>>The worst offense I have heard was: "BMW Metro"
>>aaarrrhhhggggg

Too funny!

 

Here's one: someone asked if mine was the Cooper Saab! He thought the 'S' by the 'Cooper' meant Saab

 

I think my insurance card say BMW MINI on it....

 

>>I think my insurance card say BMW MINI on it....

I do think the Insurance companies list it as a BMW. I don't know why. They surely don't list the Toyota as a Lexus or an Acura as a Honda or vice versa.

I hope they give me better rates if I have the DSC!!!

 

I think I was the first MINI to sign on with my current insurance company. They didn't even know what it was, so they added it into their system. My previous insurance company had it listed under BMW MINI but had no other info.

I just hope the insurance premiums stay low. :smile: :smile: :smile:

 

>>I think I was the first MINI to sign on with my current insurance company. They didn't even know what it was, so they added it into their system. My previous insurance company had it listed under BMW MINI but had no other info.
>>
>>I just hope the insurance premiums stay low. :smile: :smile: :smile:
We were the first ones with a MINI at our insurance co too. They did have it in their system as BMW MINI though. We had to explain what kind of car it is to the agent!

 

Allstate calls it a BMW MINI. So does Mo. DMV. Insurance rates were lower than on my husband's 97 Maxima!

Lois

 

>>I would be caught dead driving a BMW ('cept maybe an old 2002). MINI is an English car. BMW is a Bavarian car. Finis.
Exactly! and my insurance company card says for Model-MINI and Make- Cooper- not BMW

 

>>I would be caught dead driving a BMW ('cept maybe an old 2002). MINI is an English car. BMW is a Bavarian car. Finis.
Exactly! and my insurance company card says for Model-MINI and Make- Cooper- not BMW

 

the reason everyone calls it a BMW is because it is a new brand. when people ask, who makes it? if you say "mini" they just get confused and ask again. then you have to say "the brand is mini, but bmw owns it." then they go "ahh ok." i'm sure in time people will understand it but with the lack of television commercials and ads it'll take time for people to catch on. i don't let it get to me..

 

>>My wife drives a 98 528I. After all these years of driving the car and paying for service I now know what BMW stands for...Bust My Wallet
donna@dcmetrominis.org

 

Check your manufacturer's sticker label inside the driver's door jamb. It says that the car is manufactured by BMW Group AG in Germany. The first letter of the serial VIN number is "W" which means country of origin listed as "West Germany". Based on the factory issued labeling system the car is officially a BMW product. Yes the car is assembled in Oxford, UK but there are no references whatsoever about the "British" point of manufacture.

Should we all complain to BMW??

 

Hello all. The confusion over our MINI's is probably the number one most asked question. After informing folks about five times that it's made by "Mini", I'm always forced to disclose that MINI is part of the BMW Group much like Rolls Royce is part of the BMW group and that it's a British car with foreign funding. That usually seems to help.

P.S. - Although State Farm originally listed my MC as a BMW, my local agent was kind enough to change the classification to "MINI" so all of my records read correctly.

 

<<<my insurance company card says for Model-MINI and Make- Cooper- not BMW>>>

Shouldn't that be reversed? Make-MINI, Model-Cooper?

 

No. I just call it a MINI, but if people ask I tell them it's a subsidiary of BMW. But it's NOT a BMW. :smile:

 

I think much of the confusion comes from the fact that it is different from the Ford Group, GM Group, etc. Jaguar, Saab, Mazda were all established companies and brands with their own engineering and design. They were bought out in order to reduce cost through consolidation.

For most in America, the MINI brand wasn't on the radar, and no where in the world did the current MINI exist. BMW didn't buy out an existing company in active production. BMW instead created a NEW company. So, it is a different situation. You can think of it like this. Ford and GM adopted grown children. BMW gave birth to a little runt called the MINI, but it only did so in order to get child support (translation: BMW needs the lower fuel efficiency numbers and they also want to target a lower-price-point market), so it doesn't allow MINI in the house and makes it sleep out back in the storage shed. :smile:

Many of the parts in the MINI are in common with BMW. BMW engineered the modifications to the S motor. The stock engine is a joint BMW/Chrysler development effort. The plant in Oxford is a BMW plant.

BMW owns a plant in Spartanburg, SC, but we don't call the cars produced down there Grits Z4's. They are BMW's, regardless of where the plant is.

So, I think it's quite easy to see why the new MINI is called the BMW MINI. It is.

Also, it's an easy way to distinguish for the general public the difference between the Mini and the MINI. Most would not notice the ALL CAPS of the new MINI, but everyone notices the difference when you put the three initials in front of MINI.

See ya,
JS

 

In virtually every situation other than these MCO debates, I couldn't care less whether my MINI is a BMW or not. But it's probably the contrarian in me that makes me want to agree fully with Cooper4us and jstines in this thread. MINI is a subsidiary of BMW. Yes, it's its own brand, but that brand is fully owned by BMW. Technically, that makes it a BMW.

Most importantly, it's not a British car. It's British in terms of marketing and assembly point. If it makes you happy to think of it as a fiesty little British car, fine. Whatever. Enjoy the marketing hype developed by German BMW, MINI's US advertising agency, and its American designer.

Fact is, the MINI is truly a "world car" in the sense of so many cars nowadays. And as such, I enjoy it for what it is mechanically...regardless of from where in the world those mechanicals derive.

 

>> i'm sure in time people will understand it but with the lack of television commercials and ads it'll take time for people to catch on.

True, I hadn't thought about this. The billboards do get some notice, but MINI has had so little of the media saturation one might expect for a "new" car. No wonder there are so many questions out there.

 

i looked and nowhere on my car does it say BMW

 

Seriously? Try the door plate (below the latch on the driver's side) and the green label on under the hood (on top of the radiator/fan shroud). Unless you peeled 'em off, they're there.

Oh yeah, there's also the credits on the Owner's Manual and the fine print on the "don't use a cell phone and lock your kids in the car" warning sticker that's on the upper left of the inside windshield. I suppose the latter may not be there if you no longer have the original glass (as is the case with many of us ).

 

>>Allstate calls it a BMW MINI. So does Mo. DMV. Insurance rates were lower than on my husband's 97 Maxima!
>>
>>Lois


Really? Sweet - I don't care what they call it on my insurance as long as I get lower rates than my car now... $89 a month's a bit much. Stupid "suv."

 

>>i looked and nowhere on my car does it say BMW
>>


Plenty of BMW references around the car. Check back on your factory stickers.

 

When people look blankly at me when I tell them "It's a MINI. The brand is MINI." I usually say something like "it's a BMW the same way that a Jaguar is a Ford". That usually gets the point across.

 

>>Seriously? Try the door plate (below the latch on the driver's side) and the green label on under the hood (on top of the radiator/fan shroud). Unless you peeled 'em off, they're there.
>>
>>Oh yeah, there's also the credits on the Owner's Manual and the fine print on the "don't use a cell phone and lock your kids in the car" warning sticker that's on the upper left of the inside windshield. I suppose the latter may not be there if you no longer have the original glass (as is the case with many of us

 

Made by the BMW Group's Oxford plant. The MINI is sold as a MINI but it is still a BMW. Better get used to it.