Welcome to the forum
You and your wife will not regret getting a MINI - any model. As regards the ride, the S (standard with sports suspension plus) is always going to be bumpy. And the larger the wheels the bumpier the ride. Actually the "worst" I've ever been in is my mum's BMW 3-series coupé. Now that
is bumpy!
Anyway, MINI2 has several forums to help answer your questions. There's one each for: Cooper S, CVT and Automatic, Drivetrain and Tuning, Faults and Fixes etc etc. Have fun searching out your answers