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So nice to hear you are going to get that C1 perfect for that young lady to be safe on the road with her first car. Good on you . If only all garages out there were that thoughtful and genuine . 👍👍👍

hi James. I came across your site by complete accident, as one does🤣 id just like to say that i am hooked and gob smacked at your refreshing honesty. I wish you all the best mate

I currently have one. Though I love these minis these are plagued with continuous issues. The biggest by far is that ALL these models WILL require a new chain...known as the death rattle. The valve cover gasket always leaks, high pressure fuel pump, the turbo return lines go. The suspension is rock hard and does feel like a go cart and the steering does pull around depending on road.

I had a Mini Cooper S 07 reg for 8 years. No problems at all. Great car.

It’s R56 James, not RS6 😃

Cracking honest review I only buy Toyota now after many years of buying crap unreliable cars. Great content James and knowledge 👍👌🚘

We offloaded one that we bought from new - valve sheared and split and part of it disappeared into the exhaust system . 6k engine rebuild - although I complained to BMW so only paid about a grand of the total cost. Happened just outside warrantee and I think it was the loose cam chain before the oil pressure built up - later ones had a tighter cam chain - car was great to drive, but the experience was very worrying and we were glad to get rid.

Great video nice to see a car dealer that cares about is customer s well done

I like your work ethic mate. If you were selling executive cars I would deffo buy off u pal. As a business owner myself I always say to people " the secret of success is to be honest"... you sure are honest and will get far in life no doubt.

I worked for Citroen/Peugeot and yes it's the 1.6 Turbo that also goes in Citroen DS3 Racing and The 207 and 208 GTI.... and a smattering of other models with lower HP ratings. THEY ARE HORIFFIC ENGINES!!!!

It's nice when one of your subscribed you tubers refers to another. It really is becoming quite a useful community.

One of my go to things if I want to know if a car suffers from many problems, it's simple but I have a look on eBay at them price lowest first and see how many there are as spares repair. Found that a really good indication.

Always keep the PSA N14 engine in the mini at the max oil mark and change the oil every 4.5k miles. Most issues on the mini are oil related. Timing chain tensioner and VAnos (VVT) is oil pressure driven, dirty oil screws both up. Once the timing chain tensioner is worn the chain is starts to rub the plastic guides which after a few 1000 miles become brittle and drop bits on to the sump blocking the oil pickup. If you are really unlucky the timing chain rubs the alloy block dropping small alloy particles in to the oil and gets pushed around the main and big end bearings! I know this the hard way….

Hi James love to watch an honest car dealer doing what you do

I had a mini cooper. Lovely car when it worked / had no fault codes popping up. In the end, I had to cut my losses and get rid as it was just becoming ridiculous. I too would never buy one again.

Greetings from North Devon! Glad you found the fix and it wasn't a big one, at least the turbo's at the front!! Many comments about the poor engine on this, the PSA engine shared by Peugeot, Citroen, MINI and others, does have some inherent issues. From 2014 the new (F56) MINI has a brand new BMW engine which is proving to be a good bet. Pretty strong and no major bloopers like that older one... so far!!

when suspension mountings that insert into a block of rubber were used we didnt have speed humps and potholes the old type with a bush and a bolt passing through them were more flexible

I had a 08 one James similar problem coil pack changed then all good 👍 worked for me

Hi James loving the channel. I had a r56 cooper s 07 plate a few years ago was getting similar problems as yours. It Was in the garage for coil packs, rocker cover, temperature sensors etc.. Then I read about problems with the vanos and it turned out it was the vanos solenoid that was gunked up. I didn't replace it just cleaned it up and this seemed to solve the issue till I got rid. like people say when running right they're a fun car but also a money pit too. Good luck 👍

suspension lower arm rear mounting is a nightmare on minis, steering rack connector and subframe dropped.the best way to check them is on the brake tester at the mot station to see if the wheel moves back and forth.regards james

Had one of those R56s a few years back. Great fun, rock solid suspension and run flat tyres. Mine was actually a demonstrator that went to media. Found it on 5th Gear😂. Ran fine until a local garage did a full service and after that had a engine management for O2 sensors and misfired terribly. PX for a 2016 Cooper S which also went like a scalded cat! I did enjoy it so I’d consider one again if in good condition like that one.

I’m now selling my R56 Cooper S after nearly 2 years because I just feel it’s a ticking time bomb. I have never owned a code reader till I got one of these and l’m surprised Mini didn’t give you code reader from new. Shame really as they are good fun to drive and with the JCW back box on they sound great in sport mode. Only problem now is to convince the wife not to get the countryman as I definitely don’t want one of those on the driveway.

Well done sorting that BMW Mini , as I said in my comment the other day hate them would never buy one to sell , love the proper old minis .

