of replacing them at some point in the relatively near future instead of dear gently caress get them changed right now? Edit - Went out and popped off the dust caps to get a better look.   Looks like its just the top layer separating from the centre of the mount, apart from that everything seems to be as it should. Panic over I think. Lord Ludikrous fucked around with this message at 20:18 on May 4, 2016 |
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May 4, 2016 19:52
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At least in the US more or less all your BMWs are petrol engined, over in the UK if you want a used BMW made in the last 10 years or so for a decent price you're pretty much stuck with diesel. Just a quick glance at Autotrader now at available cars registered in 2006 onwards has 7855 petrol to 22,212 diesel. Kinda blows really because when the time comes that I need a bigger car, its got to have dual zone air conditioning. Something like a 118i would be ideal as its a nice punchy little car without too high running costs...but for the same money I could get a 320d with all the bells and whistles. Plus I know I'm getting old now because I'm looking at the 3 series Touring and thinking "yes that looks nice and would be a good idea to get one".
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Sep 1, 2016 08:03
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Bape Culture posted:That's not true. Basically all the cheap 6s and 7s are petrol. 😁 Isn't the advice of this thread to only buy a 7 series if you have enough cash to buy another 7 series when the warranty runs out? I do like fun cars and honestly would just love to get an F56 MINI Cooper S, but the reality of the situation is that I'm going to need something that can fit a child seat in the back, and a pram and a weeks shopping in the boot. My ideal car would be a 3 series petrol saloon, but I can see myself getting a 3 series touring diesel instead. Having driven the 1 and 3 series, they're the only cars I've driven that come close to the fun of my MINI.
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Sep 1, 2016 08:41
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How much truth is there in the belief that the straight six NA BMW engines are extremely reliable? There aren't many of them but facelift E90 325i models can be had for under £9000 and higher road tax and inferior fuel economy would be an acceptable trade off for a bullet proof engine.
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Dec 5, 2016 22:37
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So my R56 MCS has lost a cylinder and it's going to cost a considerable amount to take it apart to find out what's wrong let alone actually fix the problem. However BMW has offered me a fairly generous amount to take it off me as is towards another car. So today I've put a deposit down on a 2015 118i. Got an appointment to test drive it and go through the numbers on Wednesday. Didn't think I'd have my first BMW so soon.
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Jan 2, 2017 14:01
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GentlemanofLeisure posted:Glad to see they're helping you out a little with a decent offer on the Mini. I've always liked the 118i and wish we got it here in the states. Gets them another sale I guess. It's a shame because my Cooper S is in great condition barring the engine. Given the nature of the N14 engine, I wouldn't have confidence in the car after a repair unless it was a completely rebuilt engine, which would be a great project for someone, but given my circumstances it's money better off going towards something new (and something that easily takes a child seat in the back). I took an F20 118i LCI for a test drive, and for a 136hp 3 cylinder turbo it had more than enough puff, and in terms of the driving position is easily the most comfortable car I've ever driven.
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Jan 3, 2017 00:38
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Well, I pulled the trigger. I pick her up this Friday lunchtime. 
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Jan 4, 2017 19:09
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