2007 Mini Cooper S - 3 months of ownership

Highs:
Small, nimble, lively car.
Park anywhere
Great gas mileage
Excellent power

Lows:
FWD
Too much body roll
Silly cost cutting choices by BMW
Run flat tires

Overall:
A grin-producing, efficient little car that’s a delight to drive in traffic or even on a long trip. Unfortunately, it’s FWD and just doesn’t offer a pure driving experience.

Car:
2007 Cooper S with Sport Package, Sport Suspension, anthracite headliner, PDC, aluminum trim, cold weather package.

Options greatly missed:
LSD, Comfort Access and high end stereo.

I bought my Cooper S at the end of March and I’m not proud to admit that I paid MSRP for the car. Like a mark of shame, for the rest of my life I have to admit I gave a dealership full MSRP for a car. What the dealers do to deserve over 2k in profit is beyond my understanding. This little car better hold its value!

The Cooper S replaces my 2006 e90 330i – a car I picked up via European Delivery 348 days before the Cooper. The e90 offers great handling in a subdued, large, nondescript package; a decent car, the e90 just lacks soul or fun standard from the factory. Admittedly, the deck was stacked against it from the beginning as the e90 replaced my beloved (and engine-trouble prone) 2003 330i with Performance Package (ZHP). I regretted the purchase of my e90 the moment I pulled out of the European Delivery Center.

Coming from back-to-back 3 series cars, the Cooper struck me as BMW-like. Not just the fit and finish match up to BMW level, but also the car’s overall drive felt BMW-like.

Exterior

The Cooper S is all new for 2007. Of course it takes a discerning eye to pick out how the R56 differs from its older brothers. To be frank, I’m often left squinting at older Coopers in a sad attempt to discern if they share the new version with me.

If you’ve seen the Cooper S in the past few years, you’ve seen my Cooper S. I bought off the lot and ended up with a Lightning Blue Metallic car matched to a white roof and white mirror caps. It’s a smart looking little critter but more cute than the dark gray, hunkered down Coopers running around gunmetal wheels and a snarl.

The JCW package will probably liven up the car’s appearance. Honestly, I drive on the inside, so even if the car were beige, I wouldn’t much care.

Interior

Pop the door and you’re greeted by two things; one is great and the other ridiculous. The great part comes from the heft of the door and the solid door handle mechanism. The car’s small but those doors weigh a ton and every person getting into the car mentions it. Unfortunately, the doors sport frameless door-glass. Like the 3 series coupe, the Mini has that asinine-waiting-for-a-repair-bill system that lowers the glass when the door handle is depressed; close the door and the motors push the window back up. Supposedly this helps…yeah the windows are just lame and I hope that either the car is out of my possession before they fail or they fail under warranty.

Additionally, the doors’ detents simply don’t work. Open the front door to any degree and it swings back to the car. The car’s doors simply won’t stay open. My shins have the bruising to prove it. On the plus side, when getting in, I can throw open the door, jump in and the door will close itself!

Speaking of those windows, don’t bother looking for the window switches on the doors or even in BMW’s once customary (and perfectly placed) center console. Nope, they’re tiny aircraft toggle switches on the dash, mounted low and inconveniently out of place. Nondescript and hidden amongst a myriad of other toggles, it’s night impossible for most newcomers to figure out how to lower the windows.

And once they hit that toggle they better be patient. The windows lower with the rapidity of an old man scampering down a spiral staircase. You might be able to bake a cake in the time it takes the windows to auto-down. Flip the switch up and…the windows bump an inch. Huh? Yeah, auto-down but no auto-up. WTF? And they rise so slowly you could bake a cake, frost it and eat the damned thing before your glass has risen to the roof. If you power down your windows and want them up while on the move be prepared to do one window and then the other as the placement of the switches (directly in front of the gear shift and at the bottom of the dash) makes dual rising possible only for the most nimble. Why would BMW forgo auto-up?

