Mini Cooper S R56
A petrolhead’s first car always is a big deal, because since our childhood we want to do nothing else than be around cars and drive them. Fast, slow, to the grocery store and on the best roads there are. It all starts with wanting a car to do all the stuff we dream of as kids. Then the day comes when we decide to get one. We look at various cars we definitely can’t afford, and after realising that, we settle on something sensible that ends up being the most significant car in our life.
Why the Mini?
I had quite the list of desirable first cars but I got one quite late. Yes, I did my driver’s license as soon as I turned 18 years old. But owning a car just didn’t make any sense because of studying. Further, once you get your license in Switzerland you’re put on three years of probation so waiting for that to pass, made sense too. Once done with my bachelor’s degree and finding myself working full-time, I decided to get my first car.
The main things I looked for in my first car were pretty simple. It had to seat 4 people, be a manual and be fun to drive. I always wanted to get a 3. Gen Renault Clio RS as my first car as it ticked all of my boxes. Once I realised they were out of budget or had way too high mileage, I started to look for alternatives. One of the not-so-obvious ones to me was to look at some Mini Cooper S, and after doing a bit of research on them, I rather quickly decided that the 2. Gen R56 with the N18 engine would be the one to look for as they seem to be less prone to problems and the front and rear bumpers look nicer than the previous N14 engined versions. I didn’t want to get a JCW trim as I don’t like the look of them.
Another factor for me to consider the Mini as an alternative to the Clio was fuel efficiency as I do a lot of my driving in and around the city. With the Clio RS claiming more than 11l per 100km in the city it did seem a bit excessive for such a small car. And when things go wrong, which they definitely will, I expected the Renault to be more of a pain to fix as it is an RS model.
After considering many factors it looked like the Cooper S would be the better fit for me, considering I’d get a sub 100’000 km model for less than 10’000 CHF. So I started looking and eventually, I found one by chance on another platform than Autoscout24. There it was. Fully black, with lovely black 18-inch wheels and dirt flaps on the rear, fully serviced and with just a tad over 100’000 km on the clock. All of that in my home town for an incredibly reasonable 8’500 CHF. I picked up my phone, called the seller, arranged for a meeting the next day, went to visit the car, tested it, loved it, and put down a deposit in less than 24h after seeing it online. After having arranged all the necessary paperwork. I finally was able to pick up my Cooper S on the beginning of February 2021. And since then It has been an incredible journey.
The Looks
First of I think that the R56 N18s are the best-looking Minis out there. The size and its proportions work in a way that the newer models don’t. It looks modern without looking too old. It looks sporty but not too aggressive. A black boxy car with froggy eyes and a centre exhaust in the back. Quite the looks!
The previous owner thought tat adding on spacers and a new exhaust was a good idea. He was right for the spacers. They make the car look so much better as the increased width gives the car a more serious look. The exhaust however becomes very droney on the motorway. The car originally came with 18” Original Mini R113 wheels. They do look great, but after having bought a set of Mini R112 wheels for my winter tyres, I decided that they would look better on the car than the summers.
The only major thing I didn’t really like about the looks, were the tinted rear windows. I generally am no fan of tinted widows because in Switzerland you can’t tint the front side windows, resulting in the rear half looking darker than the front. It looks especially bad from the side. Further, you can’t see shit out the back window when it’s dark.
Even though it’s considered a small car, I’ve done almost anything you could do with it in terms of using its maximum capacity. Went on a 2.5h drive for a shopping trip with 4 fully grown humans, picked up a 50” TV and occasionally got some cabinets from IKEA. The car has never let me down when getting stuff into it.
My car didn’t come with any parking sensors, but with it being the size of a shopping trolley, you really don’t need any. You’ll always find a parking spot and it’s a charm to manoeuvre through tight spaces.
