New Acquisition - 2006 Mini Cooper S - Maintenance advice

[DV0993]

Hi all,I just picked up a 2006 Mini Cooper S and trying to come up with a plan of attack for preventative maintenance.

This was an unplanned purchase for a steal of a price; and other than some fading paint and some leaks - it seems to be in good shape.

Above and beyond a normal full fluid and filter replacement, does anyone have any advice or experience on what to replace on these?

In addition to the standard fluids, I plan on

- Changing supercharger oil (any recommendations? Looking at the Driven brand); and

- Changing Waterpump

Are there any hoses (or anything else) I should replace whilst the front end and supercharger is off?

Thank you

 

[Junk]

It's been a few years, but the last time I had the supercharger off of a Mini it was chasing a coolant leak, and if memory serves there were two (I think) aluminum covers bolted to the front of the engine block that were sealed with O-rings, and that was where it was leaking from. Absolutely could not see them with the supercharger and front end on the car, but would definitely do that while it was off if it's the same engine.

Edit: It appears one was a flange adapter that connects to the water pump, definitely change the O-rings whle you're there.

 

[Oliveoil2]

Miles?? Previous maintenance??

 

[trd1zz]

A Cooper S? Must have been one heck of a steal to get yourself into that. You don't put any money into preventative maintenance on a car like this especially if it's beat. Just drive it and fix what breaks.

 

[DV0993]

It's been a few years, but the last time I had the supercharger off of a Mini it was chasing a coolant leak, and if memory serves there were two (I think) aluminum covers bolted to the front of the engine block that were sealed with O-rings, and that was where it was leaking from. Absolutely could not see them with the supercharger and front end on the car, but would definitely do that while it was off if it's the same engine.

Edit: It appears one was a flange adapter that connects to the water pump, definitely change the O-rings whle you're there.

Thank you!

 

[DV0993]

Miles?? Previous maintenance??

120k miles. Oil changes twice a year

 

[DV0993]

A Cooper S? Must have been one heck of a steal to get yourself into that. You don't put any money into preventative maintenance on a car like this especially if it's beat. Just drive it and fix what breaks.

You have read this correctly! As a Toyota/Honda person - Never in my right mind would have I bought one of these, but the deal was too good to pass up. Its had its oil changes and whatever has broken has been fixed.

Its a car that screws you if you can't get your hands dirty. The lady that owned it had enough of paying to fix it when the coolant bottle started leaking and the CV shaft started making noise.

I've ordered the parts and will fix these soon.

A heap of fun to drive and save for the small issues and PITA "maintenance mode" (which entails removing the entire front end) it seems mechanically 'strong'

 

[Marcozi]

That engine is notorious for having its oil pick up screen becoming blocked with oily crap. Solution: change the oil and filter every 5k miles.

 

[trd1zz]

You have read this correctly! As a Toyota/Honda person - Never in my right mind would have I bought one of these, but the deal was too good to pass up. Its had its oil changes and whatever has broken has been fixed.

Its a car that screws you if you can't get your hands dirty. The lady that owned it had enough of paying to fix it when the coolant bottle started leaking and the CV shaft started making noise.

I've ordered the parts and will fix these soon.

A heap of fun to drive and save for the small issues and PITA "maintenance mode" (which entails removing the entire front end) it seems mechanically 'strong'

Good luck man! The supercharger whine certainly sounds cool. But the purchase price is just the beginning on these

 

[We're Metals]

Good cars if they are taken care of, I had a 2005. Only sold it because I ran out of space to store it.

-Supercharger fluid. You do the water pump at the same time. Dont forget the gaskets hoses and the thermostat. Your 2006 had the updated coolant reservoir so you should be good unless its brittle.No reason not to do a 15% pulley.
-Belt tensioner and Belt, youre going to want to get this done.
- Coils fail often and unexpectedly but they are cheap. Get a good name brand. Spark plugs and wires too duh.
- Cooling fans, Make sure they turn on with A/C on. Same with the power steering fan it should kick on when you move the wheel Northmerican motoring has a good guide.
- Oil pan will likely leak up to you if you want to change it.
- Make sure the windows dip when you open the door handles.
- 0w-40 always on these cars, they get hot under the hood. Redline 90 in the manual transmission. BMW Blue coolant iIRC.
- You will be chasing suspension clunks and creaks, its just the name of the game.

Otherwise, fix the problems and enjoy it! I sure do miss mine.

 

[DV0993]

Good cars if they are taken care of, I had a 2005. Only sold it because I ran out of space to store it.

-Supercharger fluid. You do the water pump at the same time. Dont forget the gaskets hoses and the thermostat. Your 2006 had the updated coolant reservoir so you should be good unless its brittle.No reason not to do a 15% pulley.
-Belt tensioner and Belt, youre going to want to get this done.
- Coils fail often and unexpectedly but they are cheap. Get a good name brand. Spark plugs and wires too duh.
- Cooling fans, Make sure they turn on with A/C on. Same with the power steering fan it should kick on when you move the wheel Northmerican motoring has a good guide.
- Oil pan will likely leak up to you if you want to change it.
- Make sure the windows dip when you open the door handles.
- 0w-40 always on these cars, they get hot under the hood. Redline 90 in the manual transmission. BMW Blue coolant iIRC.
- You will be chasing suspension clunks and creaks, its just the name of the game.

