2004 MG ZR 105 - Why This British Hot Hatch Deserves a Second Chance 

So the car featured here is mine, and having read through the comments, it's clear that the freedom of the internet isn't for everyone. James mentioned at length the flaws of the car, and it very much is what it is, and isn't many things. As part of a 4 car fleet, for me it's the best tool for short journeys on minor roads. It's also prettier than just about any new car, and most hot hatches of it's era. It's just had a service, new caliper and is going in soon for a new steering rack, and the gear linkage sorting. You hardly ever see one these days, and I plan to keep this piece of UK motoring history very much alive.

My first car was a ZR 120. Fantastic car, even though it tried to kill me on a regular basis - pulling out from junctions, it would randomly lose 90% of its power so I'd just trundle out into traffic. As a new driver, I eventually figured out that the only solution was to drop the clutch, rev the balls off it and then bring the clutch back up with a bang (literally - there was usually an explosion of some sort from the middle of the exhaust). Still...loved that car. Gave it to a kid who races them, it ended its life in the only way MGs should - sideways off a track, going far faster than it had any right to. Great car.

Rover/MG cars have the ability to surprise or horrify in equal measure. You need to 'get' them to enjoy them. Thanks for review Jay! 🙏🙏

I had one as my first car, it was so fun and analogue like a go kart. Owned mine for 14 years and it gave me less trouble than all of my friends cars, so the poor reliability chatter really doesn't add up.

K series are amazing engines that love getting revved after the inevitable head gasket replacement, just got to home it never comes lol. Dave and Kayleigh from MG Rover mobile mechanics are great, replaced the cylinder head, head gasket, cyliner linders, shims, oil rail and timing belt / water pump for my TF for £1250 including driving all the way from Derby to Scotland to do the job on my own driveway!!

This one brought back so many memories. I learned to drive in a MG ZR as it was what my driving instructor had. I seem to remember pulling the gear knob off once during a lesson 😂 It wasn’t the best built car but being the first I drove (at least on the public road) it has left an indelible mark in my motoring memory.

back in 2006 I had one of these for my second car. It was a 105+, trophy yellow . I kicked its teeth in for around 40K miles until i got rid of it, and it never missed a beat, despite the weak head gaskets the K series is a pretty tough unit if kept well serviced. Absolutely loved mine and 14 years after selling it, I still yearn to have another and relive my youth.

Adored my little ZR 105, the best £850 I ever spent-great fun and was actually surprisingly reliable. I still miss it a lot!

I remember a lad with a 1.8 who used to belt it all the time back in 2012. He used to race anyone and everything. Insanely loud with a bloody cherry bomb.

My first car was a Trophy Blue ZR 105. I loved it so much and even now it's the best car I have ever driven.

I had summer job as a teen at a Rover garage and not being a fun of hatchbacks I was a bit snobbish of the 200/25 until one day my boss gave a ride in a 214SLI I remember asking him if it was a 1.6 and he told me no just a 1.4 i was surprised how well it pulled and few days later a 218Vi came in for a service which I got to drive it was absolutely amazing to drive I instantly got much respect for the humble 200

Hello I had a ZR 160 Yellow Trophy... Not change head gasket yet ...Since 2001 ! it's a wonderful car that provides great sensations.. and the cut is superb. Long life to british cars ! Yvan from France

I drove a diesel version and it was fine, quite pokey, I expected the build quality to be atrocious, even worse than my MK2 cavalier SRI, but was pleasantly surprised. In fact as I look back, my brief and intermittent interactions with MGs were all positive, my mate had an MG Metro which was fab and in his words made him feel Immortal and I had a ride in an MG Montego which was a nice car.

I sold my Trophy Yellow 105 SE about 3 months ago, was absolutely heart broken. But it was a little bit too much for me to fully repair it being a daily driver. I loved that car, fantastic driving feel, a look and colour that would make anyone’s head turn with mostly disappointment but a head turn non the less. I really wish that I could have kept it, but maybe one day I might be able to find another one to look after if there’s any left on the road at that point. Genuinely the most fun car I’ve ever owned.

Great video about the amazing ZR. I still have my face-lift ZR160 and face-lift ZS110 for about 15 years now and love driving them so will be with me for a very long time to come. Long live X Power.