I’ve got a 52 plate Cooper. Just turned 100k. Always ran lovely and still does. Still, cars can be a bit of a lottery.

I had a knock on the Frontaxle all bushing were good , it was the Breakcalliper which was rattling on the slider pins , i greased them and it was gone..

Mini might be a nightmare, but it does look good. Great vid too, thanks.

The volvo c30 D5 are a cracking car, the engines has been around for years. Very reliable! If its a good price i would go for it. Can't you sell the mini with no warranty?

I have a 2009 Mini Cooper S R56 and the suspension is as you describe along with it's slightly heavier steering. I like to think of it as a "keeps you awake" feature because damn do you know about pot holes when you hit them :D Touch wood I have had no problems with mine with the exception of the engine coolant tank being replaced this year but that will probably come down to age. The car is like a pocket rocket and rapid, not giving mine up any time soon :D

The pull on the bumps is probably the stiff ride and the run flats. I'm driving the later model with a revised engine. Had a coil pack fail but otherwise no issues.

Always been a terrible car in my experience. The original mini was about simplicity, low running cost and low fuel consumption. The BMW minis were none of these!

Take it from me.....My son bought a 2012 plate Mini One... had it 3 years In that time cost 1200 quid for the timing chain and then needed a new head gasket as it was getting water in the oil so he sold it,,, he bought it with 58000 miles and sold it at 68000, so in 10000 miles its been HELL to own for him so he's got rid of the headache and bought a nice simple little 3 cylinder runabout

Nice one James. Many years ago a friend of mine had an (albeit 51-plate) Cooper- it was honestly the most uncomfortable car I’ve ever been in. You could literally feel every piece of gravel on the tarmac - so the hard suspension sounds about right. As the proud owner of a Volvo S40 diesel for the past 5 years, you should snap up that C30! Fabulous cars (you might be keeping that one for yourself!) 😉 I know Sammy has also mentioned it - but where’s the Alto? 🤔 Top work as ever James; thanks again for the videos.

Hi well I know the R56 S very well I would not take 1 on the list of possible issues is endless with the N14 lump in that the later N18 lump did sort some of the issues. I run 2 R50 the old Tritec powered cars yes they have common faults but if your handy with the spanner’s they are fun to push round the back roads. I say that I have the latest F55 sat outside just a month old I still take the old R50 on my daily 100 mile commute. Keep up the good work as many of your followers have commented nice to see an honest guy selling car.

Super fun to drive! Performance cars simply require upgraded maintenance. This car is not for everybody. If you want a car that puts a smile on your face when you press the gas pedal to the floor, then you will love it!

You might find the pixels will break up when it gets warm, then in the morning be fine again until it warms again I had the same fault

My local garage refuses point blank to touch Mini's. He has learnt from bitter experience 😏

If the Mini has runflat tyres, that and the sports suspension is your answer...

The wife had a black one not the most reliable car (putting it mildly) it just spent all of the time we had it disassembling itself and I think it was down to the incredibly hard ride it just shook itself apart the power steering give up the central locking give up and you mention about a low battery may be the reason the dash pixelated the flat battery on ours give us an astronomical amount of electrical problems🤯 best day ever when we got rid of that🤗

I know these cars inside out and love them. If you know how to work on them it’s very simple.

I was given an R56 Mini as a loan car, while my R53 was in for MOT. In my opinion the earlier R53 is a far superior motor.

If suspensions knocking it’ll be antiroll bar bushes on these. Pulling to one side when hitting a pothole is pretty standard. New control arm back bushes makes them much better, poly bushes even more so. Run flat tyres don’t help that either. I’d run that for a couple of months before retailing it, your main worry is how much oil it’s burning so I’d monitor that - main cause is valve stem oil seals

Hi James, I bought some Moonshine detailer. I have to at it is the best rapid detailer I have ever used! My car is like new and it really was easy to use. Thank you!

Hi James glad the Mini was ok in the end, don't blame you for not buying another one. I only really do the 107 C1 Aygo's, 500 Panda & the odd Fiesta. Used to do loads of VAG 1.9 Tdi stuff but they are getting on nowadays.

I've a Kia pro ceed diesel 2012, goes like the clappers and extremely reliable, guess you never see these as they are rare enough and cheap to run. Worth a punt. The Volvo you looked at are great cars, snap it up!

Cars must be like bees. A bee has only so many wing beats and then it's dead...

Those minis are renowned for a hard ride as I believe they are on lower profile run-flats, with stiff suspension. A great combo for handling, but not for comfort.

The problem with the Mini is that it's BMW underneath. The 2.4 5-cylinder diesel in that Volvo C30 is bulletproof btw, the automatic gearbox pretty much so too.

