N14 or N18

[Draculaw]

Hoping to check out a 2010 Cooper S tomorrow. First registered in March 2010 now with 62k on the clock and I am 99% sure N18 engine. Here’s a pic - am I right?

Separately I see a lot of love for the R53. I’m using it for commuting 30 miles each way, predominantly A roads, so I’m thinking the better economy and refinement of the R56 is the way to go. Any reason to go older and get an R53, provided mileage not crazy high?

[Filibuster]

N18 with the engine cover missing, I would have said.

[Draculaw]

Thanks. That was my gut, but the specs listed it at 190bhp when I thought the N18 was 184bhp so was a bit confused.

[paultownsend]

N18. Where was that power figure listed? Check and check again the service history. Oil changes.
Check the dipstick level too.

[Draculaw]

paultownsend said:

N18. Where was that power figure listed? Check and check again the service history. Oil changes.
Check the dipstick level too.

Just in the autotrader ad. Apparently has a full service history, but dependent on price I’d probably just service and MOT it right away. Would lose a month or two on the MOT but hey ho.

[stevemcs]

Looks like an N18, they are 184 bhp i think, the N14 being 178bhp .....

[Draculaw]

Cheers, that’s what I thought. No idea why the ad reads 190. Perhaps a remap which isn’t listed or something.

It’s on for £6k, thinking reasonable would be £5,500-£5,750 ballpark. AT suggests a private sale would be £5,250, so a little extra for a dealer sale and given it has a short MOT.

[paultownsend]

Remember Mini/BMW beleive thst 22k between oil changes is acceptable and considered FSH.
For a small capacity high output turbocharged engine it is not.

[Draculaw]

Should I be looking at every 10k or so? If it’s survived the BMW service plan thus far will I end up in trouble shortly down the line? I’m thinking that if it’s only had 63k, if it has 5 service stamps that’s not an excessive interval.

[DuckSauce]

Draculaw said:

Cheers, that’s what I thought. No idea why the ad reads 190. Perhaps a remap which isn’t listed or something.

It’s on for £6k, thinking reasonable would be £5,500-£5,750 ballpark. AT suggests a private sale would be £5,250, so a little extra for a dealer sale and given it has a short MOT.

I got a 2010 Clubman S end of last year for 5k.
I've had a few issues with it, but seems sorted now (mine is an N18 which is much better then my old N14)

[paultownsend]

Draculaw said:

Should I be looking at every 10k or so? If it’s survived the BMW service plan thus far will I end up in trouble shortly down the line? I’m thinking that if it’s only had 63k, if it has 5 service stamps that’s not an excessive interval.

Ours was serviced under the Mini TLC package. The car decides when it needed a service. Typically every 20k. But we were lucky and the previous owner changed the oil between these services.

[Draculaw]

Sitrep on test drive, all good bar one issue. EML in tacho on the LCD appeared, although didn't show in the speedo. Nothing was showing on the in-car information system as being faulty and a run through the OBD didn't show anything. They suggested it could be the O2 sensor as it happened fairly shortly after starting off (cold start). Is this likely, or is it a symptom of something more serious and costly? I should add there seemed to be no stored code or anything of the sorts either. Google suggests anything from coils/plugs to fuel pump to cat. The symbol looked like this:



Generally I would run a mile at the sign of anything cropping up, but the spec on this car is perfect (sat nav, cruise control, pan roof, media pack, xenons) and the price is (IMO) reasonable (£6,000 although will try to get it down).

Edit: Google consensus seems to be HPFP on its way out. I've seen places offering fixed cost of £600 to fix - is that reasonable? Trying to decide whether to negotiate with that bargaining chip or walk away.

Edited by Draculaw on Saturday 2nd March 18:19

[stevemcs]

Hpfp is £450 from neos and half hour to fit, some say you need to swap the fuel pipes, mine so far hasn’t burst into flames

[Draculaw]

Hmm, so all in probably a £525 job, assuming that's the issue. Sadly might have to pass on this one unless I can get a big enough discount to cover it. Would be happy to pay £5750 for it, so would have to go down to the £5300-5400 (considering only 2 months MOT as well) to make it worth the risk.

[DuckSauce]

Never trust Google! I had similar and every search was pointing to the Hpfp, yet it turned out to be the fuel pump relay, which is fixed to the JBE and a right pain to fix. Had to buy a 2nd hand JBE, fit it and code it to the car (it has to be the exact same part from the donor car, otherwise things don't work)

[Draculaw]

Hmm, noted. Think I might just pass on the risk in that case. It will be my daily so don’t fancy potentially having it in/out of the garage being repaired.

Do the regular coopers from the ~2010 era have these issues? Don’t need the Cooper S power right now, and the regular Cooper is far more economical, although I do love the bonnet scoop.

Edited by Draculaw on Sunday 3rd March 00:25

[stevemcs]

Keep looking for the n18 cooper s.