Car Model Guide/ MINI/ Hatch/ R56/ Cooper S

Cooper S N14

The Cooper S engine, and the same unit PSA sold as the 1.6 THP. It's quick and it feels special, and its chain and its intake deposits are what make a cheap R56 expensive.

Overview

The Cooper S is the N14 petrol version of the MINI Hatch hatchback (R56), sold 2006–2010 with 175 PS and manual_6. High risk at level 4. Chain stretch and heavy intake carbon arrive together, and both are dear against the car's value. 3 failure modes are recorded against its engine, gearbox, chassis and shared components. Prices on this page are illustrative placeholders rather than a sourced market sample. See the methodology for how the bands are derived.

MINI Hatch hatchback (R56) · photo Mini Cooper (R56) – Frontansicht, 28. Mai 2011, Düsseldorf by M 93 · CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Wikimedia Commons

Power175 PS

Torque240 Nm

Years2006–2010

Fuelpetrol

DriveFWD

EnginesN14

Biggest risks

Ranked by probability × repair cost. 3 recorded in total.

41Fragile

Timing chain stretch and tensioner wear€1,100–€1,900checkable
Carbon buildup on intake valves€400–€700not checkable
Electric power steering pump failure€450–€1,100checkable

Risk level −33 · Likely spend vs price −26 · all issues →

System by system9 systems reviewed · 6 with no recurring fault reported

Engine⚠ attentionTiming chain stretch and tensioner wear, €1,100–€1,900.

Fuel system✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Intake & airwatchCarbon buildup on intake valves, €400–€700.

Cooling✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Emissions✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Transmission✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Electrics✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Suspension & brakeswatchElectric power steering pump failure, €450–€1,100.

Body & interior✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Pre-facelift or facelift, this engine spans both

The same badge either side of the changeover. Bands are split at the facelift year from the generation record.

Phase	Years	Low	Average	High	Good buy	What differs
pre Pre-facelift	2006–2009	€4,200	€6,800	€10,500	€5,500	The specification the car launched with.
LCI Facelift (LCI)	2010	€4,600	€7,400	€11,450	€6,000	N16 and N18 engines replaced N12 and N14; Revised nose and lights; Improved interior trim

Known issues, ranked by expected cost

Faults recorded against this engine, its components and its chassis, ranked by likelihood × repair cost. Costs are indicative ranges with a stated labour basis.

Timing chain stretch and tensioner wearPrince timing chain€1,100–€1,900

A rattle from the front of the engine for the first seconds after a cold start, and later a rough idle or a fault code for camshaft timing. The chain and its tensioner on the BMW and PSA Prince family stretch with age and heat cycles rather than with distance. Once the chain is slack it can skip a tooth, and that damages valves.

Check: Start the car from stone cold and listen carefully through the first five seconds. Any rattle means the work is due, so ask for a receipt rather than accepting an assurance.

EnginecommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented80–160k km

Carbon buildup on intake valvesdirect injection€400–€700

Rough cold idle, slow throttle response, misfires, gradual loss of low-end response. Direct injection puts no fuel over the intake valves, so crankcase vapour deposits bake on undisturbed.

Check: Not visible without a borescope. Treat it as a service item that's due unless there's a receipt. It's not a fault, it's an unbudgeted maintenance cost.

Turbo & intakeuniversalNot detectable at viewingevidence: documented80–120k km

Electric power steering pump failureR56 body€450–€1,100

Steering that goes heavy without warning, a warning light, and a cooling fan for the pump that runs constantly. The pump sits low at the front of the car where it takes water and road salt, and its electronics fail. A blocked or dead cooling fan brings the failure forward, which is why the fan is worth checking on its own.

Check: Turn the wheel lock to lock while stationary and feel for any heaviness or hesitation. Listen for the pump fan running at idle, since a fan that never stops is a pump working too hard.

SuspensioncommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented90–180k km

Ranked by probability × repair cost, not by how loudly a failure is discussed. Inherited from the engine, gearbox, chassis and shared components, each written once.

