Mini Cooper S vs. tii

[02fanatic]

As you all know I'm a die-hard '02er, and always will be, however today I drove my first Mini S, & I have to say it's as much fun to drive as my tii's or any '02 for that matter.

Now I know why so many of you also have a Mini! :-) I've been wanting to drive one for years, but today I was driving past a local used import car dealer and there sat an '04 Mini S, Grey with Black top, black heated leather seats...loaded. It was dirty and had bird doo-doo all over it, but other than needing some tlc it was SWEET!

I've never driven anything that was so rev happy as a supercharged Mini...MAN it revs up to 5,500 RPM as fast as you can say FAST!..WOW! and that fat steering wheel grips of my hands like a glove. Of course it had a 6-Speed..no auto for this guy!

Nice firm suspension, 205/45/17 tires on those multi spoke alloys...that's the one I want someday...it had 19,900 miles on it and they were asking $23,888 for it. Is this about right?..for those of you who have experience with Mini's.

I have a new job that will require me to commute 45min to 60 min each way daily and you know what I'm thinking!!!! :-)

Any advice on things I should look for, options, etc. down-sides?

One downside I noticed is the hood release is on the passenger side...that's weird!

I think I'm gona go watch the "Italian Job" again now! :-)

Happy '02ing (Hurry Spring!),

John

[SteveJ]

The values will drop, but the fun never will.

That's the way my E30M3 is. Brand new they were going for $32k+. I got mine just three years old for nearly half of that. Almost 15 years later, the car is still a blast to drive. The new MINIs are going to be the same type of animal.

I try not to make comparisons between my tii and the M3. They are nearly 20 years apart in engineering, but each was THE car to have in its' day. If I want to compare, I'll put the tii up against anything out of Detroit at the same time. I get a chuckle when kids want to race me in the M3. My car is 15 years senior to their car.

We were very close to buying a new MINI when my wife needed to replace her Audi, however we needed a bit more space for a family car. Once our son gets up to driving age, he may inherit her E46, and then my wife can have her mid-life crisis and go buy that MINI that she wants. (She also really likes the Lotus Elise. We still need to go do a test drive for those.)

[Cruzr]

John:

As you know, I own an '05 MCS(actually, I pay for it and my daughter drives it :<( ). They are a blast to drive! She lets me take it to work once in a while.

I have noticed that they seem to retain their value very well. I paid +/- 23k for ours, bought it May 05, 13+k, no problems whatsoever.

I had to get a "family" car, so I ended up driving a 2005 Acura TL!

Regards

[Grover]

I had a 2002 Mini Cooper S, one of the first ones they brought in. Unfortunately being so early in the production cycle, mine was hampered by a variety of build issues that eventually led me to sell the car after one year. My understanding is that these have been remedied now and the build quality is of good quality. One recent option which you can now apparently spec is a limited slip and I would highly recommend this since it has a significant amount of torque steer without it. As for the driving experience, if your commute is on windy roads, the Mini will be fantastic, it really is a hoot to drive, although the run flat tires (especially if you get the 17" wheels) will knock your fillings loose on bumpy roads. As for the price, it sounds high to me, I think you could get a brand new one for barely more than that and know that it hasn't been abused in any way. If you want a good mini site, check out mini2.com. Also, if you're renting the Italian Job, make sure to see the original from the 70's as well, it's a classic.

[Dave3x72tii]

is I don't have to beg my wife for the keys. Both get noticed, get good fuel mileage, but I can jump in the Mini and go cross country tomorrow, rain, snow, 100 degrees, whatever. Our car has all options except Nav and leather and cost about that new. Go to miniusa.com, spec one out and get a price online

[02fanatic]

There's NOTHING like a well tuned tii..NOTHING! :-) I was a muscle car guy in the 60's..I had a very fast '67 Chevelle SS396/375 WOW!!! ..but only in a straight line! :-) I was too dumb to even know what a 2002, much less a tii, was back then!

