I own a 2012 Mini Cooper S (manual, turbocharged), purchased in 2019 from the original owner for $6,200, with 102,000 miles and good maintenance records. Now, at 153,000 miles, it’s evident that these cars require a solid maintenance budget or DIY skills, especially past 100,000 miles. Besides routine items like brakes and filters, I’ve replaced several parts, including the HPFP, oil filter housing seal, turbo oil line, starter motor, throttle body, thermostat, crossover pipe, water pump (twice), heater core (twice), auxiliary water pump, valve cover, and fuel pump relay (which I installed and had dealer programmed). While aftermarket parts help manage costs, reliability varies, resulting in some parts needing replacement twice. Performing most maintenance and repairs myself has significantly reduced expenses. I change fluids and engine oil every 3,000 miles, adding a quart between changes. The car runs perfectly, but I anticipate future issues requiring immediate attention. In contrast, my other two vehicles-a 1994 Toyota Pickup with a 22RE and a 1999 Lexus GS 400-are much more reliable.
I rarely buy aftermarket parts anymore; especially [anchor] motor mounts, (cardone) CV axles, control arms, ball joints. I'll buy KYB struts and mounts, aftermarket rotors and pads, timkin wheel bearings, Aisin water pumps, Goodyear or Continental belts, felpro gaskets, mobil 1 oil filters; that's about it. For the most part OEM quality is barely acceptable; aftermarket is even cheaper chinesium.
I bought my wife a 2006 MINI Cooper S convertible. Nearly 20 years old now with 120k miles our experience has been a good one. Our mechanic is a German guy who loves the MINI and never complains about working on them. It's hard not to love that car. It's so much fun.
@@Kevinb1821 fully agree. I look through car sale sites in the UK and I have seen Porsche Cayenne going for £4,000 and that will totally make you cry to sleep with repairs. We have tons of Audi TT's for £1,000 to £3,000. Same with high mileage BMW 320's etc. I nearly bought a 2007 BMW 530D for 3 grand and spoke to a mechanic who specialises in BMW and he told me to run from it. Ended up with a Honda that I ran for near 3 years with not one single issue or breakdown.
We own a 2014 Mini Cooper Countryman. I maintain the living heck out of it. Had it about 9 years and no trouble so far. I put new plugs in the vehicle at 50 K miles. Being careful while doing this simple job still caused plastic parts to break!! I often wonder what kind of cheap crap they use on these expensive cars. My 1995 Toyota P/U truck still has all the original plastic parts in good shape........ go figure!
All cars built after 2000, save for a few Asian vehicles, are meant to be recycled after the warranty expires. Otherwise, it's like owning a boat or recreational vehicle. A constant drain on the pocketbook as one thing after the other fails.
My 2002 Lexus Lx470 says ill run forever. Its the Jap cars designed in the 90s that are still great and reliable and were still sold through the early 2000's that will we see on the roads for a long time. Still do.
As much as some of the bells and whistles are great, anymore I would rather spend less (except for RCTA, backup camera and sensors, and Adaptive Cruise) knowing that the car isn’t likely to last. I’m not going to pay for a moonroof or Nappa leather for a car that may wind up in a compactor in 10 years.
Had the same issue with 2014 mini but its the B48 not the N series engine. Upgraded the housing to an aluminum one. Took me just over 2 hours to do in my driveway. I spent about $150 that included the housing, oil and coolant. Housing included a new filter but again this was on the b58 2.0 engine not the older series engine
My Grand daughter took her Mini(has a turbo) to a shop near her to have it inspected and an oil and filter change. She got a call from the shop later in the day saying one of the mechanics broke something while removing the filter and now they are waiting on the replacement part, Will b e interesting to see if they have to remove a bunch of things for the repair. They admitted wrong, so that's a plus.
@@eotikurac Service mode is when the mechanic raises the rear end up waist high, puts rear wheels on blocks., then the mechanic services it until it screams.
