Full MINI Convertible Launch Report from Geneva
MINI2 Attends the 74th Geneva International Motor Show - MINI Convertible World Premiere
Tuesday 2nd March 2004 saw the MINI Convertible (Cabriolet in some markets) make it’s world premiere at the 74th International Motor Show at Palexpo, Geneva, Switzerland. As you would expect from the Number One Independent New MINI Site - MINI2 was on hand to witness the event.
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Launching this Summer in some parts of Europe and late Summer in the USA and other countries, the MINI Convertible has been the hot topic of recent times in the MINI community as well as the motoring press, who had crammed around the small but colourful MINI display area early in the day to catch the first glimpse of the new soft top.
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The MINI presentation was brief, with a short introductory speech from Dr Michael Ganal, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, who introduced us to the Convertible tag line, or theme, “Always Open”. The speech was kept very brief, with a short summary of the MINI One and Cooper Convertible’s performance figures and the concept and ideas behind the 4 seater soft top. The MINI Convertible was driven onto the cat walk by a group of models, including one very large dog.
o, I’m not being rude, there really was a large dog in the back of one of the Convertibles, however judging by the scratched on the plastic trim of that car, that might not have been such a wise gimmick.
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MINI had on display several Convertibles which we were free to sit in, play with, pull around, poke and snap pictures of to our hearts content. The range on display featured a
Cool Blue MINI Cooper Convertible with blue roof, colour coded dash, chrome exterior and interior packs, as well as satellite navigation and other optional extras including new 17″ wheels, a British Racing Green MINI Cooper Convertible featuring bonnet stripes, green roof, beige interior, anthracite dash and chrome option packs and a Hot Orange MINI Cooper Convertible, with xenon lights, colour coded interior options as well as the new chrono style gauge pack. These were joined outside by a more conservatively kitted out Silver MINI One Convertible with a black roof (the only option for a MINI One) as well as R90 alloy wheels and red half leather interior trim.
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In addition to the cars outside on display, MINI also had two further orange Convertibles, a Cooper and a One inside their MINI display area, which also feature interactive fun and games as well as a bar and live DJ providing the entertainment.
The MINI display area also had an area to buy MINI stuff, which included a “virtual wardrobe” device which allowed you to take snaps of your body “wearing” computer generated MINI gear! Outside a few of hard top MINIs were also on display, and a John Cooper Works S occupied one corner of the first floor bar area.
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The Cars, The Convertible - A Guided Tour and Opinions.
Having spent the best part of a day crawling all over the Convertible at Geneva it was very hard to decide how best to present the information gleaned from the show. After a
lot of head scratching we’ve decided to take you around car by car, and we’ll attempt to focus on the unique or more interesting aspects of each one as we go.
MINI Cooper Convertible - Cool Blue, Blue Roof.
Of all the cars on the stand this car was certainly one of the more popular, quite probably because it was the only car in the new blue, exclusive to the Convertible. The colour
also seems to be getting quite a positive response. The cool blue has a grey shade to it and despite appearing quite light under the bright spots of the motor show, it had quite a deep feel to it.
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The photograph above shows the roof at around the half way stage of the opening/closing manoeuvre, the roof can close in as little as 15 seconds and is operated with two buttons, one for open and one for close, which will be illustrated later in the article. The second photograph above shows some of the crowd of media professionals around the MINI Convertible, and above you can see a MINI Once Convertible being positioned, next to a giant video screen.
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The photo above shows the easy load system which is unique in the market to the MINI Convertible. When the roof is closed with a few lever and latch movements you can fold open the rear of the MINI to allow easy access for loading and unloading your luggage. The boot, when in “winter mode” has a capacity of 165 litres, although with the parcel shelf in it’s second, lower position (which allows you to open the roof) the capacity is reduced to 120 litres. Total capacity with seats folded forward is a more impressive 605 litres.
The second photo shows the car with the roof fully closed.
he easy load system was pretty simple to use, if a little fiddley and is a neat feature. This does however result in a break in the chrome waist line trim to allow for the hinges
which looks a little odd.
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Above you can see the colour coded interior trim through the window as well as the leather seats and chrome line interior options such as the chrome trim around the dials and bezels.
This car also features the optional Harmon Kardon sound systemand satellite navigation. Also seen is the recently introduced three spoke multifunction steering wheel, as well as the new door arm rest which is more curved. There will be more on the interior changes later in this report.
