- German owner reaches 1 million km in remarkably reliable diesel Mini.
- Original B47 engine survived 12 years without major repairs needed.
- Next target is 1 million miles, owner is confident it’ll last the distance.
Some people buy a new car and worry about adding too many miles. Peter Kirchoff isn’t one of them. Last week the German Mini enthusiast returned to Plant Oxford, where his Cooper D was built, to watch the odometer click past 621,000, or a massive 1 million km.
Over the past 12 years the third-generation Mini has been driven across 25 countries, with each mile meticulously documented as part of what the Cooper D’s owner called Project One M. Incredibly, Kirchoff says the car got there with its original engine, and no major repairs or accidents.
Hitting a million kilometers wasn’t a happy accident, but the plan from day one. According to Mini, Kirchoff has spent years recording and analyzing driving data, then sharing it publicly through his social media channels. This wasn’t simply a lot of driving. It was more like a science project.
Related: Mini Might Finally Build An Actual Mini Again
The achievement is also a nice advertisement for BMW‘s B47 diesel engine. Unlike the older N47 diesel, which earned an unfortunate reputation for timing chain failures, the newer B47 has generally proved more robust. In this case, it was tough enough to survive a distance equivalent to driving around Earth’s equator nearly 25 times.
Over 90 MPG
Kirchoff configured the car himself and says there was never any question about choosing another brand. As a longtime Mini fan, he wanted a car capable of handling huge distances while still being something he genuinely enjoyed driving. One thing he clearly didn’t enjoy, judging by his spectacular claimed 2.95l/100km (79.72 mpg US / 95.76 mpg UK ) fuel consumption, was paying for diesel.
Mini invited Kirchoff to Oxford, where the Cooper was built, to mark the car’s odometer digitally rolling over to seven figures. Plant boss Markus Grüneisl called the milestone a tribute to both the car and the people who built it.
And the Cooper – nicknamed “Nemo” after its orange paint and white stripes – isn’t about to rest on its laurels. Kirchoff already has another target in mind. One million miles. That’s more than 1.6 million km, meaning he’s only a little over halfway there, and still some way behind the late Irv Gordon’s legendary 3.25 million-mile (5.2 million km) Volvo P1800.
