a bit of a nightmare finding a reliable mini

[wurdup]

I've been searching for a mini cooper s for a few weeks now and couldn't find anything I liked. Last week I drove 200 miles for the damn thing to actually break down on the test drive. But now I've bought a gorgeous 57 plate mini although there's a fault on it.

The heater won't work on the 1-2-3 settings, it only works on full power! This means I either get foggy windows in this weather or blasting air. Any ideas what this could be and how much to fix? I have the chilli pack on it but the manual control one. The fan seems to be working perfectly well apart from that.

Also I was a little concerned that the engine was a little 'tappy' under the bonnet certainly not as smooth as I thought it would be and now looking online it seems there's something called the timing chain death rattle. It's annoying because I checked out loads of 'what to look for' articles when buying a Mini and none mentioned this problem. Although I think maybe I'm being paranoid how much would a replacement cost if it did cause a problem?

*just found the sticky post about this chain problem

*actually the engine sound like this youtube video '2009 Mini Cooper John Cooper Works Start Up, Exhaust, Test Drive, and In Depth Review' so presume all minis sound like this?

[beken]

I had that problem with the heater fan switch on my MINI when I took delivery on it from the dealership. I didn't know that was going to happen until it rained on my way home and my windows started fogging up. It was covered under warranty, but it looks like they had to replace a resistor.

The chain issue, make sure you have enough oil in your engine. Seems a lot of people buying a MINI (or BMW product for that matter) don't realize the engines do use some oil and never check until it's too late.


And since it looks like this was your first post, welcome to MINI2.

[Biker Dave]

Your fan fault is due to the resistor pack failing. They will always fail this way because full speed effectively bypasses the resistor which depending which speed you have chosen will give more or less resistance. It doesn't take much to change it just a fiddly location. Price should be £28

[Macguyvic]

Welcome! Check the oil as often as you get gas! An S can burn a 1/2 quart of oil going through one tank of gas, depending on how hard you drive it!

If you have to do the timing chain / death rattle repair it can run $2,500 to $3,000. Common problem is the chain tensioner gets loose. That one loose bolt can turn into the death rattle before you know it. If left alone you could possibly replace the motor!

Having said all that and spending all of that and then some, I love my car. I look forward to driving and when I walk into the garage I smile! The most fun car I have ever owned!

[wurdup]

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll try and sort out the resistors and do it manually if I can find out how. I don't think it's the death rattle from the engine, just me being paranoid.

I do have some questions though:

I love driving the thing although it really doesn't like potholes and there are a LOT of them where I live. If in the future I get new tires is there any that will make it less like I'm running over a 2ft kurb each time?

Also is the turbo slower when the engines cold? I've noticed performance is a lot worse in the first 5min of driving and the turbo seems to lag more.

I have to say the driving experience is awesome. I love driving it and there's absolutely nothing more satisfying than when driving along a single lane A road which opens out to a uphill double lane and you get all the diesel turbo wannabes trying to floor it past your 'little' mini only for you to boot it in third and leave them for dead. I grin EVERY time