I paid a visit to Brecht MINI in Escondido, cA, this morning to get a look at the R56 in the flesh. Following are photos of styling details that caught my eye. One thing not here is the new plastic C-pillar cover. It's not here because I didn't even notice it while I was taking photos. I noticed it later in the showroom, but it wasn't a big deal.

Having seen the car in person, I can say that my concerns about its styling have been alleviated. Yes, compared to the R50/53 it looks more round and chubby and cute, but it is still very much a new MINI. Brecht had 2 out on the lot, mixed in among R50/53 models, and honestly they blended in with the older models even to my highly trained eye.

Here are many pictures for y'all:

R56 Cooper S:


Side-By-Side with an R50:


R56 Cooper S Hood - nicely contoured:


R56 Cooper S Spoiler and jumbo antenna base:


Controversial Side Marker is oddly 3-dimensional:




Chunky Gas Cap Door:


Cooper Headlight:


This being Brecht, our tour wouldn't be complete without a look at the ol' dealer mark-up sheet.

Hey, thanks for the pics!

Nice shots. Thanks. I particularly like this one. I really like the new bonnet.

dean.

Looks like there are holes in the lower portion of the front spoiler/lip. Makes it easy to add an extension there for track days.

Another thing I have not seen mentioned is the new MINIs (maybe old too) seem to have really good paint jobs compared to many other cars. I didn't notice the slight orange peel I have been seeing on VWs, Hondas etc. These photos confirm that.

The only thing I don't like about the new bonnets is how the lights aren't incorporated in them still. Should make the aftermarkets job much easier with new bonnets, and they are much much lighter now.

Nice pics, bee!!! I agree with your styling assessment of R56 based on my own visits to the dealer in recent days.

Wow, $5700 markup. Amazing.

I don't mean to hijack in anyway, but I just got back from a launch party (thanks Classic MINI in Ohio .) Here are a few pics.



I think I re-fell in love with MINI's when I saw that Mellow Yellow. I cannot wait to own one.

I'm curious as to why the new MINI do not have the new flat blade wipers I see on new cars now.

Surplus of the old style wipers?

alone i think the new MINI looks very much like a MINI and is quite attractive, next to the last gen MINI's it still looks good, but get a little more odd looking.

moral: to make your R56 look awesome stay away from last gen mini's, to make it look good, park it next to one


overall though after having played in one, and wishing to drive on, i can tell its a better car, sure the styling may be a little weirder when next to the old one, but everywhere else it seems to outdo the last gen MINI (with the exception of the fake hoodscoop on the S)

overall though, im still to in love and satisfied with my r53 to trade for an r56 (oh yeah and no cash to do so), but i can see there being many benefits that i will be missing out on in the r56

Ouch. That's not amazing, it's ridiculous.

I can tell you one thing from the launch party this afternoon. The aftermarket is going to make that hood scoop more than functional. Everytime I saw the new engine bay and the location of the airbox, I was screaming to myself "Get home and make a cold air intake for this car and make some serious money." It is quite possible that the "non-functioning" hood scoop will make an INSANE intake setup.

Added markup $3,925 who in their right mind would buy from these people?

I see paint 'chips' in the photo from the dealer of 9 photos...

left side and below at the bottom is a black something, looks like a chip off it or something...

So glad I have no dealer mark up - mine is about 25k, and I would not way pay 31k

I went to test-drive a Laser Blue Cooper S yesterday, thinking I'd order one with 16-inch S-Winders. Glad I did not order sight unseen, as I am now back to the drawing board.

This picture illustrates exactly what is (to my eyes) wrong with that combo -- the front overhang is too noticeable, and the wheels do not fill the arches. In my view, the car looks just fine with that combo on the Mini USA website. My guess is it's because the web page presents this combo in the most flattering way possible, with pictures taken from 3/4 front (or rear and), below the waistline. Unfortunately, that's not how one sees the cars in real life.

PS: for those wondering how much darker than the old Electric Blue, which I absolutely loved, LB is much darker in poor light (no sun yesterday).

I called East Bay MINI this afternoon and was told they will be selling their cars at MSRP.(925)463-2555 check it out.They are located in Pleasanton,Ca.Q

You may be right but I wouldn't go by that picture (which was posted to illustrate another point). The angle is tricky and the wheels seem slightly turned and then there's all the photographic variables. I always though a pic could tell the whole story but I'm finding out I was wrong.

Someone can fly all the way to an East coast MINI dealer, purchase the car, have it shipped and fly back after taking a few days vacation and still be less than their mark-up. That's insane. The reason the dealer has such a high mark-up is because people will pay it.

I just noticed a couple of things. Cooper S has underhood shielding, Cooper does not in the pic.

If you spec the white signal lamps it changes the front, rear and side marker lights? I was under the impression that it was rear only, if it's all of em it's not a bad deal.

Yes all four get changed.!!

Agreed in principle, but this picture looks exactly like what I saw in person yesterday. That's why I wanted to flag this particular photo to other readers -- it is illustrative of something that bothered me. Of course, YMMV

cool pics!

To be fair, the mark-up is $3925. The rest of the charges are for Lo Jack ($895), floor mats ($95 - what, no installation charge?!) and Perma Plate ($795 - I assume this is some sort of paint protection).

The mark-up is 15% on S models and 10% on Coopers, same as with the previous generation.

As to mininovice's question of who would buy from Brecht: Brecht is the only MINI dealer in San Diego County. They only have 450 cars to sell each year, and I imagine they have no trouble finding 450 uninformed San Diegans to buy them at 10%+ mark-up. (I bought my 04 MCS from MINI of the Hamptons, who arranged to ship it to me for $500. I would certainly do the same again.)