Has anyone received the new cupholder with their mini? My Mini is at the dealer and I stopped buy to take a look and I noticed the old cup holder.

Do you think it would be too much to ask for them to include the new one with my car? They did say that it was included in the 05 model.

 

Yes I have one and I like it. I did break it when I threw my helmet into the car after a run. I was able to fix it with a small long bolt. If they don't see really bad treatment like mine did, they should hold up fine and they beat the hell out of the originals. About $35 as I remember.

 

Do you need to replace the tube or does it just clip on like the old one?

 

My '05 is at the dealer - arrived on 8/26 from the New Jersey VPC and my MA says that it has the new cup holder. I have seen speculation that the new ones are being randomly mixed in with the old ones to "judge consumer reaction," but I don't think anyone knows for sure. If anyone has an old style cup holder from the New Jersey VPC from a ship that arrived after 8/20 like mine did, it might add some credibility to this theory, but at this point I would assume all cars, at least those docking in New York, will have the new type cup holder from now on.

Because the new one attaches to the downtube up high, I'm sure it won't be long before someone designs an iPod holder or some other attachment that can share that mount.

 

There's not much I don't like about this car :D but the new cupholder is was definitely one thing! (The other is the new MFSW)

I think the new cupholder mounts way too high, which puts it in the way and in front of the dash. Also there is no containment for condensation or leaks, and if you tossed your cellphone or bank card in there it would go straight thru to the floor.

I had my MA take it out (was easy to remove, leaving no marks or holes) and just kept the old one from my 03 (which was only about 4 months old anyway).

 

Also it's design will block the install of the BMW bluetooth if you want it.

 

I have the new cupholder and it is JUNK it does not do anything at all, it is the one and only thing I dislike about the car. As BartMack stated, it is completely open so it does not collect spills or condensation well, also anything in there needs to have a screw on cap b/c during accelleration and cornering the drink is moving or the cell is flying across the car! Also the rubber "finger/tentacles" give a little fight when glass is in there or a paper cup. I have not tried much more yet. It creates a little binding friction when you are lifting the drink up.... I figure some armor-all will cure this. I honestly have been using the rear holder for drink and the new bin for my cell phone. It is attached very cheaply also, it is supposed to be able to rotate on a cam gear but if it gets pushed towards the passenger side it feels like the whole thing is going to snap in half, towards the driver is ok. What worries me the most is something tipping and wiping out the radio, b/c it is so high up. I am going to see what I can do with it sometime this week, maybe a little home made mod will help things a bit.
-Mike

 

New or old, I think the passenger side pillar is an akward place for a cupholder. (I personally don't really have cups/beverages in my car.) I re-used the oval-shaped braket attaching the cupholder (Older version) as a mounting point for an aftermarket gauge and said heck with the cupholder.

 

I think Mini really screwed up trying to fix the cup holder and seat interference. Mounting it so high is a bad idea as the spill will just wipe out the audio and climate control. In my opinion the interference is very liveable as you can always swing it out of the passenger seat's way before sliding the seat forward. Mini means small and one have to make some concessions. Clearly they want to create their own to save cost.

I am very happy with my old style holder. Tonight I want out for a spin in my 3-day old 05 MCS with a cup of coffee in a Nissan thermo cup. It stay securely in place when I took some spirited cornering. The same cannot be said with the poor Garmin 6250 GPS seating on the dash on the fiction pad and the water bottle on the passenger seat.

I really like the Mini Fini cup holder being totally enclosed and stout and the rubber lips which adjust to cups with smaller diameter. It was perfect (given the constraints) to begin with.

 

I agree!

 

my friend David came by last night with his hours old 05 cooper.I saw the new cup holder and I must say ,I think it is wayyyyy too much of a statement for me.more plastic to break.the person who made mention of mini being about Small ,said it for me.It just plain takes up too much space IMO.

 

Has anyone seen this cup holder elswhere and has anyone purchased this one? I'm not sure from the photo if it will fit, say a 16oz soda pop bottle or what... but this is the best looking thing I've seen yet as for a mod to create space for a drink. I don't like the look of the plastic ones and I have no idea what the "new ones" are or look like, if they're the mini fini style or what... Can anyone explain the new ones or attach a photo? And can we just order them from the dealer... ack... Anyway this is the cup holder i'm considering, though it's kind of pricey:

http://www.mini-stuff.com/Merchant2/...egory_Code=NEW

Let me know what ya'll think xoxo Kimmie

 

The "old style" cupholder in my 04 MCS broke the other day. Stopped off at the dealer and was told that it has been discontinued in favor of the "new style" for which they have no part number as a seperate part. Said they would order one as soon as they had a number, but from what I've read here, I don't think I really want the new style.
At least they washed and vac'd the car while they were trying to suss all this out.
Jim

 

i have been doing alot of looking at the MINI dealer lately, and have noticed the new cupholder. the minute ours arrives home it will be out of the car for good. it looks too big, too american. i've driven german cars long enough to not need one.

 

I got mine from MINI-stuff quite a while back. Some say too expensive...but they don't understand my Whalen either...and they go together well. I don't like any of the 'clamp ons' as much.

16 oz 'Dew or water are the normal occupants.

And at a recent gathering of local MINI nuts it drew many a "where'd you get that"

and ya know what....my '79 Mini doesn't have a single cup holder....what's with that?

 

I took mine out as soon as I had a chance the second day after delivery. Is so ugly and out of place. If I would ever take a larger drink in the Mini (which I seriously doubt) I can use the rear cup holder.

 

My car came with the MINI-FINI cup holder and it's great. It holds a large cup, swivels out of the way very easy and I think looks fine. I looked at the "new" cupholder at Roadshow the other day and it looked cheap to me.

 

I have the mini-fini one also and it works well. I mainly use it to hold my MP3 player but it works for coffee guys, etc. Mini sent me a coffee cup with the mini logo and it works pretty well with it.

E

 

i'm still waiting for the chance to go buy a torx set to remove it. i'm not sure if the old one would have solved my first problem (passengers kicking it into the stereo), but it would have solved the second (it's ugly).