11 replies to this topic

[RichieLee]

So yeah a friend of mine is thinking of selling her 1.3 mini.

I'm thinking of buying it for £1500ish but I dont even know what it actually is. I'm sure you folks will be very knowledgable on the subject.

Right ok, it's red, it's got stripes and it's a 1.3 it's definitely not a cooper as she has stated herself. It's a 4 gear jobby and it was made in 97 it also has some small chromy effect arches iirc.

my main questions are... what engine is it? an MPI or SPI? I presume this stands for multi or single point injection?

I want to get a mini but a mini that will have potential for good tuning upgrades as well as reliability.

Orginally wanted to get some WEBER carbs on it but will it be possible on an injection engine? if not what route can I take? Forced induction supercharging? I would like to go for carbs as i prefer it over the sometimes laggy and unpredictable FI route.

What are the pros and cons between the A engines and the SPI/MPI engines?

Anything else you guys could add such as advice would be appreciated.

I'm a uni student so wont be doing anything major for a while but want something that I can use regularly and upgrade slowly over the coming years.

regards,

Rich

[stickycreambun]

Hiya!

Best thing for you to do is SEARCH!! you can find the answer to just about everything, in far more detail than you will get now, as its been covered already. there is a list of engine number too, get your mate to tell you the number and work it out. £1500 sounds like a very reasonable price for a later model, so long as its all up together.
Good luck!

[Mini_Magic]

A 1997 Mini will be a MPi. I'm a little suprised that it's not a Cooper as the only non-Cooper MPIs, as far as I know, were special editions such as the Mini 40. As said above £1500 is a very good price for a MPi, as long as the rust isn't having a field day. From personal experience I've found the MPi to be exremely reilable. As for your tuning options, from what I've heard the best way to get real performance out of a MPi is a supercharger kit. For now you could get a stage one kit to get a bit more out of it. If you really want to go mad on tuning and performance then I peronally wouldn't recommend the MPi. If you are thinking of buying it the main thing to look for with any Mini is rust, look everywhere and then look again.

Edited by Mini_Magic, 07 February 2008 - 09:13 AM.

[RichieLee]

Hiya!

Best thing for you to do is SEARCH!! you can find the answer to just about everything, in far more detail than you will get now, as its been covered already. there is a list of engine number too, get your mate to tell you the number and work it out. £1500 sounds like a very reasonable price for a later model, so long as its all up together.
Good luck!

Hi yeah I've been using the search function, but didn't really know what to search for. Stuff like"97 mini spec" didn't really yield many results. Thank you though, I'll definitely be looking into it more with the search.

A 1997 Mini will be a MPi. I'm a little suprised that it's not a Cooper as the only non-Cooper MPIs, as far as I know, were special editions such as the Mini 40. As said above �1500 is a very good price for a MPi, as long as the rust isn't having a field day. From personal experience I've found the MPi to be exremely reilable. As for your tuning options, from what I've heard the best way to get real performance out of a MPi is a supercharger kit. For now you could get a stage one kit to get a bit more out of it. If you really want to go mad on tuning and performance then I peronally wouldn't recommend the MPi. If you are thinking of buying it the main thing to look for with any Mini is rust, look everywhere and then look again.

It's definitely got rust, what mini hasnt nowadays? But apparently nothing major, i'll have to check it out when I get a closer look at it. Yeah I thought 1500 was a decent price too for a late model. What's the performance like in these little things then? I'm thinkin probably not as fast a my little TDi polo but handles very very well?

[Mini_Magic]

Well I find the performance to be quite adequate for me, but some people won't as it uses a 2.7 diff which means low rpm and an increase in mpg but not as good acceleration. The handling is fantasic with any size wheels.

Edited by Mini_Magic, 07 February 2008 - 02:31 PM.

[MrOz]

A picture speaks a thousand words....

Post a picture if you can and I'm sure you'll get an answer.

[redhotmini]

A picture speaks a thousand words....

Post a picture if you can and I'm sure you'll get an answer.

pictures will definately help.

also you'll never get it through an mot with weber's fitted due to the stricter emissions test on later vehicles (hence the fuel injection and cat converter). Plus the multipoint injection isnt fitted with a distributor, its fitted with a coil pack mounted 90 degrees to the engine. The easy way to tell the difference is:
MPi has front mounted rad, and coil pack instead of normal dizzy.
SPi has normal side mounted rad, and electronic distributor and coil like carb'd minis.

Forced induction on MPi's is no different to carb'd minis, the principles are the same but the very tricky part is getting the injection to work properly. So far i dont know of any turbocharged, fuel injected minis, however there are a few supercharged & fuel injected cars.

The other way to get more power is to transplant a different engine and box in, youve got the Z Cars bike engine route, or the slightly more sensible but still nutty Honda vtec or Vauxhall 2 litre conversions.

[RichieLee]

Thanks guys. Haven't heard off the mate yet, she says she'll get around to getting sending me pics and details about the car when she can.

Ahh I see so even if I did get weber carbs ont his mini it'll never pass the MOT anyway. nevermind I'll guess a supercharger will have to do Nahh I wont have the money for one of those in quite a while. The main thing is that I need it to be reliable even though I'll probably only be driving it about 55miles per week.

The idea is to get a reliable mini that'll get me through my uni years then when i get into the big bad world i can waste my paycheck on upgrading the mini.

The only obstacle now is to convince the mum to let me buy it, although it's actually my own money I've been saving anyway. I guess she's worried about the work that'll need to be done and the safety aspect of it all. And that's another thing that reminds me, apparently it's been upgraded with reinforced bars in the doors or something to add more protection???

[Mini_Magic]

And that's another thing that reminds me, apparently it's been upgraded with reinforced bars in the doors or something to add more protection???

All MPIs are fitted with a drivers airbag and impacted bars in the doors as standard. It's a steel beam that is welding into the inside of the door to take some of the impact in a crash.

[RichieLee]

And that's another thing that reminds me, apparently it's been upgraded with reinforced bars in the doors or something to add more protection???

All MPIs are fitted with a drivers airbag and impacted bars in the doors as standard. It's a steel beam that is welding into the inside of the door to take some of the impact in a crash.

Ahhh I see. She did say they had side impact bars not actually upgraded them so in theory it should be an mpi. Of course I'll check everything else too just to make sure such as radiator position etc. Unfortunately still no pics! Will have to get on her case tommorrow.

On the note of MPI vs SPI. What's the general preference of the 2? Why are there the 2 systems? Wouldn't it just make sense to just use the MPI if it's more efficient.

Thanks guys, you've been a great help. I promise I'll get pics up as soon as I get hold of them.

Rich

[Aria Aradhea]

The single-point injection was first introduced in 1991 for the Mini Cooper, while all other Mini models still used carb. Even when the Mini adopted the 1275cc engine in 1992, they still use carb, only the Mini Cooper used the SPi system. It's not until around 1994 when all Mini models used the SPi system. Then in 1996 the MPi was introduced and all Minis used the MPi system right up till the end of production. So, there wasn't two systems used... If it's a '97 Mini then it will most probably be an MPi Mini.

[Mini_Magic]

The MPi was a result of a cash injection from BMW to keep the brand going until 2000 when the BMW MINI would be launched. Alot of changes were made so that it would meet the saftey and emissions regulations at the time. Interestingly Rover claimed that the Mini could have legally remained in production until 2003 due to the MPi upgrade in 1996.