I think they're opinions more than vendettas. Although I have contemplated slashing the tires of every R56 I see.

I love this thread, the R53, and this youtube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2triiYXSY8

mb

 

If everyone thought the same, this forum would be rather dull!

There is lots of good info here ...

 

 

So what's wrong with that?

As long as people keep in mind we are talking about cars, there should be no offense taken.

If people are so thinned-skinned that they can't handle a little heated debate over the merits of a car, then maybe they should stick to threads centered around "motoring tunes", car color fan groups and off topic photo sharing.

The rest of us should not be penalized because people don't have the maturity to not take offense in a thread such as this one.

 

note to ClubmanS - Daimler dumped that sow Chrysler last year. No longer 'DCX'

 

Me too! I was able to drive an R56 MCS for 3 days, that was enough for me, because of this situation I feel an urgency to find a low mileage 06 JCW MCS rather than wait for my 02 to expire and buy a R56. I'm not bashing the R56 I just know it's not the Mini for me, this is an enthusiasts forum as most people on car forums are indeed enthusiasts regardless of generation. Just expressing my 2cents, thanx!

 

I'm just glad Cooper owners don't have these kinds of problems.

 

No offense taken, I'm very thick skinned Just that it is getting old, going round and round, getting no where. But feel free carry on, just don't take offense when some of us chime in, roll our eyes, make totally useless remarks, but read ALL the links for the info.

Mark

 

 

This is an interesting argument. I used to own a 2002, and it was my favorite car that I had ever owned, that is until i bought my R53. Now I put the two on par with each other. I wouldn't compare the R56 to a 320 though. IMO the 320 was not a good car at all and while not an R53, the R56 is still a good car, different but good. I would, however, compare my (original) 325 with my R56. It was a different car than my 2002, still small and sporty but seemed more refined and lost a bit of the driver connection that there was with the 2002. I think that is what is going on with the R53 > R56.

There is no doubt in my mind that the R53 will become a collectors item one day... (a classic is defined by my state as any car more than 20 years old so I don't want to say classic). I don't think that the R56 will attain the same status, but that remains to be seen.

+1

 

The vague feelings of edginess and unrefinement that only a car with the ghosts of Rover lurking deep within can provide...

 

 

Yes, Chrysler is back in Amurican hands and was purchased by Cerberus Investments of New York. Has to be one of the most clueless bunch of people in the car industry scene right now. Cerberus has hinted at regretting the purchase and now they are faced with a money losing white elephant of apocaliptic proportions. The current CEO was the ex-ceo of Home Depot...right!

 

+2

. Love that feeling in my 03

Mark

 

man did i get one someones nerves or what????

it's funny how people can come in and bad mouth the R56 but as soon as so one says something remotely bad about the R53s then someone gets all bent out of shape.

for the last time i'm not bad mouthing the engine i'm bad mouthing chrysler. i will admit i wasn't 100% if chrysler built it or what but i did from information on the web that said it was made by Brazilian-built Chrysler and i also had an R53 driver tell me it was made by chrysler.

so as far as i knew it was made by chrysler. so now you saying it's not so i apologize for that.

as i don't need to defind my vehicle of choice to anyone, i'm happy with my MINI and i don't car if other like it or not. just like it don't matter what other people like that's their choice.

say what you want i will continue to bad mouth chrysler and their products no matter what i'm driving (which won't be a chrysler)

 

since you want to play these games here you go 04 MINI with 2nd blown engine: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=125839

must not be to bulletproof of an engine

 

Bad example - heavily modded car. Emphasis on heavily.

 

If it bothers anyone to the point where all they have to add to the discussion is smilies expressing their boredom, how about I suggest they go find a more stimulating thread to take part in?

I read a few hours ago that some poor soul's cigarette lighter isn't working - the time spent getting upset over our constant bickering may be better focused on helping resolve that tragedy.