I almost bought a '91 E30 M3 with 22k miles on it for about $22k bnack in '92 (that was a steal)...Diamond Black/Black...but the wife didn't like the "boy racer" rear wing and our boys were little then...so I talked her into a "practical 4-door 150 mph" sedan...my E28 M5! I won that one! But, I often wish I'd bought that M3...my older son is a real gearhead and he'd love to drive that thing now...he has a '96 M3 and his beloved '86 325es with '89 325i engine...sweet car for a daily driver.

There's just nothing like an '02 though, especially considering the advances in engineering over the years. As a commuter car though, I'll take the Mini when the time comes. My new office is about 20 minutes away from a Mini Dealer in West Chester, PA, so I'm sure I'll be making a pest of myself there frequently, until I "bite"! :-)

I'll be doing my homework!

John

[Harv]

Jen and I rented one in Vancouver when we were on our honeymoon. It was a blast. I thought that if BMW had built the CRX this is what it would have been like.

John, The new Road&Track has the results of a Mini owner survey they ran this year. I think the way to go would be to buy new. They keep getting better and better. Every time I go to the Mini web site and spec one out it's 32K. Oh, that sunroof adds like 400lb to the car, right in the place you don't want it.

John

[punchesdfw]

I almost bought a Cooper "S" a couple of weeks ago. NEW it was less than 25K w/ premium & sport packages. After driving one for a day, I decided it was just too darn small for me. Even my kids thought it was too small. Ultimately, I decided to buy a BMW 325CI instead.

From what I found through some research is that the 2007 Model Mini will be a couple of inches longer and wider. It will also have a German Turbocharged engine as opposed to the current off the shelf Brazilian Supercharged Engine. I'll certainly entertain a 2007 model, but I'm happy with my E46 for now.

[Guest Anonymous]

I would buy a low-option, brand new Cooper S. Between the quality issues and the high resale prices, buying new seems to make more sense. The '05 and newer Cooper Ss also come with a limited slip.

[JohnN]

the performance. It was fun, but not as extreme as I expected. I'm told the John Cooper Works (with another 40 HP or so) is a real rocket, but damn both the MCS and the Works cars are stupid expensive!!

We were told MCS's were going for about $30K and about $36 for the Works version, for that much money I could get two E36 M3's in good condition or come very close to getting a E46 M3. Not much of a comparison when you look at it that way.

Cheers!

John N

[dubois]

For cheap fun the E36 M3 is unbeateable (the problem is that I think J. Weese has one of those already).

The MCS has a large following, and some are 02 guys, then again, they can't all be wrong, despite of what we think of the Minis.

[02fanatic]

Yeah, you guys are probably right....and the "Works Edition" would indeed be faster. I'm just trying to be practical (a Mini would be a cool commuter car)...my mechanic is also a dealer and will pick up anything I want at auction for $500 over wholesale, so that's probably what I'll do when I get serious! :-)

BTW, my son has the E36 M3 (it's sweet...a '96 Black on Black with only 40k miles). I have an '88 M5 w/98k miles.

I need to buy a four post lift for my garage before I buy another car...then I can stack "vertically"...could get 6 cars in there! :-)

[jgerry2002]

I've had lots of fun when various MCS was in my run group at several different schools. The cars are damn fast.

I'm sure it would make a fantastic commuter car. There are certainly enough mini's here in my neighborhood (small=easier to park).

Saying that, not sure I'd want one because of the whole front driver thing. My cars must be driven from the rear wheels....

Now I'd make an exception for the original mini. I've driven a couple of them and they are really fun.

[Guest Anonymous]

with 210 hp and the suspension to match!

The story should be in the Feb or March Roundel. Man was that thing fun to drive! Like an '02, it may not be the fastest car on the road, or even pull the highest Gs, but it's gotta be close to the top of the list for fun factor.

cheers

Mike

[zane]

I almost bought a used "Works" Mini when I was in the market for a new/used car. Damn thing got stolen out from under me. My bad for dragging my feet. Out of the box that car is damn fun. I live out in NorCal/Marin and thankfully the owner lived out in Stinson. I had a chance to take it out on Hwy 1 out to Bolinas; wow! The funny thing the owner actually got on me for babying it during the 1st min or so, he said get on it and I did. I ended up getting a VW R32 in the long run. As far as handling the Mini puts the R to shame. It's like I'm driving a pig w/ wheels. I love it though; but at least I have the 02.