@@eotikurac Front-end service mode is when you pull the front (bumper, crash bar and move the radiator a bit), which is, to the uninitiated "pull the whole front-end", and to the initiated a painless 20/25 min job that gives easy access to everything at the front of the engine. Some mechanics like to complain about this procedure. But when you look at the engine bay, how else could you fit everything in a way that every common failure is easy to fix? There is simply no way. Front-end service mode is the next best thing (and not exclusive to BMW).
@eotikurac you can pull the entire front clip, radiator, bumpers, bracing and intercooler all as an assembly. It takes 25 min and you have complete access to the engine.
@@Maroco918 You forgot to mention the first gen is even easier because the headlights are connected to the hood/bonnet. Also doesn't have the metal brace going to the strut towers. After owning 6 Mini's I'll admit the supercharged is my favorite.
Wizard you and Misses Wizard make me laugh! Thank you so much. She’s the best “straight man” ever. I love my SL55 and my wife loves her Mini S. But the up keep takes time and money for sure. That’s why our daily drivers are an 06 Frontier and a Miata with a K24 swap. LOL
they actually make an aluminum thermostat housing for that. whenever I do a cooling system repair and plastic parts are involved I check for an aftermarket aluminum replacement. lots of aftermarket companies know that plastic cooling system parts are an issue. they actually make aluminum thermostat housings for that mini cooper.
I owned a 2009 R55 Clubman with the same Peugeot/Prince Engine. The thermostat housing was replaced at 8,000 miles under warranty due to a coolant leak. The best decision I made was selling it private party back in 2016 with only 29,000 miles.
So glad I'm retired. I worked on very few of these but several had the same problems. Expensive and a pain to fix. I'd ask the customer "Why'd you but it?" and they would say "It's so cute!" Whatever. Parts are not cheap, either.
Owned 4 Minis, 2 Coopers when in the UK. Aside from punctures and a windscreen they were trouble free but we did maintain them to schedule. You are not going to pass the annual test there to keep them on the road if you don’t.
Great "wrenching" video Wizard (and Ms. Wizard), You have stepped up the mechanics and wrenching in the last few videos, and I for one wanted to let ya'll know that it is Great!!!!~~ That is why I watch.!!~
0:56 Something to do with the cartridge oil filter system. Housing, Stripped Threads, Warped Cap, Overheated Assembly, or abuse from techs who didnt have any Fs to give.
I have a 2010 Clubman with 112k on it. The only reason I keep it is that it’s a perfect size and use of space for our needs. That said, all engine seals have been replaced due to leaks and some of the poor quality plastic plumbing replaced as well. With a purchase price of $11k and nearly that much in repairs due largely to the tear-down difficulty. But it’s still cheaper than taking a risk on a new car. The trans is the biggest concern - MINI asserts that they will not change trans fluids because once the seals are broken from the factory, they tend to leak. So fingers crossed that factory fluid will last another 100k. If I lose the bet, next car will be an EV.
Ironically my Fiat Neon (2015 Dodge Dart) did something similar to me. Replaced an oil pan gasket because it was leaking to find that there was a 2nd leak from the thermostat housing, then found another leak from a heater hose. Ended up replacing most of the coolant hoses (1 was replaced last year).
@@TheBTG88 That depends on the state, and from what I can tell, US state inspections are universally jokes compared to things like the British MOT, Dutch APK, or German TÜV.
@ I have cars in both New York State and California. Emissions, safety, and maintenance inspections are required every 12 months. Cars are not legally allowed on public roads and can not be registered unless they pass all of them.
@@MrBlueBurd0451 Correct. I live in Alabama, and there is no inspection OR emissions testing here. I lived in GA for over 30 years, they have emissions testing only, depending on which county you live in. I was born and raised in PA where there is both annual inspection and emission testing.
2014-2016 I used to work very close to an independent MINI mechanic, I never saw the place without at least three cars in there with the front off...complete garbage.
