Re bmw mini

dharn

can anyone tell me the history of the engines bmw are using in the mini and any known weakness thinking of buying a 03-04 mini

mickdw

Early ones had a habit of setting fire to themselves.

Weakness with the early Mini 1.6 would be the R65 gearbox they use with it, and power steering pump.

jame5_b

The engines are fairly bulletproof. It's the gearbox that are the main problem. I had a 2003 mini Cooper and the gearbox went twice in it. Sold it straight away after the second time and bought the new shape R56 Cooper s. Much more refined car.
There was a facelift in 2004 that had a new gearbox and these don't seem to have any problems.
Another main issue is thr power steering pump failure.

dharn

mickdw wrote: »

Early ones had a habit of setting fire to themselves.

they should be easy enough to pick out !!:)

mickdw

dharn wrote: »

they should be easy enough to pick out !!:)

ya but if you are locked inside it when it happens its not so funny. I dont think its an issue now tbh.

Zubeneschamali

dharn wrote: »

can anyone tell me the history of the engines bmw are using in the mini and any known weakness thinking of buying a 03-04 mini

For 03-04, it's a Brazilian built 1.6, also used in the PT Cruiser in some markets. The Cooper S is the same motor with a supercharger.

Not as quiet or efficient as a more modern engine, but robust and reliable.

I've read of gearbox and steering problems, but there's no history of issues with the engines.

langdang

At some stage in 04, they resolved the gearbox issue by using a Getrag box rather than the Midlands R65 box. Don't know of anyway of telling by looking em, but if you had a chassis number twould be worth checking out with a BMW garage which gearbox it had.

Touch wood, herself has had no issue with gearbox or powersteering pump (but it looks like a previous owner had the pump replaced alright)

Airbag connections under the seats are finicky in some production runs.
Steering column is "clicky" in some production runs.

Great cars for chucking around tho!

Engine manufacturer is Tritec (brazilian as pointed out by zubeneschamali)
Only thing I've heard with engines is sparkplugs that have not been correctly torqued periodically can sometimes vacate the engine at speed but that (and the spontaneous combustion) would not appear to be as common as the gearbox or powersteering issues.

dharn

thanks all, for your knowledge keep,: em coming

langdang

Well, the biggies are already covered but:
Window regulators/motors, but that seems to affect pretty much all European cars at some stage. Probably just the motor itself, but it's in a pain of place to get at without taking the whole regulator out.

Windscreen replacement apes make an awful mess of doing MINI's - if the windscreen has been replaced check the trim all round the windscreen, especially the black plastic on the panels either side.

The band that holds up the back box can rust away, not a big deal. Look for a wobbly exhaust.
Cheapo plastic used in airbox clips can break.
Thermostat can leak as per other BMW models (have not had this issue).

Even at 9years old now the suspension is still very good - firm and well damped. 15" or 16" wheels are better suited to bad bad roads IMO. I drove one with 17" wheels (dunno if it had runflats or not) - it had unbelievably sharp turn in, but I couldn't live with them on the average Irish back road.

Most (many?) were sold with Mini TLC servicing plan so there should be dealer service history out to 5years at least.
At this age/mileage, check the wear on the disks back and front, could be due.

Again - great cars, get a late 04 or onwards if poss for the better gearbox.

dharn

THANKS A MILLION LANGDANG

DublinDilbert

Good little car as others have said the power steering pump gives problems on these.

Also the internal cabin heater matrix fails on some of them too. although the good thing is the made it very easy to replace, three torxs screws and two hose clamps. Part isn't too dear either...