Risky Purchase? R56 Mini Cooper S [Cheap Thrills]

[@dappergent9422]

I have the JCW R56 and absolutely love it. As mentioned before, preventative maintenance is vital.

[@928Porscheman]

Go to the Oxford UK assembly plant and you will see the German company never disturbed the British plant, they only upgraded the robots to help build them. Even the body panels are made in the UK at Plant Swindon. I have three second generation MINIs and love them. My daily is a 2013 R56S, my 2012 R59S Roadster S is my favorite fun weekend car and my 2009 R55S Clubman S is my family outing car. Be sure to get the timing chain guides inspected before you get too many miles on it. Check your oil level every three weeks. Happy Motoring!

[@CarObsession]

Hi George, thanks for watching and thanks for your input 👍

[@marklittler784]

If you connect a chain to the back and the nearest ATM machine you'd be on a real winner.

[@precool]

Thank you! I do have an R56, and it's running nicely.

[@evemariedumais1461]

I've owned a 2009 R56 for 7 years now. I would say that preventative maintenance is key with these cars. Things like timing change tensioner, thermostat housing, water pumps...

[@CarObsession]

Hi Eve Marie, thanks for watching and thanks for sharing your experience.

[@ozzyprod9332]

I just bought one and the fact you spoke in plural about the water pump scares me😂, mine is alr leaking coolant..

[@evemariedumais1461]

And yes there are 2 water pumps. One for the turbo and the other for the engin. the turbo one should have been covered by a recall.@@ozzyprod9332

[@JessmanChicken86]

I just bought a 2009 Mini Cooper R56 base with 50k miles. Is there anything I should be like, replacing? Everything runs fine right now. Or, do I just need to be on top of oil changes and services? Thanks 👍

[@johnhall8455]

Don’t buy..they are a nightmare…maintenance will not prevent the problems you mention.. Buy a 1500….much better engine..

[@adheal9530]

Had an 07 with 68k on it for 6 months now. Needed new clutch and I had all the oil leaking gaskets done too. Not cheap, but timing chain was already done, car has been run on premium millers oil (which is essential!!), and the engine is still running at near full compression. If you look after these religiously they will last. Oil and spark plugs every 5k miles, de-coking needs doing every 40-50k miles too which will save fuel pump and other issues.

[@CarObsession]

Hey Ad, thanks for watching and thanks for sharing your experience.

[@marklittler784]

All main dealer employees are equipped with special glasses to enable them to see the potential -customer- victim from a mile away.

[@CarObsession]

🤣

[@stephandolby]

N14 (Prince) engine: joint French and German design, built in the UK. I hear that reduced servicing intervals can help a lot.

[@CarObsession]

Yup, as well as checking the oil level frequently. Thanks for watching Stephan.

[@EvanXDev]

N14 (Prince) engine is about as reliable as a chocolate teapot. The previous Tritec engine a joint British and American design, built in Brazil was much better.

[@cerberus_uwu]

@@EvanXDev mate.. the tritec engines leak like seives!! LOL!.. the N14 and N18 are far superior in about every way - and are perfectly reliable if looked after and maintained correctly.. I mean the N14 can't be that bad as it won International Engine of the Year award 8 years in a row for its displacement..

[@marklittler784]

Yeah look in the list of things done to all the vehicles for sale to give you an idea what its likely to need and when.

[@ArmaganDemiral]

I’ve driven one of these and it handles soo well!

[@CarObsession]

Thanks for the comment mate!

[@PrettyGreenMonk]

Most fun car ive owned will buy another but n18

[@davidhopper1087]

Great info my son is thinking of getting a mini . Down sizing from his XTRAIL . Will be looking for, a ONE with the better engine ,

[@CarObsession]

No worries David, I'm glad you found the video useful - thanks for watching!

[@zoransusak2354]

Easiest way to chk oil is just lean dipstick on paper napkin

[@NigelRudyard]

Good luck with that one!!!

[@marklittler784]

😂😁😀😃😂😁😀😃😂😁😀😃

[@marklittler784]

Thought the Mazda MX5 was an excellent car with thrills for keeping its price more than likely that will be a result of its reliability.

[@nigelbryant5932]

Great review. I owned one and the engine leaked oil from most of the gaskets. Only had 23k on the clock Total ticking time bomb. I had a one owner car with full history. Sold it for a massive loss and bought an ST.

[@CarObsession]

Thanks Nigel!

[@nigelbryant5932]

@@CarObsession I truly appreciate your videos 👍👍. Always great content

[@CarObsession]

@@nigelbryant5932 Thank you Nigel, appreciate it.

[@waterlover]

Too bad the craven dip stick is harder to read then the stock one. Maybe you don’t have a r56 and just doing a review on a friends car. All you need is too sand down one side of the dipstick tip flat and you can read the oil no problem

[@CarObsession]

Hi there, thanks for watching and thanks for the comment. As mentioned in the video, the car doesn't belong to me but thanks for the heads up

[@t5jerry]

and HOW many hours labour does it cost to remove THE COMPLETE front end of the car to change the clutch !!!!!

[@CarObsession]

Over 7 hours pal. Thanks for watching.,

[@t5jerry]

@@CarObsession yep i knew that, but i bet MANY of your viewers didn`t..............😲😲

[@Doppo69]

That’s goodwood your driving around?

