We went to the San Jose auto show today, mainly to see the F56 in person. We got there just as the show was opening, so we got to look over the F56 they had in detail before anyone else showed up.

First impressions:



I'm not fond of the nose, it looks weird, kind of droopy. It actually reminded me of the nose of the Aston Martin I'd just walked by:





There's also the weird black plastic bit. Its kind of springy. We're wondering if its part of the active pedestrian safety. Its about at my knee height.

Then the tail light cluster is oversized as has been noted many times. They look weird.



Next was the seats. They look a lot like the current Recaros, the seat bolster has a bit which slides out forward. I wasn't entirely convinced, the seats may be a bit narrow and caught me under the thigh like the Recaros do. I'm going to have to try them in other materials.

The bonnet release notes "2x", so I pulled it twice and the bonnet popped but not all the way. If you pull the release right, let it go and pull it again, the bonnet will pop all the way. If its half popped there's no catch under the bonnet to release it. You have to use the pull. Under the bonnet there is indeed no dipstick. The battery is in a more accessible place on the right and the brake fluid reservoir is totally buried, and impossible to get to. There were wires running to the strut towers. I assume that's the active dampers.

In the boot, there's a flat floor. The boot floor lifts up and clips behind the seats so you can get to a storage compartment. Under the floor of that are the tools. This Cooper didn't have a spare, but there looks like there's space underneath and the mounting points are there under the tools. The back seat is indeed split 60:40. My wife said she could fit on the 40 portion. The back seat release catch is now on top of the seat, not behind. The back seat head rests flip up now, and don't have the annoying thing to stop them retracting. The back seat was difficult to get into. The front seat didn't seem to spring forward very much, the roofline also seems low. In the boot there were little yellow tabs. They were for flipping up the rear seat standoffs.

The interior was pretty nice. The oval on the door panels is now half missing, and its more of a swoosh now. There's i-Drive now, but there was no power so we couldn't play with that. A concern is that he interior is becoming less MINI and more BMW, and that's a bad thing. The glowing ring around the centre instrument was amusing.

With the exception of the nose, the tail and the seats, I quite like it. The performance/economy specs are certainly compelling. I'm also very suspicious the of the i-Drive, pitty we couldn't get to play with it.

 

Nice little write up.. Also good job in taking a picture of the front end/nose.. With the angle you took it.. It really shows you how weird that front end really looks.. Thanks!

 

no dipstick as in no oil dipstick?? the hell?

 

That's already been discussed, we just confirmed we couldn't find one under the bonnet.

 

The nose was the first thing I noticed, we approached it from an angle which showed that off. It really does look weird in person.

 

Was the S on display? It has the front bumper that nobody seems to like.

 

There was only the one F56 there, a Cooper.

 

Just makes us first and second gen guys stick with what we have haha. Good write up! IMO, the exterior outweighs the drivetrain to truly like the F56. Just can't seem to let it grow on me:-(.

 

Looks like its obese. Those taillights are huge, active suspension sounds awesome though. I'll keep my r53 as long as possible, hate to say it, but I probably won't buy another mini unless they make some changes.

 

I totally agree with you on that nose.. Plus I think those taillights are way to big! Whats up with that? Why are they so big... There not proportionate to the rest of the car.. Its like buying taillights on wheels.. I want MINI to succeed but my gosh what happened! :(

 

Not happy about the absence of the oil dipstick. I guess I will not be getting one.

 

This lack of a dipstick is insulting to owners. Does BMW think owners are stupid and don't know how to check the oil. Perhaps this is why the dipstick that they currently have is too difficult to read.

 

Thanks for the impressions. No dipstick, but there has to be a way to add oil. How does one know that? I realize that BMWs have done this for years. I'm torn between waiting to see/drive this model and getting a JCW Coupe. I'm leaning Coupe. I'm not interested in the HUD, LED lights, different drive modes. I like the suspension adjustment though. I am still waiting for somebody to drive the dang thing!

 

You better get use to it, most new engines will eliminate the dipstick, is not just BMW, Audi is doing it too possible Mercedes but I can not confirm that. I have an Audi that doesn't have it, you have to check the oil level on screen inside the car, it has virtual dipstick, I went crazy looking for the dipstick to check the oil one day and that's when I found out about that, the dealer never mentioned.

 

Looks like they built it from a rack of spare parts in the warehouse if you ask me.... Tail lights from a Paceman, Interior A/V components from BMW, Nose of a Aston Martin, NO MORE LARGE SPEEDOMETER, instead some crazy light show no one will play with more than a couple of times!!!! Nothing on it is typical of the evolution of the MINI. Now I will be the first to say that when the R56 came out and I had my R53 I said I cant stand the R56, But the more I was around the R56 the more it grew on me ( and now I own one).... But I agree the F56 seems to be a step in the wrong direction for MINI. The brand is getting larger cars with each new release, before to long they will be the size of most cars on the road. Mini needs to go back to its roots and quit trying to appeal to the masses.

 

Forgot to mention the grill looks like the Veloster Turbo grill, and the profile pics all like similar to a small Fiat 500L.... Not loving it yet, Maybe it will grow on me, maybe it wont.... I still love the old MINI 02-06 with a close second being the R56, but after im either a Mini Coupe or going back to the wrangler life haha

 

Every time I see the new "nose" on the f56....I think it looks a bit like a duckbill or something...
Makes me kinda ill....

 

Anybody want to add eyelashes to that car...then add a big tongue sticking out the grill.....would actually be a funny picture I think....the grill imo looks kinda like a puckered mouth....not very appealing.

 

The horrors.
My 911 doesn't have a dipstick, what a POS.

 

If anyone else wants to see it in person, MINI sent me an email saying it'll be at these shows:

2014 North American
International Auto Show
January 18 – 26


2014 New England
International Auto Show
January 16 – 20


2014 Houston Auto Show
January 22 – 26


2014 Washington Auto Show
January 24 – February 2

2014 Motor Trend International
Auto Show - Baltimore
February 6 – 9


Chicago Auto Show 2014
February 8 – 17


2014 Philadelphia Auto Show
February 8 – 16


2014 DFW Auto Show
February 19 – 23

 

One little detail I forget, it has more normal door handles now. Instead of the ones you need to pinch (and which confused my dad a lot), you just pull the whole handle.

 

As an aside, the pictures in my original post have stopped showing up for me. Are others able to see the pictures?

Edit: I'e worked out what the problem is.

 

Does anyone know the cargo capacity with the rear seats down?

One of the videos said that the F56 had capacity increased by 30%. That would put it very close to the current 32.8 cu. ft. capacity of my Clubman. If so, I am going to give the F56 a serious look.

 

Stickin' with my '08 S for now....this thing is not grabbing me. Will wait to see in person before deciding on any change though.

Thanks for posting.

 

Looking forward to seeing it at the Houston show next week.