Settle into the seats and you’ll get some pleasure. No, these aren’t the e46 3 series excellent sport seats. They’re comfy and pretty supportive too. Mine came with the gray and black leatherette. I’m convinced by these seats that I will not bother with leather in a BMW ever again. They’re comfy, don’t get hot in the sun and they’re easy to clean. The seat’s movement again falls into the quirky ergonomics of the Mini. A crank on the left allows you to raise and lower the seat – gee, just like a crappy VW. And there’s a bar for sliding fore and aft. To recline the seat look to the inside nearest the center console and you’ll find a thin lever that’s pretty flimsy. While the seats are comfortable, please don’t change mine as I don’t want to waste five minutes with the controls…

The seats do offer a great one-pull lever at the top. Yank that sucker and the seat leans forward and rolls totally up, giving your gimps – I mean passengers - fairly easy access to a relatively decent back space. For small people, the back’s decent and this assumes the driver and front passenger aren’t 6 footers. Small people in general will fit most comfortably in this bugger. Of course, the back seat passengers get one cup holder, no AC and the windows are fixed. Other than that, it’s bliss. Ah, screw them.

Settle behind the wheel and you’ll see a tiny pod behind a smallish wheel. The pod houses the all important tach. A button allows you to cycle an LCD to reveal gas mileage, temp and speed, etc. Mine stays mostly on the speedometer. This LCD is the same basic On-Board Computer as the e9x – allowing you to set things like when your doors lock, how long the lights stay on after you turn off the car, etc. Handy and as I had an e90 I got into it and adjusted everything.

To your right, mounted to the dash is a giant serving plate with numbers. Hey, that Big Ben thing is the speedometer. Sorta. The speedometer dial and the numbers correspond to speed theoretically. I think it might be guessing as the speedometer is always 5-12 mph off my actual speed (handy road-side radar speed signs help with this). Regardless, guests in the Mini oh and ah over the giant speedo and then ask how I can drive and look at it. I try not to. It’s for show, like parsley and I imagine most Mini drivers don’t eat the parsley.

Big Ben’s also got a gas gauge that uses cryptic, lighted slashes to indicate how full your tank is but those slashes apparently have no connection to reality. Or a Mini in a parallel universe maybe projects its gas consumption into my car. Sometimes the slashes fade after 10 miles and sometimes after 50. Could this be related to the Mini’s exceptional mileage? I don’t think so as I can drive like a maniac and nothing will change. Additionally, the last two slashes turn bright red when they’re the last two lit. When you get to one slash the demonic Mini computer seizes control of your wheel-mounted pod LCD and forces you every 2 tenths of a mile to take note that the Mini believes you are low on gas. Ever try using a speedometer that disappears every 2 tenths of a mile? Yeah, this genius-design changes the pod’s LCD from a speedo to a big freaking yellow gas pump. At that point, use the tach to determine speed. The Mini knows better; it’s like your mother-in-law but even more in your face.

That pizza pan also contains the radio. Yeah, it’s an all-in-wonder and it makes me wonder how I can put in my own stereo. One tiny spinning cone in the center controls the stereo selections (channel or tuner/aux/CD). Another similar cone mounted lower controls volume. It’s a design only a really, really bad programmer could be proud of. Sound quality on the base stereo vacillates from bad to empty. But the car comes with an aux input so you can listen to your MP3 player through some really lousy door-mounted speakers.

Filling out the rest of the dash are tiny, fashionable air vents. When the car’s HVAC is set to just air, they blow a steady stream of warm air into the car. Roll that BMW-style temp gauge to solid blue and you’ll still get warm air. It’s 55 degrees outside, yet the Mini’s pumping the car with superheated air. Often the HVAC’s accompanied by a racket akin to Chewbacca banging on the Millennium Falcon’s engine. Shut off the HVAC, Chewie calms down.

Flip on the AC and boom you’re getting cold air. Thank god! But as this is a 4 cylinder, watch out as the AC in town will sap your gas mileage faster than Britney Spears can cause another scandal.

Further down the dash a few more funky toggles exist among the window switches. One handles the DSC and another in my car handles the fog lights. Apparently. Never used ‘em. And considering the car lights up the tires instantly with DSC, I wonder if DSC will get turned off in this car ever?

One last interior bit: the black plastic used on the doors and dash attracts fingerprints/marks. I’ve had BMW’s with gray interiors so maybe all black BMW cars do this. Not sure. It’s sure making me use tons of lotion though as the car driver’s door needs a weekly cleaning to remove white marks.

Finally, the car’s got a great amount of space. For front seat passengers, it’s comfortable and if needed two more can be squeezed into the back. Need to transport anything bigger than a few groceries? The back seats tumble forward with ease, turning the car’s small trunk into one big hole. Will it take a surfboard? No. But a trip to Costco for groceries is possible with the Mini. Just watch the hot exhaust when you go into the trunk – youch that hurts when wearing shorts.