I have 2 cars with GM ecotecs. 1st gen 2.2, and 2nd gen 2.4. They have the same sort of setup with the waterpump and thermostat, except they're made of metal all the way around. So those parts will last forever
Not only is the vehicle itself in the compact segment, It also has the most compact engine bay👍 These cars are fun to drive with a stick but when it comes to ease of maintenance I’ll stick with the 1980s and back for any BMW product, MINI included.
I was in a shop in Germany many years ago. What surprised me was, how many engine out overhaul procedures they did. It was odd to watch mechanics sitting around on rolling chairs doing what we would typically do in a car. Moreover, once the engine was out they did everything from spark plugs to thermostat. First of all their shops were equipped differently to do fast engine out repairs. Second they didn't fix one thing at a time when it broke. They did more of an overhaul of everything on a schedule. But to be fair, it was kind of fun to watch guys do jobs that aren't easy even on American cars, while sitting in comfy swivel chairs around a subframe on a lift rather than all bent over a fender. Lastly, for the most part, Europeans don't drive like we do. Mass transit works in Europe and distances are shorter. Moreover gas is more expensive. Aside from sales people, most people don't drive nearly as much as we do. I watched a guy take his Porsche out on the Autobahn every Sunday when the weather was good. Afterwards he washed it and let it dry off before putting it away in his garage. The rest of the week he commuted to work by mass transit. Once a month the car went to the shop for inspection and service. It never left the garage other than for the Sunday drive and to go to the shop. And I'll bet he had no complaints about his car's reliability. Now I know that this doesn't apply to other parts of Europe, but I didn't hit a single pot hole while I was driving around Germany. So, I would assume that the Mini you were working on missed it's 60,000 mile overhaul, which would have included fluids, plugs, replacement of all of the plastic parts and gaskets and a host of minor jobs that would be easy to do with the drive train on a stand. Again... it's just a difference of methods and shop set up. Here we lift the car, there they drop out the drive train. Here we fix things as they break, there they do complete maintenance before things break. Here we get blindsided by breakdowns, there they budget for "normal" car expenses in advance. It's all about how you approach different cars differently.
I owned a 2013 Daewoo Sonic branded as a Chevy, 1.4L turbo, which was at least that bad, maybe worse. I bought it with under 30,000 miles from a relative who didn't need it anymore. I spent the next 60,000+ miles constantly working on it, it also had a thermostat like that, the PCV system was built into the plastic cam cover and the plastic intake manifold, which I replaced twice. The turbo oil line sprung a leak. The water pump failed. The evap cannister purge valve failed several times. Quite a few other things failed as well. And just before 100,000 miles the cam chain broke, destroying the engine. Meanwhile, my 2006 Mercury Grand Marquis just passed 390,000 miles, the only engine related problems were a failed alternator, a bad MAF sensor, and a serpentine belt tensioner and idler pulley. I just put new plugs in it. It's on its third set of plugs since new. It still has its original timing components, with no sign of a cam chain rattle. Transmission is also original, and has never been worked on. How would maintenance have prevented any of those problems? Looks like they were all gasket/seal failures.
Just my 2 cents but driving a BMW down south with plastic parts is a recipe for disaster why cause those parts become super brittle. I've own many BMW's you must stay on top of inspections and you must do weekly inspections I live in Texas and I've learned 101 degree heat the car will never last and you say what many mechanics say about Americans drive it till the wheels burst off.
It has a Peugeot Engine that might be part of the reason. I also had a 2010 Ford Focus with a Peugeot Diesel engine and all the seals were leaking. It left me stranded 3 times
20 minutes start to finish for an alternator on a 2008 BMW 328i...Paid $200 😅😅😅. 2015 BMW 750li OEM plugs and coils paid $505 in 75 minutes. Somebody calls me a Mercedes, BMW or Audi and I smile. Have to do a starter on a 2017 Mercedes C300 tomorrow. That will pay $375.