To the right you can see a photo of the new rear light cluster which now incorporates a reversing lamp (one each side of the car) in place of the fog light which is moved where the reverse light once lived. My view of these lights is while they’re quite nice, they’re very much the same as rear lights you might find on any number of modern vehicles. MINI may be making an effort to look less retro, but these just seem a little too run of the mill for my liking. I’m sure however that two reverse lights are better than one, and a low singular rear fog lamp also makes sense in practical terms. One plus point is the lights are very “deep”, which is hard to capture on camera.
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This group of photographs (above and two rows below) show the new redesigned Xenon headlamps, to be introduced as an option first on the MINI Convertible before going across the MINI range. My best description of these lights after seeing them in the flesh is probably “quite bizarre”. The plastic silver section with two hoops at the fore of the lamp cluster looks a little cheap in my eyes, however the xenon module, pod, call it what you like that’s above that is something else! When switched off it’s looks like something from Star Wars or Flight of the Navigator, when switched on it looks a bit like ET’s mother ship has landed in your headlamp unit!
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One of the coolest things, besides the ring of light around the main xenon bulb area, is the self leveling feature, which sees the bulb unit move around like some robotic eye ball
in a very peculiar socket. When illuminated the unit is something quite remarkable which I am sure will get a lot of comments, good and bad, from the casual observer.
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The Xenon lights are not bi-xenon units, the full beam for night time/country lane use is still halogen you can see the difference in lighting in the examples two rows up, the photo on the left shows just the high beam (xenon), the following picture, and the photos directly above this text, show the halogen full beams on as well as the xenon bulbs.
While this funky like unit is undoubtedly a talking point, and something that will ensure you know for sure it IS a MINI in your rear view mirror on a dark evening drive, I’m not sure how comfortable these busy, some would say fussy, light units looked on the new, less fussy MINI front end, with the smooth grille surround. I couldn’t help but feeling they appeared a little out of place. But then lights that unique would probably always stand out, whatever car you placed them in.
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Above and to the right you can see the full load capacity of the MINI Convertible with the rear seats folded forward. The handle on the boot lid you can just make out on the right is an emergency release pull cord, a required safety feature. On the right you can see the MINI Cooper Convertible in profile, roof fully closed.
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The sequence of three photos above show the roof at various points during the opening procedure. The first photo above and to the left shows the “sunroof” fully reclined.
The sunroof is again unique to the MINI and can be operated at speeds up to 60 mph. Some have said it looks a little untidy, and I tend to agree, but for those in the car it’s actually surprisingly effective at bringing some light into the cabin. How noisy, or otherwise, this might be at high speeds is yet to be seen.
To retract the hood you have to press and hold the button which is located above the rear view mirror, this will first pen the sunroof, and with another press you can open the
roof fully. Releasing the button immediately halts the procedure as a safety precaution. The fully electronic folding system is pretty quick and extremely smooth and quiet in operation.
The roof also folds away very neatly, and appears relatively smart considering there is no cover for the hood. The operation
of the roof and windows was for me one of the most impressive features on the car, a very good solution.
The sunroof and full hood can also be opened via remote control as part of the “comfort opening” feature many MINI
owners will already be enjoying on their hatchback models.
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Below is a rear overview shot of the car with the lights on, and to the right is a shot from behind the rollover bar structure forward across the length of the car. At this point I have to mention the chrome rollover bars on the MINI Convertible, which were a big disappointment. They are chromed plastic, they appear to be two part, snapped together over the tubing, and while they do look nice, certainly better than the plain plastic you will see later in this article, they feel extremely cheap to the touch. I already felt that the back end interior of the Convertible looked too plasticy, but when one of the
“metallic” parts of that structure feels so plastic and cheap to the touch, I have to admit my heart sunk a little. A case of look, but don’t touch, if you want to stand a chance
of impressing anyone I’m afraid.
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On a more positive note, the new chrome line exterior trim, especially on the rear bumper, looked very good indeed and actually seems somehow classier than the current “faux
bumpers” which give a big nod to classic Mini design.
The rear of the car in particular felt more chunky, despite the retro boot hinges, and the front looks quite different too, more squat, but also more smiley.
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Above and to the left you can see the roof closed, with both front and rear windows slightly contracted. The windows also contract slightly automatically when you open the roof. The small rear quarter windows can also be opened and closed, as a pair, by controls mounted above the rear view mirror,next to the roof controls, they have one touch opening, but not closing.
To the right above you can see the rear passenger area as with one seat back folded forward. The parcel shelf can be seen in the “summer position” which allows you to retract the roof, you can see how low this is compared to the winter position which allows an extra 45 litres of capacity.
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Above you can see the door panel with colour coded trim and leather padded arm rest. As well as having a larger soft area, the new arm rests curve inwards more, meaning they are much more practical to use as a place to rest your arms, something that you really would expect an armrest to be good for! The down side to the new curved armrest is it makes using the door storage bins slightly less practical because the gap is narrowed a great deal between the rest and the bin. It’s a pay off, and I’m sure opinions will be divided on this one.