The Drive
Now onto the most important thing when I buy a car. Well, most of the time it is. The Drive. It’s sublime. I absolutely adore it! No matter if I just had some of the newest available hot-hatch for a review, I always looked back into getting in my Mini. Everything feels tight and so direct without it being a pain in the ass. The steering is hard enough in comfort and gets even juicier in Sport. The clutch is snappy and the handling is great. It’s a bit of a hard ride though, but nothing that would make you go insane. The engine too is brilliant. Enough power for daily driving and plenty of oompf for some spirited driving. It revs beautifully and delivers nice power too. It does however lose some of its oomph the higher you rev it. So using mid revs is its sweet spot. Pedal placement is great for heel and toeing and everything just comes together when going a bit quicker. Many people call it a go-kart feeling, which is pretty much spot on. The perfect daily if you like to go for some spirited driving now and then.
Realiability
Of course, stuff went wrong and yes it would have been very expensive to get it all fixed at a workshop. But me being a petrolhead and quite interested in mechanical work, I saw an opportunity to learn more about the inner workings and mechanics of cars by deciding I could do most of the work myself… with absolutely no experience in working on cars. I haven’t even changed a set of wheels yet and there I was thinking I’m the next Sreten.
The very first thing the car suffered from was a drained battery. Changing that was relatively easy so no big challenge yet. Then the car told me that the front brakes needed to be replaced. Ok then. Looked like a bigger job replacing the rotors and pads. So I got some tools, the necessary parts and 3 days of my time to fix it myself. After more or less successfully doing the right brakes first, I noticed that the break wear sensor failed on the left brakes…. Well. That possibly was the reason for the error message, as the brake rotors actually were fine in terms of thickness. But having already done half the work I replaced the left one too. Up to this day I haven’t crashed into a tree and the brakes have been working perfectly since. It was incredibly nerve-wrecking and quite the challenge for someone with absolutely no experience. But the sense of satisfaction you get when fixing your car makes all the effort worthwhile.
Next up was the car leaking oil from the front and me trying to find the cause for it. After having a quick chat with my mechanic he identified it as the turbo oil feed line which was leaking oil. After some googling and looking through a few forums, I found out that it’s one of the most common failures on all Minis and replacing it would cost a small fortune. My mechanic asked 1’500 CHF for it as it’s an incredibly labour-intensive job. So again thinking I could do it myself gave it a try and actually succeeded there too. While I was at it I also changed all the air filters, the oil, oil filter and the oil cooling housing gaskets. After a 3 day job, the car was running perfectly and I couldn’t be happier.
Just until the next thing broke. The high-pressure fuel pump. Another thing that breaks on minis after roughly 120’000km. That one was easy to replace but the part cost me a whopping 850 CHF. Ouch. While doing this I also replaced the chain tensioner and serpentine belt.
Then the bastard started leaking again but this time from the turbo oil return line. So I did about half the job once again to replace the seal of the return line. Was it successful? No. So I ended up doing it a third time and reinstalling the original return line which apparently had a slightly different fit to the turbo. The third time actually was a charm. Right after having done my bi-yearly technical inspection successfully with absolutely nothing to complain, the thermostat decided to become leaky. So I ended up replacing that one too.
And that’s about it. Apart from fixing small stuff like bulbs and some pieces of trim the car has been working perfectly and never let me down in any situation. Overall it can get quite expensive to fix if you decide to let someone do it who actually knows what they‘re doing.
The Verdict
If I ask myself the question of: “ Would you buy it again?”, I’d say “Yes!” in a heartbeat. However my absolute dream Mini would be green on silver R112 wheels, no tints, grill-mounted fog lights and some JCW upgrades like the breaks and some minor engine stuff. But back to my car. It’s been an absolute dream and so many smiles that it will always have a special place in my heart. And I already know that one day I’ll get another one just for the sake of owning one again!
If you’re looking for your first car or some fun car for under 10’000 CHF, I would definitely consider one. Seriously. I’m incredibly picky and will trash-talk a car the second I get the chance to. But with the Mini it’s been an incredible experience. It’s the perfect small daily on a budget and I’d say you can’t get anything better for the price. Yes, there will definitely be some minor inconveniences and things will break. Fixing them are quite labour-intensive so be prepared to spend some extra cash on repairs if you don’t want to do it yourself. But seriously consider it as your first car. It’s so so good!