It's a MINI, not a BMW...
 

While browsing the thread with personalized plates I saw a couple that made reference to the fact that the MINI to which they were affixed is made by BMW. In the years since I've been here, I've seen other things like MINI badge overlays with the BMW roundel, etc. and I still don't get it...

Why do people feel the need to shout out to others that MINI is a subsidiary of BMW... A new 2 series coupe isn't much more than a well-equipped MINI; if you wanted a BMW why not just buy one? Assuming, then, that you wanted a MINI, are you concerned that others might look down on you for your preference?

I've not really seen any other marque where this is an accepted thing... You might see the occasional guy with Lexus badges on his Toyota or something, but pretty much everyone thinks he's a tool.

What's the deal?

Obviously you have not looked at the new F56. That thing screams E92 on the interior.

Touché...

Of course, I also consider the F56 to be an abortion of a MINI and if given one would sell it and buy an R53. But that's neither here nor there...

Don't get me wrong, I don't actually have anything against BMW. I briefly considered a couple before deciding to go back with a MINI on my most recent purchase. If I really needed a car with more space they'd be at the top of my list.

After my MINI I am getting a BMW again. I like MINI but, I am just a one and done kind of person. Life is to short to keep driving the same thing over and over again.

I agree, I'd like to get back in a bmw, I love my mini but I like a variety.

I love my R53 and will probably garage it for a weekend warrior, but have been actually looking at Subaru's lately for my next daily driver. BMW is just a better known name of distinction and it gives some people a certain satisfaction to say they have a "BMW" MINI.

It's popular among the 'Fan Boyz' among us. Over on the Scion FR-S forum I was amazed by the number of owners that re-badged their Scions with Toyota signage, even including the steering wheel.

BMW is a (relatively) high quality, high performance, aspirational vehicle.

All the properties that we all wish MINI had more off!
Especially the reliability and engine quality aspect of the above !!!

BMW has a world-class car club, that admits MINI owners as one of their own.

a

P.S.: Plenty of VW owners are affiliating themselves with Audi brand for the same reasons.

I might be off tangent here but I think there is a clear implication that MINI is BMW's prodigal son. Sorry but that's how I feel about MINI's reliability and owner support either through MINIUSA and local dealerships. Longevity has always been questioned and true loyalists may try to keep up with it while others are only waiting for something better as a replacement. Again, everyone is different…in priorities.

BMWINI:lol:

Very true! A few of my friends got off the VW boat and bought Audi's instead.

Sometimes I leave the F56 sub forum to peruse the rest of the NA forums. This post leaves me thinking "why bother".
You may consider the F56 to be "an abortion of a Mini" but while waiting for my F56 I am driving a 2010 MCS and it has too little BMW in it for me. I like it less than my GTI - far less than my old Miata. The strong BMW feel of the new Mini will bring many new owners to the brand.

The difference is Mini drivers actually use turn signals...

ba-dum-tsh!

But in all seriousness, I would never own a BMW, I like the Mini because of it's compactness and efficiency with space. Mini's are unique, unlike BMWs which are dime-a-dozen. They are fun to drive, and people like seeing them.

There are a billion other cars I would buy over any BMW (except the original M1).

It's fine that BMW owns Mini, but I like to have hope that MINI can split from BMW in the future.

You may recall the clown that proudly announced spending $800 for a Toyota steering wheel to replace the Scion wheel. Just silly.

Wanna guess how many folks replaced their perfectly good MINI steering wheels with JCW variety ?

Sure make you go faster ...

a

:lol:

Glad you're enthusiastic about your F56. I'm sure the change in direction / "strong BMW feel" will bring new people to the MINI brand, but on the same token it will also alienate people who actually liked the MINI. Difference is, people who wanted a "strong BMW feel" already had the option of buying a BMW (as mentioned before, you can get a 2 series for not much more than a well equipped MINI)... They're effectively narrowing the product line up of the BMW group as a whole and reducing their overall target audience.

Out of curiosity, what generation Miata did you have? The evolution of the BMW MINI seems to be mirroring that of the Miata / MX-5, with each successive generation losing an exponentially larger portion of the original's character. I actually remarked just recently to the service adviser at the MINI dealership that the old Miata adage applied to the NB and later the NC seems to apply to the F56 as well: the F56 is in every measurable way a better CAR, but the earlier cars are better MINIs.

