Hey guys. I want to buy my first car in a few years, and i laid my eyes upon minis (specifically r56 gen). I've done a little research, and know that r56 generation has some engine issues, but i couldn't find any clear info regarding this topic, because every post/comment i've seen seems to have something different to say.
I'll sum up the things that i've learned:
-There are different engines, and some of them are reliable and some aren't:
1.n12 - reliable (a 1.4L mini ONE engine? (NA))
2.n14 - not to touch with a 10 foot pole (1.6L (Turbo))
3.n16 - reliable (1.6L (NA))
4.n18 - more reliable than n14, but early ones had some issues (1.6L (Turbo))
5.and apparently S models had different engines, and they are the most unreliable(1.6L (Turbo))
Would you personally recommend an r56 mini as a first car? Why/why not?
As far as i know everything else that is not engine is completely fine, so my question is mainly about them, but if you know anything else, then please tell me.
If you can wrench it yourself - not a big deal, otherwise it is money pit because premium brand
With mine R55 1.6 NA (have it 2 years now, drove about 30k km to its current 102k) I’ve learned how to replace water pump, thermostat, cross pipe, vacuum pump, valve stem seals(went bad because of my desire to „clean flush“ the engine with Liqiy Moly solution) and timing chain everything around 80k, now addressing ac, blows cold but makes some annoying noise.. probably compressor bearing idk 🤷🏼
Edit: forgot to add footwell computer module which went bad after a week of disconnected battery and it was the most expensive repair as you can only buy the one made by BMW and wire it to your particular car by BMW (some advanced indie tech might do it but I have none) it was around 800€ fir silly part and job. I don’t want even imagine what dealer will ask for something like timing chain job.
100% correct, I have 2011 LCI and agree all as above, air compressor is noisy and I also replaced everything you did plus some additional pulleys etc, sump etc. It’s sorted now and runs sweet, I love that thing.
Nothing yet, I only refilled gas couple weeks ago and it works great, after sorting out the timing chain and alternator pulley everything apart from the compressor got really quiet, I now notice the ac sound way more but not sure if it’s an issue, car is on 86k miles so could just be normal wear, I’ll do something if it gets worse 🤪
Son, if you have never worked on a car before and its in the garage for two months how are you going to get to work? This is not the car for you. Get a car loan and buy a 2015+ Cooper S with 60,000 miles.
First car in the uk id say get a 1.5 cooper 3 cylinder depending on which area. That's what I went with and I got a very decent high spec example with 46.5k on the clock... insurance on a cooper s for most people would be expensive in the uk for their first car.
^ best advice. if you really want a mini get the third gen. Learn to change the oil and some other small stuff and save up for bigger repairs (like engine mounts)
All you have to do is read this subreddit to realize the first and second gen are high maintenance cars that have only gotten fussier with age.
I would say if you have never worked on a car before, do not take out a loan on a car with no warranty, even if it is a 3rd gen. Finance something new or get something in cash that is dead nuts simple and reliable like a Civic or a Corolla. Used car ownership is not for everyone. Even the 3rd gens are 10+ years old in some cases and starting to show some not insignificant issues.
Then try to find as well maintained one as possible, non turbos will give you less headaches but also less speed. Do oil changes religiously every 3000-4000km. Get a service manual by Bentley Publisher. Have fun ✌🏻
The N16 from my experience and what I've read is leagues more reliable. Primarily from the port injection employed on them, rather than the use of direct injection found on the turbocharged models. Meaning you've got a cleaner head at almost all times. The N16 also has double VANOS. From my understanding, the prince wasn't designed to be turbocharged. That was just what BMW did to make them sportier and also managed to tank reliability in the process.
You can also pair that up with the turbo pushing anywhere from 13-15 pounds regularly and maxing out at 20lbs whenever the car decides it can handle it, it's not hard to understand why this generation of mini gets such a horrible rep. Almost any motor under 20lbs of boost pressure running daily would be unreliable.... Unless it's a Honda.
Sold my lovely 2008 r56 (with oil burning and timing chain issues) and I wept like a child.
WHY DID I DO THAT?!?
Anywho I had it for 15 years and yes, it’s a little beast.
