Mini Cooper Diesel Convertible.

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3cav3
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Mini Cooper Diesel Convertible.

Post by 3cav3 »

Just picked this up today to replace the Mitsi. Always fancied a new type Mini myself, and whilst looking for a Car the other week my Missus spotted this and fell in love with it.

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Got to admit it is very quiet for a Diesel and surprisingly nippy for 1.6. Going to give it a full service tomorrow.
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Robsey
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Re: Mini Cooper Diesel Convertible.

Post by Robsey »

Never really fancied a BMW Mini...
Wife always wanted an Austin Mini, because her gran had one many decades ago.

There is bugger-all to do on those. Very basic, even the late fuel injected models.
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I hope you are okay with the electronics too.
They have a maddening habit of giving you an endless flow of warning messages if you do not reset all the service indicators.
My colleague at work has a 10 plate Mini, and he is too tight to get it serviced.
He constantly grumbles about the dash whinging at him when he first puts the key in.

The forward-tipping bonnet complete with light units makes the car quite easy to access.
3cav3
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Re: Mini Cooper Diesel Convertible.

Post by 3cav3 »

I'm hoping I won't have to delve too deep into the electronic side of things, but over the last couple of years have had plenty of practice with my mk5 Astra van, at times it seems to throw a glitch every week, with lots of Red herrings, which mostly seems to be linked to the turbo blocking up due to just toottling around, something that is unlikely to happen with my wife at the wheel of this mini lol.
I quite like the old Austin Minis having raced one round a field a lot as a kid, however they are always a bit cramped for me and I'm not very tall aswell.
I know what he means about warning messages, my Volvo keeps flashing about 4 messages everytime you touch the starter switch( no keys) i will have to go through it properly over the Christmas shutdown as it is bloody annoying.
3cav3
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Re: Mini Cooper Diesel Convertible.

Post by 3cav3 »

I have ordered a few badges and bits of trim to just smarten the car up a bit. While waiting for them to arrive I thought I'd fit a private plate that I've had on retention for a while. Shouldn't be to hard? Right? One thing I wasn't counting on was my insurance company, no matter what I tried I couldn't speak to them online properly, they said you couldn't speak to them on the phone, after a lot of effort I managed to get a number and after a lot of cursing I eventually managed to get it sorted. However the firm (Marmalade) have been told what they can do when the renewal comes round.
After a lot of work it's now fitted.

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Robsey
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Re: Mini Cooper Diesel Convertible.

Post by Robsey »

Looks quite tidy for a 12 year old car.
Doesn't look like there is that much to do.
Which is great, because it keeps the long term costs down. :D

Our vectra has a standard plate, but the first two letters resemble my name.
And the last three letters are VLL, so I see that as an abbreviation for Vauxhall.
So a pseudo private plate. 8-)
3cav3
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Re: Mini Cooper Diesel Convertible.

Post by 3cav3 »

Robsey wrote: Sat Oct 14, 2023 7:11 pm Looks quite tidy for a 12 year old car.
Doesn't look like there is that much to do.
Which is great, because it keeps the long term costs down. :D

Our vectra has a standard plate, but the first two letters resemble my name.
And the last three letters are VLL, so I see that as an abbreviation for Vauxhall.
So a pseudo private plate. 8-)
It's mainly silly little things that need sorting, I.e a bit of laqueer peel on the front bumper, the one key either needs an expensive BMW replacement, or preferably i've found a specialist firm that should be able to overhaul it.

One of the biggest jobs is likely to be the replacement of the timing chain on the BMW N47 diesel engine fitted. Having read reviews it can apparently go , with only a very little warning,so will be changed next year as a precaution. Due to the idiotic idea of fitting it on the gearbox end of the engine it's likely to be very expensive. I could do it myself, however I'm not getting any younger so will probably stump up the up to £2k bill next year.

The car itself drives very nice, a little bit of scuttle shake- even my C70 suffers a bit with the roof down, but almost unbelievable power from the 1.6 diesel.

