I had this one in cleaning the intake and replacing the mass air meter. Don, what year did they go to direct injection? I am of the opinion that a pre-direct injection model would probably be preferable. I did not see where it was too bad to work on.

__________________
Jim

About 2004 my wife bought one. My daughter had an airbag deploying accident in it that ALMOST totaled it, but it was near new, so they could afford serious crash damage. My wife put well over 200,000 miles on it with no problems other than the accident.

It's difficult to understand what they are all about without driving one. Unlike most any other car of it's size, the wheels are at the extreme corners, making it a hoot to drive.

I never had to do anything beyond routine maintenance, but I never encountered anything difficult as far as maintenance goes. If you had to do any serious work, it appeared that the front end came off quite quickly to offer better engine access than you would have with many cars.

If she had not bought one with the CVT, she would probably still have it. For those interested, don't buy a CVT. The only alternative if it fails is an $8,000 replacement. I could never find an aftermarket alternative. When the car was worth about $8,000 we decided to get rid of it before we needed to spend that $8,000.

That's the way it is with a lot of small cars. You've pretty much got to remove the headlight to change the bulb in a Prius. Which entails removing the bumper cover, the fender lining ...

This is why buying the most basic small car is ideal. No turbo, no AC (if possible), smallest 4-cyl engine, etc means more room under there

W115, 220D

- Peter.

__________________
2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

I'd sooner have my W123 -- better injection system, not the cobbled-together system (who needs a throttle plate in a Diesel?!) that the W115 cars had.

I heard they burn a LOT of oil. Google it.

__________________
Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

What throttle plate?

- Peter.

__________________
2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

The OM615 has a throttle plate like a gasser and a vacuum governor. (or at least something on it is vacuum controlled, hence the throttle plate)

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

My wifes didn't burn a DROP, not even after the 200,000 mile mark. I followed the owners manual recommendation and changed every 10,000 miles using Mobil One. The oil level did not go down AT ALL, between changes.

So, after all of those repairs, you didn't need to more repairs?

Yes. They drink it like it was free. BMW allows 1qt per 1000 miles. The car holds ~5qts. The oil change interval is over 10,000 miles. You see where this is going? The market is filled with Hondas, Toyotas, and Nissans that don't require a thing between oil changes, when people buy these cars, that's what they're used to. It doesn't go well from there.

The direct inject and carbon build up on the valves is another issue on the newer ones. As is the timing chain. And the power steering pumps on the older ones. All in all, the older models, with the supercharger, not the turbo, are ok. Avoid the CVT. Do regular maintenance and check your oil when you fuel. The newer ones? Complete crap. An embarrassment to the name.

MV

care to share some stories BAVBMW? does this oil consumption happen after a certain mileage? What 'new' ones are you talking about, 2014 models?

__________________
Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

Hardly beaters. Only buy Minis with less than 100,000 miles that are trades from new car dealers. Don't dare go high mileage. That's one heck of a list to get one "sorted" and you haven't owned it that long.

Not durable, not easy to work on.

__________________
1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

good reading here...

Top 419 Complaints and Reviews about Mini Cooper

__________________
Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

They all use more oil than would be considered the norm these days, but the second generation, with the "N" engines are particularly bad. We don't see any diesels, so I can't comment on those. The oil consumption is just a feature of the engine, it doesn't really start at any mileage, or get worse with time, it just happens, and combined with owners more used to Hondas, the oil level never gets checked. Until it starts making bad noises. Half the time, by then, the oil has been baked into a sludge-like consistency, causing further problems.

The carbon build up on the intake valves is fairly well discussed all over the 'net, direct injection engines, and BMW built ones specifically, are prone to doing it. Not sure how manufacturers are planning on rectifying it. Toyota is running two sets of injectors on some models, using regular port injection at idle/low speed to keep things clean...

The newer generation would be from R56 on.

MV