DRIVE

The meat and potatoes. Up to this point you’re probably thinking, why did he buy this car? Well hold tight for a few paragraphs.

Starting an R56 Cooper S without Comfort Access is just like starting an e9x without Comfort Access; an exercise in hating bean counters and bad engineers. Push the mini key into the ignition and THEN press the start button. At least it can almost be done in one semi-fluid motion, unlike the e9x cars. I had Comfort Access on my e90; I miss this dearly. Get CA. Don’t even fret about it. Keys are for suckers. BMW should make CA standard across the board and make you pay extra to get this lame two-stage on/off design.

Once fired up the little 1.6 liter turbo grumbles to life. Yeah, grumbles. It’s got a fun little sound like a kitten trying to be scary. Unlike the tomb-quiet e90s, you hear the Mini Cooper’s exhaust. All the time. Idle it’s there purring, stroke the gas and lets out a grumble and step on it and growls loudly. My fiancée swears she can hear my car coming through the neighborhood if the house’s windows are open. Maybe she’s got preternatural hearing. Regardless, the little 1.6 liter sounds good in this car (but watch those dual-center-mounted exhaust pipes when wearing shorts). One thing – be sure to tap the Sport button by the 6 speed as this changes the throttle to be more responsive and it tightens the steering.

Engage the clutch and the move the six speed and everything feels very BMW. Same weight to the shifter, same vague clutch and same vague shifting action. Powering through the gears I can say there’s not a big difference between the e9x’s manual and my Cooper. The one big thing – the e9x has more torque down low so it’ll pull from a lower RPM. Otherwise, BMW’s manual feels like my Mini’s, for better or worse, it feels familiar.

The little turbo is the nice revelation in the car. Get it up near 2k and the car squirts off the line. Tests are showing 0-60 times in the low to mid 6s. I’d believe it. The engine pulls strongly through 5k RPM. At any time and in about the right gear, you’ve got ample power on tap. For a 2600 lb car, 180+ ft-lbs of torque will get you moving. And boy will this car move.

And because it’s got BMW genes, it’ll cruise too. At 80 with AC the car will get over 35 MPG on long freeway drives. At any moment if you goose the throttle the little sucker will take off. Seriously, at 80, 100 is just a hard press away and whoosh you’re at lose-my-license speeds in a flash. On the open road, not only is the power there but in typical BMW fashion, the car swallows miles as serenely as you like (the throttle does drone a bit).

That BMW-designed suspension allows for thousands of easy freeway miles. I’ve racked up about 800 miles on several 200+ mile drives and they’ve been comfortable in a way only a BMW provides.

On city streets the miles aren’t as sweet. For this I blame BMW’s decision to stick with the worst technology of the past few years: run flat tires. Like my e90, the Cooper S feels fine on RFTs until you hit anything in the road. An expansion joint, a rock, uneven pavement and the RFTs bounce and case the car to skip. It’s maddening and it truly removes some confidence in the car. I’ve stuck with the tires for 3 months but if I last 1 year with these craptastic tires, I’ll be surprised. Switching to real tires on my e90 improved handling and city driving massively; doing the same for the Mini should help.

If not for the RFTs, the suspension would be darned good. On smooth-as-silk pavement the Mini tracks almost as well as my e90 and e46. It’s planted and feels tight on good roads. Add road irregularities and my non-RFT e90 and my e46 shined; the poor Mini in RFT-shoes turns into spastic kid, bouncing left and right and robbing the driver of control.

For a FWD car, the Mini’s astoundingly fun to drive. Enter a corner, break late to push the weight on the front and you can zip in ways that are truly eye-opening. The car responds immediately to driver inputs. Is it on par with my e46 or e90? No. Both car were far better and the Mini would be far more engaging to drive if it were RWD but alas it’s FWD and I’ll live with the limitations of a gimped drivetrain.

Additionally, the body seems inclined to roll in corners – this is somewhat a result of FWD. You have to put the weight back on the front in corners. But overall, the suspension seems softer than I prefer. I felt the same way about my e90 with ZSP. Hell, even my e46 ZHP felt soft. Maybe I want too much.


Finally, in small urban areas the Mini shines in ways the current behemoth 3 series can’t. It’s small, nimble and quick meaning a gap in traffic is easy to shoot with the Mini. In parking garages and lots the car’s so tiny and maneuverable that it’s cake to whip around and find a spot. Want to parallel park? The car’s stupid easy to do this with – though BMW’s tilt-down mirror still rules for making that task extra easy. For reasons beyond me, my dealership ordered my car with Park Distance Control. Why anyone would get PDC on a hatchback is beyond me. Alas, it’s there.

