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Hi, how's the form? New to posting here but looking for some advice on 04/05 cooper s. As my girlfriends looking at buying one.
Apart from the normal checks with every car.
Is there anything in particular to look out for?
What would be considered high mileage ? Even if service history is good.
Any reason to avoid ?
There's a few on donedeal that she likes, I can put up links to get people's opinion ?
They are a fantastic little car. Unreal to drive and would shame an awful lot of other cars on the road. Few things from my experience to look out for.
- cooling problems. Make sure to get to start the car from dead cold, many of them are missing a heat shield between the coolant bottle and exhaust manifold. If it's driven any length of time with it missing you could be looking at headgasket problems.
- access in the engine bay is extremely tight even changing aux belt is a complete pain.
- I've heard a few comments about the earlier models having gearbox problems don't quote me though.
- power steering can be quite troublesome, listen for any wissing noises while going on full lock and steering feel going from heavy to light or vise versa. This is a costly fix
However i found them quite easy to insure and are very easy on fuel. Handy to tax too which is rare for a BMW :p just my two cents.
easy on fuel ? E36 M3 probably better on fuel
lot things to fail as on most 04-05 cars , and lot things as for small car .
Agreed!Quote:
Originally Posted by Valdelisbmw
- Brakes need to have discs and pads replaced at same time
- Water pump is a vulnerable area
- Electric power steering pump is practically a (very expensive) service item it fails in early cars
- That age car will need some bushes changed, especially front control arm bushes
- Front brakes are wooden, definitely need to be upgraded to R56
- UK cars are especially prone to underside rust damage
- Rocker cover gasket
- Window regulators can fail as they have pillarless doors
Great fun, very tuneable which makes them even more fun! More reliable than R56Cooper S by all accounts.
I used to get around 400 miles to a tank and was only €45-50 to fill..
higher mileage mini needs :
as rebel.ranter mentioned and list goes on
Oil housing gasket leak
Chain tensioner
radiator
clutch and flywheel
Front susp ball joints
front ARB bushes
Footwell module problems
rusty suspension parts
but at the end of the day ,nothing unusual
I'm driving friends very well looked after mini atm, for 20€ could get nearly 90miles with quite driving . Just bit more sharp with 3k revs or over and max 50miles .
Maybe if U cruise on motorway up to 60miles an hour ,I still would struggle to believe
This goes through list:'
Thanks for all the good replies!
Looks like big car maintenance in a little car,the average stuff every car needs at this age isn't much a problem.
Even the list of problems seems less than all the problems her current petrol focus has thrown up.
Was planning on viewing this car :
https://www.donedeal.ie/view/10531343
Mini Cooper S Low Mileage Mint Tax & NCT
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Bought an r53 cooper s for the wife about 18 months ago. MPG is shocking for a small car - currently averaging 15.2lt/100km (around 18mpg). Luckily it only does around 5k km a year. Currently has 119k km on the clock and the only problems we've had are broken exhaust box hanger and a cracked flexipipe (below the manifold) - both welded by Souhans in Trim for €80. The kids (5 & 6) absolutely love it :D
Bad one for a few weeks. Great car to go. Wish it had a lsd. Exhaust handed and front ball joints are a week point alright
As said power steering pump is a big item make sure it's 110%
Mpg wise I'd get 120 for 20€ but that was babying it and petrol was under 1.20. Once your on a back road tho they make up for been thirsty with how fun they are
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Missed out on that one I linked ,, got there and someone was just pulling back in from a test drive and bought it. The guy reckons he's getting in another early this week so will wait and see while still looking.
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Test drove one of these today, clutch was seriously heavy , more than a racing clutch in my mirage. Was kind of shocked! Normal?
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The Cooper S has a significantly heavier clutch than the regular Cooper. Noticeably heavier than you'd expect for a small car.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mivecrx
It was quite a shock, clutch worked perfect just heavy. The steering had a slight whine, only noticeable when turning at idle or low speed. Was the kind of whine you hear from all cars with electric power steering. Overall was a nice car, few marks but drove perfect. Car was that white/cream colour so holding out for a nicer colour.Quote:
Originally Posted by rebel.ranter
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clutch on the way out if its heavy ,once its perfect its very easy
Had an interesting experience with the R53 yesterday - key fob stopped working out of the blue - worked fine locking up the car, watched a hurling match and after the fob appeared dead. Very inconvenient!! Got home read about how the later R53's had a key fob with a rechargeable battery (done via induction while driving) but I reasoned it couldn't be that as it stopped all of a sudden with zero warning (at least I was hoping given a replacement key fob is ~€155). Then I read about resetting the fob with the alarm - tried it and it worked - can't understand how it 'unset' itself in the first place when the keys were sitting in my pocket during the match. Weird but at least an easy solution.
The R53 key has a replaceable battery so it might be worth replacing that given the incident you had, it might be a contributor....Quote:
Originally Posted by soc
Yeah if battery voltage is dipping could clear the memoryQuote:
Originally Posted by rebel.ranter
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Yup had the exact same problem with a e39 key. You will probably have to end up reprogramming it more and more often unless you get a new battery.Quote:
Originally Posted by fluffmister
Apparently there are 2 types of key for the R53 and mine had a rechargeable that is not suitable to replace - I think it can be done but a lot of reports suggest the keyfob is liable to break as you open it as they were never designed to be open. Obv I'm only going on what I've read but there are a lot of similar reports - most post's advised buying a new fob if the battery gives up the ghost.Quote:
Originally Posted by rebel.ranter
No issues since thankfully :)
Is this your key type?Quote:
Originally Posted by soc
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2qtczyt&s=7
If so it has a rechargeable battery. A little
trick that works wonders is to place or
Tape the key on top of an electric tooth brush charger!! The key (like an electric tooth brush) is charged by induction, while it is in the ignition slot. Putting it on top of the tooth brush charger will give it a good boost, trust me, it works!
If this is your key then you have a replaceable battery:
http://www.transponderautoparts.com/...uuton-shel.jpg
If a car is factory JCW would that show as an option on vin decoder?
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Not the early ones. They were retrofitted with JCW trickery. The cut off time between the dealer and factory kit is sometime around late 2005. The dealer fit out came with either 2-0bhp or 210bhp. Enter the vin on www.bmwvin.com to check the factory fit out ones.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mivecrx
Guy told me it's a 210 JCW, it's 05 but when I check the vin it doesn't show any JCW info at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by rebel.ranter
Car was fairly rough when got to see it, the bumper was loose and both front and back had been painted so I thought they might not be factory. It also had JCW sparco seats , car would cost me to much to put right.
Just wondered if it should show up on vin decoder.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rebel.ranter
Thanks - I have the first one alright - been working well since I reset it and I didn't actually have to charge it - good to know for the future though :D
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...4c105eb163.jpg
Just collect this today.. girlfriend is happy out. Thanks for all the info !
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UK car, congrats!