[@CarObsession]

@@Doppo69 It certainly is! Thanks for watching 👍🏽.

[@Doppo69]

@@CarObsession ah thought so I’m regularly at the motor circuit with my cooper s f56, or cycling that area 😊 Great video

[@CarObsession]

@@Doppo69 Thank you! 👌🏽

[@ethan_59]

Hi mate, in the market for one of these. How bad is the n14 or is it better to go for the n18?

[@CarObsession]

To be honest, in my experience (I work in a car repair garage that specialises in German cars) neither are particularly bulletproof, but I'd say go for the N18. Although, if it's the choice between a well cared for N14 or a neglected N18, that changes of course. Thanks for watching.

[@MiMicheIIe]

This car is the biggest mistake I've ever made. If you know what's good for you, please, PLEASE get something else. I'm begging you. I don't want others to lose thousands as well.

[@CarObsession]

For what it's worth, the owner of the car featured in this video sold the car on shortly afterwards due to ongoing problems. Thanks for watching 👍🏽.

[@t5jerry]

£69 quid for a BLOODY dipstick...............you`d HAVE to be a dipstick to pay THAT much, what a bloody rip off😠😠

[@johnhall8455]

Drive great…engine absolutely crap….mechanics’s hate them…buy a 1500..

[@mr.fluffythepekingese2737]

What year is it?

[@CarObsession]

2007, thanks for watching 👍🏽

[@davidyates6546]

Even if it's well looked after. it's a money pit.

[@CarObsession]

Not always, but most of the time LOL. Thanks for watching.

[@trevoroliver8461]

Disagree. My wife has an 08 plate with 101,000 on the clock and it’s sweet as a nut!

[@CarObsession]

@@trevoroliver8461 To be honest, she is one of the lucky ones as I work in a German Car Specialist repair garage and we see Minis very often. In fact we've just seen out a 2011 Mini Cooper S Clubman which has fair amount of work done to it. But yeah, you're right, not all of them are lemons but sadly quite a few of them end up that way. Thanks for watching.

[@cerberus_uwu]

@@CarObsession a 2011... with the N18 engine in it... which kind of just proves my point above!.. most issues tend to be caused by owners sticking to extended servicing intervals and running their engines low on oil..

[@coolkid123456100]

@@CarObsession Would you say the R53 gen cars are more reliable than the R56 successor?

[@wolvoman1]

Power steering pump can catch fire

[@marklittler784]

Every car has its advantages.

[@cerberus_uwu]

clearly, you don't have a clue what you're talking about!.. the power steering pumps on the R56 are entirely electrical! - maybe you're thinking of a hydraulic based system like found on the R53 (the previous generation) and not the one that is the subject of this video!..

[@cerberus_uwu]

Mate, you should be nowhere near a car if you can't read the oil on a dipstick!.. FFS.. I've got a Mini R56 N14 with 62k on the clock and still on it's original chain.. it had the recall on the chain tensioner and it's been really well looked after.. the fact you seem to think the N18 is an inherently better engine shows you don't really know what you're talking about - as these along with N14's can have their issues if not looked after (a quick scan of the forums shows that as these N18's pile on the miles and more examples are abused they can have issues as well) - the advice you should have given would be to buy a car that has been well looked after with a stack of paperwork to prove upkeep, servicing and maintenance - not to blankly recommend one over the other (as so often happens!)... I'd rather have a cared-for N14 than a thrashed N18..

[@CarObsession]

Hello Paul, thanks for watching and thanks for the comment, although that is unfair. Look through my videos and you will see that I have been able to work on my own cars. Trawl through the internet and you will see that the Mini dipsticks aren't the easiest to read so not sure why you're being harsh. Also in regard to my comments on the engine, the N18 was improved, so why would it not be better? I work for a German Car Specialist repair garage, so I've just asked one of the mechanics which engine is better - I'll come back to you when he has answered.

[@CarObsession]

"the advice you should have given would be to buy a car that has been well looked after with a stack of paperwork to prove upkeep, servicing and maintenance" - is that not what I was suggesting around 11:00? Yes, I did recommend the N18 over the N14, but why wouldn't I? It's an improved engine. I'm not going to say it isn't without problems as that simply isn't true, but the problems are less likely. I appreciate you saying you'd rather take a well cared for N14 over a thrashed N18, and I would be inclined to agree, but surely if both engines HAVE been cared for in the same way then the N18 is the better choice?

[@CarObsession]

The mechanic has come back to me, and bearing in mind he has worked on many Minis, he has said the N18 is better. Mind you, he also said both engines were, and I quote 'Shit' 🤣

[@cerberus_uwu]

@@CarObsession what happened to my other quote where I linked into what Lohen had to say on the subject... You know.. the renowned mini tuners!

[@CarObsession]

@@cerberus_uwu I've no idea - I never saw it. Sometimes KZbin automatically removes a comment with a link in it as I thinks it's spam.

[@TurkishBenAirsoft]

Dont buy a French car or a car with a French engine lol.

[@CarObsession]

Hi Ben, thanks for watching, and thanks for the comment.

[@rsfez09]

Probably the worst car I have ever purchased.

[@K33EEE]

How come?

[@rsfez09]

@@K33EEE when they work they are nice and fun to drive. Not ideal imo as the overall build is poor from a mechanical point of view (engine) too much went wrong on a low mileage car I owned. Many owner reviews also reflect their thoughts as one to avoid.