Hello,

First post to a mini forum, greetings everyone.

I have had my eye on a (certified) 2011 mini cooper (non-s/non-convertible). I went yesterday and the car looks beautiful from the outside. Then I got inside, the leatherette seats are... well.. cheap feeling. That's fine, I really don't have a huge problem with that. Then I grabbed the door handle to close the door behind me. It may sound small but it was a real deal breaker for me. I felt it creak as I grabbed the handle to close it. For such a pricey vehicle, I really view this as unacceptable.

The interior is sprayed with cheap plastic trinkets, most of them well done enough that I don't mind, but the door handle was a huge one to me. This could also be because I haven't owned a car that was newer than a 1992, and, well, interiors felt better back then? Are all interiors for the minis made of cheap feeling hard plastics? Any rubber, leather or anything else? Custom options?

Thanks

 

You don't want to ever see the interior of a Fiat then... You can probably find other MINIS with better appointed interiors than the base Cooper. It's what I have and I hear you on the leatherette. But my grab handle has never creaked and when the door closes if actually feels quite solid.

A leather interior in a MINI is actually quite nice. I'd keep looking for what you need. Best of luck!

BTW - did you drive it? That's really where it's at with a MINI.

 

No, every MINI interior can be different. If you were to special order one, you could basically customize everything to your liking until you go broke.

If you go the aftermarket route, there are also plenty of options. You can have most of the interior parts changed to carbon fibre. JCW has a large selection of carbon parts. As for the seats, you could retrofit lounge leather seats or even Recaros.
Have a look around the vendor sites. There are many parts to choose from.

 

I did not drive it. I really want to, I'm going to take a 100 mile trip to a MINI dealer with more selection tomorrow. I'll get a drive in then.

With the leather interior comment, are you saying some have leather interiors (including on the door handle)? If so, are these specific to "S" or is it a non-cooper model? I've been looking on miniusa and I haven't seen anything that gives me the detailed information I'm looking for there yet.

 

I think the interior is quite nice, here is my 2013 with grey leather interior.

 

Well, that's head and shoulders above the one I looked at. Guess I /was/ missing out. The door handles on yours look to be leather as well.

 

yes they are. solid as well.

 

At the extreme end there is the Goodwood Edition which has a full leather interior including the Dash and much of the door panels. It almost looks like a baby Bentley inside. This will however set you back about $50K so it is very much a niche product.

The point however is that MINI's come in an almost limitless number of flavors which along with the driving experience is why people like them so much.

Keep looking I'm sure you can find something that will make you smile - particularly if you drive an S or a John Cooper Works (JCW) car.

 

The interior on my 2013 JCW is fine.. The Recarro seats are on point!

 

I think, however, that all the door handles are plastic. I have a full leather interior (2008) yet the actual grab bar to open the door is plastic and covered with the color line accent that is a firm textured plastic. Nothing creaks, but it is plastic.
That said, the interior of my MINI is a real plus, having all the 2008 options such as leather and chrome trim. Still, I wish they'd found a way to use... wood handles?

 

Wood handles on my 2012 MCS with English oak trim.

As someone else said, one can spend however much on the interior, or not. I loaded up, since I spend most of two hours a day in there commuting.

Polar beige Punch leather seats
English Oak trim
Polar beige MINI Yours leather stitched dash
Chromeline trim

 

Hope I'm not hijacking - On my old Miata, I added a lot of wood, some aftermarket, some custom. I bought my MINI used, so didn't any interior choice, and I was thinking of buying the English Oak dash trim. Does it look real. Or is even real wood veneer?

Thanks!

 

I felt teh same as the OP, & ordered these before our MINI was delivered:
http://ecommerce.mossmotors.com/p/ne...covers/101-497

 

It looks great. And I'm sure its manmade, somehow.

 

Your interior is gorgeous, ljmattox!

avuton, I bought my car off the lot and it also had a basic blah interior. There are tons of aftermarket customizing options out there, though, and for me that's been part of the fun of having a Mini. As for the rattles, unfortunately that's not uncommon in our little cars. I think you learn to live with it because they are so dang fun to drive. That door handle is probably an easy fix, though - it may just have a loose screw or need a little foam tape behind it.

Here's my current interior:

 

Hope I'm not hijacking - On my old Miata, I added a lot of wood, some aftermarket, some custom. I bought my MINI used, so didn't any interior choice, and I was thinking of buying the English Oak dash trim. Does it look real. Or is even real wood veneer?

Mine is an early 07-S and the 'English Oak' package has changed a good bit over the years. But as to the question of "is it real or is it Memorex?" Here's my steering wheel (included in the package back in 07) note the grain changes implying sep' pieces



On the other hand here's the edge of the 'secret compartment lid' and I don't see any seams.



In any case, the 'wood' is under a thick layer of plastic. Before you poo-poo this I'd note that I had a wood shift **** in an earlier car and it WAS real varnished wood. Hand oils, sweat and ring knocks trashed my wood **** in less than a year. My 07's package included a wood shift **** too and it shows NO wear - nor as you see does the wheel which is a recent picture . . .

IMO the 'wood' whatever it is, looks pretty darn good. Here's my Tuscan 07



or it did in 07 anyway

 

--

 

I have a 2009 Clubman JWC with the leatherette and most of the time I like it. It seems to show no signs of wear and you don't slide around in the corners. The only negative is that the seats seem to "heat up" during the summer so my back sweats. This is the first car I have had without leather in many years so I don't know if this is a "feature" of Leatherette :-) or just the MINI seats.

Overall the interior looks fine but feels a little flimsy versus other cars I've owned. It's my opinion that some of the rattles are directly related to this flimsy feel - just my perception. I think we would agree that MINI's aren't the tightest cars on the planet.

 

MINI leatherette is nicer to touch than most leather I have dealt with in cars. I guess YMMV.

 

oh my gosh Capt BJ...you showed a picture of the secret (shhh) compartment. How could you? That's a major violation!

 

The optional at no cost cloth seats are very nice and a good alternative to the leatherette. Compare a MINI interior to most any small car and it seems rich, IMHO.

 

For what it's worth, I ended up buying a very nice used 2010 R56 for which the interior looks very much like pictures from a couple of posts ago. In my opinion, the door trim and handles are the weakest points, feels amazingly cheap for such an expensive, well though out toy. I couldn't be happier with the actual leather seats though.