Last summer, things just began failing in quick succession. First I had boiling coolant in the overflow tank. Fixed with a new water pump. A month later, the power steering died. Got it replaced, but unfortunately MINI's recent warranty extension only covers to 2005 model year. Control arm bushings went bad again, this time replaced with Powerflex . The passenger seat sensor is starting to fail again (had been replaced once under warranty). Waiting for it to fail completely.
Then the biggie. Some of you may have seen my thread about stalling after filling up with gas. For that very specific condition, the problem was the fuel tank breather valve. However, I also started getting a bad idle stalling problem unrelated to filling up. When the shop calls, you don't want to hear the word "compression". Low compression in 2 cylinders. I went ahead with a valve job.
As a repair shop taking care of dozens of cars like yours, here is some insight:
We have replaced only ONE R50 water pump in the past 5 years-yours would make 2, but it is a rarity.
The suspension bushings from MINI/BMW are crap and should be replaced with powerflex at 50k, then forget it for the life of the car
we have replaced many 05-06 steering pumps that were not covered by the recall. OTOH my 05S with 112k on it has not yet needed one, with lots of twisty driving. luck of the draw, I suppose.
THE BIGGIE: we have had to do valve jobs for burned exhaust valves on several R50 & R53 engines, but we do even more on R56 S vehicles. IMHO the gasoline, especially winter blend, in California contributes to this.
as an aside, I have 4 customers with R50s north of 150k that have had clutches and suspension bushings changed but are motoring along on thier original stg pumps, water pumps, internal engne parts. These 4 customers are INCREDIBLY GENTLE with thier cars. I mean they are way above average when it comes to shifting at 3000 rpm and never revving higher, looking for fuel mileage. They also do not drive canyons, track days, etc. I always tease them they are not having enough fun in these cars but they smile and have what is thier fun-driving a MINI and getting 35 mpgs.
BELIEVEME, I AM NOT SAYING YOU ARE HARD ON YOUR CAR! THESE cars should be driven and enjoyed
After a lifetime of car repair, I have seen this time and again in all brands-some cars are just a bit better and some cars are a lot worse over thier driving lifetime. Yours appears to be a bit worse. I do believe the gasoline avail here on the left coast is partly to blame for your valve issues though and nothing you can do about that.
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