Anyone got a (BMW) Mini Cooper?

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Hi folks,
Anyone got one of the BMW Mini Cooper's? I've seen a few around my price range that look pretty interesting. They seem to get good reviews, especially for the way they handle.

Anyone got one and want to share their experience? What sort of MPG do you get? Anything major gone wrong, or anything obvious I should be looking out for when looking round them?

Cheers,
Matt
 
A female colleague of mine has one - its an 02 plate with the Aero kit. It is forever in the dealers having bits replaced - its on its third steering column, second PAS pump, various suspension components have worn out an had to be replaced, it had an electrical problem with the ABS which caused it to fail and it failed its first MOT for a seriously warn suspension part, having only been "serviced" at the dealers the week before. The dealer eventually fixed it FOC after a call from Trading Standards. She's just got rid of it because the brakes were grinding and the rev counter has failed and she was quoted silly money to repair it. From speaking to other owners faults seem to be pretty common and it worrying that these seem to stem from poor design and enginering of components rather than minor build quality faults.

Forgot to mention - its only done 15000 miles as well.
 
there not really that quick iether:P
que someone go get there perfomance specs i dont think its verry impressive.
i will give you for free tho a freind has one and it DOES handle verry well. its just not as fast as my diesel. lol

Dan
 
exmissus has a Red Cooper-s - the supercharged one, and she's looking to sell it at the minute. Breaking her heart as she loves it so much, but her job requires her to drive about 60 miles a day, and its quite thirsty. But she's been well happy - niggly problems like bulbs going and stuff, but BMW have done it all under warranty - so should be fewer issues with a looked after one...

Quick, looks nice and handles brilliantly. As for performance figures:

0-60 7.2s
135mph
163BHP

not bad for a "little" 1.6 imo.

mail me at [email protected] if you've any more questions.
 
someone in the motor trade i know owns one... he says literally it was the best car hes ever driven and believe me hes been in the business a long time... paid 14k for it wit all the extras and sold it 6 months later due to financial issues and only lost a couple of hundred on it i think...

spose to handle superbly, 'no need to slow down for corners' - his words not mine... and the cooper-s' fly!! Not sure about mpg but i sure wouldnt mind one...

wenever i see the bmw mini talked about, its always had rave reviews... you could do a LOT worse imo... some of em dont look too girly either
 
Well I'm not the most qualified person here to talk about the relative performance of cars, but I personally enjoy driving a mini cooper. It doesn't seem to be a spectacular car, the acceleration isn't mindblowing, but it does handle pretty well. Whilst it might not be a fantastic car, there certainly isnt much (in my limited experience) that I don't like about it.
 
I drove a Cooper S around for a day. Superb handling and nice supercharged engine. If you can live with the tinyness, its definietly a car to get with go kart like feel!
 
Female friend has one.

A nice car but any dude in it just looks gay, not as bad as a KA for gayness but not far off
 
My uncle got a Cooper S as a company car and took me for a "spin" in it along some nice Irish roads. They are definitely nippy! Sounds good too and the interior's nice.
 
Now any car that gets described as nippy should be avoided in my book as well ;)

A "Nippy" Girls car

Its not looking good :p
 
ajgoodfellow said:
Mini One - 1.6 90bhp 0-60 11.0sec 30-70 11.8sec 115mph 43.5mpg Grp 5
Mini Cooper - 1.6 115bhp 0-60 8.6sec 30-70 8.9sec 120mph 42.2mpg Grp 8

anyone know exactly what the didferences are in the engine from one to the cooper, was it just a chip or was there more to it? havent really looked into them that much, but am interested in what they did for 25bhp:)

Dan
 
Well, I couldn't afford to buy or run the Supercharged version. I'm fussed about it being blindingly quick either - its a little bit quicker than my Megane Coupé and that is OK for me. The handling sounds very appealing though, as does the MPG if it is accurate.

I'm not fussed about the hairdresser comments either. Plenty folk on here have MX5's and they ain't particular masculine ;)

Just been to the "Car People" at Wakefield for a look around, and test drove a Clio 172 on a '53 plate. Was quite nice but that particular one had a couple of problems (only 1 key, rip in the seat). Might have a further look into them - was impressed that it didn't drop below about 33MPG on the trip computer (I know they mean nothing BTW!).

Matt
 
I have been very impressed with my Mini Cooper, i would recommend that you get the Chilli pack for resale value. It handles like a go-kart and is a dream round country lanes and is surprisingly economical on the petroleum distillate.

I am looking to sell my Cooper and upgrade to a Cooper S, so why not get in touch (email in trust).
 
I've got a Mini One. If you love rattles, you'll love the Mini - most ones I've been in (apart from a 55 plate) has had numerous squeaks and rattles. In 5 months, mine has been back to the dealers 5 times - although nothing serious, just niggly faults (bits of trim falling off, etc). One of my mates has also had power steering pump, new radiator, sections of wiring loom replaced...! When you're buying second hand, make sure you get at least Salt pack (otherwise you probably won't even have a rev counter!) and air conditioning. Also, check to see if the Mini TLC (free servicing scheme) still has vouchers remaining, or whether it's been upgraded to TLC XL.

Despite the questionable reliability, I still love it to bits! Handles great and looks pretty good too - I've got Cooper S front/rear bumpers, sills, and the aero spoiler. Really wanting the full aero pack at the mo :o

I've heard of chipped Ones outperforming Coopers - you might want to look at that option also, but I don't know much about it at all.

minidan said:
anyone know exactly what the didferences are in the engine from one to the cooper, was it just a chip or was there more to it? havent really looked into them that much, but am interested in what they did for 25bhp:)

Dan

They are exactly the same engine, but with different ECU programming AFAIK.
 
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