2023 MINI Cooper Hardtop

European quirkiness and reliability issues

Monday, April 22, 2019

First off, why can’t BMW (and the other German automakers) simply provide an engine oil dipstick to check the oil like they used to??? This is my biggest complaint with this car, even beyond the reliability problems we’ve experienced! I will say that the Cooper Clubman S with the dynamic suspension is truly a fun car to drive! This car carves up twisty roads with confidence and power to spare. It can put a grin on your face on the worst of days! Bit it can also turn a normal day into a total pain! It has Run Flat tires so there is no spare tire. Not good if you’re hundreds of miles from a tire shop, which we were. Also, in about 24 months of ownership we were without the car for around 2 months total. A couple of the issues were with interior parts that broke under normal usage. It seems as if any warranty claim takes 3 days to 3 weeks to get rectified. We do get a loaner car provided under warranty, but still. The brakes wear out around 10,000 miles We had to have both lower control arms replaced at 25,000 miles under warranty and there was an electrical issue along the way (brake light module) that took 3 service trips to correct. Some of the software features built in are truly annoying. Why can’t BMW just offer more personalization in the settings like most other carmakers do??? The paint is extremely fragile and we’ve had the ABS front fenders replaced due to dripping cosmoline from shipping. One of them is already stained again from it. It’s as if BMW bought an English car company with all the usual problems and chose not to correct them. And then decided to remove the oil dipstick to make matters worse! I’ve decided that our Mini is a love/hate car. I love to hate it, but I also hate to love it. It really is fun to drive though, so I really know why I hate to love it...

Cute and fun if you can keep it running

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

All the bells and whistles from the full sun roof/moon roof, leather interior, entire selection of colors for interior lighting, backup camera, heated seats, headlights that auto adjust to level and corners as you drive the list goes on and on but good luck keeping the prissy thing moving. Known for the engine mounts deteriorating (they are just rubber pieces between the metal). Spring in the shifter column broke off and the car reads it as a transmission problem. It’s 5 years old, paid off and stopped moving today. It won’t crank but I can get to Minis diagnostic screen which tells me the only problem with the car currently is that I need to set the date/time.

I love my Mini

Wednesday, March 10, 2021

I had the first year Clubman and loved it. Moved toward more exotics and left Mini. This year a Clubman caught my eye. Stopped at dealership, found what I wanted and brought it in. So much fun to drive, plenty of power for me and it wants to run on the freeway. The car has many of the creature comforts that I've had on much more expensive cars. Chesterfield brown leather with white piping and British racing green makes for a sharp car.