Who here owns a Mini?

Scania said:
So, is the 08 plate 1.6 cooper I’m going to look at a potential atomic bomb or not?
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I wouldn’t go for that one due to the oil light being mentioned as on they don’t have a level sensor so that will likely be the pressure light as the service indicator is a little car diagram.

The engines burnt some oil not a huge issue if you keep an eye on it but plenty will have been run low.
 
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Dangerous Dave said:
I wouldn’t go for that one due to the oil light being mentioned as on they don’t have a level sensor so that will likely be the pressure light as the service indicator is a little car diagram.

The engines burnt some oil not a huge issue if you keep an eye on it but plenty will have been run low.
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Thanks - it’s owned by another of our drivers at work and - if he’s anything like me - he’ll habitually check the fluid levels on his cars as it’s a daily - legal - requirement on the trucks, he’s owned it for a few years, his wife’s car, they are selling it as since covid she’s worked from home and barely used it.

I’ll look to see what lights are on , I’ve got a code reader so will see if anything is logged..

My colleague who’s asking me to look it over isn’t particularly mechanically minded but she’s particularly after a convertible Mini, I’ll pass on what you’ve said though.
 
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1st gen Minis also leak oil at the age they are now, so watch out for that. Power steering are noisy as standard. First stage fan resistors usually fail and so fan won’t spin when the aircon is on and will kick in at full speed when needed.
 
Dangerous Dave said:
F56 JCW don’t get me wrong still fun to drive but our old 1.6T JCW loved to rev with no noticeable tail off to the limiter where you can feel it tail off past 5000-5500 ish on the B48 especially if you ease off the throttle past 5500 then go back on it to the redline where it would be quicker going up a gear to get it back in the torque band.
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Out of interest mate, how many miles did you get out of your front brake discs on the f56 jcw?

I understand driving style varies etc but would be interested to know...
 
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kona786 said:
Out of interest mate, how many miles did you get out of your front brake discs on the f56 jcw?

I understand driving style varies etc but would be interested to know...
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Not very many, 22k the pads were on the wear indicator the discs thickness wise would have taken another set of pads but were corroded on the inside so replaced them at the same time. The lack of use over covid probably caused the majority of the corrison.

The newer BMW/Mini's seem to have more brake pad wear than the older models, it also doesn't help despite having the same 4 pot calipers used on BMWs the Mini pads are 3-4mm thinner new. I got 65-70k out the front pads on a 3 and 5 F Series in comparison.
 
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Dangerous Dave said:
Not very many, 22k the pads were on the wear indicator the discs thickness wise would have taken another set of pads but were corroded on the inside so replaced them at the same time. The lack of use over covid probably caused the majority of the corrison.

The newer BMW/Mini's seem to have more brake pad wear than the older models, it also doesn't help despite having the same 4 pot calipers used on BMWs the Mini pads are 3-4mm thinner new. I got 65-70k out the front pads on a 3 and 5 F Series in comparison.
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Thanks. Near enough the same for me pads wise. 29k fronts and 22k rears. I replaced them with brembo pads and they feel as good as the factory orginals, I'm at 34k now. Hoping to get 50k out of the discs. That's some great mileage you got out of the old BMW stuff.

£130 for a pair of brembo discs seems an absolute bargain from carparts4less. I really can't fathom brembo putting their name on poor quality parts.

uc
 
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Anyone know if it's possible to retrofit Bluetooth and USB to a R56 LCI, with the standard Mini Boost stereo?

I'm going to look at one today, but looks like it doesn't have a USB port (only AUX), so likely it doesn't have BT as well. It's annoying as it's a low mileage 61 plate car, that otherwise ticks all my boxes (aside from the seemingly bonkers prices for cars these days :D)
 
Armageus said:
Anyone know if it's possible to retrofit Bluetooth and USB to a R56 LCI, with the standard Mini Boost stereo?

I'm going to look at one today, but looks like it doesn't have a USB port (only AUX), so likely it doesn't have BT as well. It's annoying as it's a low mileage 61 plate car, that otherwise ticks all my boxes (aside from the seemingly bonkers prices for cars these days :D)
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I fitted a Parrot system to my missus's R56 as it seemed the easiest option and wasn't overly expensive. It was a bit of a faff as pretty much the whole dash had to come out but other than that, it wasn't hard to fit and it works great.
 
Street said:
I fitted a Parrot system to my missus's R56 as it seemed the easiest option and wasn't overly expensive. It was a bit of a faff as pretty much the whole dash had to come out but other than that, it wasn't hard to fit and it works great.
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Thanks I've bought an aux to Bluetooth adapter in the interim, but will certainly have a look at this.

Test drive it yesterday and it immediately put a smile on my face, so have put a deposit down in it, collecting it Saturday morning.

61 plate Cooper, just under 49k miles, pepper white with black roof and mirrors, and pepperpot wheels :)
 
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Ordered a few bits for my R55 JCW whilst the engine and gearbox are out;

Whiteline rear ARB
Powerflex upper engine mount insert, lower engine mount, gearbox mount insert and new lower control arm bushes (caster offset)

Finally decided on a clutch/flywheel which I didn’t realise will take a couple of weeks to be made, should’ve ordered sooner! It’s rated to 520Nm so it should handle the increase in torque and still feel like a road car (hopefully).
 
So we have been looking at a 3 door Cooper Sport, maybe an S and deciding on decals. We think they look good on the configuration we chose but looking at a some of second hand ones a few years old the decals were in a poor state. Bubbling and poor edging. Do they have a short life and can I expect to have them replaced every few years?

I really wanted a manual box but they don't seem to want to push them now and the auto is the same price.
 
Many years after I got rid of my R53 S, I'm finally back in a MINI. Collected an R56 JCW last week in the UK and brought it back to Ireland. Ad described it as famous but a few YouTube videos doesn't make a car famous, but on the other hand it is nice to know the cars history.

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Pic with it, the other car and the mammoth weed that's grown in a day or two...

EDIT: Some more info:

Brief background.. Thought I had posts here from my previous 2003 R53., bit doesn't seem like it. Anyway! There were two other JCWs for sale in Ireland, which I considered, but, beermat man-maths prevailed which resulted in me travelling to the UK and collecting a 2011 JCW that some of you may recognise.. It's been inJayEmm video and the previous owner also uploaded some videos about their experience which helped me a lot in deciding which car to purchase.

Few pictures from the sale ad:
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When I collected it I knew about a P2885 error which, having searched on the forum, seems to be difficult to diagnose. I can drive to 4k RPM with no issues, but once you put the car in sports mode and hit 4krpm it triggers an error and power is down slightly on what I feel it should be.
I've a new diverter valve and GFB addon for it to be sure. Car has also had new timing chain and clutch in the last few months
 
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How's it feel compared to the R53 (if you can remember)? Handling, supercharger vs turbo, light raw feeling etc.
 
After a nightmare of a time with an Astra SRI, I've ended up joining the Mini club with a F55, and it is fantastic.

I was expecting it to have very little torque and rely on the turbo, but that is not the case at all and it's actually got a really nice balanced power curve through the revs.

Of course it handles wonderfully, despite being the 5 door, with nice stiff suspension but without feeling crashy and rough. I will note here that the front end really gives up under power though and you just get a lot of understeer if you try to accelerate hard out of a corner. It does turn in nicely though.

Lovely car and I can see why their owners are a bit fanatical
 
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