Yeah, apparently the opinion of nearly everyone here is that new is worse. Much worse with next to no chance that new could be anything respectable at all.

I'll go get back in my covered wagon now.

Ok, I obviously can't prove this.... but I'll bet that 90% of the people who are saying get the 06 will be all over wanting an 07 within a month of their introduction.

A lot of this is the natural, "what I have is better" feeling that goes with owning most anything.

We'll see what happens when the 07 is actually available to test drive and buy.

I don't think that will apply to 90% of the people on this forum. Most people here are fairly well clued-up and knew about the imminent launch of the new model. So that means they made an "educated" decision to buy the older '06 knowing that the new model just around the corner. Yes, I'm sure some people may switch from the '06 to the '07, but I really don't think the '07 is going to be a quantum leap improvement in any department (style, performance etc.). I certainly knew about the '07, but decided to buy the '06 (and did so instead of an M3).

I agree. The 07 can't be anywhere near as bad as most of these people would have us believe. The harsh judgment of a car that is not even in production yet and won't be in the showroom for many months is beyond me. So I think there will be those that end up convinced or pleasantly surprised.

I just wanted to mention here that I emailed my local dealer (Santa Ana, Crevier) and asked what the cut-off would be to get a 2006 built. Here's what his reply was:

"As for ordering, we will be ordering the current 2006 configuration from now until later October."

I'm going this weekend and will probably order one then, just to be safe. I definitely like the 2006 over the '07.

The ironic thing is if you go to someone who isn't a real big MINI enthusiast they'll hardly be able to tell the difference between the 06 and 07 on the exterior. Personally I think it looks more like the older classic MINI's with it's more upright front end.

When the new MINI came out most of the classic MINI enthusiasts hated the car, now the same thing is happening and generally speaking the current crop of enthusiasts always seems to hate the new model. And then all of a sudden it's accepted and the earth continues to rotate. Everyone hated Bangle's designs but their selling more BMW's then they ever have before.

Personally I had an 05 MCS and it was a great car. I loved it dearly till it was totaled. I'll likely be ordering an 07 or an 08 MCS depending on how the first few months are after launch. I think the car will be fine though. BMW/MINI will be applying all the lessons they learned on the current model to this new car.

Also any modern turbo car doesn't need a cool down unless you're really running the car hard, like race track hard. With modern synthetic oils and turbo's that are water and oil cooled you don't have to worry about cooking the oil.
Mike