Jamie Wolfcale reports on 100,000 miles with his Mini Cooper S.
The story began in January of 2003 when I went to my local Mini dealer and put a $1000 deposit on a Mini Cooper S. I knew at the time that it would be months before I actually took delivery of it, but I was fully convinced it would be worth the wait. At the time, the Cooper S was making lots of headlines in the automotive press. Car Magazine awarded it second place in its performance car of the year issue and it bested the 911 Turbo’s slalom time in Road & Track. Sure, slalom times are somewhat inconsequential, but the fact that a $20,000 car could do anything better than a $120,000 one was a pretty amazing feat. I was sold.
A few weeks after putting down the deposit, I was invited back to the dealership to spec my car. I had already decided what I wanted; a base spec Cooper S with no options. All the reviews said the 16 inch wheels rode better than the 17 inch options and the sun roof added 100 lbs to the last place you want to add weight to a car. I’ve always had a sort of less is more philosophy when it comes to options. Fewer options means fewer thing to go wrong down the road and more weight saved.
I took delivery of it on May 12, 2003. The sales associate showed me all the ins and outs of the car, but it was all stuff I already knew. I just wanted to get it off the lot and drive the thing. After signing a bunch papers I didn’t care about, I was finally able to have as much fun as the break-in procedure would allow.
In 2003 the Minis were still somewhat of a novelty and I found myself answering a lot of questions wherever I went. “Is it electric?,” was one I got a lot. Because I was a valet at the time, it would frequently be parked in vicinity of some pretty exotic hardware and would regularly draw more attention from passers-by than any of the nearby Ferraris or Porsches. Of course this scenario played itself out less frequently as Minis steadily became more commonplace.
Now, seven years, several repairs, a few modifications and exactly 100,000 miles later, here we find ourselves. I wish I could say it was a fairytale ride, but like any long-term relationship it wasn’t to be the case. As with most cars the big problems came after the warranty expired and since I was a poor college student at the time (with a pretty hefty monthly car payment) I decided to take on the repairs myself. The first thing to go was the head gasket. Repairing this was a far greater undertaking than I anticipated, but with the help of some friends I was able to get it running properly again. It took a week to complete but I probably saved at least $2500 in repair costs.
The Mk1 (this is how the R53 is commonly referred to but shouldn’t it really be the Mk2?) was equipped with an electro-hydraulic power steering pump, which means its turned by its own electric motor instead of the serpentine belt. Of course this expensive little thing broke and again I decided to replace it myself. This was a pretty common problem for Mk1s and Mini wisely decided to switch to a conventional belt-driven pump for the Mk2.
I eventually also had to replace the supercharger. I won’t go into it too much, but because the supercharger turned the water pump, it caused the engine to overheat. It you want to relive that story with me, feel free to go here, but it did afford me the opportunity to switch to smaller supercharger pulley, which gave me a good bit more horsepower.
I always had a plan for a few subtle modifications, and for the most part I’ve stuck with it. In addition to the smaller supercharger pulley, I also added a Milltek cat-back exhaust, a conical air filter and an iPod adapter. After I ditched the stock run-flat tires, I found that the conventional radials tires I fitted had turned the the handling to mush. So, when the time came for a new set of tires, I switched them out for a set of 18-inch ADR wheels wrapped with 225/45 section tires. In retrospect, I may have gone a little too big, but the ride and handling was much improved. Plus they look really cool.
Overall, I’ve been extremely happy with the Mini ownership experience. It handles on a par with some of the best cars in the world and the chassis is simply awesome. I’ve driven it on some of the of the best roads in the country and under the right conditions it’s extremely quick. I can also vouch for its long distance capabilities. During its life it’s been driven all over the Southeast, from Chicago to Atlanta and back and finally to Southern California, where it will probably live for at least the next next few years. Here’s to the next 100,000.
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