Are these vehicles difficult for a do it your selfer to fix?

Not really. All you have to do is look, understand and be patient. If you have ever taken apart anything built by BMW, you will know that everything is purpose driven. Common sense is the driving factor, even if it does seem to be overkill at times. The best thing you can do when purchasing a Mini, new or used, is to get the manual. It is far more affordable. A replacement Mini tranny will run you nearly $8K!!! Have fun and pick an S when you decide on the color.

Make sure you take into consideration the "carbon build-up" problems found in all gen.2 (direct injected) MINI. It could cost you $1k to clean up every 20k miles! Ask me how I know.

Add some Liqui-Moly every 3-4 tanks and there is no problem to be had.

Totally agree with Michael, also know i know a few people in the MINI Club work on there own MINI's and have no issues, with the help of the Manual and allowing sufficient time. there is also some good MINI forums iehttp://www.northamericanmotoring.com and http://www.mini2.com/ that can help

I doubt if cleaning fuel additive is going to make a difference in this case. Due to the fact that the fuel is now directly injected into the cylinders for combustion, the intake valves are no longer being cleansed by the fuel (and additive that is added). There is, however, a valve and intake cleaner available on the market that can be poured into the intake manifold thru the vacuum line, although far from being a "snake oil", its use has not been approved or adopted by any manufacturers. .

Get yourself the Bentley manual and they are not all that hard to work on. Even ECU tuning and adjustment can be done by a backyard mechanic.

Please don’t buy