00:00 - Should You Buy a Used R56 Mini Cooper S - Part 2
In Part II, I review how some of the common Mini problems that manifested In my R56 Mini Cooper S and I talk about the repairs I had to make to fix these issues to get my Mini back on the road. I even tell you why, in spite of the problems, I still liked my R56 Mini Cooper S.
01:00 - First Round of Repairs
After about year and several thousand relatively trouble-free miles, the trouble began. I was driving on the freeway and notice blue smoke behind the car. I have lived long enough to know this is not a good sign, so I took the next exit and pulled into the nearest parking lot. And yes, there was definitely oil on the front of the engine and on the exhaust.
I towed it to a local Mini repair shop and once I confirmed there was no damage, just a nasty oil leak, I towed the car home and decided to dig into the repairs myself. I was aware of a couple of potential leak areas on the Mini, so I ordered those gaskets and got to work. A complete rundown of round one is in the podcast episode, but here's a bullet list of items I replaced in the first round of repairs:
07:00 - Second Round of Repairs - The Body Module Failure
After way too much time had passed, the First Round of repairs were complete and I reassembled the car. The good news? When I started the car, it ran fine. The bad news? The headlights were stuck on, even when the switch was in the "off" position and no other electrical items worked. This was beyond my pay grade, so I bailed out and had it towed to a repair shop.
Apparently something they called a body module had failed. Different people seemed to have different names for this electrical component, but basically it was a module the controlled most of the electrical devices in the car and it stopped working. Just to piss me off more, Mini/BMW had extended the warranty on this part to 10-years and 120K miles because of its failure rate, but I was just outside that time and mileage window, so they wouldn't cover it. Anyway, it was replaced and I went to pick up the car.
08:01 - Third Round of Repairs - Thermostat and Crossover Tube Fails
Driving home from repair shop, I heard a chime and an alert popped up on the main screen (again, there are no useful engine gauges in a Mini Cooper) indicating the car was in limp mode and to go to the "nearest Mini Dealer" (as if you would go to the furthest?) for repairs.
I pulled over and opened the hood and smelled coolant. I then checked underneath and it was clearly leaking a little. I called the shop and they said to let it cool (no problem, I have time for that!) and if it isn't low, I should be able to drive it back or drive it home to diagnose it further. Knowing the Mini shop rates, I drove it home and discovered the thermostat and crossover tube had failed and that was the source of the leak. Apparently this is a common problem on these cars. If I had known that, I would have replaced it as a precaution when it was completely apart. That said, after disassembling part of the car again and waiting for the parts (thank you pandemic-induced parts shortages!), I finally got it fixed and running... but then it wouldn't idle.
09:25 - Fourth Round of Repairs - The Dead High Pressure Fuel Pump
If you don't have a dedicated Mini-specific OBD II scanner for these cars, you would never know what was wrong. Fortunately I did. Unfortunately, when I hooked up the scanner, the code indicated the high pressure fuel pump was dead. Now fortunately the local (30-minutes away) Mini Dealer had the pump in stock. Unfortunately it cost about $900.
Out of options, I drove to the dealer and while waiting for the parts counter person, I asked the service manager if Mini had any record of prior high pressure fuel pump replacement for my car. Turns out the answer was "yes". That original pump was replaced at 57,000 miles. And now that the car was over 120,000 miles (or about 63,500 miles since the last pump failure), it is clear that Mini's $900 high pressure fuel pump doesn't last very long. Seems obvious now, but after all this, I learned that high pressure fuel pumps are a known failure point on these cars, so keep a spare $1K hanging around just in case.
Later, after installing the pump myself to save a couple hundred dollars in shop time, I was so pleased to find out that I had to put the money I saved towards a replacement low-pressure fuel pump, which had also conveniently failed.
Oh, will the pain ever end?!?
By the way, this is a rhetorical question, so there's no need for you to answer. However, after the low-pressure pump was replaced, my Mini Cooper S troubles did seem to come to an end.
10:40 - After All That I Decided To Sell It
After missing one buyer with an unforced error on my part, I found another who really wanted the car. I let the guy drive it for over an hour (with me in the car, of course) and it worked great, so he bought it. And strangely after he left, I started to miss it... not the repair work, but the car.
It's funny, but after all the issues I had, I can honestly still recommend that people consider an R56 Mini Cooper S. Why? Because they are fun to drive.
Of course, knowing all the things I know now (and you now know too) would definitely have factored into my decision to buy one... especially a high mileage one. But I think I still would have bought one - likely one with less miles, and hopefully, less potential problems. And if I was looking at a high-mileage R56 Mini Cooper S, I would have either made certain those typical failure points had been fixed, or I would have passed and waited for a better car. Hopefully my screw-ups help you avoid the same fate.
13:35 - What Should You Look For in an R56 Mini Cooper S
Okay, knowing all the potential problems that could befall one of these cars, if you're still interested in an R56 (and I think you should be, but with a skeptic's eye), here are some things you should look for:
23:30 - What Should You Expect To Pay?
The market for used cars is strange now, so these prices might change considerably over the next six to twelve months. With that in mind, these prices reflect what I think you would pay to a private party and possibly some dealers who haven't inflated their prices like many others have.
$5,000 to $7,000 - I paid $4500 for mine, but I would say $5K to $7K is likely not enough to get a trouble-free example. I would expect to have some issues to deal with at this price-point. That said, if you have mechanical skills that you don't mind using, you can save on the cost of repairing known issues. But it's the unknowns that kill you... just sayin'
$8,000 to 11,000 - You should be able to find a nice R56 Mini Cooper S in this price range. I even found a 2013 through a dealership with 56,000 miles for $10,950 just before updating this, so that was refreshing. Some dealers charge a lot more, even thought they really haven't added any value.
$12,000 to $14,000 - I would expect to find the best examples (short of a collector example with zero miles) in this price range. Paying more than this is really just lining the pockets of someone who wants to over charge you for a car. On that note, I saw a 2013 Mini Cooper S with 52,000 miles from a nationwide online retailer asking more than $18,500. It was basically the same car as the retailer I mentioned above selling theirs for $10,950. I don't know about you, but I would prefer to save that $7550, so it pays to shop around.
26:00 - Close of the R56 Mini Cooper S - Part 2
So my recommendation is if you're going to get an R56 Mini Cooper S, get a newer one with the N18 engine, low miles and minimal owners. Look for the any of the problem areas I mentioned earlier and get a pre-purchase inspection. Also, avoid the really over-priced dealership examples, but do spend more for a good car and you will be better off in the long run.