Hi all! I don't know, but I have to start this. Sincerely, I need to drive a Mini Cooper 2007 + to see all the mechanically improvements and refinements, to see by myself that the second gen is better than the 1st.
Please, all that have a 1st gen MC, treat it well cause I think that this gen is really a MC. I considered myself that I adapt pretty well to the changes, but when I see a 2007 MC, I think............, what you did BMW! The design (basically the same), its not the same, the front lines, when you see the car right, left, front, back, its not the same, and its not the only thing, is like you take the 1st gen, and damage it!!! Anyway, the new one looks great, but definetelly its not the same thing!!! I have a 2006 MCS, thanks God!!!! What do you think?

 

Lots of opinions on this one I'm sure. I'm partial to the 02-06 myself.
Just so you know, the primary reason behind the change for 07 was to meet EuroNcap rules about pedestrian safety. Higher front end to leave room for the hood to crumple when a human head hits it. Also needed to be able to push people and not thrown them over the hood or some nonsense..

 

BTW, mine is dark silver too! Anyway, D@#!#$!^&* EuroNcap rules!! but its the main idea is to save people, ok with that!!! But no other MCS for me, other than 02-06!!

 

I've been motoring in a MC for going on 5 years now, to me nothing comes close to how the car responds and handles my every whim.

That said I have been around the "New, New" MINI. (I had a classic back in the 70s, nothing comes close to that car

My take on the 07 onward cars is that they are way more refined, lots of bells and whistles I don't need, but so be it.

I don't have lots of time in a Supercharged MINI, but enough to know how it feels, and the newer ones are NOT the same. The response in the new ones is smoother, and the ride is not as visceral. Again, so be it.

If a car maker where to stop changing their cars, well they would stop selling. The overall look is not that drastic, maybe somewhat chunker, but it still looks like a MINI.

I for one look forward to all the variants that MINI comes up with, and plan on staying with the brand. Clubman is in our near future, and if that 2 seater canyon cruiser happens along, well I'd love one.

Mark

 

Well if I'm not mistaken, the car styling of the 02-06's was done by a man with ties to Ferrari.

The current guy was/is tied to Ford.

The 07+ "Motard" seems like the result of taking the worst aspects of the PT Cruiser, and trying to ram them into Cooper while on a budget.

Sums that about right up.

- Matt

 

Agree verveAbsolut. I'll love to drive a 70 MC. I think that the first thing is always the better!!! I had a 2004 MCS, but the 06 is better!! Basically, my concern is the design, I don't know, I tried to look at it (2007 +, but....) I love the original MC one. I think that the thing is that the newer one is bigger!!!! (damaged lines).

 

Agree but I think even more, the new ones were designed as a platform to which other variants could be built and be more user friendly. The 2002 to 2006 Mini's were designed to be just that, a R50- R53 and nothing else. For Mini to grow as a product line they have done what they had to do as a company. That said, save your Minis and "Long live the R53!" PS: The R50 too...

 

(tongue in cheek)

Actually, only the 2002 and very early 2003 MINI's with the originally designed suspension are "real". After december 2002, all of the MINI's produced came with a watered down suspension to soothe the comfort-seeking masses. So sadly, your 2006 MINI is a pale shadow of what a real MINI should be. . .. .

But seriously, I love all MINI's. We've got a 2003 MCS (the real one), a 2006 MC (the watered down version), and are looking forward to replacing that real MINI with a pitifully lacking imposter 2008 MCS with factory JCW kit. ..

 

Mine's been unwatered, thank you.....

 

Dexskywalker, i wholeheartedly agree! 05 MCS and would have no other than the R53.

