Hi I'm new to the mini cooper forums and Im just recently deciding that I really want to purchase a mini cooper s and my budget is at 7k max so that leves me with mini coops of the '02 and '03 year variety. I'm young and don't have a lot of money for repairs and things of that nature and I have read a lot of negative things about mini cooper s's from theese years, I can't afford to put money into the car so I'm wondering if I should avoid theese early minis and do they really have a lot of major issues? I can live with little problems with the creature comfort features like power accessories or a/c and such but do they really have a lot of engine/transmission problems and is this a car I can drive up to 200k+ miles and not be dumping loads and loads of cash into. Here are a few links to some of the minis I'm looking at. Also I do have some automotive experience as well as a neighbor with quite a bit of automotive experience as well as many automotive tools so I could do a lot of the work myself so are parts expensive and would that make this anymore of a visible vehicle for me?

2002 MINI Cooper S

2003 Mini Cooper S

2003 Mini Cooper S

2004 Mini Cooper S (55k)

Mini Cooper S 2003

Which of theese looks to be the best any and all input would be greatly appriciated. Thanks, Tim