Conclusion

I love driving my Mini Cooper S. Does it have some quirks and shortcomings? Yep. But overall I enjoy being behind the wheel. It gets me around efficiently (averaging over 30 mpg); it’s comfortable for me and my fiancée; it’s got the space I need should we have passengers or need to move reasonable extras; and finally it’s fun. With more power than I could use legally and fairly tight handling, the Mini Cooper S is far more entertaining than my e90 and almost as engaging as my e46 ZHP. The Cooper S should be an easy car to live with for the next few years.

dude, you should write for car and driver!




i picked up my boxster in march as well (and still have my e46 330i to compare it to). perhaps i'll write up my 3 month experience as well...

Awesome write-up!

Excellent review!! Just everything a new buyer (with BMW background) needs to know to make a decision. Writing style is better than any car magazine too! Thank you...

Excellent. Thanks blue...

Originally Posted by blueguydotcom

I bought my Cooper S at the end of March and I’m not proud to admit that I paid MSRP for the car. Like a mark of shame, for the rest of my life I have to admit I gave a dealership full MSRP for a car. What the dealers do to deserve over 2k in profit is beyond my understanding. This little car better hold its value!

Dealers are still limited on inventory, and as a result the marker price for this car is still MSRP. I know most of you would like a discount, but it does make it a bit easier in that you know you're not being taken advantage of and you don't have to worry about if you paid too much.

Being on the BMW and now MINI side of things over the past few years, I see that MINI dealers do make money but not crazy amounts like you think they would selling everything at MSRP, at least relative to BMW. Even at close to invoice, the BMW dealer is still doing quite fine, while at that price structure the MINI dealer would go out of business. Don't ask me to elaborate, but just trust me on this one. The margin in the car is all the MINI dealer is making, and that is not the case with BMW.

Originally Posted by SARAFIL

Dealers are still limited on inventory, and as a result the marker price for this car is still MSRP. I know most of you would like a discount, but it does make it a bit easier in that you know you're not being taken advantage of and you don't have to worry about if you paid too much.

Being on the BMW and now MINI side of things over the past few years, I see that MINI dealers do make money but not crazy amounts like you think they would selling everything at MSRP, at least relative to BMW. Even at close to invoice, the BMW dealer is still doing quite fine, while at that price structure the MINI dealer would go out of business. Don't ask me to elaborate, but just trust me on this one. The margin in the car is all the MINI dealer is making, and that is not the case with BMW.

If one opts for leasing, then the dealers tack on high MFs and bump the acquisition fee. From what I noticed, all the dealers seem to add profit padders too - like lojack. If one isn't careful, it's easy to get sucked into a vicious deal that nets the dealer thousands extra in profits.

Minis totally rock - I'm still tempted to get one.

Ed

Thanks for the nice comments guys (save for the one guy who apparently told me to f-off). It's really a fun little car - just packed with an assortment of oddness.

Originally Posted by blueguydotcom

Thanks for the nice comments guys (save for the one guy who apparently told me to f-off). It's really a fun little car - just packed with an assortment of oddness.

Sorry, just noticed it. I removed it.

Thanks for such a nice read. "almost as engaging as my e46 ZHP", that is something!

Hey Blue,

A few follow-up questions (even though it's only 3months in to your ownership)...

1- any unnecessary trips to the dealership since purchase?

2- would you buy this car again? (sounds like you would)

3- do you prefer this over the A3?

Thanks.

Originally Posted by sunilsf

Hey Blue,

A few follow-up questions (even though it's only 3months in to your ownership)...

1- any unnecessary trips to the dealership since purchase?

2- would you buy this car again? (sounds like you would)

3- do you prefer this over the A3?

Thanks.

1. One trip to the dealer to replace trunk trim (the lip over the license plate bracket) that was damaged before delivery. Dealer took over 6 weeks to get the part but they were kind enough to give me an 07 Cooper with Automatic as a loaner for the day while they repaired the lip. I can't fathom why any person would get the base Cooper with automatic - no power, quiet, gas mileage wasn't that much better (about 34 mpg), softer ride.

2. Yep. It's a blast and the car's one of those once-in-a-lifetime vehicles. Like owning a convertible, I kinda feel everybody should own a Cooper S for a bit.