My 2006 mustang any time a plastic engine part fails. I try replacing it with an aftermarket metal piece. Being a popular car with a strong aftermarket. What helps these plastic wonders stay on the road. Well as long as you don't try showing off in front of a crowd😂
I own a 1st gen convertible (R52) and if it wasn't that I can do all the work on it myself, I wouldn't own it. Design wise its a good car to drive ( suspension design is great), but it does require lots of labour to maintain. Replacing the clutch means dropping the front subframe, making the job about as twice as expensive as the same job on a Honda Jazz/Fit. Perosnally owned 7 BMWs, the last being an E36. When they started using plastic in the water pump (E90 I think?), I said no more BMs for me.
A quick google search says about 8500 miles per year per vehicle, which is about as much as Canadians drive. Americans do about 32 miles per day which equals about 11500 miles according to API. However i think all these statistics include sports cars only used in the summer and recreational vehicles, so the average is actually higher.
Reminds me of my old 2004 Nissan Murano. I remembered tearing half the engine apart to replace some oxygen sensors. And that's a Japanese car. I heard V8 Lexuses are like that too
Literally the most common oil leak on these cars - ANY bmw or mini mechanic or enthusiast would have said that straight away. You can replace these by putting the mini in to front end service mode. Car Ninja also did this exact same job but it took him a single hour to remove the front clip and engine to do the job.
I seen that he literally had the engine out in an hour and it was a supercharged version too. Much easier to access all the leaking gaskets on that one
We have a 2011 BMW 335Xi and have had to change the coolant reservoir 3x's already as well as several hoses because of the poor quality of plastics used by BMW.
Dave, thanks again for displaying engineered obsolescence at its finest. If I may inquire, what did your mechanic friend in Germany suggest regarding the failure of cheap plastic parts? Does a product exist that can be applied to cheap plastic parts in order to elongate their lifespan? One has to ask 'why' super cheap components are installed on cars manufactured in the past 15 years. The answer is : because they can. Why are vehicles produced in the past 15 that are significantly overwhelmed with integrated, elaborate, complicated digital modules currently manufactured? The same answer holds true. There is no gov agency, consumer organizations; or anyone with any legal authority to stop them from manufacturing vehicles with elaborate, unnecessary, technical sophistication. The name of the game with the manufacturers is: ' I know and You don't', so tough toenails to you, the consumer. Obviously, most new cars will never be designed to last more than 100K miles, and that is their desired, primary objective. The manufacturers must kneel at the alter of the almighty stock holder and proclaim: Look how much money we made for you!!!! Hoovie should consider purchasing and repairing vehicles produced from the mid 60's to the mid 90's, he should recall the heavy prices demanded for American pickup trucks produced in the late 60's to late 70's while attending the recent auctions. You know for a fact that older vehicles, even those that show their mileage, are of better quality than the junk produced today. As Hoovie knows, the new electric "sop" are disastrous in quality and reliability. My 1982 and 1997 Ford vans are still running strong, reliable; and trouble free with at least 250K miles as I travel across the USA several times a year.
I’m happy to keep driving an “older” car. I don’t need plastic junk that’s going to equate to 10 years worth of car payments. The BMW has 15,000 mile oil intervals and lifetime coolant; but the plastic tubes that carry them self destruct after 100 heat cycles.
I owned a brand new 1969 original Mini not a Cooper in Jamaica. I think it was a 650 cc engine. It appeared to be the simpilest engine you ever saw. The engine was impossible to work on with adult hands. The repair shop that I went to had a 14 year old apprentice who worked on this car. Long before BMW. Put together cheaply. The car had a tendency to fall apart on the rough Jamaican roads. Someone owns a Mini Cooper S on the next street from me in Harrisburg PA, of all places. Seeing that car gave me a wave of nostalgia.
