Buying MINI Cooper S. Need advice!
 

I plan to sell my old 98 Honda accord. the transmission is dying and it cost at least $2000!! So I'm thinking of buying a 2002 MINI just to try another vehicle thats not japanese. Don't get me wrong but Honda does have great engines just horrible automatic transmissions. I want to know if the MINI's engine is great and reliable. Also I'm thinking of going for the Cooper S, which has a manual transmission. Is it good? and efficient. Any other thoughs will be apreciated.

Thanks in advance!

motor/tranny are sound the other systems troubles can be pricey to fix

Problems
 

I have the base Cooper, but a lot of the same things would probably apply to the S. A lot of my problems have been minor electrical stuff (window switches, door switches, etc.). The drive train seems pretty sound, although the dealer replaced my 5-speed transmission at 30K miles due to intermittent problems getting it into reverse. I probably have a different tranny than the S has, though.