3. The A3's great for a few things: long drives/trips, when we go out for a nicer dinner/event, when we need to transport 3 people or more, when we know we'll be in crappy traffic (DSG) and when we might need to pick up more than the Cooper can hold. The A3 is the adult car and my finacee plans to hold onto it for some time. The Cooper is a short-term car that I will replace when we start a family.

Holy Cow!! I didn't know the Mini was FWD? I figured since BMW now owns it, it would be RWD or AWD. Man that sucks.

Great write up, however.

tell you a funny story (i'll try to keep it short).

bg, I am shocked, absolutely SHOCKED that the words "torque steer" did not appear anywhere in your review. As much as I like the R56, that one flaw really mars the drive for me.

Originally Posted by SmoothCruise

Holy Cow!! I didn't know the Mini was FWD? I figured since BMW now owns it, it would be RWD or AWD. Man that sucks.

Great write up, however.

It's heading into its seventh model year - where you been

Originally Posted by philippek

bg, I am shocked, absolutely SHOCKED that the words "torque steer" did not appear anywhere in your review. As much as I like the R56, that one flaw really mars the drive for me.

My car doesn't get any torque steer with the Sport button on. As long as the Sport button is depressed - which is something I do when turning on the car - the car behaves fine. I won't drive it without the button depressed as the steering is too loose all around and the throttle response too slow.

Originally Posted by SmoothCruise

Holy Cow!! I didn't know the Mini was FWD? I figured since BMW now owns it, it would be RWD or AWD. Man that sucks.

Great write up, however.

I knew it was FWD, but that doesn't change the fact that I dislike FWD and find that to be the biggest flaw in the car. You can fall in love with a girl that has a bad habit but that doesn't mean you'll learn to like that part of her personality.

Great write up! I haven't owned a FWD car in 15 years. I'm still thinking about a MCS when the MX-5 comes off lease next July. The absurd user interface might put me off one. Or BMW may fix it for next year. Yeah right.

One question: I know you bought your car off the lot but... PDC? On a Mini? Is that any use at all? We're getting it on the X3, but it has a significant blind spot in the back.

Originally Posted by Andrew*Debbie

G

One question: I know you bought your car off the lot but... PDC? On a Mini? Is that any use at all? We're getting it on the X3, but it has a significant blind spot in the back.

None at all. It was obviously ordered by the dealer to pad the profits.

Originally Posted by SARAFIL

Dealers are still limited on inventory, and as a result the marker price for this car is still MSRP. ... The margin in the car is all the MINI dealer is making, and that is not the case with BMW.

Unfortunately it does make Mini lease payments on the high side.

Sometimes buying is better than leasing

Originally Posted by Andrew*Debbie

Unfortunately it does make Mini lease payments on the high side.

Sometimes buying is better than leasing

At the time, leasing rates were in the 7-9% range. Plus there's the whole lease acquisition fee. Those two factors negated the attractiveness of leasing. Navy Fed has a 5% 60 month loan and 3.5 36 month. No reason to take a bath on interest.

Originally Posted by SARAFIL

Dealers are still limited on inventory, and as a result the marker price for this car is still MSRP. I know most of you would like a discount, but it does make it a bit easier in that you know you're not being taken advantage of and you don't have to worry about if you paid too much.

Being on the BMW and now MINI side of things over the past few years, I see that MINI dealers do make money but not crazy amounts like you think they would selling everything at MSRP, at least relative to BMW. Even at close to invoice, the BMW dealer is still doing quite fine, while at that price structure the MINI dealer would go out of business. Don't ask me to elaborate, but just trust me on this one. The margin in the car is all the MINI dealer is making, and that is not the case with BMW.

So, I stopped by BMWSF to pick up some oil for my car and decided to check out the Mini's.... every single one had a "Addt'l Dealer Markup" of $2,500!! I asked the sales guy what it was for and he tells me it's because they have to pay to have these in stock (umm... flooring, yes all dealerships pay to have inventory as it makes selling the product easier).

Then, I say "So if I order one of these, then there isn't an additional $2500 mark-up, right?"... He sheepishly says, that "Actually, we'd add the $2,500 to that too".

I don't know if I'm more offended by this dealership's practice or the people who patronize this place and pay the mark up.

I'm not in the market for a car, but I'm guessing this practice is limited to the bone-heads running this dealership.

Great write up !

Hate to bring this up - but what about the negatives of the small size. I worry about crash worthiness with all the a$$hat soccer moms driving Suburbans whilst yaking on their non-bluetooth cell phones out there.