Currently learning to drive in one of these

Thanks for another plug, James - great video! 🙂

Just finishing a ZR105 for the kids to learn to drive in. These cars are brilliant: I drove these in period for an MG mag (MG World), and to be honest, I preferred the 105 to the 160 (perhaps a question of expectations?) - but you can nearly tell the insurance friendly version apart from the hot one 😊 Completely agree with your comments regarding how they drive James - they’re great, and probably why they’re such a popular circuit racer and rally car…

My 2nd car was an Xpower Grey ZR 120 that I absolutely loved. The previous owner had paid thousands, with receipts, for a full engine rebuild by a specialist (not just a head replacement), janspeed manifold and sports cat, ITG Maxogen induction kit bucket seats etc. It was great fun to drive and I never had a single problem mechanically. I only got rid of it when some idiot ploughed into the back of me at a red light and wrote it off. Other than the things you've already mentioned, a key point to check if you are having any electrical issues is where the loom travels between the roof and the rear boot lid. The cables here seem to completely break apart and can short out disabling things such as the rear wiper or washer and generally cause battery drain. A good little brake upgrade for them is to find a set of calipers from a Rover 620Ti with standard 160/180 front discs. The 620 calipers have a slightly larger pad surface area. Enjoy!

My favourite car ever, so much so I had 3 of them, a 105, 120 and the 160! Agree that the 120 was the punchiest of the lot and definitely felt like the fastest all rounder. Now a proud owner of a ZS 180 which you reviewed!

As always Jay, excellent video. You clearly get these cars and you are doing a great job of conveying their strengths to the masses. They are never going to be everybody's cup of tea but for those previously unaware and who can see past the badge and "headgasket will go mate" reputation, if they do give one an open minded chance, they are in for a treat. Particularly a well sorted ZS 180. In a world full of 2 ton battery powered SUVs and financed, grey, numbness machines, cars like this are such a breath of fresh air to drive. Yes, questionable build quality and common quirks but all easily sorted and actually bloody brilliant fun for pocket change still!

They will be ten grand in a few years time when the folks that remember them hit 50 and have spare cash on hip.

I owned the Mk 1 variant of this car in Yellow. I picked it up in Inverness and had not ever seen the ZR in real life before but drove it to the Isle of Skye where I was working that week and parked it in Portree on a street that two other Yellow ZR's were parked . I was stunned that on a small Island there were at least 3 Yellow MG's. I loved that car and had many drives to Glasgow or Aberdeen from the Isle of Lewis with my music blaring from the speakers I installed on the rear parcel shelf with a fake exhaust tip in chrome that hid the fact it was a Diesel at a distance. It was one of only a few cars that I have owned that drove like a Go Kart apart from my Mini Hatch JCW and I knew where the point it was going to let go was and could rein it in before looking at a wall or ditch rather too closely. I did have a small incident with a wall during my ownership and although it was rebuilt and the chassis squared up it never felt the same again so on my 1st trip off the island I traded it in for my ZS 180 2.5 L V6.

Great stuff - loving all the recent MGR content!

I had one of these about 15 years ago and loved it. I paid a couple of grand for it in really good nick with a huge service history. Sounded nice as well with a blue flame stainless system fitted. I always fancied a 160 but they were quite a bit more to buy and insure at the time. Look forward to seeing updates on the yellow one.

I bought a diesel one of these brand new in 2004. Absolutely loved it, great fun to drive and would slide on the handbrake unlike any car I've ever driven!

High quality content the production is fantastic mate

I had an electric blue ZT 190+ and utterly loved it’s looks and suberb handling, but I have to admit, while it was at a Rover dealership being serviced, they lent me a yellow ZR and I wasn’t impressed at all. I think it was more down to the terrible interior build quality and the overall fragility of the package. I felt like I was getting into a Rolls Royce when I eventually picked the ZT back up!

I bought a phase 2 105 at the auctions, it was behind a yellow phase 1 that had headgasket issues so both of them stank of coolant. Got it for a steal, hadn't intended on buying anything but there was about 2k profit in it. I ended up just keeping it and didn't make any money on it when I eventually sold it, free motoring!