 

Although a big defender of the R56 in this thread, I have to admit my perspective is a little different than the R53>R56>R56 thread title. I have an R56 and it is a MC. For me it is a fun, great handling, sporty commuter and around town errand car. It has been flawless in 9 months. I wouldn't call myself an enthusiast per se, but I love my mini. For the non-enthusiast the R56 is a vast improvement over the R50. Flatter torque curve, 5 more HP, a really smooth delivery, and having the sixth gear are all great improvements for the MC. Through friends I've driven a 03 JCW highly modded MCS, an 05 MCSa, and 06 MCS, and 06 MC. I haven't driven a R56 MCS so I'll drop out of this debate. I loved them all and I'm sure I'd love a R56 MCS. I would say that I could never see myself going backward to a R50 from a R56 MC.

 

Yup, I'll get right on that Oops Sorry Can't help myself

Mark

 

I would agree. There is truly something visceral and engaging about R50, but, in a different way perhaps, I honestly find the same thing to be true in an R56 Cooper...and a whole lot more. Everything I ever thought an R50 could be through incremental model year improvements, an R56 Cooper is, including 38-40 mpg around town!! It remains very much an enthusiast's car, and I'll say even more a Mini/MINI is it's ability to excel more than ever as a car that can be driven every day with great enjoyment. Perhaps more than with the MCS versions, the R56 Cooper represents a seamless evolution of the R50...although perhaps with a bit more of a jump forward, as opposed to the steady evolution we've previously seen.

Wait....this is an MCS thread!!!

 

there is no car ever made that has been 100% problem free and there are some that is trying to make the R53 and the chrysler design motor sound like it's a perfect car and the R56 is plague with problems.

with that said i'm done with this conversation cause this thread went from asking a simple question to borderline flaming of people that owns a different generation car than the one they chose to drive.

let it be noted i have zero problems with the R53 or the owners of the R53s. i've wanted a MINI since the remake of Italian Job came out, since that's the first time i ever saw a MINI or heard anything about them. i would have bought one then but i couldn't afford it. i almost pulled the trigger and bought one in 2006 but i just wasn't ready to start over on my car payments. i'm glad i waited cause they added some features to the R56 that i'm really enjoying like the double tilt sunroofs, the push start and as silly as it sounds the mood lighting.

until this thread i thought the engine was made by chrysler cause that's what i read on the internet and what a R53 driver told me. so i apologize for not know that it was only designed by chrysler, but i wasn't blindly stating some info that i didn't research first. now that i know the engine was only designed by chrysler that makes the engine not be so bad. i still don't like chrysler and i won't be buying a chrysler product andthat will never change.

to me all MINIs are MINIs and they all are a blast to drive, i'm not a big car enthusiasts and i usely just drive a car from point A to point B and i didn't care how my car looked and i didn't but any money into making my car look better. i hardly ever wasted my other cars and didn't take too much car of them. since i've owned the MINI if been doing stuff to make it more the way i want it and wash it on a pretty regular basis, granted i'm not going to go out in the dead of winter and wash it though. i've also go out and just drive for the sake of driving and that's something i never did cause i drive all day long at work so i don't feel like driving a lot when i get off.

unless something changes i plan on driving a MINI for a long time and since i don't like driving a car without a warranty i will be trading up for a new MINI in about 5-6 years. if that MINI has a chysler design engine in it so be it as long as it's not built by chrysler.

with that said to anyone i may have offended i apologize for it, i usely don't get into these kinds of arguments but sometimes it just happens

 

so many words. too much ADD

 

The R53 has plenty of issues - some are carried over to the R56 (like the DMF fiasco), others haven't.

The big issues with the First Gen Minis, especially the S had to do with engine management software (God only knows how many versions we went through) and the horrendous body and engine harness issues.

Again, the Tritec engine was solid, the Prince has not only yet to really prove it's durability, it has yet to show that it can deliver the same capacity for mods as the old mill.

 

If the shoe fits...