...Back on the original topic, the VW/Audi analogy is apt if people are actually putting Audi badges on their VWs and such these days. If that's another example of this phenomenon being accepted, that's interesting to note.

The FR-S thing I can kinda get since the car is actually sold as a Toyota everywhere but here - it's not a pretentious thing I don't think, per se; if anything you might argue it's a Nipponophile thing. If they wanted to be pretentious they'd slap Lexus badges on it. I certainly wouldn't pay $800 just to change the badge if the steering wheel is otherwise the same, personally, though.

The JCW steering wheel thing is a little different from either, IMO, since JCW is a MINI parts / tuning brand and the steering wheel actually does have an arguably improved feel. It's like buying any other OEM performance part. On a related note, the JCW door sill plates that came on my car I'd gladly have the dealer swap for MINI ones if they'd do it for free. The car isn't a factory JCW, doesn't have the JCW tune or any other JCW performance parts (the aero kit does, I'm sure, have a small aerodynamic performance edge but doesn't really count IMO). It just doesn't bother me enough to pay to make the change, and just removing them and having no door sill plates isn't a great idea.

That was wordy... If anyone's read this far: Hi!

The ND Miata will supposedly be back to NA size and weight. With BMW Minis, there's actual room to go much smaller than the R53. I suspect that the F56 is a sign that something along the lines of the Rocketman will appear in the F generation.

I like the size and utility of the F55 without having to move to something the size of the R60, but would love to also see something much smaller, somewhere between the original Mini and the R53.

Amen!

I had a BMW 33Oi which I recently sold and bought my 2006 MCS. Althought it's not the same level of comfort, ride, etc., I don't regret it. If someone buys a Mini wanting to feel they have a BMW, then just buy the BMW

MINI and Mini

not the same

http://www.minimania.com/images_temp...001badge45.jpg

Gran Turismo classifies MINI as German so it is BMW. Once Gran Turismo speaks(it was certified by the FIA a couple of days ago) it is final.

It all depends on where the parent company is located. Example: some Honda's are made in Ohio but they're considered Japanese.

I think the answer is much simpler than that:

For one it all starts at the dealership. When we got ours our dealer is just across a BMW and is obviously part of the same business. In addition as we were talking with the general manager when we evaluated MINI for a new car purchase, HE was the one who started mentioning BMW as a reasoning for parts and labor being very expensive and how we should be prepare to pay BMW price because it's BMW parts quality. The point is that even MINI is referring to BMW sometime. This can be seen when needing parts replacement more often than not listed as BMW.

But beyond that I feel it's a lot simpler. It is a BMW engine (and other things) wether one likes it or not. So it's quite natural when talking about mechanical aspects of the car, its mechanical quality or reliability, to refer to BMW. Plus since BMW is upward from MINI in term of prestige anyone feels good about it. This is actually not knew. Car enthusiast have done this for ever (that's a rover engine, that's a toyota transmission, etc...)

On the other hand, outside of the engine and mechanical things, such as the steering feel for example, to me it actually would not come to mind to refer to it as a BMW. There's is very little BMW attributes (except the new seats of the new hardtop) that are directly BMW looking or feeling in my opinion. So for the most part it's a MINI because it looks and feel like a MINI and I very rarely associate it with BMW, again unless I'm talking mechanics. Most of the time I truly feel I'm driving a MINI and BMW is just something I know of but don't think much about.


Last, I would say this for those who feel MINI should split from BMW in the future. BMW is one of those extremely successful automaker german brands. In the contemporary socio economical context one should feel pretty glad BMW owns MINI. If it was on its own it would not have half the quality it has today nor the brand appeal and would have likely disappeared especially from the US market. So don't be so quick to wish it was gone as BMW provide true strength for the MINI brand to grow and even exist at all!

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Tata Motors (India) owns: Jaguar and Land Rover.
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Nissan owns: Infiniti. (Nissan, in turn, is owned by Renault.)
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Volvo is owned by Chinese-automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, aka Geely.