Slowly sneaking up to the magical 300,000 mile mark. Thought this would be as good a time as any for an update.
As you already know, I’ve already replaced damned near everything that can be replaced on my MINI over the years. The only area of my MINI that hasn’t gotten as much love as the rest has been the suspension. While I did just replace the control arm bushings last year and put on a set of very used struts back in ’09 or there abouts.
And lately Roxy has turned into a rattly old British Car. Hitting the dots on the road sound like I hit one of the epic Chicago potholes I’ve heard so much about. At speeds above 70 on the glass smooth highways of Phoenix she rattles and shakes. Quick course corrections aren’t even possible any longer. So, I’ve decided to focus on the suspension.
A call to Colin over at MINI of Ontario to procure a new set of Sport Suspension struts, during which I also discovered Roxy didn’t come with Sport Suspenion originally. I was shocked but upon reflection, that was entirely possible since I bought her off the lot. Not to worry, that will be corrected.
Also on the docket is the addition of a set of Eibach springs that I picked up a very long time ago but never installed. They are slightly used (>10k miles), so that makes them much newer than what I have know. They will also drop Roxy, just. Finally, I’m going to be adding an H-Sport adjustable rear sway bar.
I was hoping to get all of the work done before the long weekend coming up, but I’m a bit short in the budget department, so Roxy will have to be rattly old British car for another week or two.
Why not replace that plastic rear fender?
I will, along with the rear window trim piece. I didn’t bother to mention it in case I wait too long to get it done ( like I probably will).
DB,
First time on your page and wanted to say thanks. Your information is very interesting about these little cars. And since we are still behind the learning curve, we can take all the advise we can get. We resided just east of Sacramento in a foothill town of Placerville. So the car is primarily driven up and down US-50.
My wife picked up a used 2009 standard Mini back in March and she absolutely loves this little car. Since I work about 45 miles away and have to take Hwy 49(very twisty) every work day, this little car has made me seriously think about picking one up as well. Hers has al the goodies including the flappy paddle shifters since her knee won’t allow for a manual, cold weather package, the whole lot.
In looking around at used Mini’s, I have found a 2002 base model that has been serviced at the local Mini Dealer(Niello) in Sac. They are the original owners, all service records, new clutch, and new rear brakes as of last week. The minus of this little car is that it has 205,000(commuter miles). What I am asking, is there major issues that will be faced in the near future from your experience? I read that the timing chain in these motors are usually good for 200K. Is there any truth to this? I understand it is what it is, a used car with 200K. With all of your experience, what would you tell someone looking at this car?
Thanks again for your time.
Cheers,
Trevor
Hey Trevor!
Since turning 200K, the following have had to be replaced on my MINI.
Another thing to watch is the control arm bushings. There is a really good chance they need to be replaced as well. I had the timing chain replaced on mine under warranty I believe, but that was a long time ago.
While I’m a huge fan of the older MINIs myself, I don’t think I would recommend one, especially one with so many miles. If you are looking to get into a MINI on the cheap, I’d keep my eye out for an ’05 or newer MINI Cooper (including R56). There were a lot of changes made to improve the overall quality of the car from the first year.
Save yourself the headache and expense of potentially expensive upcoming repairs and look for something with less than 100K miles. You’ll get more out of it in the long run and be happier with it too.
Thanks db,
I appreciate the time in answering my questions. Since this is going to be used as a primary commuter that makes since. We have experienced some issues with our 2009, all of which covered under warranty. I was concerned about the age and milage of this little car I was looking at, but still wanted to ask a mini connoisseur.
Cheers,
Trevor