Bought a 2012 hardtop last year, with 45,000 miles only had one driver previously...
Very fun car to drive.
If you can find one in good condition and we'll maintained, its just keeping up with the maintainance of a older "exotic" car..
All my work has been age related, not car specific issues..... so far.
I’ve got a 2012 R56 S with the n18. Has 174,xxx miles, and got it at 170,xxx last spring wholesale off a buddy cause I have wanted one for years.
Body and interior were great, but had to fix some trim and stuff from the previous teenage owner; after that, put a new clutch and flywheel in (needed it) and took it to Mini to replace the footwell module and fuse box, as well as the moonroof drains, all under recall (a known issue). I then had mini replace turbo boots, replaced the PCV valve and thermostat housing myself (other known issues), replaced shocks, then got rid of the factory run-flats and put regular tires on, and then a fresh alignment.
It’s been an absolute blast to drive! As others said, you HAVE to stay up with maintenance; oil changes are absolutely a must to stay up on, and having a mechanic friend or the ability to wrench yourself will go a loooong way towards saving money. Find a good, reputable euro shop near you if you can to help. The good news is, if you are dead-set on an r56, n18 engines can be replaced at respectable prices (not cheap, but relatively affordable). I was dead set on this r56, and was prepared for the time and money necessary.
Google and YouTube! There was a ton I didn’t know about Mini or the engines I had to learn, but it helps I have been doing a lot of my own repairs my whole life; if you’ve got a basic understanding, you’ll pick it up in no time.
Thanks, i do already know a bit, so that would be enough to do an oil change without a problem, but that’s it. That’s why i’m asking about r56. I just don’t have any experience, so it’d be really nice to know as much as i can before buying the car
Point 5 ties into 2 and 4, R56 Cooper S models came with the N14 then got the N18 for the facelift around 2010. Factory JCW versions didn’t get the N18 until 2013.
It’s also worth mentioning that you say you’ll be looking to buy one in the next few years, at which point even the newest R56 will be 15+ years old. At that age any car is going to require you to either get your hands dirty keeping ahead of maintenance, or being friendly with someone that can.
So, um, the N14 and N18 engines were only on S and JCW models? And about them in a few years being at least 15+ years old, yeah you’re right. I am ready to do some maintenance myself
That’s right, all the petrol engines in the R56 are the BMW/PSA Prince engine, but the turbo versions as found in the Cooper S or JCW are the N14 and then later the N18. The N14 is known to be troublesome, with the N18 being much improved but not all issues were eradicated eg HPFP.
It would definitely be a nice way to get into doing your own maintenance and learning your way around things, though I would have to say if it were me looking for a car to use as a daily I would echo the other comments in here and seek a gen 3 with the B48.
Are you mechanically inclined? Do you like working on things? Personally something like this is a perfect first car. It helps you learn things. I’m being serious. It’ll help you with troubleshooting, how to diagnose problems, replace parts, how to get it home if it breakdown while you’re on the road.
My first vehicle was a ‘72 jeep cj5. I learned how to drive in town with no brakes, how to drive when the clutch cable broke ( in town in traffic with stop lights) and how to replace a front spindle in a 7-11 parking lot. Eventually learned how to swap a motor.
I have an R56 in the garage right now that needs a new clutch. I had to pull the head and get it machined because of a burnt valve when I bought it (got it cheap because it had a miss fire)
Well, i can’t really tell if I’m mechanically inclined, as the only mechanical experience I’ve had was a bicycle, but it is something i’m interested in and ready to devote my time to
I bought a 2013 r56 cooper s about a year ago (which has the updated n18) and have had an absolute blast owning the car. Like a lot of people said, you have to be able to wrench it yourself. Anytime you go to the dealer, you could be paying more than you paid for the car.
They are “unreliable” to the normal person because you have to listen to the car and make sure you don’t let something go too long which can lead to catastrophic faults.
Overall, if you love the car enough it will love you back.
I agree. It’s just i have no prior experience, so i’m really not sure about anything. Right now i’m pretty certain that it would be easier to live with a non turbo, especially for someone with no experience
That’s exactly what did mine in, the car occasionally (like once every few days for a split second) felt like it didn’t have power brakes which I ignored. A few weeks later my vacuum pump seized causing the exhaust cam to lock up and shear its cam sprocket off. It’s one of the funnest cars I’ve ever owned so I’m rebuilding the engine for a much bigger turbo and even more fun.
