School run reliability

[MrB.]

I won't bore everyone with my past month's dilemma over car buying, but needless to say I'm half way through changing both mine and MrsB's cars due to the impending arrival of our (adopted) daughter. She's 5 y/o and so will be going to school soon after she arrives. I'm going to be the stay-at-home parent, so my car will purely be for local running around/school run/etc. I'm tempted to get back into a MINI as I probably don't need anything else.

Questions however: I had 2 x R53's from 2004 until 2009 and they were great little cars, putting on just over 120,000 miles between them. My Cooper was the most reliable car I have ever owned, but the Cooper S needed a new supercharger at 52k miles. My thought is to get an early R56, but I keep reading horror stories regarding timing chains and turbos. Its going to be a sub £3,000 car, so will have done around 80k miles, so are these best avoided? Also, does anyone else use one for this purpose with an ISOFIX Britax seat in the back? I'm assuming it should be ok as I'm not exactly a giant, and the little one is but an elf.

So, early R56 Cooper S, or late R53 Cooper S?

Thoughts and experiences appreciated.

[and31]

R53 for me-who doesn’t love something supercharged!!!
Too many horror stories regarding the R56

[E-bmw]

My question would be do you really need the added complexity of the 53 over the 50?

That aside avoid the early 56, the stories are all true.

[MrB.]

E-bmw said:

My question would be do you really need the added complexity of the 53 over the 50?

That aside avoid the early 56, the stories are all true.

It sounds like the older car is the way forward if I do go back into a MINI. Just one question though, I thought all the 1st gen was known as the R53? What’s the R50? A standard Cooper?

[E-bmw]

Correct, 50 - Cooper, 53 Cooper s.

[DuckSauce]

I have an R55 and I manage 4 kids in it doing the school run (not often though) and I'd probably look at something a bit bigger. The child seats don't quite fit, they lay over the top of the seatbelt clip and you have to angle the seat slightly, not ideal and if I did it regularly, then I'd swap cars

[Maracus]

Definitely late R53 S, avoid the early R56 S.

The later revised N18 R56 is reliable, had ours 5+ years and it burns zero oil.

[MrB.]

Does the issues with the chains only affect the Cooper S? If I were to buy an early (gen 2 as I will call it!) Cooper petrol, do I have to consider the same issues? Maybe a Clubman might be the answer.

Its starting to look, however, that the MINI won't be the sensible choice though.

[Maracus]

The Clubman S will have the same N14 chain issues. The change to the 184BHP N18 was mid 2010.

[DuckSauce]

MrB. said:

Does the issues with the chains only affect the Cooper S? If I were to buy an early (gen 2 as I will call it!) Cooper petrol, do I have to consider the same issues? Maybe a Clubman might be the answer.

Its starting to look, however, that the MINI won't be the sensible choice though.

My Clubman is a 2010 with the N18 engine. I paid around 5k for mine, so not cheap, but not that expensive.
It depends if you can live with the size and space.
Lots of people on my school run have minis

[MrB.]

Maracus said:

The Clubman S will have the same N14 chain issues. The change to the 184BHP N18 was mid 2010.

No, I appreciate that the Clubman Cooper S will have the same issues, but what about a standard Cooper (non-S)? My budget is tight as I don’t need anything too fancy and we’ve just changed MrsB’s car, so we’re talking £2,500 ish, high would get me a higher mileage Clubman Cooper.

I just don’t want to buy a money pit, but still want something me fun in my life.

[SlimJim16v]

The std Cooper will have the same issue, plus possible oil drinking.
It may last a bit longer due to less vanos strain.

Think of the timing chain as a service item, with a 50k lifetime.

[MrB.]

SlimJim16v said:

The std Cooper will have the same issue, plus possible oil drinking.
It may last a bit longer due to less vanos strain.

Think of the timing chain as a service item, with a 50k lifetime.

Jeepers creepers Batman! That’s not a healthy design! Looks like am oot! Such a shame, as the Clubman was ticking a lot of boxes for me. Oh well, back to the drawing board!

[DuckSauce]

But at the age you would be buying, the timing chain would probably have been done. I had a 2007 R56 and that timing chain tensioner had been done by the previous owner, only thing I did was a walnut blast. It was a lovely car, only sold it after a divorce and needed a bigger car.

[R53rider]

Facebook
N14 Survivor Support Group (MINI)
2,194 members
Speaks for itself
https://www.facebook.com/groups/713376242178096/

R53 Owners Club
5,071 members
Friendly, informed, well administered, useful
https://www.facebook.com/groups/154538898666141/