Most liked posts in thread: Thinking of buying a Mini

Paul, meet Dave. He has Opinions, and is one of those with whom there will be "good natured debates."

 

Welcome aboard!

If Dave nips at you... bite him back. It'll make him happy and less likely to see you as a giant target.

 

OP: first of all, welcome. Congrats on ditching your Tahoe for something fun. You're going to have to gauge the enthusiasm level of the crowd, here: what people are saying about the R53 vs R56 vs F56 (1st generation, 2nd generation, 3rd generation MINIs) has to be viewed through the lens of the hard-core enthusiast. The R53 is the undisputed champion of pure driving fun. It was a once-in-a-generation great car. That having been said, even the newest ones are now 10 years old, so you have to take repairs and maintenance into consideration. If that's okay, go for it. If a newer car is what you want, I would skip the R56 and go for a F56, if you can stomach the funny face. They look to be much higher-quality cars than the 2nd gen cars.

 

Welcome to M/A. '05 or '06 R53 is the way to go. I have an '06 R50 (justa Cooper), but am also watching for an R53 MCS, hopefully in the same colour combo as my Justa.

 

Hi Paul, I'm also Paul. Welcome!

I also drive a 2008 MINI Cooper S as my daily, so here's a few basic things to know.

Supercharged vs Turbo - If you're looking to buy a used one, the Supercharged S models are the 2006 and earlier. These are commonly known as R53 around here, and most of the guys here love them.

2007 to 2013 are the second generation ones, and are known as R56. They're turbo. It's what I have. I love mine, but there are some good natured debates with the R53 crowd.

2014+ are the third generation, known as F56, also turbo, but bigger and very different.

There are other models as well, but the big split you're looking at is the 2006 and earlier vs 2007 and later.

 

Welcome to M/A!

I have 2 R53s and an R50. The R53s are both 2006. Mine is a daily driver, track car and twisty car...it has 105k. Hers is an errand car, mostly driven by her and, consequently, only has about 52k.

Tell us where you live and what you are seeking so we can make suggestions, ok?

 

A couple of additional questions that may drive some feedback from the owners of the different generations:

- How long is your commute?
- How much of it is Stop & Go (even though that may be a non-issue since you are already looking at an automatic)
- Do you intend to mod it?
- Do you plan on doing any track days/auto-x?
- How much of your own maintenance will you do (oil changes/brakes)?
- What is more important looks/performance/gas mileage?

I would agree with DryMartini and suggest driving a couple different flavors to make sure you find the one that will suit the majority of your needs.

 

R53 or nothing.

 

Other than aging, Paul, my MINIs have had no real problems. My '06 S has been run hard, what with tracking, twisties and daily driving. However, it is modded and has handled all of the preceding very well. Her '06 S has not been modded. We got it with 26k 3 yrs. ago and she LOVES it. My Justa [an '03 R50] is slightly modded and I just show it now [rare colors]...55k.

How you take care of your car pretty much defines how reliable they will be as they age. I keep the fluids in all 3 of my MINIs changed regularly, as well as the other normal maintenance. They are super-dependable cars and I plan to keep them. I am firmly a Generation 1 guy.

 

Welcome to MA. I did exactly this and decided on 05 R53 -- the ride was more lively and serviceability of the drive train influenced decision... and gen1 was more "labor of love" development vs 07+. If your a maintenance-phobe (as I am) would recommend the R53.

I used this site to look up prospective vehicle builds (dealer is fine too): BMW Model Archive · BMW VIN Decoder · bmwarchive.org

Let us know if we can help - before and after.

 

That's what the other car (wife's) is for. :cornut:

 

Welcome, buy a pre July 04 R50, do the 6 speed conversion and give me the Midlands transmission..hahahaha

 

Welcome!

It's hard to argue with having a warranty. I like having that peace of mind. I'd suggest test driving a couple to make sure you're comfortable in the model you want (ride quality and seats vary considerable between S and "justa") and with the transmission you want. As a DD you'll be in it a lot. You'll love driving it as a DD and when it comes to parking, U-turning and darting around, it's like no other. Brings a smile to my face every time I'm behind the wheel. Best of luck!

 

There's a couple F56 owners here, hopefully they'll chime in. Most of us have had ours a while now.

Re: Reliability - yeah some models have some known issues, and some repairs can be expensive (as I well know). But the good folks here will let you know what to look out for if you go for an older model. If it's any consolation, there's a number of us in the 100,000+ mile club. I'm at 120,000 something now.