I like the thumbwheel as it is easier for me to modulate from the side since it is out at the edge of the stack. That said, I generally adjust it with far less precision than the vent ****, which I have to look at to make sure I'm on the right vent setting (similar to most other vent *****). With the thumb wheel I either hear the fan speed and set it my that, or I set the temperature setting to full cool, full hot, or somewhere in between. I don't count clicks, per se.

I suspect the arrangement requires less space, too, enhancing leg room....that part is pretty clever.

 

Agree on the space issue, the linear dial really optimizes wrt to the center stack width. A traditional rotary **** would have to be really small to fit in the space. I'm getting used to it. All summer I rarely used it, as I don't really use air conditioning that much. (I like the window down, a hold over from when I used to be a smoker.) When I did it was full cold and modulated by fan speed. With winter, I'm using the controls more and I'm ok with it, just not ideal, but preferable to a wider center stack.

 

Yeah, like I say, I'm not modulating those thumb-wheel ***** very precisely. That level of precision would be easier on a rotary dial where you can tell if you're at ten-o'clock or two. My assumption is that precision isn't needed...so far that's working fine for me. On the other hand, theoretically the larger wheel, made possible by the sideways mount, would allow more clicks (and precision) from stop to stop.

 

I gotta say one of my biggest gripes with the R56 is the speedo with the radio in it, it just doesn't look right to me, from the size of it to the font used for the markings. On the other hand the R56 nav system with the speedo around the perimeter looks great, much nicer than the square forced in a circle look of the previous MINI. If I were to get one I would have to go with the nav just for the look of it.

 

I wonder where the nifty display for radio/OBC/bluetooth functions goes if one has the nav system? We know where the speedo needle goes...what about the rest??

 

I think that it gets combined with the NAV and you access it through the joystick.

 

I am still divided in regard to the interior. I like the OBC/radio control placement. Their operation quickly became second nature. I did change the station when I meant to change the volume a few times, but that has been learned. I don't like the fact that radio replacement is going to be difficult, but heavy integration with the dash is becoming the norm for new car designs.


As far as the climate control controls go, a slider would have been easier to use, but most durable designs for those poke you really hard in a crash, like little dull knives. That's enough to keep sliders from happening. At least its not the big set of three dials. It's a compromise, but one that I've found I can live with very well.

I'd love to be able to get the nav speedo needle without a video screen in the middle of it. Some gauges would have been nice instead. I'd have paid the 2000$ they want for the nav to have factory boost, coolant temp, oil pressure/temp, and voltage in there. Heck, just boost, coolant temp, and oil pressure would almost be worth it to have it match the factory gauges.

There's also something about how the kick panels show shoe marks. It makes me think of the 60's Fords I used to drive, which did the same thing. It looks bad, but it is so comforting.

And yeah, the wife's most used phrase these days is:
"There's no reason to be going ___ right now."

But that would have happened in an R53 or an Austin Mini, too. As long as the speedo is in the center, it will look like a Mini interior to me.

 

I don't even look at the Speedo for speed info, I just use it for the radio, OBC, etc...

 

Tell them it reads in kilometers, not miles, since it's German

 

Traditional non metallic brg would be perfect!