Pre-purchase inspection

The same issue records, reordered into the sequence you can actually check them in: cold start, static, drive, paperwork.

3 checks · saved in this browser ·

1Cold startYou get one. If the engine is warm when you arrive, come back another day.

Timing chain stretch and tensioner wearStart the car from stone cold and listen carefully through the first five seconds. Any rattle means the work is due, so ask for a receipt rather than accepting an assurance.

2Static checksEngine off, ideally on a lift.

Electric power steering pump failureTurn the wheel lock to lock while stationary and feel for any heaviness or hesitation. Listen for the pump fan running at idle, since a fan that never stops is a pump working too hard.

3PaperworkOn these cars the folder is most of the value.

Carbon buildup on intake valvesNot visible without a borescope. Treat it as a service item that's due unless there's a receipt. It's not a fault, it's an unbudgeted maintenance cost.

Mileage and servicing

What the odometer does and doesn't tell you here, plus the service items whose neglect causes the expensive failures above.

The odometer is close to meaningless on an N14. Two cars at the same distance can differ by several thousand euros in deferred work, and only the folder tells you which one you're looking at.

Service item	Interval	Cost
Engine oil and filter The turbo and the chain both suffer on stretched intervals.	10,000 km	€120–180
Intake valve cleaning Direct injection leaves deposits that cost power and cause misfires.	80,000–120,000 km	€350–600

What to pay

What this engine sells for, against the median of every engine in the chassis. All figures are illustrative placeholders. See the basis chips.

median €7.1k

€4.2k€5.5k€11.4k

Cheapfind the reasonGood buyif it checks outFairnormal moneyOverpricedneeds justifying

Asking price (€)Mileage (km)

Enter an asking price to get a verdict against this variant's band: cheap, fair, good buy or overpriced.

United States vs Europe

1 EUR = 1.08 USD · 2026-07

🇪🇺 Europe · EUR€5,500band €4,200–€11,450

🇺🇸 United StatesNot soldCooper S N14 was never a US-market car

What that meansNo US band exists to compare. Any car you find there's a private import, parts and specialist knowledge are thinner, and the price says more about import cost than about the market.

US figures are the EU band converted at a stated rate. No US market differential is modelled: we hold no sourced US asking prices, and inventing one would be worse than saying so. What the comparison does show for real is availability. Most of this range was never sold in the US.

ModelMINI Hatch Cooper S
ChassisR56
EngineN14
Years2006–2010
MarketCentral EU
Windowrolling 12 months to 2026-07

Good buy at or under the marker · Median asking price · bar spans the 10th to 90th percentile · dashed line is the r56 median, all 3 engines

Good buy isn't the same as cheapest. The good-buy figure assumes the known failure items are either done with receipts or verifiably not yet due. Full breakdown by facelift phase →

Buyer notes

Our judgement, kept separate from the records it's built on.

Our read, not a record

This is the same engine PSA sold as the 1.6 THP, and it's quick and characterful in a way the naturally aspirated car isn't. It's also the least dependable thing in this part of the database, with chain wear and valve deposits both well recorded. Start it cold, listen for the rattle, then ask what decarbonising work has been done. So look for a car with both jobs receipted, and walk away from a cheap one with neither.

Everything above this line comes from the issue and specification records. This paragraph is our judgement on top of them. See how we reach it.

Full specification

Manufacturer figures for this engine and body, as recorded in the variant and engine data.

Engine code	N14B16 1.6 turbo
Configuration	I4, turbocharged · 1598 cc
Fuel / injection	petrol · direct
Model years	2006–2010
Facelift phase	Sold either side of the 2010 facelift, 2006–2009 pre, 2010 LCI
Power / torque	175 PS · 240 Nm
Transmissions	6-speed manual
Gearbox families	Getrag six-speed manual (MINI)
Drivetrain	FWD
Economy (real-world)	7–9 l/100 km mixed
Markets	EU