Any R60 JCW owners out there that can compare/contrast the manual versus the auto w/ paddles in the Countryman?

I've got a few days to decide and I'm going back and forth...my current R56 has the auto and I enjoy driving it, but...was thinking of going manual this time around...

Gah...hard decisions...

HELP!

all I can say is that I never use the paddles, wish that I had a manual transmission.

I have a 'justa' Countryman with the auto/paddles and enjoy driving it. I even use the paddles occasionally.... but i'll admit i would likely prefer the performance of the S/JCW auto. Given the clutch issues some owners of the newer cars are still having, i'll stick with the auto.

I have an S, not JCW. The deale gave me a good deal on a used 2014 with the paddles. I had gone in looking for manual. I have to say if I was to do it again I would go with manual, but I have found the paddles to be pretty fun. I use them in sport constantly and think I can change gears faster than I could with a manual. I figure if flappy paddle shifters are good enough for the current generation of supercars, they're good enough for my sporty little MINI!