I have decided to take my coop off the road for a bit. (well got no choice, have a cracked oil cooler pipe & other jobs that need doing)
So I need to get myself something to knock about in, cheap'ish but still fun & shouldn't loose too much money on.
The Mini Cooper S has caught my eye.

Any experiences with them ?

A couple of my customers have them, fun car in the twisties and >30mpg around town. Few little niggles, squeeky seatbelts and short lived tyres being prime amongst them. I believe the sump tends to leak on higher mileage ones, but no experience of that myself yet.
The only reason i don't own one myself is due to the ride being slightly too firm for my taste.

I test drove the older Cooper S 160bhp with the supercharger.... I expected much more ooomph, but was left a bit unimpressed. I was used to a MK 1 Leon Cupra 180bhp at the time, but even so, the Mini should have been more spirited.

I believe the later (2006 on) version had a turbo with more power and better mpg. I would think these are the ones to go for if money allows.

They are fun cars, and quite a nice place to be, although the standard S isn't all that quick. I had a JCW 210bhp for a couple months last year which is a fair bit more nippy although pretty solid on the ride as Jim has said. However, I tuned an AC Schnitzer model (added cams, ARP rod bolts, SC pulley, injectors, remap etc), that was pretty darn quick at 260bhp!

I can take the S up to 200bhp without too much effort, so keep that in mind if the standard power doesn't quite satisfy!

I am going to view a Cooper S on Saturday, it has the Works body kit. Hope it's all ok as it looks quite nice.
Never been in a car with super charger, I am quite looking forward to it.
It doesn't matter if it's not the quickest thing on the road just needs to be fun & hopefully reliable while my coop is off the road.
The plan was to buy a daily runner but not until later in the year, plans have now changed.
Maybe once I have run it a while I might tweak it a little.

You probably know this, but As the supercharger is always spinning , there is no turbo lag. This is good but you don't get the sudden rush you get with a turbo. The power is linear. In effect the car will just feel like it has a bigger engine... But without the extra weight. Having been in Merc Kompressors too, I prefer turbos myself.

Well picked up a 04 plate Cooper S with the Works body kit.
It does the job, run flats aren't wonderful.
MOT runs out in September & there were some advisory items that may need sorting then.
Sub frame & tank straps were rusty but after doing a little searching the parts are fairly plus plenty of specialists out there.

It does make you realise just how quick the coop is.

Hope it serves you well. Any pics?

I will get some pics up soon, just having some iphone issues.