# Problems with my Mini Cooper S



## windsor027 (Feb 8, 2006)

I love this car man but it has been a bear to own.  

Lets see. Its an 03 model, bought it brand new, fully loaded. After a week of owner ship the drivers seat breaks. It will not grab the rail so its going back and forth with nor resistance. The dealership is 50 miles away so I had to drive it holding the door handle in order not to go back and forth. Last year the flywheel needed to be changed. They changed it and 4 months latter same noise, another change. so far so good on that one. The roof handle for back seat passengers just comes off when my little girl grabed it. This was the first time anyone used it so I look at it and you guessed it no SCREWS. I got a laugh out of that one. Today I am comming to work and try to put down the drivers window...no go. its probably a circuit breaker going bad but come on the car has only 20,000 miles on it. 

I have had BMWs all my life. I gave up my 02 330i for the Mini only because I thought it would be fun to drive to work every day. It is but these problems are taking a lot of the fun out of it. Having the dealership 50 miles away doens't help either, especially since I have a BMW dealership 1 mile away.


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## TiAgVert (Jun 23, 2006)

I know how you feel. We have an 04 MCS and had our clutch and flywheel replaced at only 36,000 miles. Our nearest BMW/MINI dealer is only about 30 miles away, but they are crooks. They charged us $2700 to replace the clutch and flywheel (and the upgraded flywheel should have been covered through a service bulletin/warranty, but since the clutch went out, they wouldn't submit it to BMWNA) then the hood cable snapped on our BMW, they said they would have to drill a hole into the hood to open it and then, of course, I would have to purchase a new hood at the low price of $2500! So, I took the BMW to a different dealer, they had it opened within an hour. :tsk: The next closest BMW/MINI dealer is about 70 miles away, but worth the extra drive. They have been excellent with us. They replaced the window regulators, the passenger side window switch, replaced the boot latch, stopped the annoying rattles in the dash, and replaced a stress-cracked windshield, all under warranty. I agree we love the car and it is excellent for our 1+ hour commute (each way) to work, but these little problems are starting to annoy us. I just hope we don't have to replace the clutch and flywheel every 2 years. :bawling:


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## andrew g (Jun 24, 2006)

I'm currently looking for a Mini to replace my Nissan that just hit 100,000 mi. (My other car is a new Solstice). I thought a Mini would be a good choice for my commute into the city, but after reading these posts, I'm not too sure anymore. Is this common, or are these problems specific to certain years of production?


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## Car Fanatic (Jul 18, 2006)

andrew g said:


> I'm currently looking for a Mini to replace my Nissan that just hit 100,000 mi. (My other car is a new Solstice). I thought a Mini would be a good choice for my commute into the city, but after reading these posts, I'm not too sure anymore. Is this common, or are these problems specific to certain years of production?


I've had a few issues with my MINI too, but MINI sorted them out without any complaints. Very good service!


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## TTG (Sep 13, 2006)

My GF has a 2002 MCS and knock on wood we did not have any major issues with it so far. Yes, it had coupl eof the small minor problems that most MINI's have but they were all taken care of by the dealer. We are at 22,500 miles and she is still running like she did on day one.


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## gtt1920 (Aug 12, 2004)

I sold MINI's for three years, starting at the launch in 2002. By and large, experiences like windsor027's (while crappy, no doubt) are the definite minority. I don't know if there is any truth to the old "must have been built on a Friday" story, but my experience is that these cars are very reliable.

Plus, MINI is finally rolling out it's CPO program called MINI NEXT, which is going to be VERY similar to BMW's CPO program in coverage and term. BMW's CPO program, in my opinion, is just about the best in the business, and the only way I would buy a BMW...as proven by the 2002 330i i picked up 2 years ago with 14k for $29.5...so the fact that MINI's CPO program is going to emulate it makes me happy.
:thumbup:


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