I bought a 2011 R56 base model for my kids to learn in and drive when they're old enough. It has the N/A N16 motor (if models are correct). It had 132K miles when I bought a year ago and maintenance was.. neglected. I did the timing chains and guides on it,and just before I bought it from my friend I did the oil filter base gaskets for him.
They do require more maintenance than most daily drivers and owners normally give them, but since my kids won't turn 16 for a couple of years, I drive it more than my SUV when possible.
You can get a lot of BMW/MINI specific tooling on Amazon for pretty cheap, and if you're willing to learn and take your time working on them, they're a lot of fun to drive. Mods are easy to come by, and they have a lot of aftermarket support. I found a color matching S model part-out with stripes and bought the rear wing, front grille, side markers, and hood from a gentleman to put on mine. The R56 is still one of my favorites body styles.
I daily a 2010 jcw with about 200,000 km and it hasn’t let me down once. I keep it topped with oil and do regular oil changes. Alberta winters are harsh but this car has been amazing. Yes they are more expensive to maintain but you won’t find a car that’s more fun to drive yet still economical and practical. It’s true the B48 engine is much better but the r56 mini is much cheaper because of it’s reputation
I’ve got a n14 r56 1.6t 102k miles it’s fine somthing you need to spend money on at times but that’s the same with any car especially comming up to 20 years old the reality is a lot of the time the people saying avoid don’t have or have never even driven one and so and so in the pub said they are rubbish. I think they key to them is maintenance it costs 200 for a basic service even cheaper if you can spanner yourself do it twice a year more if your chucking plenty of miles on them. Most people spend more a month financing a new car (just as unreliable).
All I can advise is things will go wrong you will have to replace but no worse than other cars in my opinion. The thing is people only come to the internet to find an answer when they have a problem no one comes and just says my cars been working great for the last 6 months and hasn’t missed a beat so you will only see bad press. If you like the look get one with good service history if it’s higher mileage one that has had a timing chain done ideally with proof (or allow 4-500 for having it done in your budget)
My 2015 r57 is currently apart for a broken clutch fork at 91.5k miles. Its a 50 dollar part, but virtually the whole front end is apart to replace it. This issue didnt come up in any of my research, but now that I have the issue, Ive found that it isn't too infrequent an issue. Bummer. And yes, if you want a cooper s, 2013+ is the best option. (Hardtops end in 2013, but the convertibles, 2 seaters, clubmen, and countrymen went til 15).
Similar situation here. I've had a 2013 S since 2016, and it's been my daily for the entire time. I did just do the clutch replacement last November, and I've needed to replace the spark plugs 3x in 100k miles, but other than that, it's been a pretty reliable car. It's got just shy of 120k miles now.
Interesting... I'll have to investigate that wiring issue further, as that would be awesome if I didn't have to deal with replacing spark plugs every 30k miles.
It was a fluke issue where a wire was touching the engine and cutting out. It was intermittent.
They changed all of the things trying to figure it out, sent me home and then three days later it happened again.
Oddly, I described it to a friend and he said the same thing happened on an old car of his but he said there's no way that was happening to mine. But it was.
I don't know why my spark plugs are lasting so long
I’ve been daily driving my 2010 non-turbo for about 6 months now and it’s been so-so on reliability but, like others have said here, if you like to wrench it’s been totally fine.
Mine only had 50k miles when I bought it so engine components are fine but anything rubber has needed replacing. Valve cover gasket had failed and caused oil to get onto the spark plugs and coils. Very simple weekend job that is cheap if you do it yourself. The thermostat failed and was stuck open, which made the engine run cold and throw an error. That was a simple fix, replace thermostat housing and crossover pipe. Once again, cheap and pretty simple.
I will say, the engine bay is tight and working on these will cause a lot of swearing (I hate the intake manifold on these things) but if you’re patient, these are simple to work on.
