2002 BMW Mini Cooper 1.6 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

A over-priced poorly made heap

Faults:

Broken Driver Seat

Broken Steering Column

Hole in Fuel Tank

Broken Driver Seat Belt

Loose Panel on driver door

Creaking / Rattling from Dash.

All within 500 miles!

General Comments:

Really poorly made vehicle. Endless problems and design faults and no acknowledgment from dealer. Had to take it directly to BMW GB to deal with matter. Very hush hush on their part.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 13th November, 2002

2002 BMW Mini One 1.6 petrol from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Excellent value BMW super'Mini'

Faults:

Rear light units fogged with condensation within one week of delivery. The replacement unit took three weeks to arrive.

No other faults to date.

General Comments:

This car handles extremely well. It is very quiet at cruising speeds on the motorway compared to other cars in this class.

The performance from the 90bhp unit is adequate, but will not blow you away. If you want more performance try the Cooper at 115bhp.

The general build quality seems high despite other comments on this site.

It is guaranteed to turn heads on every street, which is not the case for many cars in this price bracket.

The power steering has a distinctive whine which is common to all new Minis.

The residual values are extremely good at the moment and that promises to continue. The Mini pricing is extremely keen unless you like a long options list. A low insurance group, low tax and five years free servicing make the entire package excellent value for money.

The cabin/ seats are a pleasant place to be even on long journeys. Boot space is extremely small compared to other cars in this sector. Not a problem if you don't mind putting the back seats down.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 1st November, 2002

7th Nov 2007, 16:52

Just an update on my review. We still own the mini after five years of ownership.

Mini dealership seems to give excellent service sometimes and awful others. We have needed two new windscreens in five years, two airbag repairs, new set of disk and pads (40,000 miles), new set of front tyres (25,000 miles) plus the free servicing provided by the TLC package.

The paintwork (pepper white) and interior trim seems to be holding up fairly well. Everything is holding up well.

2002 BMW Mini One 1.6 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Great little car, shame about the build quality

Faults:

Rear light units kept on fogging up with condensation. Had both replaced, now replacements are fogging up.

Steering clicking and jolting at the 10 to and 10 past positions.

Dash and driver foot-well rattles, along with both doors and seatbelt colunm.

Driver seat squeaks.

Car went in for a 2000 mile oil change, dealer decided to fix a non-existent rattle in the boot. The car came back with a loose boot lock, and had to go back for repair.

Went in for the gear wire retaining clip recall, a month and a half later went in for an oil change and the dealers decided to do it again with no explanation.

General Comments:

I love the way the car looks and drives.

I don't think anything else in the class comes close to the kit and look you get in the Mini.

Unfortunately I have had a lot of niggling problems with the car, and spent most of my time going back to the dealers, who aren't the most useful you could come across.

I love the modern styling of the interior, if only the build quality could live up to the looks.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 21st October, 2002

21st Jan 2003, 07:31

Boot Rattle, BMW sorted it on the Cooper today they are replacing the boot locking device on the Cooper S.

Rear lights fogging, I have the same problem.

Squeaky drivers seat, Yes!

Dash rattle, Yes!

Leaky boot on the Cooper, fixed with a new seal.

Noisy rear wiper motor on the cooper, but not on the S.

All this said, what a car!

Just thinking about the Hartge 212bhp upgrade, any one had it done?

29th Jan 2004, 16:48

I agree with this review of the cooper. I have owned an 02 cooper from new and have had many of the faults listed, including the endlessly squeaky seats (driver seat had a new sub-frame which became loose after 2 months, and still squeaks!) Also had the steering clunking (replaced the hole thing and now it's clunking again). boot rattles and hard to close (won't catch). Had the gear selector come off (on holiday in France!!) found the whole experience of the mini to be very disappointing (I really wanted to love this car). The only redeeming feature is the good part-ex price I got for it! I now have a new 04 Honda civic vtech sport. I wish I had bought the Honda instead of the mini last time! this Honda is so very very good. I won't be wasting my money at BMW again!

16th Aug 2006, 09:32

I own a 2002 Cooper S - I came home one day to find 3 elves sitting in it - making toast with the cigar lighter - I took it to a BMW service centre and the " technician " said it was normal! - so much for dealerships, my point is - that it's one thing that you have problems with your car - it's a wholly different thing with dealerships - if you are not happy with one - try another out - there ARE good ones out there.