This weekend some of us are going to a British car event in town, and the ever-present, semi-awkward question is, "BMW is German, isn't it?...not British." "It's made in Oxford," I reply, which seems to satisfy them...but their point remains. I guess MINI is just in limbo...its a British car, sort of...its a BMW, sort of. Depends on the definition of the moment. Even in the car mags...you see only hints of MINI's existence in the BMW mags. I just saw a Mini World mag (classic Minis only) that was packaged with a separate "BMW MINI" tuners guide. Neither BMW or Mini mags have really jumped into the new MINI thing. We're kinda on own for now it seems...thank god for MCO!
Any US owners had any recent experiences related to this? Springtime is a big time for car shows and get togethers, so what's the buzz out there...are we accepted as a British car? Do the BMW clubs claim us? Just curious what comments you're finding.
Only curious though...IMO, the MINI can stand on its own quite nicely, thank you very much!!

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'03 IB/W Cooper, chrome bumpers, cloth sport seats, leather steering wheel, silver holees

very good couterpoints one and all.

i agree whole-heartedly that ford has sullied the jaguar mystique
significantly. however, in my opinion, the jaugar history is comparable
to that of the mini. both having been successful 'independent'
companies prior to being bought up by lager conglomerates.

in that sense of history and nostalgia, i feel for jaugar...
since they didn't continue to get such individual treatment
by their new parent company as mini did by theirs.

if i HAD to choose between the two, with a gun to my fiancee's head,
i'd take the jag...just because...it's not a lincoln.
(although my girl would understand, and take the bullet if need be!)

i don't know if that helps, but i think you can understand...

Troy....you're weird.

Guys:

When I was researching 'cars to buy', , MINI, among them, I was a bit put off by the BMW connection. Frankly, I have found that [at least in NYC], BMW owner/drivers are intensely arrogant, obnoxious, pompous asses. In previous cars, I have been tailgated, cut off, and otherwise abused by these people. The whole"Ultimate Driving Machine" campaign has gone to their already bloated heads.

When I went to Manhattan MINI, the Bimmer 'attitude' was blatant. I took a quick one hour ride to Westchester MINI; completely different atmosphere; THEY got my money. Manhattan did not. I was told I wasn't the only person with this story. I refuse to think of my MINI as a BMW to 'impress' people.

BMWlite

I *have* noticed the MINIworld magazine thing... I get this mag.

Every reference to our MINIs is "BMW Mini" !

But they actually have an article about a modified MCS in the newest issue. And they have stopped being so desultory towards the new MINI for the most part... I suspect they are coming to like them to some degree.

So unless RangeRover starts builing another MINI-like car (which I hear they are considering), MINIworld coverage should expand to include our MINIs to some degree as time goes by.

>>the ever-present, semi-awkward question is, "BMW is German, isn't it?...not British." "It's made in Oxford," I reply, which seems to satisfy them...but their point remains. I guess MINI is just in limbo...its a British car, sort of...its a BMW, sort of. Depends on the definition of the moment.


This only gets more confusing every year. Yes, the Mini factory is in Oxford, but the Honda plant is in Ohio and the Toyota plant is in Tennessee. So are Honda and Toyota American cars? I don't know. Those makers would certainly like to market them that way, especially in the jingoisitic light truck segment of the market (aka road hogs.) :evil: .

Too bad there's no video out there of that "classy" lady crushing the front of her Bimmer.

I believe Rover is now Ford
As is Mazda

Having had a new 2001 M5 for a short time and now a 2003 MCS my take is the M5 is the finest 4 door 5 passenger automobile made. That being said, my MCS is one of the most “fun” cars I have ever had. I drove 115 miles round trip to my brothers house last night in driving rain on deserted mountain roads and on the return had about 2 to 3 inches of fresh wet snow and no snow plow or other tire tracks to lead the way and I can say even with 17” wheels and Pirelli run flat performance tires the MCS did a better job in the snow then the M5 would have. The Xeons on the MCS worked great, as did the defroster and rain sense wipers. The MCS is the nicest driver’s car you can buy for under $50,000. The MSRP on the M5 was $72,000+ and the MSRP on my MCS $25,815. The MCS is quite a value for the money in IMHO.

I liked the MINI as soon as I saw it. It just took me 1&1/2 years to finally get one. When we got our first insurance card (from GEICO) it had MINI as the manufacturer and Cooper as the model. I was amazed that they got it right. I just got the renewal card for the next 6 months and now the blasted thing says BMW and nothing else. So it appears that even the insurance company can't make up its collective mind on what we have. I'd call and complain, but I'm afraid that if I did, they'd raise the rate.

