Why redesigning the MINI Cooper S is the hardest job in the world! 

Yes and their quality is just as bad as their Chinese competition. This is just an overhyped overrated overpriced POS, this is too much waxing poetry over an ugly POS. 🤮

Come over to the “Dark side” MK8/8.5 VW GTI or Golf R is where is at in this segment. I owned 5 MINIs prior over a span of 22 years and finally made the switch to Volkswagen to never look back.

How sad

I have owned MINIs for 22 years and I can tell you that despite BMW’s claims of MINI being a premium brand their interior materials and durability plus fit says otherwise.

The r55 was really a sweet spot

@@zigforjustice I had 2, 2008 Clubman Cooper S with the N14 engine and 2013 LCI Cooper S Clubman with the revised N18 engine.

@@Pamlicojdjdj1487 that's awesome. I gave a 13 and it is great.

I have been inside your car but with a moonroof. My advise, hold on to it and enjoy because this brand has gone to shit and likely will be sold off to the Chinese before the end of the decade. The BMW Group has ran out of ideas to keep it relevant and it is just a money losing operation (It has been for several years).

MINI has not much future and pretty sure there have been many meetings at BMW’s boardroom headquarters in Munich to decide its future. It pains me to say this as a former MINI owner and enthusiast of 22 years (And 5 MINIs bought in cash and owned) that this brand and product have completely ran its course. MINI today is just a bad caricature with crossovers and vehicles that have nothing MINI in their look and feel. Expensive to buy, own and QC, in despite of Consumer Reports claims to the contrary, still suspects. All my 5 MINIs started to fall apart and become money pits after 50K miles in despite of quasi-obsessive maintenance and servicing.

From your mouth to God's ears . . .

@@javim2589 the GP version may get some of what you are requesting as they lighten it a bit (not 800kg though) and delete the backseat. I agree, it'd be a fabulous car if they did it.

In addition to 5 MINIs owned over a span of 22 years also owned a couple of BMWs: 2011 E90 328i and 2017 BMW G30 530i. The last good looking and worth owning Bimmers. Everything else they have today with the exception of the G20 3-Series is an absolute design mess. Can’t forgive BMW how they decimated and ruined their benchmark 5-Series for this G60 abomination their are selling today.

Because their main world market is China and every car they make and sell there now is catered for Chinese tastes😂

Ouch

Ridiculous prices. I bought a fully loaded VW MK8 GTI SE DSG for $39K and change and it’s far better driving car and more powerful than this. I was a former MINI owner and enthusiast of the brand for 22 years and it is sad for me to admit that MINI has ran its course and has become a money losing torn on the side of the BMW Group brands (MINI, BMW and Rolls Royce Motorcars).

The red s on the front and rear... that's it.

@@tcaudiobooks737 Should be interesting if that is the same on the JCW model too.

It’s true but most people lease them, and they come with prepaid maintenance for three years 36,000 miles, and then a four year 50,000 mile warranty so you don’t really have to worry about anything besides brakes and tires. And from experience, you just have to worry about one set of tires if you’re gonna lease it…

@@nicholasbabeaux2052 my mistake was owning them long term (7-10 years) the first and second gen cars starting to fall apart at the 50K mile mark (end of warranty)

@@Pamlicojdjdj1487 oh gosh, yeah the first and second gen, while very endearing, especially the first GEN with the supercharger whine were horribly unreliable. I would say that of the first GEN I would definitely buy a cheaper well-maintained 2005 or 2006 MCS 6 speed, knowing what I was getting into and of course, doing a lot of my own work. My mechanic who worked on my Jaguar said you know if you can do your own work especially preventative maintenance. They are not that bad…. Of course don’t get the CVT. CVT is a guaranteed fail. That being said, I would love to get a Paceman one of these days, they are just super unique in school

@@Pamlicojdjdj1487 part of the problem with the minis and BMWs of that era was the prepaid maintenance. BMW was extremely cheap, 15 to 16,000 mile oil change intervals….F that. That’s a recipe for mechanical disaster as they age. Even though my B48, with the Aisin tranny is known to be quite reliable. I insisted that they change the oil at 7500 for the first oil change to spare any future owners whatever I could lol

@@Pamlicojdjdj1487Then do your own maintenance.

That Miata is just too small. Safety conscious buyers would shy away from a MINI smaller than the 2001-2006 R50/R53 first gen hatchbacks.

