Help! I'm about to pay £1000 to fix my mini!

[Kirstie79]

Hi!
I'm in a bit of an expensive dilemma. I've just taken my Mini One 2003 in to check its breaks and air con and have been told that I will have to pay a thousand pounds to get them fixed! Well, £393 for rear calipers and £585 for a new compressor. I love my Mini and wan't thinking about changing it even though its past 3 years old. However, now I'm inclined to cut my losses and invest that £1000 in a new Mini. What do you think? Has anyone heard of these repairs being done for cheaper? Thanks for your replies in advance x

[LMB]

I'd try and get it done elsewhere as I bet a big chunk of that will be labour.

[mikeythemini]

Calipers are a known problem - even if its out of warranty you should at least get a contribution

[OneDriver]

yeah kick up a stink and they generally sort it out through good will

[Buz999]

I take it from that sort of money this quote was from a BMW stealer.
My advice would be to go to a few local garages and get other prices for parts + labour and labour only because easy enough to source your own parts off the net and breakers. I
would think you could cut that price in half else where!
Good luck

[mikeythemini]

Can you page or pm or e mail me your chassis number I might be able to help on the compressor - what is the problem with it?

[Kirstie79]

Wow that was quick advice!!
I'm going to try a few local garages tomorrow (yes it was the BMW dealership that quoted me those prices). I will also go to the Mini garage and ask about the calipers issue.
As for the compressor, it doesn't say on the job description what the problem was. I'll keep you guys informed.

PS I had a sneaky look on the mini website and while the new One's look tempting, at £13,000 all in, they are a bit much to spend at the moment. Anyway, I love my current mini!!

[David King]

Whats the problem with the calipers?

[Kirstie79]

Hi again!

Sorry to sound like a complete girl , but I didn't actually ask what was wrong with them. They just told me they had to be replaced.

Thanks for asking xx

[Buz999]

I would imagine the calipers have seized as quite common problem, depending on severity some people just replace them however as i had done completley strip and free up then replace seal kit and lub sliders, more time consuming but cheaper.

[Ramon]

I agree with BUZ999, any local garage would strip the calipers, spray with WD40 and replace the rubber seals. I've done that on many cars.

[Paul@1320]

We should have all the parts used and can supply and fit or just supply.

Where abouts are you located?

[Kirstie79]

Hi! Just in case you were wondering, I went to see the guys at Mini who went to speak to BMW. They said they would pay for the parts for the brakes and air con but that I'd have to pay for labour. I tried arguing that if they were admitting the parts were faulty then I shouldn't have have to pay labour costs, but they were having none of it. So I ended up paying £170 for them to fit the brake calipers and bleed the system. I have yet to decide whether I want to pay for the air con. However, they did say the goodwill offer was only valid for 30 days and after that I would have to reapply for it.
Thanks for all you interest. I wouldn't even have tried to get any money off if it wasn't for your advice xxxxx

[Ramon]

What exactly is wrong with aircon? It may only need re-gassing! Lots of firms will do that for £40. Thats seems to be the going rate for BMW Series 3s anyway.

[coopy56]

Thanks Kirstie, I’m glad I’m not alone. Just had my 03 S at the dealership, they wanted 1200 USD for a brake job and 1100 to replace A/C compressor. The wife and I spent the day shopping and looking at the new minis but when it was time for the final decision to trade we both got kind of emotional and decided against the deal. I was searching the threads to see if anyone had anything to say about the EBC brake upgrade kit when I read your post. The funny thing about mine is that the aircon stopped working right after I had to do a hard stop on the freeway (70 to 0 mph in a very short time, other cars swerving out of the way, good news was no collisions). I’m still trying to figure out what happened to cause the compressor to stop