That’s good you have sold one car over the weekend and it’s great you get the full asking price

If you do get another one. Try and get the Tritec engine version. R52/R53 I believe 👍

Really pleased you got that Mini sorted without a big bill. I don't know much about them other than they aren't super-reliable, are a bugger to work on, and bits can be expensive. I can put up with one of those three issues, but only one.

The only BMW mini with a half decent engine is the original mk1 BINI, the mk2 has the awful PSA engine that stretches timing chains and has the awful BMW vanos system which loves to fail at low miles and nuke the engines Those PSA engines were fitted to all mk2 minis too from the 1.4 one to the 1.6 and the turbo S models The timing chain issues usually give loads of random codes too

I've known a few people who have had minis and bmws and they always have some sort of issue either constant engine lights on or major expensive issues , nice cars but I wouldn't get one due to the issue some have

I'm a big fan of these mini's. I had the r50 2001. We got it new and fell in love with them. We now have the r56 2007 200k on the clock. We have had it from 2 yrs old. They need a hands on owner.

I've owned a 2009 r56 going on 7 years now. I've had no problems with nine. The key is to do preventative maintenance.

The Minin Cooper S with the N18 engine is the one to buy. I did and I enjoy it more than my Mercedes SLK 320.

hi james just went to the moonshine site and purchesd the shampoo and detailer to clean my motorbike and car ,the vid is great keep up the good work . ps if you was in norfolk i would happly buy a car from you . nice comment about the new young lady driver . well impressed with what you said

The same engine is in the DS3 1.6 sport petrol, my other half has that DS3 for 5 years and it has needed a new seal and services. So people talk up the problems but that for a 14 years old car it still pulls well. Just let your wife eBay the cars on a sold as seen seen basis.

Mrs had a Cooper S and was a nightmare. High pressure fuel pump went, valve stem oil seals and loads of other problems. Suspension set up is awful. Hit a pot hole and car gets thrown about. Even took off the run flat tyres and was still hard to drive. Shift it on and stay away before it needs a timing chain. Great update though 👍

Hi James congratulations on reaching over 7,000 subscribers and well done for all your hard work on the cars and the same for the videos as well

Always do your homework before buying. We have had a 2003 Cooper S (previous Supercharged version) from new and in 18 years we have done only routine maintenance and a window winder motor fix (did myself). Not sure what is your issue, but a test drive prior to purchase would have revealed the issue. Hope you got it sorted OK.

If I had heard they had a Citroen engine..... I'd never had even casually considered one!

The Volvo C30 with the 2.4 diesel engine is nice - the engines are really good. I wouldn't quite say bulletproof, but reliable.

Wouldn’t touch one of these with a bargepole. We’ve had a Fiesta ST 150 for six years and it’s been pretty bulletproof- suspension noises aside because like the Mini it’s stiffly suspended !

My sister had a 2008 R56 Mini Cooper S with under 40K a few years back serviced regularly and unfortunately had no end of issues over three years of ownership and 25K. Timing chain problems, fuelling issue(s), engine management light causing intermittent performance problems. Given some of the other comments here, ironically my partner has had a DS3 for the last five years and it has been utterly reliable 👍🙃

I had endless issues with my R56. Turned out to be an expensive purchase. Some people are luckier than others with the N14 engine, unfortunately they can be rather unreliable...This one could be OK.

I've a copper the same age the ride is hard and can be harsh on rough roads there not all bad and really good fun to drive I'm just going up to the super charged one wich is previous to the turbo

Before the video starts I guess timing chain lol. I've owned 2 207 GTi with the same engine and they were both a nightmare!

Guess I've been lucky. Ive had four Mini's from year 2000 circa total 240,000 miles and just cam chain tensioner issue. Currently have a coupe and you've even got me worried.

I used to have a Renault Laguna and the mechanic I use said he could make business out of Lagunas and Minis ;-)

By the way the banging you are hearing is totally normal as I have worked on a lot of these so don't worry 😜😜😜😜

The R53 had stiffened suspension so the next model like yours would too.

Very sad when daughter swopped juke for mini, glad she woke up... Its gone..... Traded for little citroen....

Mini looks very nice they have got harsh riding suspension especially if fitted with run flat tyres all the best.👍👍👍

Despite what everyone says, the R56 minis with the N14 engine are ok if you are careful with what you’re buying. Evidence of regular oil services, a timing chain change if over 75k miles and a thorough check for oil leaks and any loss of power are essential. All this means don’t buy one without a FSH (preferably done by a specialist NOT BMW dealers who will follow the inadequate service regime dictated by BMW) and inspection and test drive. If you’re unsure, just go for a post 2010 R56 (when a lot of issues with the engine had been sorted - so much so they changed the code to N18) or just stick to pre-R56 ones.