(BTW, this is my first post here. But I guess you can tell that from the left side of the forum)


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-=0=- Mike

>>Strangely, my MCS *is* my dream car. Sure, it's not a 911 Turbo or an M5, but it fits my needs more roundly than any of the others.

Ditto... my MCS is my dream car followed by a Dodge Viper.... I have one, now it's time to work for the second
-Chris

>>Any US owners had any recent experiences related to this? Springtime is a big time for car shows and get togethers, so what's the buzz out there...are we accepted as a British car? Do the BMW clubs claim us? Just curious what comments you're finding.
>>Only curious though...IMO, the MINI can stand on its own quite nicely, thank you very much!!
>>
>>_________________
I participated in a British car show last year in FL. and they accepted my MINI quite well, I got 3rd place for cars 1990 to present (beat out by a Jag convertable and a Lotus) but also at this event someone from the BMW club invited me to attend their car show. So I smile and accept that I have the best of both worlds!

>>When I went to Manhattan MINI, the Bimmer 'attitude' was blatant. I took a quick one hour ride to Westchester MINI; completely different atmosphere; THEY got my money. Manhattan did not. I was told I wasn't the only person with this story. I refuse to think of my MINI as a BMW to 'impress' people.

Before I knew where my MINI dealer was I drove into some BMW dealership in Orland Park, IL (sorry, don't know the name of the dealer) and asked if they carried the MINI or if there were any plans to because I knew BMW owned MINI, the salesjerk looked at me like I was crazy and said "BMW doesn't own MINI, and we don't carry them." "What an idiot" I thought with a sarcastic giggle and grin. Then the rocket scientist gave me the location to Bill Jacobs MINI/BMW. Shouldn't that have given him an idea that there might be a bit of a connection? Arrogant, rude and snobby, I don't care what it is or if he owned the company, I would have gone someplace else to make my purchase just because this guy was wacked! (or should be)


Craig

My insurance (Allstate) calls it a BMW Mini. No reference to the fact that it is a Cooper S, and not a Cooper. Oh well, if they don't know I have a supercharged engine, I'm not goin to be the one to tell them!

~Joe

My answer comes easy as well,
Mini is a company brought back by a BMW purchase, and the MINI is engineered by BMW, but BMW's are built in Germany and MINI's are built in there own factory In England by MINI.

I don't think of my MINI as being a BMW. It is a MINI!

When asked who makes it, I say that it is made by MINI in England. EVERYONE that has asked has been satisfied with that answer.

i'm a wine drinker.
When i tell people about MINI, it is the same thing like to tell the wine. different people has different knowledge about certain things. For example: "Is Chardonay a good red wine?"????????
Experts who knows the car,
I say it is a MINI, most the time they already know that is a MINI.
For amatures who has no idea:
I say it is a BMW MINI, so they knows what direction i'm really going.
For people like the look of the car:
I say it is a british made modern MINI
For people who is a performance fun:
I say it is a MINI designed and owned by BMW, so they know this is not a cheap Focus style car.
For people who care about the value of the car:
I say this is one of the priceless machine you can ever own.
I love my mini, i like people to know my MINI. on the other hand, it will be better to tell people that it is a car that "you think you know, but you have no idea!!"

Boy! There's a lot of BMW bashing, well owner bashing anyways. I own a BMW and YES a M3 is mine dream car and YES I will have one. I plan on keep my MINI for about 3 years and then trading for a M3. I love both my MINI and my BMW. Not all Bimmer owners are snobs, just some of us.

Im also with ALLSTATE. The have i down as a BMW MINI. Like it was said earier there is nothing about what model it is.

You should think of your Mini as a BMW because:

1. It is!
2. Your insurance company thinks so too.
3. The DMV says so.
4. The police will categorize it as such when ticketed.
5. That's where you go to get it serviced.
6. There's a sticker on your car that says so.
7. And if it's not a BMW, then what?

>>You should think of your Mini as a BMW because:
>>
>>1. It is!
>>2. Your insurance company thinks so too.
>>3. The DMV says so.
>>4. The police will categorize it as such when ticketed.
>>5. That's where you go to get it serviced.
>>6. There's a sticker on your car that says so.
>>7. And if it's not a BMW, then what? :smile: :smile: :smile:


Chow!

Donna

>>4. The police will categorize it as such when ticketed.

Actually BL, when my MINI was ticketed, the ticket reflected "Silver MGB 2door"