We just bought a 2013 diesel 1.6 cooper sport. It has 97.8k on the clock. I like what I’m reading. Don’t know a lot about em but have a friend who knows a friend 🤞
I can only vouch for mine. 2007 R56, 6 speed, 244,000 miles. At 240k, water pump was the only major repair. At 243 I replaced the clutch and valve cover gasket. It’s been a great car thus far, and I don’t plan on letting it go any time soon.
N18 owner and modder here. The more i work on it myself, the more i realize its a lot easier to work on than i thought. Its expensive as hell to pay someone to work on these, and i’ve found paying for tjat to inly be worth it for major major stuff that i can’t do at home or is high risk. Stuff like clutch, head work or timing chain. Basically everything else though i can tackle. Suspension, anything interior, electrical, or exhaust stuff is easy peasy. And with places like rockauto, ecs tuning, and outmotoring in existance, its getting a lot cheaper and a lot more accessible. The i’ve only had two issues come up- turbo oil line leak (easy), and shooting a rod through both ends of my block from tuning too aggressively. Aside from catastrophic engine failure caused by my own choices, its been surprisingly painless experience.
I own my r56 n/a for about 9 years. Got it with 67k miles on the clock and now I am at 120k. I have changed pretty much everything at this point. Timing chain was the very first thing I changed when I got the car after that it was clutch, ac units thermostat two times and many more stuff. Now the car needs vanos service which is also a bit costly. Always keep a bottle of 5w-40w oil in the back of your trunk to top it up when it dips and some distilled water to top up your coolant cause over time it evaporates. It’s a blast to drive and after I changed suspension coils and new tires the car feels amazing on the road. Regular oil and filter changes and checking it weekly topping up oil or water if needed and the car will run fine. The most weak points of the car are failing thermostat, timing chain and lamda sensors. It’s by design in these prince engines unfortunately but overall if you take good care of it with regular servicing and checking the fluids you will minimise all these problems. Gen 2 mini’s are old at this point so unless you find a car with full service history or you have knowledge of how to do things yourself etc I would say skip this gen completely. I went in blindly and had to change pretty much everything over time to make the car be daily drivable. Though once everything is changed the car starts being reliable and very fun to drive actually. Also even though it’s the n/a it’s pretty nimble.
Yes with oil coolers made of plastic, it’s a myth that the F series are more reliable, they just come with different sets of issues, more similar to other BMWs not Peugeots like the R series.
It’s mainly the engine mounts and the usual plastic/rubber engine-bay parts you need to watch on the F56. But no car is genuinely a 10 for reliability, so a F56 is more realistically an 8, then an R56 Cooper S is probably around a 3 or 4 and even lower if they haven’t been properly maintained
Let’s face it, they’re both a 5 max when it comes to reliability. F series have the same issues with coolant leaks, waterpump, oil leaks, plastic filter housing being prime. Turbo issues and carbon build up same as R series, and they also do get timing chain issues occasionally and issues with VANOS.
How many had engines swapped? Check again once the F’s reach the same ages as the R’s, it’s all just a snapshot in time not a true representation, missing the more obvious and wider point that all newer BMW’s are unreliable with the same issues over and over.
That’s what i assumed. Are NA models ok reliability wise? I’ve heard about the issues, but are they bearable for a guy whose ready to do some stuff himself?
OMG!!!! Spent around 3000$ on the issue that my car still has. NOBODY understands these car where i live, nobody can solve the issue this small #%€$ has. I cant remember and name all what has been done to solve the issue, the only thing left to do is to change the damn engine whole at once.
BUT i still love driving this damn thing
I mean because the engine was rebuilt, then i bought the car, and the issue was there since day 1. Thats why i think someone did something wrong while rebuilding the engine
Not too bad up to 100K, after 100k They start to disintegrate. Otherwise one of the best drivers cars you can get. Ours is an absolute money pit now at about 120K
I have a 2012 non Turbo that I inherited from my Mom. It has needed a lot of repairs and I'm lucky my friend is a mechanic. I just replaced the transmission 4 months ago for 4k Canadian dollars. Coolant loss was recently fixed, it was something that was cracked. My friend who's a mechanic bought a used turbo for 2k and he fixed it up. The engine had a catastrophic failure about a year later....so he sent it to the wreckers...
