Is there a year or model of Bini that we should stay clear of? I have heard that some people can have loads of trouble??

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It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog!!

1976 Mini SS
1971 Mini Ute (Custom) - really hubby's but I will claim half
1976 Mini SS Shell
Oh and an 850 shell waiting for our dear son to start his resto!

Stay away from cars with autos or 5 speed boxes built before 2005.
Thats thebiggest consern, as they're known to have gearbox problems cause they were all built on the cheap.

That aside, problems are random and luck of the draw usually.

i'd say all of them

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As Harley said.
I had an early Cooper that had a Cooper S gearbox conversion (6 speed) done, as well as full aftermarket exhaust system, aftermarket suspension, aftermarket air cleaner, etc.

Sounded great; went like a Corolla; handled like a BOSS.

Do it, you won't regret it.

Stretch out for an S if you can, and run a reduced diameter supercharger pulley for higher boost pressure = FUN.

Am i missing something here, wot's a bini?

BMW MINI.

if you can get a hold of a late r53 s then you will have no problems, ours has been going well without issue since new..

the so called common problems with bmw minis, or bmw's in general come from poor maintanence, not following the service schedual, and not wanting to pay the little bit extra for the parts... if you maintain the car on schedual, you will have no issue.. my 200,000+ km e36 drives like its brand new still..

Well documented gearbox and suspension problems. Have a scout around on some of the forums for more specific info. I very nearly bought a jcw chili pack but the $52k price tag scared me all the way into the Mazda dealership where i bought a Mazda 3 MPS.

havnt had any in 85,000 k's ...

No wonder I didn't know, absolutely no interest in them. Should be on BMW forum.........crap.

Again, thats the early coopers and mini ones (uk model only).

The most reliable cars are the cooper Ss, because all the parts are that little more 'beefed up' than the standard cars. The biggest thing that kills them is when owners don't know how to open the bonnet and check the oil level. BMW has said its normal for the cars to burn 1 litre of oil in 4000 kays driving, which at 25000 km service intervals, is twice the sump capacity.

They're easy to look after: change the oil every 10-15,000, and the supercharger belt at the same time (did mine the other day, despite its almost scary looking position it can still be changed in ten minutes).

I have had my 02 cooper for 7 years now all I have had go wrong is the clutch went at 60k, I service it every 5k it has never let me down

These are a very nice and fun car to drive I would love to get a S but my partner wont let me buy a 7th car

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Don't under estimate the power of a Mini

1975 Supercharged Blue Mokezilla
1976 Fudge Moke
1967 BRG & White 67 Morris Deluxe
1974 Clubman Mini S
2005 Red Mini Cooper S
2009 Mitsubishi Outlander VRX

Very happy with our 2007 R56 Cooper S which is an auto.
Only problem has been a rattle on start up when cold and this is supposed to be the timing chain tensioner, which has been replaced but still a bit noisy for the 1st minute after start up on cold mornings. Handles great, stops great and was surprisingly comfortable on our trip to Tasminia last year.
Yes I would recommend the S as my wife had a 2002 Cooper which does lack power, but still a fun car.
Also note that service and parts are expensive as it is a BMW.

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1969 Cooper "S"
1967 Mini Deluxe
1973 Clubman Van (the fleet spare)
1978 ex 1275 LS ("Wizard" Eaton Supercharged)
2015 HSV GenF GTS(occasional drive & tow car)
2019 MINI F55 Cooper S

Thanks all, we are looking at one for our son , very good to get all of the insight!!

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It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog!!

1976 Mini SS
1971 Mini Ute (Custom) - really hubby's but I will claim half
1976 Mini SS Shell
Oh and an 850 shell waiting for our dear son to start his resto!

i would go the s, a lot more comfortable, and plenty of more options. only issue i had with mine was a gearbox rattle, which was backlash in the box, bmw said they could fix it, but couldn't guarantee how long it would go away for, as technically it wasnt a real "fault" and at the $10k price tag they wanted to do a gbox swap i was happy going without.

but easy power with a few bolt on mods too

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-jamie-
1963morris 850
1965 solid side van
1994 rover racecar