Buying a second hand Cooper S Works

[kevkbuk]

HI All,

I'm new to the forum and will soon possibly be new to Mini ownership.

Today I've looked at a 2003 Cooper S Works, it seems to be the same spec as some Cooper Ss for sale in my area, but it has the engine tuning kit and JCW exhaust. The salesman tried to tell me the leather seats and cruise control where also part of the kit, but I've seen them on other minis so I'm not sure.

The main reason I'm making this post is that the car put out some blue smoke upon startup which maybe lasted for 2-3 seconds. At this point alarm bells rung in my head as I know this is generally a bad sign. However the salesman told me all supercharged cars will do this. He turned off the engine then restarted it and it was a little better, but still blue smoke. After a few seconds it cleared and reving the engine hard produced a tiny bit more, but not much. The salesman seemed a nice guy (don't they all ), but it wasn't a mini garage so I'm unsure, and they had never seen a JCW before.

So, is the blue smoking normal? It didn't seem to do it whilst driving and it drove fine, I was a little dissapointed with the acceleration compared to my current Clio 172, however the Mini certainly felt more solid than the Clio.

Is there potential to boost power further on these engines or maybe reduce weight without loosing the rear seats? If it felt a little quicker it would be the ideal car for me I think.

Oh, it was a 2003 52 plate with around 21,000 miles and they are asking £11995 for it, but it had only had one service near 10,000 miles. Could I please have your expert opinions on the car and if this is a good deal if I decide to make the move from the 172.

Thanks in advance,
Kev

[MarkW19]

Blue smoke....never heard of that before! Lol, wish mine did that, sounds quite cool...

Leather seats and cruise control (MultiFunction Steering Wheel) are nothing to do with the JCW package, they're just extra options that you can have on a standard S.

[JG.26]

Hi,

Welcome to MINI2

The salesman is talking bull. If the car i kicking out blue smoke on start up or when revved hard then it indicates engine wear. Chances are even with lowish mileage it's been thrashed.

Walk away and try to source another car. somewhere else. Signs of blue smoke is not a common trait of a supercharged engine unless its worn.

This might help......................

Hints on Tips - what to look out for when buying a secondhand car.

Cheers

[minicore]

Quote: Originally Posted by kevkbuk (original)

I was a little dissapointed with the acceleration compared to my current Clio 172.

That doesn't sound right either.

I've driven my own MCS Works back-to-back with a colleagues Clio 172 and the MINI definitely had more poke in my opinion. I usually beat her out of the car park and back to the main road, too.

[kevkbuk]

Thanks for the replies guys, thought there was something wrong!

When I consider the price versus performance I'm not sure the 172 can be beaten, so I may end up keeping it a while longer.

[JG.26]

Quote: Originally Posted by kevkbuk (original)

Thanks for the replies guys, thought there was something wrong!

When I consider the price versus performance I'm not sure the 172 can be beaten, so I may end up keeping it a while longer.

How many Works eg's have you driven? it might be the one you were looking at was a poorly looked after example Have you looked at MINI Cherished?, will be a tad pricier but a safer bet secondhand.

Don't give up there's plenty of good examples out there, just a case of finding one within your budget