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Any Love for Bini's - Silver Project Car Moved Up the Job List


tommotech

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My wife's cousin has an 02 Cooper S on his mums drive that he's trying to shift. Apparently the pas motor is inop but apart from that it's reportedly sound. I was tempted but I have too many other car related expenses due in the near future. It's in a smashing colour too, a kind of gunmetal is how I would describe it.

MOAR DETAILZ PLZ

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Had a thorough check over today and the results are in;

 

RH front lower arm bush is AWOL, the arm moves around in the slot where the bush used to live.

Various bulbs inoperative.

Windscreen washers inoperative, but now working with water in the bottle.

A/C inoperative, green LED flashes on the A/C button.

 

That is the extent, except some TLC and a damn good clean. Decision still pending whether to keep Mrs T in her Scenic or run this.........

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Not initially a big fan of yhesevhaving owned and loved a number of proper minis over the years but the looks have grown on me and some of the interior choices are really appealing. I would happily jump at one now they are getting cheaper but as it is a Beemer are we looking at expensive parts and costly work as a result? Everyone seems to rate the driving experience and viewed as a two sweater with occasional plus two seating like my old MGB GT they make more sense than compared to memories of four seated in the mini of old. I vote keep and enjoy!

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Parts don't seem too expensive, tenner for a bush but I'm not sure on the longevity. A febi OE quality bush is 20 quid or I could go Poly which is in the order of 80 for both sides (that may be the option for a keeper).

 

Customisation bits on eBay are numerous and again, not always expensive. It's becoming more appealing but I need to sell it to Mrs T.

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Parts are cheep for sure,

I can't remember exact prices I listed on my mystery purchase Bini thread but the total was not bad at all and I changed a lot of parts,

 

Those bushes are easy enough to change but you do have to remove the bottom arm and lower the whole front cross member to unbolt them, a press would also help but I managed with a trolley jack and a square frame.

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On the subject of high mileage BMW 1 series - Car Mechanics mag has just bought a 200K plus one as a project.  They reckon the earlier diesels are a better bet than the older ones.  In a lot of ways I guess the 1 is a successor to the 3 series they used to buy as shonky projects.  I remember their 3 series tourer project - they spent a fortune on it and it still wasn't that great, but maybe the 1 series will be better.

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Reason for all the cat d cars is how easy it is to bump the front and completely destroy the front bumper, lights and bonnet at 5mph.

 

Losing water will just be the coolant tank, they are very prone and common for cracking.

 

Those wheels on the black one are sought after. Remove and sales for money.

 

Engines are not bullet proof, no sir. Will outlast the boxes though.

 

Cooper s is a great thing, the standard ones are nippy but too slow.

 

I used to hate them but have driven a couple now and owned a blue s and they're not bad. Very problematic though for an expensive small car.

At current prices though they make for a good value disposable.

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I sat in one on a press day at the Motor show in the launch year - was very impressed I could fold my portly and lanky frame into it.  I liked the retro design and it seemed nicely proportioned.

 

IIRC BM had to source an engine sharpish as their divorce from Rover meant they weren't going to use the K series.  If memory serves, the first generation used a variant of the Neon/PT Cruiser engine made in Mexico. Brazil

 

Isn't it funny how BMW has made, in the Countryman, a car much uglier than an Allegro, but that's allowed cos BMW.

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They feel solid to drive and have BMW build quality.

 

Be honest does that gat actually mean anything anymore?

I use to wind-up the owner of a brand new 120i X-drive by telling him it was made in Brazil.....(wikilies says they have a factory over there)

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Be honest does that gat actually mean anything anymore?

I use to wind-up the owner of a brand new 120i X-drive by telling him it was made in Brazil.....(wikilies says they have a factory over there)

People that buy these new are buying into a brand and the way that the brand reflects their lifestyle. As they pass into second, third etc ownership that dilutes somewhat, but remains a factor.

 

In terms of build quality, it doesn't matter where anything is built these days as long as the standards are met and processes and procedures controlled. For example, Apple make their products in China but processes and procedures used are formulated and controlled closely by them. This, I believe, imprints their culture and 'feel' into a product.

 

Maybe a bit deep for Sunday morning......

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I've been running a 56 Bini Convertible for Mrs T for a year now, having had a new one as a company car back in the day.

Yes, they were pretty well built, but when shopping for a used one I noticed that they were almost all badly maintained 10+ years down the line. I know lots of cars are poorly maintained because finance/throw away culture etc etc. but Minis - and convertible versions - were consistently bad.

 

I read somewhere else that because Minis were frequently sold with cheap 2-3 year maintenance deals the initial history is always good, but subsequent owners never picked up the intervals and they go downhill, quickly.

 

I don't mind the shape, they're fun to drive, but the interiors haven't aged well IMO. Cheap plastics, rattly and never really captured that tardis thing about the original.

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There was a facelift in 2004, where I think the gearbox was updated which gave it better acceleration and the car overall became a bit 'better', A glovebox was introduced to replace the storage shelf, along with other subtle updates. They dropped the horrible gorgeous gold and yellow colours too at this update. The easiest way to tell the difference is in the grill surround. Ignore the black vs chrome grill, as these could be specced before and after the update with various option 'packs' it's the surround that changed: 

 

post-16950-0-70111600-1486295367_thumb.jpg

 

These are both Mini Onesies. The first few years upper and lower grill surround sections had a ridged detail, like the one on the left. The surround on the right is completely flat and smooth. This was our 54 reg One, ordered summer 2004, delivered Oct 2004. In that time the update happened ours was one of the first of the updated delivered I reckon so this is probably a good indication of the gearbox change date. Probably.

 

BTW we ran ours for 4-5 years and loved every minute of it.Wife used it daily for high mileage job and loved it on the motorway she always felt safe and solid and like it was a much bigger car. It took us all over Europe and back on hols, and only let us down once when the key wouldn't unlock it. Loved it, miss it. Not a family car though so it had to go.

Ours was new though, your experience will vary.

 

Edit:I drove a Cooper around a race track at the time and there was very little difference between it and the One we had. IIRC 90 vs 115bhp but I didn't feel the extra 25 like I thought I would.

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You seem to see a lot of mk2 new Mini cooper-s's with replacement engines due to snapped timing chains.  BMW build quality init although I think it was co-developed with Peugeot so you're asking for trouble really.

 

The interior of the countryman feels pretty low rent. Quite similar quality to my Juke (poor)  but it costs a load more.

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I quite like the early Bini. I always had a bit of prejudice/stereotyping about them until I borrowed the Cooper my niece has and I found it quite a fun little car to drive.

 

I've had a look at them a number of times since but never taken the plunge as I don't really do small cars (says the guy who was recently using a Smart ForTwo as a daily)...

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The official Mini electronic parts catalogue is absolutely superb. Put in your VIN and you get the options that the car was built with, as well as the full parts catalogue, with diagrams and part numbers.

 

Coincidentally it works for BMW too, username and password are different though.

 

Google Mini or BMW electronic parts catalog and full instructions and username / password are given on the home page. Well done BMW.

 

The 17 inch wheels and Chilli Pack were factory built options on this car, as well as 'sports suspension plus' but I think that is part of the pack.

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i couldn't be doing with the blooper though, a "one" with hubcaps though, now you are talking....

 

You mean like this? I didn't know these existed until I saw this one. It doesn't even have Trimz, just painted steels with minimal hub caps a là Skoda Felicia.

 

post-20743-0-78946500-1486746211_thumb.jpg

 

I'm guessing this is a base model or are these some sort of hugely expensive 'retro' option? I would hope it had proper window winders as well.

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