My mum had an MGZR when they were new and I learnt to drive on it… it did 110,000 miles and didn’t really put a foot wrong. Until we sold it (for basically scrap value) and it was written off within the year. Wish we kept it now to be honest! I do remember the rubbish turning circle and being amazed that when I bought a Jaguar x300 and it could turn around in much smaller spaces.

I bought a brand new 105 mk2 in 2004 in x power grey, with 17s and the factory kit. Had it for 5 years, it never missed a beat. Best handling car I ever had. No issues with the gasket at all.

I remember my 105. Yellow car put a piper exhaust on it switched the tail lights to the red rover 200 lights, switches the rear drum brakes to the discs. Was a great car and I paid only £4k for it when it was 4 years old with 52,000k.

Top notch review as always from jay. Love the mix of stuff I’ll never afford and cheap throwbacks from my younger days ☝️

Still got my trophy blue 160, bought over a decade ago. It has been a daily for quite a number of years and beyond the inevitable head gasket failure and some unfortunate misinterpretation on my side regarding the state of the alternator, it has been a loyal servant that brought me a lot of joy along the way. Now it sits quietly in a garage, awaiting love and affection and I will make sure it will once again see the streets again in a state it deserves to be in. It is heartbreaking how quickly these cars have disappeared, as they have such a proper british can-do attitude and offer a lot of driving experience for the buck. Thank you Jayemm for singlehandedly keeping the flame of the MG ZEDs burning in 2022.

Great video I have the MG ZR 120+. I was the only one in my city that had one and it turned heads. Now there is my grey one, facelift grey one and a yellow one. I'm actually happy to feel like people are starting to buy and appreciate it. If I see them driving I always give them a wave. One thing I wanna do is upgrade the sound proofing in the car but apart from that it's a solid car.

I've always fancied the zs 180 facelift, I should have bought one!

I had the old shape from the early 90s. A 2dr GSI with the vvt honda engine and it was only a 1.6 ltr I think but, bloody hell it went like the clappers..Especially over 5 thousand revs it was like a turbo kicked in. So I commenced to drive it like this as often as possible! The only thing I had to replace apart from the service parts was the vvt actuator..I loved the car 🚗 👌.

I did like these, but the older r8 shape "sei" with the same 103ps engine was actually vastly better in specification and drive... right down to the 2 tone paint

Great video! I've got a 2000 25 and that's technically a two owner vehicle as my ex gf bought it at 3 years old with one owner and we passed it back and forth between each other for insurance purposes 'back in the day'. It did have head gasket failure in 2007 but I replaced the gasket with an elring MLS gasket, steel location dowels, new head bolts, etc but both before checking the liner heights were OK for the MLS. Never missed a beat apart from needing that inlet gasket doing twice and an alternator. Finally stopped driving it in 2019 needing something bigger. It's still outside and I can't really bear to part with it! I keep thinking it'd make for a great stripped track car, maybe one day. If you've got a car with the plastic inlet manifold and you don't know when it was last changed then immediately replace the green 'rubber' gasket. When these fail the usual diagnosis of head gasket failure is doled out when the actual fix is about a tenner and 35 minutes of your time. Also make sure the little valve with the brass fitting and a stainless steel ball valve isn't stuck or blocked as that can make bleeding hard. Lots of brake cleaner and shoving the ball bearing back and forth will sort it if stuck. Most of that time will be spent cleaning the channel out where the inlet gasket sits. I'd probably replace then at least every 18 months as they tend to get porous looking and will leak coolant into the cylinders and cause hydro lock at their dripping, running worst and rhe residual oolant system pressure at shut down will only serve to force coolant into the cylinders. If you're seeing coolant loss start there!

Had a 200 diesel for a few years. Loved that car.

That was fascinating. Thank you!

Happy Boxing Day! I especially enjoy when you give the honest Jay Emm treatment to an intriguing car which is within reach for a young person with a young person’s job or a middle class person with two kids, a new baby and a mortgage, or a pensioner with a fixed income. Sure it’s fun to dream about a Lamborrari RSR but RU-vid is overflowing with those already. Thanks for keeping it real. Maybe in my next life I’ll be a footballer, plastic surgeon, trust fund baby, big RU-vidr, and marry a zillionaire.

Cracking stuff. The K Series loves revs and was a much happier engine in a Caterham than the Sigma that followed it. It is also really light. Head gasket issues well understood and completely sortable.