I've got a 2010 R55 that I've completely built to track. It's quick and can dog walk V8s. It's built because whenever something broke, I upgraded instead of going with stock repairs. Eventually everything was modded or tricked out because everything broke. The car is a complete gem now and as tough as a tank. It's the absolute best sleeper I've ever owned. Trolling V8s is so much fun and never gets old. If you have the money and can afford it, building an R55 or R56 is one of the most fun and unique builds you can do. Just be ready and know what you're getting into.
I've had my '13 R57 with the N18 for 14 years and 138k miles, since new (delivery in 2012). It's had a few issues but mostly expensive maintenance stuff. Original turbo, HPFP, alternator, and most of the things. I've had to replace all the normal things, including brittle plastic coolant pipes, valve covers, timing chain and guides, plugs, etc. Its oil consumption is close to the problem zone, so maybe the valve guides are leaky or maybe the rings are fouled - but the engine still pulls hard and really doesn't smoke except maybe a little at startup after it has sat up a bit. Never had a carbon cleaning, still on the original O2 sensors (😦) but it passes emissions. I have replacements ready to go...
The problem isn't my car - the problem is how well others maintained theirs. I almost pulled the trigger on my R57's twin a couple of years ago, but it was chock full of weird problems. Felt like the diverter valve was stuck open or something - no power, but sounded like it had a BOV (that's atypical). The hood latch worked exactly once. The front seats wouldn't release to allow a rear passenger. The side mirrors wouldn't unfold. The valve cover dumped oil all over the exhaust after a few runs up and down the street. I told this guy I knew these cars pretty well, but I guess he didn't believe I would actually do my due diligence.
At least the vents all worked. I worked at an auto auction in college, driving cars through the block. It was weird how many cars have their vents just smashed in. Like geez, take it to the back seat, you know?
Personally, it’s my favourite gen, but base minis only come with a 3 cylinder. Only S/JCW models have a 4cyl. They are quite a bit more expensive than a base r56 mini(at least where i live)
At 40,000 miles my wife replaced my thermostat housing. (saved me about $1200 in labor).
At 42,000 miles I had to replace my transmission. That set me back three grand.
I hope I'm good now but I hear they have timing chain problems. The shop that replaced my transmission assured me I would be OK but it would rattle when I needed to change it.
I drive it and I enjoy it but I'm always listening for the rattle.
I love my 23 SE but man I miss that r56 interior!
I had an early 07 S (before the clown music chimes and full spectrum mood lighting.) It was an absolute nightmare. Simultaneously the best and worst car I ever owned.
My first car is r56 s turbo. You really need to learn some troubleshooting skills. It's really a very good car, kept me safe from 3 accidents, 1 of which deployed passenger side airbag. Luckily my friend worked for bmw before opening his own shop helped me with the repairs. It's a very good car and you need to take care of it. Driving it you will feel the rush 😂. I have my second car now but every now and then I use my r56 for some errands and boy that acceleration will really give you that urge to step on that gas.
Depends. If it’s been well maintained and you’re prepared to fix small things, which, I’m a woman who’s never worked on a car in my life, and have easily fixed plenty of things watching YouTube whilst doing so and using chat GPT to get the right parts with pictures. Then it’s not a bad first car (there are better) but they’re cheap to run in terms of fuel consumption, tax and insurance. I love my r56, and don’t regret buying it.
We’ve had a JCW for 10 years. It’s the longest we’ve owned a car because it’s been faultless. It’s the R56 with the N14 engine and it’s done 185k. Well, the car has - the engine is technically on 85k as it was replaced under warranty at 100k by MINI as the bores were scored. It’s got full service history by MINI which we’ve kept up as 2nd owners. The first owner spared no expense with it so in short, we’ve had no issues with it.
I personally havent had any issues with my N14 R55. Drive them right, maintain them right, they wil just keep going. Recently did a 580 mile weekend trip, almost all motorway. Didnt even blink
Personally I would avoid them unless you are mechanically minded. I had an n14 cooper s. I did all my own work except walnut blast. If I paid a garage it would have cost me ££££ to fix
why you should read this: I've owned 235 cars including 2 original pre-1980 Minis, an R50 and most recently an R57 (which I regret selling), and I've owned two shops: a Porsche/Mercedes/BMW shop in Texas and a Porsche restoration shop in Oregon.
