First Mini Cooper

[adderrific]

Im looking to get a mini cooper. You all seem to know alot so i was just wondering which years 2002-2007 were better. I like the looks of the 07 and some of its features but would it be better to get a slightly older model, cheaper, are the newest ones really anybetter in performance ive been hereing alot of things. I know i want a Cooper S becuase i like the performance aspect. Thanks for your time.

[S33BBY]

The Cooper S changed from 163bhp to 170bhp at the time of the facelift (I think) which would have been July 2004. Anything after this should suffer with few issues, as the later models were much better. Of course, that's not to say that all earlier builds were rubbish, but they may have had niggles.

[madBLUE]

My Cooper S '03 has been no problem so far, but a new more reliable gearbox was introduced with the '04 facelift which many go for.

Referring to the '07 model, there's a lot of comments on the forum about people having problems. Some have had so many issues they are now rejecting them, and refusing to take them back from the garages !

You don't mention whether hard-top or soft-top, but the soft-tops do wear/crack pretty quickly and also have a habit of leaking water, effecting the electrics.

So in short, an '04/'05/'06 hardtop S is your best bet.

[adderrific]

thank you for your help, i will most definetly take that into consideration and hope to soon be a mini owner