Had a rover 200 in a similar colour and shape. Drop a few cogs and it pulled like a train. Lot of fun, lots of bits you could bolt on to help it handle the power.

My first car was a MG ZR 105 MK2, bought in 2004, when I was 20 yo. I had it for seven years until I sold it to buy a Toyota Auris, that I still have. Toyota is more reliable brand and I'm very happy with my Auris but sometimes I miss the ZR feeling. It was really fun to drive it. Build me a MG ZR updated with better quality standards and I'll buy it tomorrow.

This was on my list of potential first cars when I first passed my driving test along with VW Lupo, Alfa Romeo 147 and a Mk2 Fiat Punto (pre facelift) but being a VAG fan and having a limited budget I ended up with a SEAT Arosa 1.4TDI which I loved

Nice review. The colour on yours is right up my street!

I 've currently got turbo charged (200 bhp) version with lsd gearbox , love it !

I used to have a ZR 120+ back in the day, lovely little car which I will I still had tbh.

I had a trophy blue ZR120 manual with zero extras not even power windows...... Light weight rally spec 🤣. All my mates took the mickie as I got it after an MR2, until I took them out for a drive then they all saw what I saw

Love the "bubble" Rovers/MGs (I've had three). Economical, reliable and a hoot to fling round a roundabout. Also, dead easy to work on. My 1st had had a wonky head skim so in the 100k I had it (I sold it with 205k on the clock) the head gasket went twice. At the time they were £45 from halfords and took an afternoon to fit. And yes, I should have fitted a better quiality one but hey, HGF fixed for less than the price of a tyre. Cambelts are easy, you just need a socket set, a cheap locking tool and thin fingers. Sad thing is how the press moaned about it being an old platform in 2005 when 17 years later we now appreciate what a good platform it is. Sadder thing is just how few there are left.

Loving the Love of the MG brand from a ZT owner 👍

This brings back so many memories. I learned to drive in my ZR, bought it for £100 and drove it for around 3 years. With lowered springs and a cheeky exhaust it was such a laugh to drive. And in the best colour (Trophy blue 😉)Sadly My MG has now been sold and I daily a classic Mini which has been interesting... But I really want to get another ZR 🥲

Superb informative stream James

the facelift looks so much better though

Your presenting & humour is killer thanks for that Mate, Australia checking in.

First car I had on rd at 18, it was 18 months old with 32k on clock, in red, 17" multi spoke alloys, keep fit windows, tape player, cost me £7995 and just over 3k full comp to insure. When I got it home I could not open the door, forced it open and it took the door card off lol, not a lot of go, but was great fun to drive and a bit quicker than the 1.1 saxo's or Corsa B's my mates had. MT03 VGF was the license plate.

My love my ZR, one of the coolest hot hatches imo.

Well, I gotta stick up for the diesels, especially poked lightly they go really really well and still have the amazing handling. 60mpg cruising down the motorway to the mountains then can have a lot of fun :D

I'm 6ft 3 and daily drive a 3 door rover 25 1.4 (84hp) and love it, although like you say the seating position is a bit cramped, my knees are positioned about 1 inch from the steering wheel at best

At an MG Rover dealership in the early 2000s, we sold a Trophy Yellow MG ZR to a young lad in his late teens or early twenties. It was his very first brand new car and he was understandably very excited. However, he only got a few yards from the dealership when some numpty in an old banger ran into the back of him at the traffic lights. The car had less than 5 miles on it. I nearly cried for him, he was absolutely gutted.

I've got an 04 plate ZR105, it's my "first" car (10th, but the first thing I'm using now I passed my test last month) and while I do usually prefer big boaty things like a W210 or my Rover 75, I've come to absolutely love how it drives. I live in a quite rural area, so I'm surrounded by brilliant country lanes to rag it down, and this video perfectly describes what it's like to drive - very slow, however it handles great. I am used to going around in bigger, faster cars as that's what my dad goes for (he has a Delta Integrale but that's obviously not a family car) but there's something about the ZR that's just brilliant. The novelty of it being my first car and finally being out on the roads driving like an arse obviously plays into that a lot, but it is genuinely an excellent car to drive and runs rings around my mates' Fiestas and Corsas etc.

