N14 as bad as they say?

[Draculaw]

I've finally settled on a Cooper or Cooper S. Budget up to £5,000 and used for mostly A and a couple of B roads daily (about 150 miles a week on average).

A couple of Cooper S have caught my eye, but one is the older N14 engine. I've heard and read the horror stories, but are they as bad as people say? Are they problems which can be resolved with just more frequent oil changes etc? The cars I've seen are:

N14 - https://shop.carstore.com/search/mini/hatchback/ma...

N18 - https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

The N14 is much lower mileage, but slightly older. I realise the N18 is slightly more powerful, a bit more efficient and lower tax as well, which are all positives, but I don't know whether the extra 75,000 miles is a reasonable trade (although the MOT history on number 2 is good).

[DuckSauce]

I've had both and the N18 uses a lot less oil. My R56 would do 1 litre of oil roughly every 1k miles.

I personally wouldn't choose either of those 2. I paid 5k for my R55 with an N18 engine, with 86k on the car.

[MrC986]

OP, I can’t seem to send you a PM....I’ll be listing my R56 MCS that’s had some good upgrades done in the next few days & well within your budget

[twokcc]

Looking at photos heater controls on second one listed are silver. Change to all black on N18 so could e an N14 engine would need to check as could maybe could be either if produced at change over period

This is one with black heater controls
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Edited by twokcc on Monday 15th April 20:01

[DuckSauce]

twokcc said:

Looking at photos heater controls on second one listed are silver. Change to all black on N18 so could e an N14 engine would need to check as could maybe could be either if produced at change over period

This is one with black heater controls
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Edited by twokcc on Monday 15th April 20:01

My N18 has silver controls, so not sure if that's an indication of the engine. You can put the reg into the BMW warranty site and it should tell you.

[Maracus]

DuckSauce said:

I've had both and the N18 uses a lot less oil. My R56 would do 1 litre of oil roughly every 1k miles.

That sounds very high.

We've had our N18 MCS for 5 1/2 and it doesn't really use any oil between changes. I change it every year regardless of the condition based service programme.

[DuckSauce]

Maracus said:

That sounds very high.

We've had our N18 MCS for 5 1/2 and it doesn't really use any oil between changes. I change it every year regardless of the condition based service programme.

According to BMW, that was considered normal! My N18 uses hardly any oil at all

[Maracus]

DuckSauce said:

Maracus said:

That sounds very high.

We've had our N18 MCS for 5 1/2 and it doesn't really use any oil between changes. I change it every year regardless of the condition based service programme.

According to BMW, that was considered normal! My N18 uses hardly any oil at all

I thought you meant the N18 was using a lot of oil!

The 'norm' from BMW/MINI is ridiculous.

[Catchme]

All the feedback I have heard re the N14 is ‘don’t go there’. Quick Google should give you more info on the differences between the two engines.

The N18 is a more reliable engine - 2011 on.

[Catchme]

All the feedback I have heard re the N14 is ‘don’t go there’. Quick Google should give you more info on the differences between the two engines.

The N18 is a more reliable engine - 2011 on.

[Draculaw]

Thanks all. I'm aware of the differences and have done a fair bit of research, the question was whether all the horror stories are the norm, rather than the exception. Based on most comments they seem more normal than other cars' issues.

I've managed to find a few N18 10/60 plates nearby which I'll go and check out over the Easter weekend and hopefully join the mini club.

Side note, anyone know of the best parking sensor installer? Our work car park is insanely tight, even for small cars so they're a necessity rather than an option.