# MINI: The Ultimate Commuting Machine??



## MarcusSDCA (Jan 14, 2004)

I was reading a new thread on northamericanmotoring.com and the person who just ordered a Mini was coming out of a 330i.......just got me thinking about my old 3 series cars. I got a low mpg of 16-20 depending on the tank. I had a manual trans and drove in a sporty fashion (not like granny but also not like a racer either). I wonder how many BMW drivers are going to look to something that gets better mpgs (like a Mini) after their leases run out. At least the DNA of the Mini is still Bavarian so there wouldn't be much of a sacrifice in the fit/finish or the driving experience. -:dunno:


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## Rich_Jenkins (Jul 12, 2003)

Idk...Love MINIs but I am averaging 25.0 mpg on my commute with my paid-for 2003 MT 330i.

Would a Cooper S get substantially better mpg? :dunno:


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## MarcusSDCA (Jan 14, 2004)

Let me post this quote from Adrian's BMW in the "Cooper S MPG" thread here at Bimmerfest:

"I don't have an S, but my Clubman 6 speed has been getting 41.8 mpg on my avg mpg obc after about 380 miles on the odo since June 28.. It's still showing 233 miles left of fuel range and a half a tank. Looks like I'll be using just about a tank a month.

My wife's 535xiT has 19.1 mpg on the obc after 374 miles since July 1. Not bad considering it's a twin turbo and awd."

( http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=267691&page=2 )

The non-S especially has phenomenal fuel economy. There is an apparent lack of inventory at dealerships now as many dealers are selling whatever they have on their lots.


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## brkf (May 26, 2003)

wingspan said:


> Idk...Love MINIs but I am averaging 25.0 mpg on my commute with my paid-for 2003 MT 330i.
> 
> Would a Cooper S get substantially better mpg? :dunno:


In combined traffic I got 23.5 mpg with my 03 330i (22 mpg with my 06 330i) and 30 mpg with my 07 Cooper S. all manuals, all driven hard.

I find the 35+ claims pretty much hard to believe with the 6 MT. My Cooper S if driven like a grandma and kept at around 55-60 might get 36 mpg. On long drives at 75 it'll average 33-34. I can't see how anyone could ever drive a Cooper S and not wring it out every chance they get though... I tried for a few weeks and pretty much hated my car for it (but I did average 33 in combined). Went back to normal 4-5k shifts and the car feels fun again.

So would a 5-6 mpg bump be worth it to you? That's only a 20-255%increase, so unless the price of gas is killing you, I don't think so. For me it was a 33% increase, I own the Cooper instead of leasing, it's barely lost any value in 16 months and it's more fun than my e90 330i (not even close to as much fun as my e46 ZHP though - night and day difference to me).


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## NJREDZ06 (Mar 31, 2008)

I really own my MCS for the fun factor rather than the MPG.
But it does get 35+ MPG
My 545i gets about 27
My Z4 gets about 30

This is all hwy commuting 30mi each way.


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## clubboy (Jul 18, 2008)

I'm hopefully buying a Manual Mini Base (2005) for the fuel economy. I'll likely drive it easy. It's less a money thing in terms of gas... more of a carbon footprint thing. Since my foot is quite light, I imagine I'd get some good MPG.


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## brkf (May 26, 2003)

NJREDZ06 said:


> I really own my MCS for the fun factor rather than the MPG.
> But it does get 35+ MPG
> My 545i gets about 27
> My Z4 gets about 30
> ...


Well all highway is highly irregular. In combined - highway, city, stop-n-go, Wide Open Throttle - I get about 30-31 mpg. I never get a chance to do just freeway.


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## Cliff (Apr 19, 2002)

wingspan said:


> Idk...Love MINIs but I am averaging 25.0 mpg on my commute with my paid-for 2003 MT 330i.
> 
> Would a Cooper S get substantially better mpg? :dunno:


I'm averaging 23 mpg over the life of the car, and I'm a bit of a leadfoot. Replacing my paid-for 330Ci with a new car is not likely to lead to financial nirvana..


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## Andrew*Debbie (Jul 2, 2004)

We have started shopping for a UK version Mini Clubman.

In the UK, all the MT cars have start stop (MSA). If you put the car in neutral and come off the clutch, the engine stops. That helps.

You can get the Mini Cooper D too. Here are the numbers from the UK drive cycle.

urban/extra urban All with the 6 speed manual. AT is lower.

Mini Cooper D 57.6/78.5 :yikes:
Mini Cooper 39.8/62.8
Mini Cooper S 35.3/53.3

There are about 1.2 US gallons in an imperial gallon. You can't directly compare UK and EPA numbers. You can look at the ratios of the numbers. The S uses a little more fuel and the D uses a lot less. The Mini Cooper D does a little *better* than a Prius in the UK drive cycle.

The Diesel costs about £1,200 more than a petrol engined Cooper. Performance is about the same. If you drive over about 14,000 miles a year, the diesel will pay for itself very quickly. Under 10,000 like us and it is a questionable expense.


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## woody underwood (Feb 9, 2004)

All I have to say is when the wife went from her Saturn VUE to the Mini Cooper S Clubman her monthly gas bills were cut by 75%. One tank of gas a month as opposed to the four the GM car was using. Thats a big chunk of money saved.


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## MarcusSDCA (Jan 14, 2004)

woody underwood said:


> All I have to say is when the wife went from her Saturn VUE to the Mini Cooper S Clubman her monthly gas bills were cut by 75%. One tank of gas a month as opposed to the four the GM car was using. Thats a big chunk of money saved.


Amen to that!

Can you imagine a Mini diesel? 60mpg???


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## Andrew*Debbie (Jul 2, 2004)

MarcusSDCA said:


> Can you imagine a Mini diesel? 60mpg???


Oh yeah.

Last trip over we rented a Peugeot 208 diesel. It is powered by diesel very similar to what goes into the Mini Cooper D. We got 50 miles per US gallon and that included a lot of city driving. The 208 is a 5 speed and doesn't have the auto-stop feature either...

PSA builds Mini engines under a joint agreement with BMW. Part of the deal includes BMW technology going into Peugeot motors.

In the UK vehicle license tax is based on carbon emissions not the value of the car. The Mini Cooper Clubman D is in band B. For a diesel, road tax is only $70/year. A Cooper Clubman is $240/year.


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## woody underwood (Feb 9, 2004)

MarcusSDCA said:


> Amen to that!
> 
> Can you imagine a Mini diesel? 60mpg???


Gee Marcus...we finally got on the same page (Think we had some differences in the past) I like the Mini...BMW did a good thing.


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## dr61 (Apr 27, 2007)

With my 2005 MCS I usually get 29-31 mpg (calculated) driving on long, flat freeway trips at 65-70 mph. A few weeks ago as an experiment, I did one stretch with cruise set to 60 mph on a nearly flat road for 120 miles between fill-ups. I calculated 36 mpg for this run. Hard to keep the speed this low however!


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## clubboy (Jul 18, 2008)

dr61 said:


> With my 2005 MCS I usually get 29-31 mpg (calculated) driving on long, flat freeway trips at 65-70 mph. A few weeks ago as an experiment, I did one stretch with cruise set to 60 mph on a nearly flat road for 120 miles between fill-ups. I calculated 36 mpg for this run. Hard to keep the speed this low however!


Next calculate how long the drive takes at 60 MPH versus 70 MPH. My experience is you don't save much time, and whatever time is saved, is worth it for the environment. :angel:


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