I fell in love with MINIs in 2000. I am finally acting upon that passion. I am looking at either a Coupe or Roadster. Regular or an "S". I have heard that TURBOS of the past have had problems. Does the "S" have the same reputation as the previous TURBO engines

The Twin Scroll turbos are excellent. To the best of my knowledge, there has never been a problem with the S vehicles equipped with then. The original S models had Superchargers, which had to rebuilt when they neared 100K. Most people steer clear of them because they are not covered under warranty due to expiration. However, once this is done, they run better than new because everything is broken in. Shop for vehicles with service records if you don't turn your own wrenches. My family and I have rebuilt several "totaled and salvaged" vehicles. Once you understand what's going on, they are still laborious to maintain due to the FWD and ABS components that become brittle and eventually fail, just like all BMW's.