Top gear tested a 1.4 zr against it's equivalent 1.4 supermini rivals and it was 2 seconds faster round the track from memory

Had a grey one of these and I was very very surprised how solid it felt for a small car, I also wanted a MG XPower SV-R so badly and still do ! If you ever come across one off those jay please do a video

Looked at these in 2011/2012 when I first passed my test. Ended up with a 90BHP Corsa C 1.4 SRI followed by a 1.8 SRI

I’m not a big ZR fan but I’ve owned 4 of them because they are amazing cars in standard class motorsport!

Just need a ZT-T V8 supercharged now.

Great work James thank you sir 🙏 for a long time i never considered myself an MG Rover fan but the more I learned of the brand the more of fan I became of the company i just got ruined by British Leyland, Honda and BMW respect 🙏 😀

4:25 I didn't - I muttered "hmm, nice engine"

Ah the mg zr. I bought an 02 plate diesel for 9 grand with 17000 on the clock after having enough of driving underpowered 5 door cars for several years. I was sold with how it pulled in 4th gear off a slip road with 4 people in compared to my m reg mondeo. Had it for 3 years doing mostly motorway miles and I did enjoy it even thought the build quality was somewhat lacking. A mate had the 137bhp 206 gti and I could easily stay with him. In fact the zr handled alot better and was more fun to drive then his, was more like the old 205 gti. Happy memories.

I had a Rover 25 from 1 owner with the same head gasket as when it left the factory. It was a 1.4 and I had it for three years with no trouble from the gasket at all. I just had trouble with everything else...rust, brake failure, leaking water into the cabin footwells, boot electrical cable wear and tear and bits falling off in the cabin. Buuttt...It was a great driving car and I am very tempted to get either a ZR 160, ZS 180 or a ZT 260 if I borrow against my video game collection. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Jay! 👍🎄🍻

Love the mg rover videos

Mate of mine owned one and while I slagged it off I secretly wanted one 🤣

My cousin owned a yellow 160 for 12 years - never had an issue and loved that car, so much that when the time came to replace it, he couldn't face selling it and just garaged it for a couple more years. A work colleague had the 105 and she loved it. And a neighbour of mine bought one for his son and that one turned out to be the worst car they ever bought - maybe besides the Vectra that went up in flames on the A45....any car if not looked after can be bad - I have a TF and it's rattly as anything, throttle sticks, leaks like a sieve but I love it, great fun and I even love the dated interior now too - which did put me off buying one for a few years..

The L series diesel is well regarded last time I checked 😆 Strong and capable of 50 mpg easily.

Enjoyable and honest vid :-) MG variants were considered back in 1996 but BMW wouldn't wear it - more info on this should be coming out later this year ;-) The poor lock is a consequence of the use of the previous, R8- generation 200 platform which would only accommodate up to 195-section tyres so, putting on wider ones meant limiting the rack travel.

My Dad changed his cars every 3 years or so , he always bought new until he lost so much on a BMW 320i A reg, he started buying Rovers usually demonstrators cars up to 6 months oldish his first was the start of 6 , 1st was a D reg 216 Vitesse 2nf been the most boring a G reg 216 SE anyway as he had his own business he retired the Xmas before his 63 birthday , at the same time his mate from an Auction house near were we live which sells from antiques to office equipment a repossessed VW Passat, several months later he goes to the Auction house with all intentions of buying a mini he came home with a 8 months old repood MG ZR 120 03 plate , total cost wilth Fees was £3100 for a car with 7000 miles. All that was wrong with it was the front of the stereo was missing, as he had retired he kept the car until it was 10 years old and only got rid as he said he was sick of seeing it and wanted a change, the mandatory head gasket went at 48,000 miles other than that it was faultless.The car was immaculate but strangely optioned or standard it had an electric sunroof but windy windows. He traded it in at 51,000 .I and others use to say he must have been the oldest ever owner of a ZR .

