Mini Cooper S

[JEM]

Looking for a car to play around in, when weather is too bad for the Westy.

Unfortunately it has to be in my price bracket and something swmbo likes. This leads my choice to a Mini Cooper S.

Found a 2002 car with 24,000 miles for £7600.

Has anyone owned or experienced a cooper S. What performance/handling should I expect, are there any reliability issues.

Jem

[JEM]

Doesn't anyone have some comments, good or bad.

J

[danmo]

My cousin had a cooper s works, it was actually pretty fast, seemed to handle good too.

Not sure if that helps, if this one isn't a works, But you could have it chipped I suppose.

Dan

[perksy]

Mate had one and it went and handled well enough

The Only thing he didn't like was the lack of legroom in the back

Know somebody else who had one and that needed the gearbox rebuilding due to a faulty bearing    

Garage said it wasn't the first one they'd done and it was cheaper to replace the box with a recon' one than strip it and rebuild it

The very early ones suffered with some water leaks behind the dash

HTH

[JeffC]

had 2 that Ive sold, didnt rate either, performance was pedestrian,(mate had one chased and overtook him in a beemer 530d  )  handling was pretty pin point but after driving for about 5 miles I parked it up and didnt use it again , tend to find a lot have quite a few owners for this reason    

drove a race cooper s on track for ards test and that was equally as slow but predicatable on the brakes and in the bends  

[tcc21racing]

my girl friend has one, not a bad little car tho a tad camp

the 6 speed box is ok, cruise control and all the up grade packs are a must, check if its got run flats! these are expensive to replace

the engine is a tad underpowered untill the supercharger gets going but with £500 to £800 you can get 200+ out of the engine with larger s/c pulley, super chip and inter cooler

7.6K is pretty good price wise depending on the options ect

[JEM]

Thanks for the comments lads.

Lack of legroom doesn't concern me, it will only be used as a fun car.

If it handles well enough, there are a few mods available to up the power.

Perksy, do you know if there are modified bearings available if they have gearbox issues.

J

[perksy]

Perksy, do you know if there are modified bearings available if they have gearbox issues.

J

Honestly Don't know Mate    

Maybe it was just a bad batch    

To be fair there's quite alot about now so there'll always be a few that have problems of one type or another

[Asterix]

buy it

[westy turbo]

Best value car for its money,its handling is next to a westy....plain joy machine:)

[bultacobarry]

I drove a standard cooper as my main car for 2 years. Wasn't very fast, but was great fun to drive. Most roundabouts were taken on 3 wheels. Front tyres didn't last long, about 5000 miles. Family loved it, it was the preferred car for an outing with the kids.

I had no problems, but then it was still very low mileage when I sold it. I replaced it with a Toyota pickup for trailor pulling duty  

As long as you are clear that its a style statement that is fun to drive and its not a racing car, I would say good option.

[Dave]

I thought you were and engineer  

not a hairdresser  

Nice car to run about in, just keep away from the dealers if you can

BMW is German for "My God do we know how to charge for parts & servicing"  

Dave

[bultacobarry]

I thought a Z3 or Z4 was for hairdressers  

Mini is for metrosexuals, perfect for parking at the day spa when you get your Castrol R infused body wrap    

[Dave]

I’ve only known Jem for 35years

and he picks this forum to come out of the closet  

[Jace]

SWMBO has a 52 and it is a great car, it had 32,000 on the clock when we bought it 2 years ago and it had gearbox problems (metal filings in the oil). BMW Mini replaced the gearbox free of charge because they said for a car with that type of mileage on it that should not be the case.

Have "followed" a couple of S's across Salisbury Plain when I had an A6 2.0 TDi as my work car and they were pulling away from me when I was at my top speed (60 mph!   )

I drive it now and again and have no complaints...

Jace