I'm pleased you were lucky enough to get your private plate included with your Vectra, lol. On mine the K is my wife's initial and GPP is mine. The 17 and 18 is numbers that mean something to us.
3cav3
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Re: Mini Cooper Diesel Convertible.

Post by 3cav3 »

My wife has been complaining that this car kept cutting out since she got her new job. Fault code reading it came back clear. Reading online it looked likely to be either the fuel filter, injectors or egr valve. Great i thought, huge bill coming. Then I thought id try driving it. Turns out the car is fitted with a stop start system. Ive turned it off and its not cut out since. Up until this job its only really been driven on back roads so i hadn't realised it was fitted.Dont you just love technology.
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Robsey
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Re: Mini Cooper Diesel Convertible.

Post by Robsey »

Just let the battery run low - it will disengage stop start to save un-necessary cranking, which chews up loads of battery capacity. :lol:
Our 2020 Citroen Relay works van has stop start, but hasn't engaged for the past three years. :roll:

It is useful when you know it is there. Just takes a bit of getting used to.

Same as electronic parking brakes.
A nightmare at first, until you get used to it.
3cav3
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Re: Mini Cooper Diesel Convertible.

Post by 3cav3 »

Well it nearly passed its mot, just failing on a wiper blade that my wife causually mentioned on the way home from dropping it off for the test,had split.
Just a word of warning, never buy one of these newer Minis as every, and I mean every time you drive it, a warning message comes up on the dash! It drives you absolutely insane! If I had my way I'd get shot, but for some reason my wife totally loves the car.
I even offered her to trade it in for a 24 plate Panda with 3k on the clock the other day that I'd found and she flatly refused.
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Robsey
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Re: Mini Cooper Diesel Convertible.

Post by Robsey »

Strange you should say that.
We used to have a physiotherapist who had a mini.
He complained bitterly about the number of warning messages every time he started the car.

The BMW mini never really floated my boat.
Especially when they started to be taller than our Cavalier and Vectra.
Nothing mini about them.

UPDATE -
I just realised that I said this on the 2nd post of the thread.
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Mk3alan
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Re: Mini Cooper Diesel Convertible.

Post by Mk3alan »

My wife has an early (2002) mini cooper - had it for 18 years! (she likes it) and it's been pretty good. Only dash light we've had come up was for abs/traction control, bought a gendan tester which detected the abs unit as the cause. Sent it away to ECU testing and it came back with a lifetime warranty and cured the problem.
I suspected a dry joint within but decided that they might not tackle it if someone else had had a go!
Worst job on it was the clutch, well more specifically the thrust bearing, it collapsed. So much had to be dismantled/removed for access - not like the Cavalier where it can be removed through the cover plate!

Alan
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Robsey
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Re: Mini Cooper Diesel Convertible.

Post by Robsey »

Sadly the post '92 Cavaliers with the F18 gearbox and / or pot-type flywheel are a gearbox off job.

Unlike the earlier F13 (small block engines) F16 and F20 boxes with the access plate.
3cav3
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Re: Mini Cooper Diesel Convertible.

Post by 3cav3 »

The worst thing though about this car is the timing chain. Apparently its supposed to last the life of the car, but BMW say the life is 100k. To have it changed basically involves removing the gearbox and most of the ancillaries in the engine bay, then whilst you're in there you'd be off your head not to change the clutch and flywheel, so a bill in excess of 2 grand on a car thats not really worth much more. If they'd only done what every other manufacturer did and put it on the other end of the engine life would of been so much simpler. I've never owned a BMW and seeing what they've done to this car I never will either!
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Envoy CDX
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Re: Mini Cooper Diesel Convertible.

Post by Envoy CDX »

It's one of those turn of the century things where they have grown on me (the first gen bmw mini anyhow, the stuff now - not at all). Friend of mine owned one until start of the year (won't go into details around that) but he loved his, I think its like most cars and you get good experiences and bad ones.

Design quirks, and majority of the first gen bmw minis were designed by Rover when BMW took them over, so..
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