I work for a car dealer and I can confirm that the stories are all true the public are a nightmare !

Persistant code reads: IT5-4-5HI77Y-BMW

Hi James.The programme is great and you are true gent with your customers. I was watching Edd China's channel the other day and he mentioned that many years ago he went for a general check up with his doctor who told him that he'd found lots of hydrocarbons in Edd's body, which is why from that day on he always wears gloves while he's working.Word to the wise? Keep on with the great work Ian

Fingers crossed the Mini behaves 😁 You were VERY lucky to not have a burnt valve, head gasket or timing chain problem!

Bought a Mini Cooper Park Lane R50 06 plate with 65000 miles on the odometer. Had the engine re-mapped to give 135 bhp. Tritec engine is bombproof. Only complaint is that the run flat tyres are so hard around town. On the motorways they settle down. Would never recommend the Citroen/Peugeot engine. Love driving it.

I had issues with the Valvetronic servo motor on my r56, ( going into limp mode, noisy idle and power loss. Replaced it and it runs like a dream now.

Hopefully the mini will be ok it does look good personally I like the look of the stripes etc just get them to buy a warranty bet it sells quick

There's a reason people joke that BMW stands for; Bleed (or "Break") My Wallet Although, to he fair, this seemed a pretty reasonable cost fix.

Just fixed the front end knocking (at slow speeds) on my r56 cooper diesel, I reckon it's the lower control arm rear bush or the anti roll bar bushes, if so you need to drop the front subframe to replace them. Nightmare of a job on a driveway, hopefully you'll be lucky and it's only the drop links.

broken up pixels on the radio display seems a common problem, usually made worse on a hot day.. no idea why but ive had 2 minis both do exactly the same but only on hot days. when its cooler inside the car it sorts itself out.

Cam belt tensioner fails on these, mine went at under 4000 miles , good luck with it mate

These use the same engine as the Pugeot 207 GTi if I remember correctly and they are well know for just being terrible engines, almost all need to have a "Walnut Blast" to clean out the inlet manifold over 60.000 Miles, and are not overly reliable, but I do love a Mini Cooper S :)

Avoid avoid avoid. We had an 07 Cooper S , cost us a flipping fortune. Went to specialist in Hailsham and still problems.

Loving the channel. It is true you only hear of problems with cars particularly on the Internet forums. It can drive you mad but reality is generally different as contented owners that don’t experience problems rarely publicise the fact so experiences are generally skewed .

The Mini Cooper s is a hard suspension and depends on size of wheels. We had 18 inch low profile before and it was just too hard, now 17 inch and not low profile and much better. Also you will find but you did not mention changing gears is sometimes quite stiff. But these mini’s are so popular and easy to sell, but from you’d prospective difficult to fix and work on

Bought one of these had it 4 years no problems paid 1500 sold it 1800

Hope you dont find a wing James... i want rattle can man back 😁

Hi Great content. Can I ask where you advertise you're cars for sale as I can't locate them and I'm interested in one.

great video and I share your fear of selling Mini's !! Lovely when they are working. We had one recently which drove fine on test drive but when I pushed it harder it popped like mad and the eml light came on. It was diagnosed as timing chain and or tensioners ..... common so I am told ( after the event as usual ). Eventually advertised it at a big loss with the known fault and a chap bought it to repair. Now if anyone offers me one as a part ex I ask them to sell privately as I wont take them anymore !

Wise choice on not buying this again, I had actually a burn valve on a r56 S, but it was flooded last week. The car has oil leaks and previous owner used to top up 1L/week. The other R56 that I had (non-turbo), I had to do timing chain and piston rings, and it would not work because of the VVT system which is incredibly complex and expensive to fix, such a huge disappointment. There are survivor groups out there, which are helpful, but the engine on this is atrocious! You were really fortunate not to have something more expensive to fix!

I had a mini head was 30 tho warped, got another head, skimmed, valves cut in, wondered why the machine shop didn't charge me, he just smiled, built it up OK at first then miss fire, head off again, valve seats burning out, lapped valves in like mad with a drill, built back up, OK at first sold it, while they were on holiday started to miss fire a garage did the usual, coil pac, plugs ect big bill, obviously not that, loads of trouble, can only think it had gone thru the hardend valve seat?

Mini Cooper S R56 are very hard riding - a combination of sports suspension and (mainly) run-flat tyres. Not good if the roads near you are full of potholes or your back is bad. The 1.6 turbo engine isn't a great engine either. Fast and fun cars though.

Good result on the mini, might be OK now, get it retailed mate, sold a 11 plate country man recently, lovely car, went great very popular cooper D, people calling asking can I get another ect so good news

Another good video mate. Do u have the li k to the no water detailer please?

I hear they make excellent boat anchors. 😂😂