Hey guys I'm considering trading in my 2010 JCW kit MCS 6sp (77K miles) for a 2017 JCW Automatic (24K miles from the dealer). How much will I miss driving a 6 speed? I haven't owned a automatic since I drove my mom's 68 Rambler station wagon hand me down! The R55 gave me a lot of trouble last year. Spent quite a bit of money (more than its worth) having the engine rebuilt. Its basically a new engine. BUT I feel like a 10 year old car will just continue needing repairs. I'd rather trade it in now while its still running great. Good idea? Bad idea?


Thanks

 

Only you can answer that question. Have you driven the car under consideration?

 

Not yet. Hoping to in the next week or so.

 

You will miss grabbing gears. I went 13 years, not by choice in an auto, and when my Mustang got totaled out, I told the wife my next car would be a manual. There just is something about grabbing a gear or 2 lower and running through the RPM range.

 

We recently added an F60S to the garage. It is the first automatic I have owned in nearly 20 years. As much as I love working through the gears in my other MINIs, the F60's auto is really relaxing. When you feel froggy, put it in sport, manual and use the flappy paddles. Still a ton of fun.