Noob questions about R52 MCS Convertible
Discussion
Hi all,
First foray into the forum - looking at a late Mk.1 MINI Cooper S Convertible as a second car to replace my aging e36 convertible. Not totally new to them as my dad had one a few years back which I drove briefly - loved the supercharger whine and the immediacy!
I've had a quick look and at first glance it seems that £4k or so gives a reasonable choice of 2006 on cars with 50-60k miles. I'm a bit confused about spec though. I am guessing that there will be parallels with my e46, being a similar aged BMW, but not sure what came as standard on these cars (being "range toppers" at the time I am guessing they would have better specs then cooking models). A lot of ads miss out the details.
So what are the chances of getting:
xenons (never had a car with them and find halogens pretty poor on lanes these days)
heated seats (are these more common on the convertible?)
bluetooth (I gather this is the same system as in my e46 which is junk - even on my dad's new R56 convertible it's voice only, not music. Ideally there would be some sort of bluetooth aux on solution whereby I can stream music/calls)
cruise (they seem to have the buttons but not all have it installed)
and finally auto lights/wipers....
Also, any tips on best places to look would be good, loads of Autotrader but very few on PH, all newer ones and very expensive.
Thanks in advance!
First foray into the forum - looking at a late Mk.1 MINI Cooper S Convertible as a second car to replace my aging e36 convertible. Not totally new to them as my dad had one a few years back which I drove briefly - loved the supercharger whine and the immediacy!
I've had a quick look and at first glance it seems that £4k or so gives a reasonable choice of 2006 on cars with 50-60k miles. I'm a bit confused about spec though. I am guessing that there will be parallels with my e46, being a similar aged BMW, but not sure what came as standard on these cars (being "range toppers" at the time I am guessing they would have better specs then cooking models). A lot of ads miss out the details.
So what are the chances of getting:
xenons (never had a car with them and find halogens pretty poor on lanes these days)
heated seats (are these more common on the convertible?)
bluetooth (I gather this is the same system as in my e46 which is junk - even on my dad's new R56 convertible it's voice only, not music. Ideally there would be some sort of bluetooth aux on solution whereby I can stream music/calls)
cruise (they seem to have the buttons but not all have it installed)
and finally auto lights/wipers....
Also, any tips on best places to look would be good, loads of Autotrader but very few on PH, all newer ones and very expensive.
Thanks in advance!
This one is local to me in Doncaster and I know the car. (It’s not mine by the way)
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...
Not too sure about Bluetooth on it but it’s a genuine car with xenon lights, heated seats and cruise too.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...
Not too sure about Bluetooth on it but it’s a genuine car with xenon lights, heated seats and cruise too.
Thanks chaps!
Slashmb said:
This one is local to me in Doncaster and I know the car. (It’s not mine by the way)
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...
Not too sure about Bluetooth on it but it’s a genuine car with xenon lights, heated seats and cruise too.
Related question - how is the cruise operated without steering wheel controls?https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...
Not too sure about Bluetooth on it but it’s a genuine car with xenon lights, heated seats and cruise too.
Xenons came as part of the Chili (Chilli?) pack on the first gen MCS so that should be easy to find, which also gave the half leather sports seats.
Auto wipers, heated seats, heated screen were all individual options IIRC so you will have to hunt around to find one with everything you want.
As above, don't worry about factory bluetooth and plan to update the head unit unless you get one with in built sat nav. However if you are going to update the head unit do not buy a car with Harmon Kardon audio upgrade or it will become a nightmare to get the new head unit working without ripping out all of the existing audio system.
Alternatively fit a dedicated aftermarket bluetooth kit to the existing head unit / nav / HK, for which you may want to get a car with the post 2015 MF steering wheel that has the extra phone buttons and may be possible to integrate with the phone kit.
Auto wipers, heated seats, heated screen were all individual options IIRC so you will have to hunt around to find one with everything you want.
As above, don't worry about factory bluetooth and plan to update the head unit unless you get one with in built sat nav. However if you are going to update the head unit do not buy a car with Harmon Kardon audio upgrade or it will become a nightmare to get the new head unit working without ripping out all of the existing audio system.
Alternatively fit a dedicated aftermarket bluetooth kit to the existing head unit / nav / HK, for which you may want to get a car with the post 2015 MF steering wheel that has the extra phone buttons and may be possible to integrate with the phone kit.
Thanks guys - really appreciate it.
See quite a nicely specced one I may go and have a look at:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
It's got the "visibility pack" which from googling seems to mean auto lights/wipers & a heated screen. Only things I'm not sure about are the number of owners which isn't listed, and the MOT history looks a bit ropey (front tyres on cords and a wheel bearing shot at the first MOT with less than 10k miles on it).
As an aside, I don't know if it's just minis or all newish cars but most of them seem to have a string of MOT fails/advisories for poor tyres/brakes/wipers. Do people not bother to check these days?
See quite a nicely specced one I may go and have a look at:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
It's got the "visibility pack" which from googling seems to mean auto lights/wipers & a heated screen. Only things I'm not sure about are the number of owners which isn't listed, and the MOT history looks a bit ropey (front tyres on cords and a wheel bearing shot at the first MOT with less than 10k miles on it).