 

My take on this subject is this. (For what its worth )
It took BMW from 2002 to 2005 to fine tune the Mini. 2006 was a lot of window dressing changes. Gray roof, different colors, the GP. Really could not do anything else without screwing it up.
Then 2007 came along and it's time to change for change sake. (Yes I know there are reasons for the changes as stated previously in this thread.)
I have an 05 MCS BRG/White. I am happy with it, I am planning on keeping it, I love it. I make changes and additions, added the arm rest, changed the mirror cap colors. Auto up window circuit. Blue tooth is in the future. Added different appliances to improve the handling. Had the one-ball exhaust done. I am going to do some engine mods in the future. But I am not going to get an 07 because I think they got it right the first time.

I think the 07 looks like a worm from the front. And you can't do the headlights to the sky thing either.

When its time for my daughters to get a car I am going to look for a used 05 or 06 for them. But that is still off in the distance.:impatient

 

Or , maybe they noticed the dreaded front strut "mushrooming" was happening from running over the yellow paint stripes on the highway.

There are some things where stiffer is always better, automobile suspensions aren't one of them.

 

well now im just going to have to start smoking in mine and crash it a few times

 

The 2002-2007 is not in any danger so why are we saving it? I think that the R50, 52 and 53 will ALWAYS have a strong following. As long as you love what you are driving then it will always be special to you.

My Dad loves 60's vintage Cameros. Now Camero guys will mostly say that the 1969 is THE Camaro to own, but dad likes the 1968. There will ALWAYS be guys who like the 60's Corvettes more than any other year produced.

I see the same thing happening with the BMW MINI. There will always be the people who like the R50, 52 and 53 and people who like the R56, 55 and whatever is next in this generation. Neither group is right or wrong, they just love the car.

Could I get a Clubman someday? Perhaps. Will I get rid of my R53 for that Clubman? NEVER. The R53 is too special to me and I will own this car for a VERY long time.

Save something that actually needs saving, the R50, 52 and 53 are doing just fine.

 

Never been in any of the 2002-2006 Minis, but I loooove my 2007.

 

Everything has to evolve or it'll die. Why did the first Minis stop selling? It wasn't until the were updated and modernized that they could come back. I love all the Minis but I wouldn't be a Mini owner right now if the the 07 hadn't come out. This car is what a Mini should be to me. The older Minis aren't going anywhere, Motor On!

 

Dumb question, was the MINI sitting on the lots and not selling? Tauruses I could understand (I kinda remember the last ones having to be unloaded onto rental fleets). Were sales plumeting? Serious question... for once.

 

With my 02 of 02 MC, I'm VERY happy to be driving something from the first of the series with all the warts and hairs and foibles that come with it. Going on six years with Farley, and he still makes me giggle when I turn the key.
What I, and probably a lot of other people worry about is that, in an attempt to appeal to the masses and "penetrate the market", MINI could go the way of the Thunderbird: from a class touring sports car to a bloated pig. It's a first class Hot Wheels... if I need a grocery getter with a soft ride, I'll buy a Toyota van.

 

With Mini's recent moves on the Clubman (I'm not a fan) and the SUV, I'm afraid they are doing that very thing - appealing the masses. BTW, skip, the Mini is perfectly suitable for grocery fetching - we've almost stopped using our Chrysler minivan unless all 5 family members are traveling. Three people in the car lets us fold one of the back seats down so that we can pack all the groceries in for the whole week.

 

My sig say's it all

 

No, but BMW's idea was to never let this happen. The "fad" buyers have pretty much moved on, there were new regulations, (make it hit pedestrians and leave them severely injured, rather than killing them), so BMW picked '07 to make changes. The engine change had to happen for business purposes, better fuel economy, and to meet future EPA regulations. To have left the MINI completely unchanged would have been a difficult, actually impossible, thing to do, even if they wanted to......it would have disappeared within a few years.

Sometimes change is hard to take, I've never forgiven GM for changing the Chevy from the 57 to 58 model year.

 

I have owned both the 1st gen and 2nd gen cars. There are things that I prefer about both. Had I not wrecked my R53, I probably would have kept it forever, but the R56 is a good car too, and it definately grows on you.

