water pump, pully help needed.

[Carol]

Hey.
i bought a new MINI cooper in 2007 and since I got it it has given me a lot of trouble which I really didnt expect from a BMW/MINI.
Last known problem was oil leak behind water pump which caused everything linked to the water pump to be replaced.. is this normal for a MINI that isnt going to be three until July...
Im fair sickened with the cost of the maintenence as suspension brushes needed to be replaced in November and everything just seems to keep breaking and BMW keep charging me a fortune. I need to know what is wear and tear and what is a manfacturing fault... all help or advice greatly recieved as Im at a loss now as to what to do besides sell the car.
car has full MINI service history. 69k km. lady owner... I do look after the car...just dont really want to now
thanks so much
Carol

[Bawnee]

Hi Carol, i bought a 2007 Cooper in late 2008 & had no problems with it at all. Did you not get a warranty with the car? Hopefully some of the guys on here that know lots can advise you.. don't give up, they are a great car in fairness!

[irlmin]

Hi Carol ,
Its unusual to have lots of problems , sure there are some items that can fail and would be considered to be 'Known faults' . I did about 85000km in My last R56 cooper and had no major problem , however we do all our own maintenance as we run an independent specialist Mini and MINI workshop and I feel the MINI service schedules to be just too long , We get in MINIs for service which are just out of TLC and find time and time again stuff like pollen filters and air filters never changed , in fact we had a 2005 MINI in last week for a service and the oil filter was dated in late 04 !!!!!!! ( yes it was NEVER changed) and it looked it . suspension bushes are again something that need to be changed at around 50000 km this is more to do with our roads than the MINI bushes again no big problem and we do several every week , we have also replaced rear shock absorbers on a few R56's recently , again its a case of terrible roads rather than poor shocks . in answer to your question re wear and tear normally its divided into items that can be considered 'consumables' and those that are not ie consumables would be tyres , brake components like pads / discs , clutch , suspension components etc etc you would not however expect problems from items like engine , gearbox , electrical components etc etc . if you have any specific problems or need any specific information please feel free to pm me and I will be happy to help .
G

[Carol]

Thanks so much for all your help it is all a lot clearer now. Im going to wait to get all my paperwork back so I can explain exactly what the problem is/was and maybe look for some advice then if thats ok because at the moment I am completely disheartened with my car and my confidence in it is at an all time low.... shocking. But I really am grateful for all your advice and I will try pm when I have proper information for you. thanks again.

[irlmin]

No problem Carol , delighted to be of help ,
G

[Owen]

They really are great cars Carol, you've lost all faith in yours, but maybe taking it to a specialist garage who'll take the time to pour over it might restore some of that for you, and put the fun back in driving?

[Derfinn]

Sorry to hear about your problems with your MINI Carol.

But Ger will be able to sort you out.

Hope that you get sorted out, and that your faith will be restored.
My 2nd MINI was a 2007 R56 Cooper, that I bought from new, and she (her name was Connie) never gave a days trouble. (Although she was recalled for a fuse replacement). But I never had a days trouble with her.

I only changed her, as I was made an offer I couldn't refuse to get my 2009 R56 Cooper S.
Bar a 'known problem' with the S, he (Newton) has been trouble free!
And that work was covered by the warranty.

Hope you get sorted out!

[Carol]

well I got my car back on Friday and she is driving fine as far as i can tell. Im hoping to go through all the paperwork tonight after work so i can try give more details.
Thanks so much to everyone for thier responses, it really is terrific to feel supported and I do hope to renew my faith in the car as I cant see myself driving anything else... madness.

thanks.

[Owen]

That's what we're all here for

Seriously though, if you have any issues, anything at all, let us know. I've 7 years experience selling and managing a MINI Dealership, and also doing tech work on them, and irlmin here has a ridiculous amount of MINI tech info too. We're more than happy to give advice!