As an aside, I don't know if it's just minis or all newish cars but most of them seem to have a string of MOT fails/advisories for poor tyres/brakes/wipers. Do people not bother to check these days?
The Mot history doesn't look too bad, i've seen worse on a regular basis, i'd be more concerned about not having advisories, we had someone in today who wanted a cv boot clip fitting as it had just been mot'd (its a fail) and there was no mention not even as an advisory on its MOT
Given the rate that one appears to go through tyres, i'd get a 4 wheel geo carried out if you buy it, the wheels are from the R56 model.
Given the rate that one appears to go through tyres, i'd get a 4 wheel geo carried out if you buy it, the wheels are from the R56 model.
stevemcs said:
Given the rate that one appears to go through tyres, i'd get a 4 wheel geo carried out if you buy it, the wheels are from the R56 model.
That’s a runout model from after the hatch had already been replaced by the R56 at the end of 2006, so it came from the factory with R56 crown spokes and they offered the R56 exterior paint colours at the time too. No significant equipment spec differences to pre 2007 spec though IIRC.chrisch77 said:
That’s a runout model from after the hatch had already been replaced by the R56 at the end of 2006, so it came from the factory with R56 crown spokes and they offered the R56 exterior paint colours at the time too. No significant equipment spec differences to pre 2007 spec though IIRC.
You learn something new every day NiceCupOfTea said:
Related question - how is the cruise operated without steering wheel controls?
It isn't. To have cruise, it will have the buttons - known in the community as a MFSC (Multi Function Steering Wheel). So no buttons - no cruise control.Sometimes you find someone has retro fitted a MFSC (Multi Function Steering Wheel). So it will have buttons but they may just operate the audio. So you'll see buttons - but no cruise control. It is a mission to retro fit cruise, so no-one does it.
Hi all,
xenons (never had a car with them and find halogens pretty poor on lanes these days) - likely have Xenons - just the dips though, mains are H7. There are earlier reflector Xenons, pretty useless and the later projector Xenons, much better.
heated seats (are these more common on the convertible?) Varies - but if not you can easily and realatively cheaply buy a set of heated fronts and buy and retro-fit the loom which is avaible from main dealer for £30.
bluetooth (I gather this is the same system as in my e46 which is junk - even on my dad's new R56 convertible it's voice only, not music. Ideally there would be some sort of bluetooth aux on solution whereby I can stream music/calls) The Harman Kardon systems are actually excellent, great sound - I have it in my R53. For about £50 on eBay you can get a gixmo that simply plugs into the back of the standard head unit and gives you BT and Hands free, Aux, USB. I have one - works fine.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Stereo-Bluetooth-han...
and finally auto lights/wipers.... this was an option called Visibility Pack, mine has it
If you get the last 7 digits of the VIN of any New MINI and put it in here it will tell you the exact spec, with its various options, that it left the factory with.
http://bimmer.work/
Also, any tips on best places to look would be good, loads of Autotrader but very few on PH, all newer ones and very expensive.
Thanks in advance!
xenons (never had a car with them and find halogens pretty poor on lanes these days) - likely have Xenons - just the dips though, mains are H7. There are earlier reflector Xenons, pretty useless and the later projector Xenons, much better.
heated seats (are these more common on the convertible?) Varies - but if not you can easily and realatively cheaply buy a set of heated fronts and buy and retro-fit the loom which is avaible from main dealer for £30.
bluetooth (I gather this is the same system as in my e46 which is junk - even on my dad's new R56 convertible it's voice only, not music. Ideally there would be some sort of bluetooth aux on solution whereby I can stream music/calls) The Harman Kardon systems are actually excellent, great sound - I have it in my R53. For about £50 on eBay you can get a gixmo that simply plugs into the back of the standard head unit and gives you BT and Hands free, Aux, USB. I have one - works fine.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Stereo-Bluetooth-han...
and finally auto lights/wipers.... this was an option called Visibility Pack, mine has it
If you get the last 7 digits of the VIN of any New MINI and put it in here it will tell you the exact spec, with its various options, that it left the factory with.
http://bimmer.work/
Also, any tips on best places to look would be good, loads of Autotrader but very few on PH, all newer ones and very expensive.
Thanks in advance!
Thanks!
Still keeping a lookout - wanting heated seats/cruise/auto climate. Most if not all seem to have xenons. So far falling into two camps, really nice looking cars from private sellers/garages that give a good vibe but poor spec, and decent spec nice looking cars from shonky looking dealers at top money
I suppose I have to bide my time but I want one NOW!! 
Plus my dad wants my e36 cab!
Still keeping a lookout - wanting heated seats/cruise/auto climate. Most if not all seem to have xenons. So far falling into two camps, really nice looking cars from private sellers/garages that give a good vibe but poor spec, and decent spec nice looking cars from shonky looking dealers at top money
I suppose I have to bide my time but I want one NOW!! Plus my dad wants my e36 cab!Gassing Station | New MINIs | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff