Run flats are expensive - brings the cost up. Although I've never had any objections to the ride of the runflats...
Hard plastic interior - had that on my Ford and Chrysler, along with some big gaps in that interior too.
Center rail - yeah it's bizarre.. Sometimes the reason why everybody else isn't doing something is because it's just a really bad idea.
Recall notices - I've yet to own a vehicle that I didn't get at least one recall notice, and between my wife and I we've owned over 16 vehicles in the last 20 years. One or two of those recalls were - get to a dealership right away. Plus if you think you've gotten a lot of recalls for the MINI, take a look at how many recalls Ford has issued for the new Escape... A car that has only been on the market for 14 months...
Overly complicated operating system - The bluetooth in our Jetta Wagon was a steaming pile of crap, and the "updated" version in our Tiguan is only slightly better. VW's voice control takes so much attention to use there's a good chance you'll wrap yourself around a tree if you try and use it while driving. Plus, I'm betting you've never used Ford's Sync...
Electronics quirks - see above... but there was also my S10 that at 18k miles decided I could use the headlights OR the windshield wipers - but not both. The AC on the Jimmy that decided to pack it in at 24k miles, and even more below...
Parts failures - Hmm there was our Escape Hybrid whose brake system at 40k miles failed so spectacularly that after the fourth visit for the same issue the dealership stopped returning our phone calls... The same S10 above that developed a cracked head at just 12k miles. The GMC Jimmy that chewed up a set of brakes at 10k miles. The Pacifica at 3k miles that developed a leak in the sunroof that drained into the passenger foot well (3 visits to fix that)... Phantom TPS failure on the Jetta Wagon (3 visits to 3 different dealers to fix that), that issue started at 8k miles, the last time it was looked at for the TPS was at 34k miles and when we dumped the car at 40k miles the issue appeared to be fixed but ....
Dodgy service department - Really? Is there a dealer service department for any brand that isn't? Because the stories I could tell... I've had some great experiences at MINI and other brand's service departments, and I've had experiences that were so bad they almost ended in lawsuits.
Mandatory options - Try and "custom" order a car from just about anybody else. Quite a few brands don't let you customize anything other than color...
BMW pricing - not sure what you mean there. But if you don't see the value, go get a Kia...
Wicked torque steer - Yeah that's pretty unique to MINI
Clueless Sales Staff - MINI sales staff might not know everything, but they're a damn sight better than the moron's I've dealt with buying VWs (where a salesman insisted I could get a diesel Tiguan in the US and that the Tiguan ONLY came in AWD oh, and the dealer's excuse: "Well, he's only worked here for 6 months!"), Fords (sales guy had no idea how the hybrid system worked or how the backup sensor worked let alone the rest of the electronics in the vehicle) or GMC (sales guy insisted that the vehicle I wanted didn't exist - even though I had the printed inventory from GMC that showed the vehicle in stock at that dealership. Instead trying to steer me to a vehicle that was $4k more and wasn't what I wanted). Don't even get me started on the scumbag finance guys...

You're right, you can only trade on the cult status, brand loyalty, and mystique for so long. But there's also a reason that three and a half years after trading in MINI #2 for a GTi that I found myself back at the MINI dealership ordering MINI #3.

Is the MINI (any MINI) perfect? Nope, but my GTi while a bigger, cheaper, more comfortable car than the MINIs that came before it with good performance to boot, wasn't as much fun to drive. Plus in many respects I felt like I took a step backwards when it came to the feature set of the GTi even though with the exception of the Nav system it was fully loaded.

My R60 is an infinitely better car than the R50 and R53 I had, and marginally better than the GTi I replaced the R53 with. I could have gone with another GTi, the Golf R, heck the Diesel Golf was extremely tempting. Then I headed to the MINI dealership and drove the R60 and the choice was a no brainer...

 

So, essentially, MINI is just as bad as eveyone else. But, it's better because it's more fun. OK.

 

If only it was that easy...

But all of those reasons are why I hate all the posts of "Should I get a MINI?" and "Is the MINI reliable?"

Because truly it doesn't matter what anybody on this board has to say.

There are plenty of folks who love their MINI have haven't had a single issue, and get rainbows and unicorns when they set foot in their dealership... Then there are others whose cars are in for service so often the dealership has reserved them a shop bay and their dealers continue to amaze them with the new and shocking ways that they can screw up.

 

The back-up camera works great. I have a combo (GPS/camera) unit mounted at the CD player area.
Just incase anyone was curious

 

Which is exactly the crux of the situation. Everybody is going to have an opinion, but ultimately it's up to you. You be happy with your MINI. I'll be happy with mine - - - when I turn it in in 7 months.

Sealy - Who just happens to get rainbows wherever he goes.

 

 

I'm one of those that think cameras should be mandatory. Not for the light pole or the building in back of you that you should be able to see and judge with your eyes as you are backing up. I'm talking about a dog, cat, bicycle laying down...the things that happen below eye level.

