R52 S - prices/advice?

[NiceCupOfTea]

Hi folks,

I am in the market for a decent R52 MCS at the moment.

Basic requirements are:
Reasonable miles, as late as possible
Good condition and good spec (want heated seats, cruise and preferably auto climate).
Flexible on other things.

I am really confused on prices - AT shows them between about £3500 and £5000, but I have seen a lot of people talking about picking up good low miles late cars for £2500! I don’t mind paying £4K if it’s a really good one, but of course there is no guarantee of that in a 15 year old car

I have seen an 06 with 60k miles in a good spec and pretty good condition which I’m going to have a look at at a MINI specialist for £4500, but now I’m not sure if that is way over the odds It’s got the Chilli pack so LSD and a few other goodies too. It’s got FSH and a stack of history too apparently. I’m used to buying privately and dealers make me nervous

One weird thing - although it is clearly a 6 speed in the ad and in the pics, the BMW VIN decoder lists it as being an auto. Is there a possibility of the build sheet being wrong or is more likely that it’s maybe had a gearbox swap. Is that even a thing?

Thanks in advance

Thoughts? I was hoping that sort of money would get me into a mint car

[E-bmw]

NiceCupOfTea said:

it’s maybe had a gearbox swap. Is that even a thing?

Thanks in advance

Thoughts? I was hoping that sort of money would get me into a mint car

Of course it is "a thing" many, many cars have been converted, so why not a Mini?

On the other things you mention they are like any car, you can pay over the odds or the correct price for any car.

You basically need to find what it is you are looking for at a price you are willing to pay and that is the end of it.

That could be £1500 or £6000 or anything in between.

[NiceCupOfTea]

Thanks for that!

Clearly it’s a thing(!), just seems odd on a car like a mini where there is no shortage of manuals. Can’t see why anybody would bother.

As for the rest I’m no stranger to buying cars so I’m well aware of budgets etc. I was just trying to establish whether it was outside the normal envelope of what these cars go for or if it was typical. Thanks for your input though.

[Speddyp]

Gearbox swap seems odd but I’d say more likely an error, maybe try ringing mini with the vin, they should be able to give you accurate details of the car?

Prices seem all over the place at the moment, we are on our third mini, the latest we bought just recently for £2800, it’s a 2006 R53 with 68k, has the spec we were after, chilli pack, LSD, sunroof, Harmon Kardon stereo etc.
Shop around for a good one, there is a lot of neglected minis about that are really overpriced but equally some well sorted and maintained cars amongst them for the same money as the neglected ones.

[clonmult]

Speddyp said:

Gearbox swap seems odd but I’d say more likely an error, maybe try ringing mini with the vin, they should be able to give you accurate details of the car?

Prices seem all over the place at the moment, we are on our third mini, the latest we bought just recently for £2800, it’s a 2006 R53 with 68k, has the spec we were after, chilli pack, LSD, sunroof, Harmon Kardon stereo etc.
Shop around for a good one, there is a lot of neglected minis about that are really overpriced but equally some well sorted and maintained cars amongst them for the same money as the neglected ones.

I was under the impression that the auto gearbox on the R50/52 was a bit rubbish (just as the 5 speed was as well), so possibly it was swapped for the 6 speed getrag for the same reason that the same happens on the R50? Its a fairly common job from what I've read, although (touch wood) so far my R50 is absolutely fine.