 

The European pedestrian protection regulations are often used as a scapegoat or excuse for the R56 changes. That is only part of the story. The other half of the tale is that BMW wanted to reduce manufacturing costs as it was always rumored that the first gen cars were very expensive to build (and it shows) even though the car was an absolute sales success and BMW recovered ALL of the initial investment in development and manufacturing costs by the second or third year of production. So, at least in theory, the R56 is cheaper to build and its platform or ïsland solutions"as they love to call them is supposedly more flexible. However, this is very debatable given BMW's decision to only add one rear door to the Clubman, citing added weight and costs (Relocating the fuel filler line on the driver's side). So the promise of the R56 platform as being ultra-flexible is pretty much debatable at this point in time. But another issue the R56 chassis has is that it still uses the R53 floorpan and this is one of the reasons why the R56 has not quite being able to fulfill its promise of being the flexible do-it-all platform that was originally promised 4 years ago. The next gen MINI will be a vastly different car from the R53 and R56, at least from the point of view of manufacture, design philosophy and choice of powertrains. It will be very interesting to see how the R56 experience will shape up the 2012 third gen MINI.

 

Not quite correct. If you have dived deep into Mini's history, you'll find out that this car does not follow conventional wisdom in terms of manufacturing, design and sales practices. The original Issigonis 1959 Mini was sold virtually unchanged from 1959 until October 5th, 2000. That is 41 years of the same model car, an absolute eternity in the automotive world. BMC attempted to phase out and introduce üpdated"and more "refined"alternatives to the original Classic Mini, only to find themselves going back to the old car because customers did not like their alternative interpretations of the Issigonis Mini. The car did suffer in sales in the 1990's and it was a niche market. But thanks to the soured BMW-Rover marriage, the MINI brand was retained by Munich and the MINI's posterity in the 21st century was pretty much saved. Hadn't been for the business relationship with BMW, the Rover Mini would have ceased to exist early in this decade. Rover folded tent and went out of business in early 2005. I think the biggest mistake BMW can make is to think of the MINI as some sort of BMW 3 series or Honda Accord that needs to be re-designed every 5 years. The MINI is a cult car and most of its followers do not wish to see substantial changes made to the car and more so changes for the sake of change. The R53 sold very welll from 2002 until 2006 and the R52 based convertibles are still selling very well, in fact commanding the sales charts for MINIUSA. What does that tell you? For the first time in 5-6 years, MINIUSA is offering special finance/lease incentives and discounts on unsold R56 MINI inventory. There are radio ads galore. I don't remember any of these events during the R53 era. The car sold at full MSRP for its entire 5 year production run. While the R56 is a terrific car in many ways it hasn't hit the bullseye in the same way the R53 did 6 years ago. Something is missing from the new car in despite of it being more refined and more powerful. Remember that the legendary BMW 2002, the car that cemented BMW's reputation in this country, was produced from 1976 until almost 1983, when the (gasp!) E21 320 was introduced. The classic Mini was sold in the US from 1959 until 1968. This is one of the reasons why the Mini is not a car that many people knew about, unlike the ultra popular VW Beetle.

 

...of the 07+ that I find less appealing than the 02-06. Mechanically, it seems to have the necessary chops -- and THEN some (though I have NOT driven one).

If the 02-06 MINI troubled Euro-lawyers so much, then how do the marques like Ferrari, Lambo and others who make "super-cars" get away with making the body designs that they do? Try to convince me that the newest Bugatti is easier on a poor pedestrian than an 06 MINI!! Can anyone 'splain that to me?

And, by the way, if the laws only require cars with more than some minimum number produced to be "pedestrian-safe" (according to some f***ing "Ministry of ******* Laws") then it just goes to show that in Europe, just as here, money talks (the assumption being that only rich folks can afford a car that is produced in small numbers).

Are the newest Corvettes being sold in Europe? Shouldn't be if they want cars that can "safely" hit a pedestrian.

Have a nice day!