Awhile back I was backing out with my truck at a grocery store. it has a backup camera. I went into reverse, saw nothing in my mirrors or when I turned my head around, so I started to backup, but instinctively glanced at my display and there is a kid, maybe 3 years old running right at the back of my truck-below eye level. I slammed on the brake and got out. he had a tennis ball he was playing with and he dropped it right when he was getting in a car in the space behind me, and was running to retreive it.

Now obviously the site lines in a truck are much higher than on a CM, but I still feel it's a good idea. I made sure we got the audible backup sonar when we ordered our CM.....it's the next best thing.

 

I find the view out the back of my Clubman to be a bit restricted.

I would really lkie a full time camera mounted up on the antenna mount. I need it more for merging and seeing blind spot vehicles than for backing up.

I bought this car primarily to fulfill my longing for my old red Austin Minivan that I drove to death back in the 60's. Now I am getting too old to crank my neck.

They could have put a nice little camera right under the antenna.

 

I'm not a MINI owner (yet) but I'm considering a Countryman S All4 Manual, and I'll write this: Anyone who thinks that people aren't wondering why MINI doesn't have an amazing integrated backup camera yet is wrong. I've had my current car for 13 years, and when I replace it, I need the car to have everything I want for a long time.
I've ridden in Audi A4s and Q7s and the backup cameras in those are just awesome. Fully integrated, steering overlays (turn the wheels and your track on the overlay moves) and very accurate.
The lack of a backup camera might not be a deal-breaker for me getting a MINI, but it certainly isn't adding to the 'pro-MINI' column.

 

cool

 

That is the best system, its Bluetooth.

 

I have Zaftig's replacement hatch on order. It has back up camera, back up sensors, rear cross traffic alert, blind spot monitor, lane change warning, adaptive speed control, and in city brake assist. It's also $10K cheaper than a replacement MINI.

 

My wife drove an '03 Subaru Outback for until last December, when she replaced it with a Countryman S. Her one complaint about it is the very high rear window. Every day, she picks up our daughter from pre-school, and backs out through a parking lot full of 3 to 6 year old kids, many of whom haven't yet learned to look where they're going.

She really, really wants a backup camera. Because those kids are down there, and the window is way up the other direction. An R53, the Countryman is not.

So, I now have plans to put a backup camera on a license-plate mount, and build a display into the headliner at the trailing edge of the upper console, more or less above and rearward of the mirror. There's a ton of space there, easy to put in a 4" screen. So I'll be chasing wiring through the headliner, tapping power at front and back, drilling some holes, and fabricating some sort of custom screen mount. Should be good for a full weekend day of messing about, and under $100 in parts.

I keep thinking that, for under $50 per car in parts wholesale (if that!), MINI could have included at the factory. And I even would have paid several hundred dollars for it, if it were available.

So. Anyway. Yes: I, too, want a freakin' backup camera.

 

I ended up installing one on the wife's Countryman. Used a waterproof color camera from Amazon, a 3.5 inch monitor from Amazon. A 30 AMP relay for the electrical. Mounted the camera just above the license plate, drilled a hole behind the license plate to run the wires, then found a hole that would take me behind the left rear tail light. Tapped 12v power from the cigarette lighter on the right rear, tapped the backup wire at the left tail light, connected the relay there - backup light goes on, camera gets power. Ran the video cable along the left side of the car, under the dash and mounted the monitor on the top of the dash to the left of the center speedometer. Power for the monitor from the front cigarette lighter. Monitor "on" all the time, but just displays a picture when in reverse. Monitor is a little out of synch with the rest of the dash (most of dash is round edges, monitor is square edges), but it works and she is happy.

 

Photos? Please I'd like to show them to my wife and let her weigh in. She's not very comfortable with me cutting into her car's headliner; she might be okay with a dash-mounted screen.

30 amps!? I guess you don't believe in doing things by halves. Be sure you put a fuse into the camera's power, just in case.

 

Ooooh! A replacement rear hatch with camera, sensors, ... Amazing - where'd you get the replacement hatch, again?

 

I find the interest in backup cameras for a car this small amusing. When I took my drivers test I had to parallel park my parents' Cadillac Fleetwood.

 

It's coming attached to my Mazda3 S GT.

Sealy - Who knew someone would read it that way.

 

^^This!

 

^me too.

 

Parallel parking is easy. Seeing a 4 year old child who is shorter than the bottom edge of the rear window – say, my daughter – that's hard.

For those of us who lack Superman's X-Ray vision and who live with small humans, they have a real and valid purpose.

If you have another solution, please, speak up.

 

People backed up giant station wagons with small back windows in the 70s and 80s with small children around and no backup cameras.

 

Come on, I have a little one and best thing to do is get out and double check before you back out of the driveway. I make sure that they are where I can see them. And I also have a minivan and suv without backup cameras.

 

oh boy...here we go again...

 

Yup. We also lived without electricity, cars, phones, and mass-produced anything. If you feel so strongly about doing things the way they've always been done, feel free to live in a house in the woods. Me? I like progress.

Edit to add: Growing up in the 80s, I remember being taught not to walk behind a car with its reverse lights on. Today, I see people of all ages doing that. I suppose that's the real problem, but I can't fix other people's poor parenting.