How to buy a used Mini Cooper S

Early examples of BMW’s 21st century Mini are very affordable right now – here’s how to pick the best.

30 September 2016

The reborn R53 Mini arrived in 2001 and wooed buyers from the outset with its cute modern-retro looks and BMW-honed mechanicals. The best model of all was the supercharged Mini Cooper S, which arrived a year later to stoke the excitement even more.

More than a decade and a half later, the enthusiasm for this thrilling 163bhp hot hatch continues – indeed, with prices starting from just £1750, it’s in a way even more appealing today.

OK, the 0-62mph time of 7.2sec doesn’t sound amazing by modern standards, but an official John Cooper Works tuning kit quickly sorted that: a boost to 200bhp cut the 0-62mph time to 6.4sec. It became more powerful and faster still a year later; look for the oval badge on the bootlid or engine cover.

All Cooper S are a blast to drive, with a responsive engine and snappy six-speed gearbox. It’s more comfortable than you may expect, with a good quality interior, although seat adjustment isn’t great for taller drivers and it’s minuscule both in the rear and the boot.

Although it has the range-topping Mini, equipment wasn’t lavish. You needed the Chili option pack to get air con, xenon headlights, half-leather seats and leather steering wheel. Mini started the craze for factory-fit body decals: today, these can crack, and peeling them off to replacement is harder and more expensive than you think.

Mini offered a choice of either 16in or 17in wheels. 17ins look better but make the ride super-harsh; they had run-flat tyres from new but many owners will have now swapped them for better-riding conventional rubber. Talking about tyres, check the wear pattern; the Cooper S has fancy multi-link rear suspension that only gives its best with full four-wheel alignment.

An option most owners went for is the TLC all-inclusive servicing pack. This means most Minis will have had plentiful servicing earlier in their life; seek out models with a good set of stamps after that, as this is a car that thrives on attention.

Dealers love ‘em. John Cornhill from Masterdriver says they still look and go great, and depreciation has made once-expensive options a bargain today. No two cars are the same though: he tells us we should look for the Chili pack, full leather and a panoramic sunroof.

There are few pitfalls either, reckons Cornhill. They can leak oil and suffer from dodgy power steering, but buy on condition rather than age and you’ll be right. Considering a 100,000-miler? Do so without fear, he says – any niggles will have been ironed out ages ago.

Other things to look out for include worn driveshafts, which slow full-lock turns should quickly show up with a rattle of clatters. Suspension bushes and track rod ends can wear, engine mounts can crack and the handbrake is sometimes dodgy. Don’t worry about noisy superchargers though: they all whine, sir.

And so, prices. Excitingly, from just £1750 will buy a 2002-2004 car with 100,000 miles on the clock and even a bit of service history: tidier 2004-2005 cars will cost from £2600-£3400 and up to £4000 is enough to secure the pick of the R53 Cooper S range. Have a healthy budget of over £4000? Expect only the best. It’s such a blast, you may just think it’s worth it.

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How to buy a used Mini Cooper S

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