One thing you can deny, in it’s primary function as an armrest, something the current design is pretty weak as, it’s a successful design tweak.
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Two more photos above illustrating the Convertible sunroof feature, and then showing the roof fully reclined. As with most convertibles the car really looks it’s best with the roof folded out of the way. In all the photos of the Cooper Convertibles you will notice the new colour coded wing mirrors, which will be introduced as a unique feature of the Convertible.
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In addition to the addition “sunroof” photo above, four photos here show some different seat and boot positions, highlighting once more the easy load system. The last picture below before the closed boot image shows the easy load system fully in place, the parcel shelf is once again shown in it’s lower position.
In the photo above, you will notice that despite having the satellite navigation system, this MINI Convertible is sporting the same antenna as the non-GPS enabled cars. The GPS antenna on the Convertible is different to hard topped MINIs and is incorporated all into one unit.
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We will conclude our focus on the Cool Blue MINI Cooper Convertible with two further shots of the interior. The photo to the left also shows in part the new storage under the hand brake lever on the centre tunnel, which is a small tray probably useful for no more than a few coins or small trinkets. Again you can also see once more the chrome line interior pack and three spoke multifunctional steering wheel and colour coded trim items. The seats are dark blue leather sports seats with orange stitching which looked very nice indeed.
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MINI One Convertible - Pure Silver, Black Roof.
The base model MINI One, which as with the hatch back MINI One will only be released in selected markets, will only have the option of a black fabric roof. Apart from that, the options for the MINI One Convertible are almost identical to those available for the Cooper. The cost in the UK will br around £13,000, a MIINI spokes person said you can expect to pay a premium of around £2,500 for the MINI Convertible across the range of models including the Cooper and Cooper S which will be revealed later this year. A full price and options list should soon be available in most European markets.
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For the Convertible the MINI One and Cooper now share the same three slat upper grille configuration as the Cooper S, this MINI One featured the chrome line exterior trim, and new design standard fitment halogen light units (below). The photo below and to the right shows the roof folded away neatly. Despite being a relatively long roof in relation to vehicle length the hood folds quite compactly.
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The rear three quarter shot (as shown below on the right) is most peoples least favourite angle to view the new convertible, it highlights the amount of canvas that’s wrapped around the rear area and glass, heated rear screen.
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To the left below you can see the silver dash and red half leather seats. As with all front interior shots you can see the new simplified dash design with airbag unit moved above the dash to the soft upper dash rail area. Changes such as these, it has been confirmed, will eventually appear on the hatchback, but not directly at the time of the Convertible launch.
Rear passenger space is compromised on the Convertible, several centimetres are lost in width at either side due to the roof mechanism, and 4 centimetres of foot room (length) is also sacrificed, this time for steel strengthening bars under the car. The MINI has been beefed up considerably to counter act any loss of rigidity.
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The photo below shows the cabin from the other side, while on the right you can see the rear with one seat folded down, as before the parcel shelf is in the lower position to allow the roof to be opened. You can also see clearly how neatly the mechanism folds into the cars bodywork in good detail in this photograph.
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The area above the cabin is quite different in the MINI Convertible to it’s hatchback brethren. MINI appears to have been in the BMW parts bin, as many parts look like their 3 series’ equivalent. You can see different sun visors, with small mirrors hidden by sliding covers, and a new central lighting unit. The window also feels more raked and low than the standard car, however this wasn’t confirmed, it could just be an optical illusion as the interior feels much darker than the hard top MINI. Notice also the lack of clock on the central mirror/control
unit.
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The following are a sequence of interior shots taken from the drivers seat with the roof closed. The roof shuts firmly and standing still in a noisy environment insulation appeared very good. The fabrics used as basically the same as the 3 series BMW, so this should offer some reassurance in terms of quality of insulation for both heat, and noise.
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As you can probably tell, rear view is seriously compromised in the MINI Convertible, which is why most, if not all markets will supply parking distance control as standard. Both the rear view mirror and “over your shoulder” views are restricted because of the roll bars in the rear, and the large canvas wrap on the c-pillar sections.
Headroom is also reduced, but at six foot tall I had no problems at all in the front, and in the rear was also fine, however I do admit to feeling a little uneasy the first time the roof was closed while positioned in the rear seat, it felt very close, although in truth there probably was a good few inches to spare.