They have hit speed bumps at speed with too little ground clearance. I'll keep my 2015 Toyota Tacoma TRD Sport with 4 wheel drive, thank you very much.
@@eotikurac no it's not. The Mini in the video is a 2013 R56 with the N16 variant of the Prince Engine, which is a PSA engine on which BMW added a few things (like the unreliable timing chain and VANOS). It's the least unreliable variant of all petrol R56, but the whole 2nd generation (from 2007 to 2013, a bit later for convertibles/countryman) is widely known as unreliable and costly to maintain. You're thinking of the 3rd generation, F-chassis with BMW B-series engines, which are overall considered reliable for a BMW product.
The Jarvic 7 heart, aka BMW Mini thermostat housing. BMWs are just filled with cheap plastic junk that degrades before your eyes. All of the plastic clips in the engine area are made out of a type of chinesium. BTW Those little fog lights in the front bumper are super expensive, last time I checked, one was over $120.00 and its just two flimsy plastic halves welded together. Another part they love to devour are the stick coils, oems go just as fast as any of the aftermarket ones, so neither are durable or reliable.
US engineer: I did it in 13 parts. Japanese engineer: I did it with just 9 parts. German engineer: I did it with 47 parts. German engineer's boss: Less than 80 parts? Fritz, you're fired.
Ah the good 'ol BMW OFHG. To be fair, it's not a regular maintenance item and the irritation of removing a bunch of stuff is offset by replacing other aged and worn parts while you're under there and everything is out. The OFHG in my E46 started leaking around the 90-100k mark for reference, intake manifold comes off but I replaced the oil pressure sensor and coolant temp sensor along with the VANOS oil line.
Everything you buy new is made from recycled plastic which does not contain the original oil base that it wsa made from, hence it falls apart just after the warranty expires, how strange ! The aftermarket parts suppliers do a range of metal parts for thiese BMW Mini's but the labour involved in fitting them will make your credit card melt. All things German are no longer made to last, other brands are no different.
Why dont you get a EU Suzuki Vitara 2017:] There is so much space in the engine bay, that you can just climb in, close the bonnet and come out when you are done:d
Since VW just shut down three plants in Germany I think all those stupid problems you just showed are all coming home to bite VW . Why not use either very high quality plastic of better yet easy to access metal parts ?
A car is not a bicycle. Hi Wizard, im from germany too. We too have people out here who think if the doors and the the roof of a car is made out of metal it will last for ever like a tank. And these people will do nothing in maintance for their car. I myself drive a 2019 Audi Avant 2.0 TFSI Quattro, its in new condition. I know people irl and here on YT/internet like to dump on this vehical and on the brand all in all. I tell every one who dont have a car and want to buy one or somebody who has a car, if they want their car to last a while, even if its a s*** box... you better have money. Cheap car or expensive one. I will do every 10k km an oil change, i will change the transmission oil every 60k km (front and back), i will change the timing belt with the water pump when i get to 100k km. I really want to know how long will this car last. Becouse its the best daily i have driven in my life. So my last word is: if you want a car, you should have money. if you want to have a good car, you should take care of it with even more money.
It sucks that this is just the car market today. Cars are built to fail so that dealers and big corporations can keep up their revenue, while the buyers suffer…
I hate BMWs with a vengeance, too, for all your reasons and another personal list. Minis are all design and no substance. No perfect maintenance will prevent many design flaws. Yet I agree that Americans don't care about maintenance. They should experiment some poverty because it does wonders for treating cars like garbage.
Yeah BMW use crap rubber for their gaskets. Whether it's a Rolls, 3 series, Mini etc. If you're really steady with your hands it's actually better to seal with a nice even bead of high temp gasket silicone. As long as the bead is even and you give it time to cure before tightening you won't wind up with silicone in your pickup and it will pretty much stay nice and flexible for longer than whatever compound they're using. It's not about saving $3 as this is probably more expensive...but at least you won't tear it down twice for the same reason.