Im building a 1.4 that i sold 8 years ago then got it bk for free ..... high lift cams new clutch multilayer gasket n shim lotus throttle body all new bottom arms links and poly bushes Kmaps ecu 1.8 bottom end lowering springs new tyres alloys giving it what it never had lovely little reving engine when it was a 1.4 cant wait to eventually daily it instead of my golf i like high powered turbo but there was something about the mg thats so chunky simple very very well handled car for British B roads u feel everything very old-school nothing numb or to electrical sweet n simple

My dad had a trophy blue zr160 3dr with a scorpion exhaust and black and blue half leather interior back in 2010 best car he ever owned

Having once owned one of these many years ago and paid the grand some of 400 pounds I can they are good little cars even though many of them have problems but it some how makes it more fun and enjoyable

As soon as you asked first thought ot K-series, immediately went to 1st gen Elise. But I'm a Yank so what do I know? 😄Great video and definitely looks like another underappreciated diamond in the rough kind of car.

The DOHC 16-valve 103 PS (102 hp) 1.4k is in my 1996 200 si (bubble) it goes around corners like a go cart and handles very well so i can imagine this ZR is just so much more in the handling dept etc. the k series was never a bad engine nor was the 200 itself apart from the pug derived box in mine (bubble shape 96) later ones were ford.

A lot of people who used these for rally would put the diesel gear in them would be the first mod. Just like the metros before they were flawed but I use to love them. I did part of my apprenticeship at a rover main agent. I worked at an garage after they use to recommend to change the head gasket at the first timing belt change about 40k if memory serves. Every single freelander mk1 1.8 k series with less than 50k going into double figures had an head gasket faulty or failed. First signs of an head gasket failure on a k series isn’t oil mixing with coolant but a light misfire just above idle and rusty brown water marks out of the exhaust tail pipe.

Loved my ZR160 and TD

Now I want to go out in my ZR! Needing a bit of welding for the MOT but nothing major. It’s the last ZR in Lagoon with a 160 swap. Will just need to stick to the ZT for now

Bloody hell do they still exist??😂😂 Great vid btw Keep them coming 😍😍

Here in America, we didnt get stuff like this. Instead we had a cheap sporty version of a basic econo car call the Cobalt SS(Which came in 3 flavors over 5 years. SuperCharged, Turbo and Turbo sedan). I had a supercharged one in my early 20s and had tons of fun despite it being not the cheapest thing to run in the long term. And this car from how you make it sound is about the same lol. It was cheaply built, wasnt put together all that well, but was a ton of fun. And now the ones that are left are mostly junk and basically scrap for the ones that are still good runners.

Hi Jay, really love your videos. Could you review a Rover BRM please?

First! Loving the video as always mate!

I've currently got 6 mg/rovers, included are 2 zr's and will say the diesels run rings around the petrols (1.4's anyway, I havent owned a 160 yet) but they're fun little cars - i have a 140k 5 door nugget of a petrol bought for £200 and even being rougher than sandpaper I'd take it over a modern hatchback any day of the week

We never got that here in the U.S. MG was long gone from our market by then. I remember the joke in the early 1970's saying that MG stood for Massive Garbage. Mostly because the Lucas electrics were so terrible.

I worked at Longbridge from 1990 until the end. As I remember the turning circle was poor on all of the Z cars was because the base models were never designed for the lower stance and wider wheels.

That 1.4 'K' may not be very pokey, but as I understand it, it was at the time, and I think might well forever be, the most powerful series production naturally aspirated 1.4 sold. There may have been some racey specials with hot cams in other cars, but as fare as boggo engines are concerned, the closest were the Fiat FIRE 16v and the VW 16v, both rated at 100 PS.

I’ve always had a soft spot for the Rover K series VVC.

Gwyndaf Evans used to rally one of those mg's in the wrc and used to do very well, all things considering...

i so wish the genuine rover brand survived because the early 00s ZR ZS and ZT cars were all awesome. maybe not the best? but awesome. i really grew to love this brand just at its downfall in the early 00s.

The Head Gasket was pretty much the only thing that didn't fail on my 105....

I drove the absolute wheels off my little 105 ZR. Loved the little thing BUT the brakes were rubbish.

My ex bought one of these new in 2003, in the nice metallic blue, with the 17" wheels..... and I thought it was really rather good! Revvy, handles well, looked decent. Yes it's not the best thing ever, but I still loved it! I had a 13 year old BMW 318i at the time.... which soon morphed into a 20 year old 323i with a dogleg box , which was 25 kg LIGHTER than the MG somehow.....😂😂

I’m going all Swiss neutrality on the colour and declaring it Aqua Marine!