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With the roof closed it is very dark in the cabin, dark and very plasticy. I was more than a little disappointed at the sheer volume of plastic verses canvas you actually have over your head when the roof is closed, in fact I felt that overall the car felt maybe a little too plasticy overall.
The good side of being inside the MINI Convertible with the roof closed is you do feel very cocooned from the outside world, and although I have no real world experience of this, you do get the impression that the car would still feel snug in the worst winter weather, despite obviously being a car designed almost purely for open top fun.
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These four pictures show the roof in various positions from inside and outside of the car. The MINIs were busy all day opening up and closing again and all seemed to go without a hitch. The roof clicks into place with reassuring accuracy and purpose, and you certainly feel that once the front sections have clamped into place, they really are going nowhere until you decide it’s time for more open topped fun!
The canvas roof feels of good quality (3 series) and when shut tight the canvas feels solid and firm. The engineers have obviously been working hard to make sure this is a quality roof system that really works well, and despite rumours of problems, on today’s performance it looks like they’ve done a tremendous job.
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MINI Cooper Convertible - Hot Orange, Blue Roof.
The first car out onto the catwalk for the big premier, this car with it’s Hot Orange paintwork contrasting nicely with it’s blue fabric roof was certainly attention seeking if nothing else! The new, Convertible only metallic orange is a strange colour to describe. In MINIs own press images it has appeared very red, while at this show, under various neon and coloured bright lights, it actually looked quite a “peachy” shade of orange. While quite a vibrant colour, it was nothing like the really loud, really “orange” orange myself, and I’m sure other will have been hoping for.
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The blue roof and orange bodywork, a fairly classic colour match, worked well together, and the colour coded interior also set the car off nicely, if you’re a fan of this shade of orange, then this colour combination is one I’d certainly recommend. Very vibrant and bold, certainly a cheerful selection for the summer time motorist!
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This car was another equipped with the new xenon light units, as well as having the chrome line exterior option pack and the new 5 star bullet 17″ alloy wheels, in silver. None of the cars at the show featured the chrome boot hinges that have been shown in spy shots published before on this site and other publications. Personally I felt the hinges seemed a little too retro, as well as overly chunky, on a model the design team seem to be trying to slowly up date and move away from retro styling cues. That said, they’re not something I’d let put me off my purchase if I were considering a Convertible.
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The next two images show the optional chrono style gauge pack that MINI will be offering. As you can see, this option means the speedo is relocated above the steering column, as it is with satellite navigation, and the central speedo is replaced by a set of useful dials. The dials are oil pressure and temperature, as well as water temperature, and fuel gauge. Also a bank of warning lights are incorporated into the design.
Hopefully from these high resolution images you can start to make your own mind up, but for me this was the single biggest let down of the MINI Convertible at Geneva. I thought the idea was a brilliant one, but personally think it has been very poorly executed. I felt the design, and choice of materials, made the dials look quite out of place and ill at ease in the large central area. I think it looked quite cheap, and a like a real after thought. Other decisions the designers have made, like the fact the fuel gauge looks like a traditional black plastic gauge, while the water gauge is literally just sunk into the plastic, and the oil gauge is sunk with a chrome ring around it, which breaks for the fuel gauge ring, to me it looked messy and a bit of a shambles. Obviously enough people were happy with the design for it to get the nod, and maybe I’ll be outspoken on this, but like the plasticy chrome rollover hoops, I think this is a bad show.
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The following images show the new cubby area under the handbrake and under the central console/switch panel (left) and the mirror and control panel area with the roof retracted.
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More shots show the over shoulder view of the rear with the roof retracted, and the interior again with colour coded dash, three spoke steering wheel, chrono pack and chrome line options. This MINI also feature auto air con and fabric seats.
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And finally for this section a rear three quarter shot with door open and roof down, and a side on view of the unique and very handy easy load system in action.
One point I feel is worth mentioning relates the rear hatch. Through the duration of the show I witnessed many people, including myself, struggling to fully close the hatch of all the MINI Convertibles on display. It certainly took a very firm shove to get it to lock in place. It wasn’t a quality feeling “firmness”, it just felt like you had to slam it into place for it to work. This was commented on by
others at the show too. This could simply be because the cars were so new, but it reminded me of the problem many had have closing the rear hatch on the hard top version, only more tricky still!
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MINI Cooper Convertible - British Racing Green, Green Roof.
The British Racing Green MINI Cooper Convertible was not one of the cars attracting most attention, but this established MINI colour did suit the soft top particularly well, and the dark green roof had a look of quality about it, and matched the paintwork very well indeed. The only limitation of the green roof I can foresee is that I don’t believe it will look particularly sharp with any other colour car, but time will tell.