Otherwise, fix the problems and enjoy it! I sure do miss mine.

Thank you - this is just what I needed.

In typical BITOG fashion I dropped the oil as soon as I came home. Filled with Restore & Protect 10w40 for now until my filters arrive.
I was tossing up between M1 0w40 and 5w50 - I have plenty of both on hand.
GL4 Redline Oil already on its way in the mail; and will be done once both axles are replaced.
Driven supercharger oil on the way too.

Appreciate your advice!

 

[Starving Electrician]

They are problem children to no end. Had a 04 Cooper S back when I was young and single. Super fun to drive but a pain to work on and prone to failure. You just have to stay on top of everything. The engine in those is a Puegeot (might be spelled wrong) 1.6. So its a British car, from a German automaker with a French engine. I will just say French and engineering excellence are mutually exclusive hahaha.

 

[We're Metals]

They are problem children to no end. Had a 04 Cooper S back when I was young and single. Super fun to drive but a pain to work on and prone to failure. You just have to stay on top of everything. The engine in those is a Puegeot (might be spelled wrong) 1.6. So its a British car, from a German automaker with a French engine. I will just say French and engineering excellence are mutually exclusive hahaha.

What issues did you have?

Time did these cars a favor. Parts are cheaper, the internet is filled with plenty of information these days on common repairs. The 05 and 06 cars ended up much better than the earlier ones.

"Service Mode" where you pull the entire front end off can be done in 30-45min and really alleviates alot of the tight packaging concerns.

Not saying they are as easy as many other cars but far from Nightmares. That being said, I wouldn't want electrical gremlins on these cars.

 

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

You got the supercharger. While there change the belt and the tensioner arm. Possibly inspect power steering lines.

 

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

Check if the oil is leaking around the dipstick.

 

[thastinger]

That is an Eaton supercharger so the GM supercharger oil will be fine.

 

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

Also I am pretty sure that that is the ONLY SAE part on the cooper, the supercharger plug. You want to use SAE hex key and a good one otherwise it strips easy.

 

[Starving Electrician]

What issues did you have?

Time did these cars a favor. Parts are cheaper, the internet is filled with plenty of information these days on common repairs. The 05 and 06 cars ended up much better than the earlier ones.

"Service Mode" where you pull the entire front end off can be done in 30-45min and really alleviates alot of the tight packaging concerns.

Not saying they are as easy as many other cars but far from Nightmares. That being said, I wouldn't want electrical gremlins on these cars.

This isn't in any particular order nor a comprehensive list.

Had to get a new cylinder head because a spark plug blew out of the head taking the thread with it and the head developed a crack. Both of those are very possibly related to the next issue.

The lower radiator hose adapter cracked and detached from the radiator dumping all the coolant while on I95 in Jacksonville in the summer so the engine got very hot very fast by the time I could get off on the next exit.

Rear main seal gave up almost completely at 165K. Which wasn't that bad honestly as it was getting to the point of needing a new clutch anyway. Which that's not a knock the clutch is a wear item.

CV axel inexplicably started clicking. No torn boot just sort of gave up.

Parasitic draw that killed the battery over night. Stuck relay on that one.

Not super put off on this one but passenger side rear strut started leaking at about 180K.

Crank no start one morning, fuel pump went out at around 188K or something.

So yeah not horrible but very much a problem child.

 

[We're Metals]

This isn't in any particular order nor a comprehensive list.

Had to get a new cylinder head because a spark plug blew out of the head taking the thread with it and the head developed a crack. Both of those are very possibly related to the next issue.

The lower radiator hose adapter cracked and detached from the radiator dumping all the coolant while on I95 in Jacksonville in the summer so the engine got very hot very fast by the time I could get off on the next exit.

Rear main seal gave up almost completely at 165K. Which wasn't that bad honestly as it was getting to the point of needing a new clutch anyway. Which that's not a knock the clutch is a wear item.

CV axel inexplicably started clicking. No torn boot just sort of gave up.

Parasitic draw that killed the battery over night. Stuck relay on that one.

Not super put off on this one but passenger side rear strut started leaking at about 180K.

Crank no start one morning, fuel pump went out at around 188K or something.

So yeah not horrible but very much a problem child.

I hear ya, Cooling systems and CV axles (previous owner on my car had it fall out?) are definitely weak points.

Dont forget about the dual mass flywheels so youve gotta get a new flywheel when you change out the clutch too....

 

[Starving Electrician]

I hear ya, Cooling systems and CV axles (previous owner on my car had it fall out?) are definitely weak points.

Dont forget about the dual mass flywheels so youve gotta get a new flywheel when you change out the clutch too....

Yeah I had the car out of action for about 3 weeks doing the clutch job. So I did the rear main, throwout bearing, slave cylinder, pressure plate, and flywheel so I didn't have to go back in.

I am not trying to dog on the cars they are fun, but they aren't trouble free or super reliable. That was just my ownership experience and the ownership experience of many people. You just have to really stay on top of them to keep them for long periods of time.