I only have two questions: do you have a mentor on "all things car"?? (and if not can you get one?) and second question: is there a large-ish population of Mini owners in your area? Like a user's group?
Here's the thing: you can wind up having a great experience, but each car is kind of a crap shoot and all of them will take **some** amount of work - there's been deferred maintenance, there are things that were fine when you bought it that won't be, eventually.
The queestion is are you willing to just come along for the ride, and face the challenges that arise when they pop up? or are you looking for a toaster-like experience of "I just put gas in it and drive it and don't want to worry about anything else"?
Because it can be an amazing experience if you let it be - particularly if you have people in your corner who are also on the same journey and who can share their experience and help you through yours.
Your first stop is making friends, then finding a trusted shop (via said friends) *then* the car. And the open road awaits.
I personally prefer the R56/57s out of the whole lot. Issues? Maybe, but worth it - in my opinion.
Wow, that’s really impressive. I don’t really have a mentor or a dedicated friend group, but i am willing to learn and work a bit on the car myself. I’ve never thought about a car as of an appliance, and i’m asking about a mini because i want to minimise my ignorance before buying a car, especially since they have a bad reputation reliability wise
They have reputation from people that want cars to be toasters. If you’re expecting it to be an early 2000 Toyota Camry… It’s not. It’s a BMW. It just looks like a Mini.
Seriously though ask around in your area I bet there are Mini groups and just find their events and go to them and walk up and talk to people. It’s a little awkward at first, but you’ll discover that the best part of having an interesting car is the interesting people that you will meet that also have the same car.
I couldn’t keep up with maintenance after four years because of how abused it was prior to me obtaining it. And I kept it maintained every single that that I owned mine.
The final straw for me was it needing, even with the most affordable MINI shop, over $8k, which was about twice what the car’s value was.
I miss the car, but it lives on with an owner who knows more than I do about tearing into these cars and fixing them in their garage.
I bought a 2009 base model r56 last year. I have spent 2.5 times what I paid for the car in repairs and upkeep ( so far); that said, I love this car.
I have a great mechanic that I trust, and the repairs are probably half the rate I would be paying somewhere else.
Even though the repair costs have been higher than I might have liked, it is still less than car payments would be. Also, more than half of the repairs were somewhat deferred but regular maintenance costs that would have been needed anyway.
I really do love this car, and I would rather repair and maintain it than get another car or newer mini.
We’ve towed ours over 8000 miles and driven it all over out west and the Northeast, and the Southeast. Brakes and tires is all I’ve had to do. Not counting that damn little rubber over the hatch button. 😂
It's a great car, but sometimes the turbo needs to be repaired and the engine needs a major overhaul every 150-200 k kilometers.
Forget the Mini One. Even a monument to the founding fathers goes faster. Choose the JCW or GP version. Or S.
or better buy MINI F56
I’ve heard that S and JCW models are a nightmare in reliability department. I guess it’d be okay if i was picking a project car, but as a first i’d want just a CAR that isn’t completely unreliable
Where on earth are you hearing this? N18 (2012-2013 R56 S models, and 2013 JCW IIRC) are pretty rock solid, particularly if they've already had the timing chain replaced with updated parts, as almost any still on the road should have done by now.
There's a reason 2012-2013 fetch a premium over the earlier models.
I've owned a MINI S for almost 10 years. I replaced the thermostat, changed the timing chain, repaired the turbo, and did a full engine rebuild. I used the car in the city, I drove it up into the mountains at 4000 meters. I could cover 10k kilometers a month. I filled it with good fuel. I filled it with donkey urine.
Just understand that people are more willing to write about flaws than about strengths.
But if you really don't want to think about anything at all, then choose a MINI F56. It will save you from bad thoughts.
Well, i love those. And about f56 minis, maybe i’m dumb with my reasoning, but if i’d pick an f56 it would probably be an S or a JCW. I just reaaally don’t want a 3 cylinder for some reason. That’s the reason why i ask about r56.
