Hi, I am a noob to the mini forum and looking to purchase a mini cooper s, i have around 5-5.5k to spend and was wondering what sort of thing i should go for in my budget. I have tried to search this forum and managed to find some stuff but the forum seems all over the place, i have read the buyers guide someone posted but it doesn't seem to be of much use.
Please correct me if I am wrong but the facelift is much better and is 54 plate+? i.e. engine, gearbox, interior, is it different on the outside?? If i go have a look at a few what are the main things to look out for, i know there is gearbox issues, but is this just on the earlier ones? thanks in advance and sorry if this question has been asked a million times.

A facelift MCS (one built July 2004 or later) will have 7 more horsepower (5th gen Eaton supercharger versus 4th) and transmission ratios geared for slightly better acceleration, but won't be necessarily any more reliable than an early MCS.

It was pre-facelift Cooper and One models that had problematic (Midlands) transmissions. MCS models have always had a Getrag transmission.