I just want to say that us 1st gen MINI owners need to get a life. Not all of us. Just a few. As I was waiting to speak to Jim McDowell, president of MINI USA I heard nothing but negative comments about the R56.

One girl who shall remain nameless, was ranting about the interior and the fact that the seat adjuster was not good enough. She went on and on and Mr. McDowell was just listening to her but I am sure he wanted to walk away. She also made some comments about the clubman being too big. I found her to be Very rude.

The next thing I heard was in the lodge while I was surfing the net. One of the MITM coordinators was talking to Mr. McDowell and he explained why the headlights changed on the car. He said that it was that the Xenon lights were failing early because of the clamshell design. The closing of the bonnet was the culprit and he stated it very well. The guy from MITM was not satisfied with that answer and just went on to tall him about the night run that they do and how everyone pops their hood and turns on the lights... He would not let it go. Again Mr. McDowell was trying his best to listen to the guy but I could see that he wanted to get out of there.

Mini did not have to be there. Mini does not have to do these things for us, secret owners only missions and such. I think that we need to put aside the fact that me may not personally like the R56 and just be grateful that MINI has and will continue to be part of our little community. I mean the only time I hear from Chevy is when I get junk mail about the new products.

Oh, when I talked to Mr. McDowell I told him that I am an R53 owner but I like the direction that they were going with the product line. He made a joke and he was visibly more comfortable then when he was speaking to the girl with the "Russian accent," that I hear was no good at all.

Well that is my rant for now. I think that the owners could learn from the vendors. They have to adapt to the new car or business will suffer. I am not saying that you have to love the new car but it is done and it is not going to change back so give it up. Focus on the things that you like about MINI in general, like the community and such.

That is all.

Blake

 

Indeed. If you don't like a new product, don't support it. Simple enough.

 

I can't believe someone actually complained about that. Even worse that his only reason for being upset was becuase he raises his hood w/ lights on once a year for a night run. haha.

 

I heard the same thing as well. I spoke with Mr. McDowell for a while about an issue with my R56 and was amazed how several people butted in to make nasty remarks. I also heard unkind remarks on the radio during the ice cream run. This is the direction MINI has chosen to move in, accept it or move on.

 

Interesting story but in the long run, none of it matters

If you don't like the car, dont buy it and keep the old stuff.

To each their own.

 

well after a 2004 MCS and a 2005 MC i can say i LOOOOVVVE my 2007 MCS. the build quality and performance are awesome. great job MINI!! Believe me MINI knows more than anybody that this new MINI is a huge step in the right direction, unfortunatly they have to listen to people who refuse to see the truth.

 

Poor Jim McDowell - I feel a bit embarrassed that he had to endure such pettiness. I suppose I can understand a bit of "gentle ribbing" amongst the owners of all versions of the car, be they Classic, New or Current - but to elevate it much beyond that seems fractious, silly and denies the fact that everything mechanical generally evolves and hopefully improves over time. I for one, was surprised and pleased to see that Jim had found the time to come to our event. While waiting in the car wash area on Friday, much to my surprise, Jim recognized me from MTTS and came across the lot to say Hi and chat. Thankfully, it never occured to me that this was a golden opportunity to lambaste the poor man over any current design choices I might not have agreed with. :impatient

 

I was standing next to the woman who was so upset over the seat slide adjuster bar. I think she spoke to Jim right after I did, so I didn't get to hear her diatribe with Jim (as I moved away), although she made it very clear in chatting with me prior. Irate is an understatement.

What astounds me is that Jim likely had next to no direct input on the actual design of the R56. It seems ridiculous to me to vent spurious anger towards a man that isn't to blame, and can't directly fix the problem. Expressing a calm, concerned opinion is one thing, but leave the hateful attitude at home.

 

Well, at least it can't be said that MINI owners don't have some passion!

 

I'm wondering about the seat adjuster issue she had - esthetics are one thing, but the function of the seat adjustment is another and very important. At 5'1" I have to adjust car seats a lot to fit me and I am often discouraged to find some seats are simply impossible to fit well, so the mention of this topic has my curiosity raised..

 

Your truth & my truth may very well be 2 different things. That said it was silly for anybody to be rude to the MINIUSA guy.

 

Come on, dont feel too bad for him. I mean this is part of his JOB. Customer relations is always like that. I am sure he knew what he was getting into and he took it all in stride. Good for him.

 

Very kool to hear he was at the event. I had no clue what he looked like and which MINI he was driving, I'm guessing it was an R56?

Would have been great to setup some kind of interview session with him and a crowd, maybe Gabe could have done it? Maybe next year?

Whats funny is that the whole MOTD i was looking around for the rare chance they would have pulled off some publicity stunt and drove around a Clubman on the Dragon hehehe.

 

I think everybody is entitled to their opinions, including negative ones. True, MINI USA didn't have to be there. It's just marketing for them. Kind of like "spying". Now they'll know what people want, and don't want. I'm sure they want to hear negative things. This way they know what to change. I just hope they weren't paying TOO MUCH attention to all the MODIFYING going on.

On another note. Well, it looks like the R56 scored pretty low in this month's Road & Track review. They pitted it against the GTI, Civic SI, Mazda 3 Speed, and Nissan Sentra. Needless to say, the Cooper came in fourth. I hate when they test vehicles in unrealistic conditions.

 

I assume you mean this test.

Explain please what unrealistic conditions your talking about?

 

In MY reality, runflat tires = "unrealistic conditions"

The MINI Cooper has proven to have better lateral G scores minus the runflat tires. We all know why they come with runflats, but I just think that for a test like that, regular tires should be used. And I believe in another magazine's test (I can't remember which one as I have 50 million subscriptions), the R56 got a better lateral G score.

 

Strange..This all sounds much like what the classic Mini people were saying about the R53 when it came out, almost the same arguements both ways. One thing is for sure, things change and it keeps it interesting.