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A friend is looking to buy one (second hand).

I don't know a lot about them but apparently there's a Cooper and a Cooper S and she's wondering if the difference is worth the $3k or so price difference.

She is not a revhead.... but she doesn't want something that struggles on hills. Will be mainly Sydney driving and the highway up to Port Macquarie.

thanks for any help or info :)

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I don't know much about them personally.

My mate's family had one. Copper S 2001 model when it just came out.

- All I know is the trans (manual) had to be changed 3 times - apparently it had a design flaw. Auto trans I'm not sure how they were.

- Build quality is pretty avg, for the high price you pay.

Basically they said "never again".

However I'm sure the newer models are better and niggles resolved.

Know anyone in the finance dept of a BMW dealership to access a "Repo"?

More likely for someone in NSW to be in financial difficulty than the ACT methinks.

Outside of that, one would be wise to locate a nice one and have it inspected by a BMW specialist workshop like BMWise at Artarmon (ie George) or BMV Engineering at Taren Pt (ie Massimo) > pull down any fault codes eh?

Regardless of what the specs say, Cooper S's are an absolute hoot! I've never has as much fun driving anything else (except on a race track / closed stage).

My daily is a 09 WRX and the Cooper S are much more involving and rewarding to drive. They bring back the old school mini feel without sacrificing modern comfort / convenience.

the later turbo ones are surprisingly quick, and won't struggle on hills / overtaking etc. I've managed some big overtaking moves on b doubles etc on relatively short straights. I don't own one, but have hired several for drives from Sydney to the hunter valley / Mudgee (always through the twisty back roads of course). They handle extremely well (although torque steer can be violent on uneven roads)

I say go for it. They are a fun, all round package, and despite what others might think, are well put together.

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