Good afternoon,
I made a mistake of test driving a 2015 mini coop S Friday and fell in love with it. I had a 2007 R56 a few years ago and it was plagued with issues. I had to fix the water pump, crank seal and a few smaller issues before I was hit with the timing chain problem. I got rid of the car before BMW started taking care of the fix. I know they are using BMW engines now and I was curious if the reliability has gone up? The place I'm looking to get it from is taking care of the recall about a bearing (they didn't know the full details as they are not a mini dealer). I was just curious if there were any known big issues or if they are fairly reliable.

The coop has 40k miles on it and they are only asking 16,9 which I feel isn't a bad deal for our area.

My other question is, and I"m sure this is asked a lot, but how well do forward facing seats fit? We have a 3 and a 4 year old and I currently drive a fusion. We only use that to drive around town and my wifes Escape for trips. Being longer than my 07, I would imagine the kids would fit without too many issues (I may be just trying to justify it for myself at this point ). I looked at a countryman and a 4 door, but I just like the 2 doors better. Just curious on others thoughts.

 

Love mine, wouldn't use it with two kids in car seats. Countryman is a better choice until they grow up a bit. The four door drives really well if you want to stick to a smaller car.

 

Bummer, I was hoping with them being FF instead of rear, it would be a better fit.

 

FWIW, I went on a driving trip with my family when I had my Justa F56. We fit comfortably however we did not have and car seats. My children were teenagers though but they were not tall by any means. Both around 5' and my wife is around 5' also. I am 6' tall. I think if you will be doing it once in a while it is not bad but if it is daily I would not do it.

 

Family trip we take our suv. It would be mostly picking them up from daycare and just around town driving (out to dinner, visiting family, etc). I have a lot more space in the fusion but we don't use that often for long drives either.

 

I'm checking out a few countryman too. maybe that would be the better way to go. BTW nqr, I like your coop. that's nice!

 

I have two forward facing Graco My Size 65 seats (same as Fit4Me 65, Size4Me 65, and Contender 65) in the back of my 2015 F56. They fit just fine. Not a lot of legroom for the kids and it's not the easiest to reach in there to buckle them in, but it works and I am very happy. Plus, the three-year-old is always saying, "Go faster, Daddy!"

 

Thanks, Kibbis. Love my JCW, Had it past 120mph on an open road this past weekend. We also have the Countryman Sall4.. It is a blast to drive also.

 

Yeah I miss my 07, I just don't miss the issues I had with it.

 

We had to let go of our 05 Justa also when she started to have issues. Good luck on your decision on the 15.

 

I have a 2017 2-door MCS with two car seats in the rear. For my 18 month old I use a Diono RXT rear facing with the angle adjuster. It is a very narrow and portable car seat, but top rated. Behind the drivers seat I use a Recaro Performance Sport for my 3-year old (forward facing).

 

I had a hard time even putting in the carseat at the back seat. Forget about rear-facing. I only installed it once he was old enough for front-facing. Putting my baby in there is kind of okay, but it's not easy. When the whole family rides, wife sits next to him and always complains how hard it is to crawl out from the back seat, and how tight (too little space) it is.

This car wouldn't have worked for us if it was the only car. We have a Mazda CX-5 CUV, and the MINI is mostly for commute to work for myself.

 

You start your post with " made a mistake of test driving one" Yeah I made that mistake too and wound up with it! They do that to you. My kids have outgrown car seats long ago but I feel your pain. I would think it would also depend on how far back you plan on having your driver seat to make it worthwhile. Its pretty cramped back there and probably even more of a pain to get your kids in and out. Can you go back to where you were looking at it and test drive it with the carseats and kids in it? That would be the true test.