100% also owned 5 MINIs over 22 years. In 2023 I needed to replace my 2013 R55 Clubman S money pit (Mind you it only had 60K miles😂) and finally did the unthinkable: ordered a brand new 2023 MK8 VW GTI SE DSG while it was still on the boat crossing the Atlantic from Germany (Wolfsburg) and 2 weeks later took delivery and drove it home to never look back. The current GTI is amazing car and in some ways reminds me of the older 1 and 2 gen MINIs that I owned with its sharp and fun Driving dynamics😂. MINI is a sad affair in 2024. Mark my words, the BMW Group will dump and sell MINI to the Chinese (I bet on Geely) before the end of the decade.

This brand is a mess, misguided and lost here in 2024. A far cry from the laser sharp highly focused and exciting brand MINI was when first launched here in the US back in 2002. You could hardly see and much less test drive a MINI. Waiting lists for R53 Cooper S going into months at a time. I remember that time when MINI was the most desirable car to own and be seen on the road. What a pity, MINI is irrelevant 22 years later and has completely run its course. Don’t be surprised if the BMW Group dumps it and sells it to the Chinese before the end of the decade.😂

Just hung out with him @ Manhattan Beach Cars & Coffee this morning . . . Cigars tomorrow night.

Agreed too overwhelming. But as I prior 1st and 2nd gen MINI owner always enjoyed the classic big speedo smack in the middle of the dash.

You are forgetting the VW MK8 GTI at 3,113 pounds curb weight.

@@Pamlicojdjdj1487 3113lbs is over 3000lbs

@@stevemartegani I get that close but no cigar but still very close

@@dean68w19 I completely concur, I had a short-term lease on a 2020 S 2 door. It was an extremely fun year, HK sound system was fantastic, pano roof and cabin felt quite large, actually relative to what they appear. However I would not get a two door MC again. Ducking to see the stoplights left and right, and then just feeling claustrophobic because of everyone and their mom having an SUV looking down at you is not amazing. The new countryman is extremely nice. Great size, in my opinion looks fantastic on the outside and inside. Yes they are expensive but thousands cheaper than a comparably equipped X1. If I could get a new countryman for let’s say $100 cheaper a month than a new X1 I would definitely have a hard time.

@@nicholasbabeaux2052 I forgot all about having to duck down to see stoplights.

@@dean68w19I did that for 22 years. People forget that when BMW launched MINI here in the US back in 2002, that was at the height of the full size SUV craze (Hummer H2, Ford Expeditions, Cadillac Escalades) and drove around those monsters ALL the time without giving it a second thought😂 yes I remember ducking my head to see traffic lights but that was second nature and part of the fun plus having a very spacious cabin in such a small car (Loved not having a windshield raking angle on top of my forehead as in many other “Normal” cars). In fact if you look back at MINI’s extremely clever ads of the time, you’ll see that they constantly made fun and mockery of large SUvs and their owners😂 They even had a 2002 R50 Cooper hatchback being driven around some major cities on the top of the roof of a Ford Expedition 😂 Those were the times when having a MINI was a STRONG statement akin of what owning a Toyota Prius or an EV (Tesla) would become years later. Today MINI is not a shadow of its former self, all that fun clever advertising went away and in 2011 finally succumbed to the SUV crossover craze with the intro of their best selling Countryman crossover and their forgotten but quirky PACEMAN 2 door SUV.

Not to be all negative I totally dig the way they have angled that windscreen😮

My 2005 Cooper S R53 had real farting exhaust sounds from factory! And this was long before fake sounds started to get piped through the stereo’s speakers

@@Pamlicojdjdj1487 yeah couple of years ago I drove friends John Cooper winged monster with akrapovic, that was fun, so yeah I know what the hype is about, 💽

@@jjhdtjnnyy7644rledg8ijbnkeeGu What year is his car?

Indeed for the second generation.

I had first and second gen MINIs so I know!😂 The first gen engine was a Chrysler TRITEC powertrain built in Brazil but was very ROBUST. It was the same 4 cyl engine found in PT Cruisers and Neon SRTs of the era. That engine could take a lot of power without doing any mods. I had a reduction pulley in my supercharged 2005 R53s. The sounds under acceleration were crazy😂. For the second generation BMW still didn’t have a suitable engine of their own and went to PSA (Peugeot-Citroen) for their infamous “Prince” 1.6L Turbocharged engine which on paper and when it work was great but reliability wise it was GARBAGE. French engine after all. I blame the Prince for the irreversible damage it did to BMW/MINI reputation. This also prompt abandoning the joint engine venture (The engines were built at Hams-Hall plant near the main MINI assembly plant in Oxford, UK and transported there). The third gen MINIs improved significantly because they all went to use BMW’s corporate B38 and B48 family of modular and closed deck architecture engines used in several BMW and MINI products.