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This MINI Cooper featured Cordoba Beige leather sports seats and trim, as well as a dark contrasting anthracite dash and chrome line interior option, which set off the dark tones of the dash board and centre column beautifully. The contrasting light and dark shade that were a theme of this display car certainly looked very sharp and I think this could become a popular combination for the Convertible considering the green roof option.
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All of the cars on show were equipped with ISOFIX (Latch - USA) child seat fixings, and the rear seats include a leather pull handle to the outside of the headrest area which allows you to pull the seats forwards with ease. While I have previously mentioned the rear passenger space is compromised, it is worth saying that it’s still impressive for a car as short of the MINI to be converted in such a manner, and still be able to carry four people, even if at least one person on each side better have short legs and small feet!
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This car also featured white R91 5 star bullet wheels, which I over heard many people commenting on, all positive comments too! You can see in the photos above also the chrome rings around the front fog lights which will form part of the Convertible chrome line exterior option, as well as more views of the redesigned halogen headlamp unit.
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The four photographs above and below this text show you around the car with the hood fully open. In photographs I feel the rear of the hood appears to stand a little more proud than it actually appears in person. You can also see on the rear shots the layout of the standard parking distance control sensors, and of course new rear light clusters.
The third brake light is integrated neatly into the chrome waist belt on the MINI Convertible, it looks very neat and tidy and is a clever design solution which seems obvious but appears to have been well thought out and executed. It’s little details like this which can seriously affect the overall appearance
of a car.
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Below is a further shot of the Cooper Convertible focusing on the new front end with chrome strip over the lower intake and curved bumper section. The second photo once again shows the sunroof fully open. As many have already commented on the aerial does appear a little out of place on the front of the roof, and the base is quite large compared to the current model’s aerial attachment.
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MINI One Convertible - Hot Orange, Black Roof.
Our final photo focus is on the MINI One Convertible that you can see on the second floor of the MINI display and bar area sitting proudly on the edge of an open sided booth. I wouldn’t have like to have been responsible for positioning that car!
There is not much to be said about this car that hasn’t been shown already on the other models, apart from this car features a new cloth interior trim pattern, and was the only car on display not fitted with chrome exterior accents, including the roll over bars above and attached to the rear head rests.
The last photo in this short sequence is an aerial view looking down onto a MINI Cooper Convertible which formed part of the interactive display area with featured hands free games promoting the fun aspect of MINI Convertible ownership.
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MINI Convertible - In Summary.
I spent the best part of a day on the MINI stand, crawling in pushing around pinching the MINI Convertible, overall impressions, despite some quite big disappointments, were good. The main Convertible feature, the roof, has been very carefully thought out and executed, and the design works well overall. It pulls tightly into place when shut and folds neatly out of the way when opened. When compared with a car like the VW New Beetle Convertible the MINI unit looks all the more remarkable.
With the roof open the car is by far at it’s best, while with it closed the shape is changed somewhat due to a squarer rear end and a large amount of canvass where the hardtop has nothing to show but glass. From the inside I did feel the car felt very dark compared to the bright and open feeling of the hatch back MINI, the sunroof option is very clever, and certainly helped in this respect allowing a great deal
of light into the cabin, but on a cold day that’s not going to be much help! The plus side again is that you do feel nicely cocooned from the outside world, how effective this is at blocking out noise on the move is yet to be seen, but it should be very good as it’s using tried and tested BMW technology.
The new interior is much improved, and the chrome pack for the inside of the car is also a long overdue and tidy option that I am sure will be popular with the general public. The extra storage of the cubby holes, and the lock on the glove box are sensible additions, however the new armrests will probably make the door storage bins far less user friendly.
Externally I feel the new rear lamp clusters are more miss than hit, and the front xenon lights are extremely quirky and will certainly not be to everyone’s tastes. When they’re on I think they look quite amazing, when switched off they do look a little fussy and overtly plastic, but overall I think they’re on to a winner. The halogen light clusters look much neater than the current option, although again I feel the the front section with two hoops is a little too plastic in appearance, this seemed to be a trend though as you walked around the motor show, so maybe they’ve judged the public right with this one?
I have no doubt that MINI are on to a winner with this car, the real proof is in the driving experience, if this car still “feels” like a MINI, then I think we can all take our hats off to MINI for doing a great job, if ride quality suffers for the sake of fashion, then I’m afraid it will be a less successful exercise. I received several reassurances that a lot of work has taken place to ensure that you don’t loose the MINI driving experience, MINI are keen to avoid the car being seen as nothing more than a fashion accessory.
With a Cooper S and 200 BHP Cooper S Works version due out later in the year, I certainly hope they’ve got it right!
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