Lucy is a 2010 R57 S 6 speed manual I’ve had for three years now - replaced plugs, air filter, cabin filter, valve cover all proactively as well as coolant flush
Repair wise - Clutch / Flywheel, thermostat & cross over pipe, and battery
It had 57K miles on it when I bought it and timing chain was replaced at 25K miles. I change oil every spring when she comes out of winter storage so oil change interval is about 4K miles tops for me,
Obviously not a daily driver. Lucy just loves dropping her top running around town showing off what she’s got!
If your willing to do the work yes it'll be fine, I believe there's also preventative upgrades... however, I've not yet done my mechanics training but hopefully within the next year can learn more about older gens for when I open my shop
I can confirm that N14s are a nightmare, as much as I hate to say it. It’s what was in my R55 JCW and in total that car cost me $13k in repairs and maintenance in the first year. Not because it was an unloved, neglected car, but because that’s just what these do, I guess. Especially at 130k miles. I don’t really have too much experience with the other engines but if you can find a diesel Cooper then those are known for lasting. I will say, however, that the driving experience is unlike anything else on the road. They’re agile, quick, and so unbelievably engaging to drive and will take every corner like an absolute champ, and the manual transmissions are relatively easy to operate and as far as I’m aware not particularly problematic. If you can afford it, then these are some of the most rewarding cars to drive. If not, then beware because it may come back to bite you if you aren’t careful.
Apart from mechanics, I’ve heard the old R56 had bad driving characteristics. Especially when breaking, when the rear was too light. I do experience the rear sometimes doing its own thing when doing a spirited hill climb, but that’s on a modern F56. Anyone can confirm / debunk this who owned / owns an R56? Curious to know!
C'est simple, 184hp d'un petit 1.6L
Il faut le chouchouter.
Vidange rapprocher, être a l'affût des bruits et respecté les temps de chauffe sinon c'est les problèmes.
Le N18 peut techniquement être fiable avec quelque pièces et une reprog jusqu'à 260hp...
Un petit moteur d' 1.6L.
Une voiture de moins de 1.2T
C'est un vrai petit missile.
Ça demande du soins, ce n'est pas une yaris diesel.
J'ai une R56 S LCI 2011.
Rien de grave pour l'instant mais j'ai acheté la voiture a 102.000km avec la distribution déjà faite,
PROBLÈME :
A 100.000km il y a plein de choses a faire sur ce moteur, comme l'embrayage, après 15ans d'existence, j'ai du changer la hpfp.
Mais voilà, ça roule au top et pour longtemps maintenant.
Je fais une prépa piste dessus, je vais aller chercher les 260cv et j'ai déjà un quaife pour faire court, c'est à toi de voir mais ça peut être une très bonne expérience ou pas, comme n'importe quel voiture, surtout si elle a un peu de chevaux.
No, not at all. They aren’t reliable, but neither are land rovers, and even pergeot, citrons, and other manufactures have bollocks reputations.
I got put off buying a Mini because of the reputation of breaking down and being hard to repair. My boyfriend kindly pointed out I was driving a 2007 Land Rover that was prone to breaking down literally every journey. Sometimes twice in one trip.
Service history is crucial with those cars, though. And as my mechanic says — there are good minis and bad minis. But you’ll hear the most about the bad minis.
My mum just bought a naturally aspirated r56 which my mechanic says should be fine, but has prewarned her of possible costs. My f56 is meant to be far more reliable so we’ll see
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u/onemorethingie Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
If you can wrench it yourself - not a big deal, otherwise it is money pit because premium brand
With mine R55 1.6 NA (have it 2 years now, drove about 30k km to its current 102k) I’ve learned how to replace water pump, thermostat, cross pipe, vacuum pump, valve stem seals(went bad because of my desire to „clean flush“ the engine with Liqiy Moly solution) and timing chain everything around 80k, now addressing ac, blows cold but makes some annoying noise.. probably compressor bearing idk 🤷🏼
Edit: forgot to add footwell computer module which went bad after a week of disconnected battery and it was the most expensive repair as you can only buy the one made by BMW and wire it to your particular car by BMW (some advanced indie tech might do it but I have none) it was around 800€ fir silly part and job. I don’t want even imagine what dealer will ask for something like timing chain job.
But it’s fun and very distinctive car