[R60 Mike]

Hay I have had my MCS since Monday and thought I would tell you what I have been thinking so far.

First thing is first is the smile is still on my face and will probably be a long time before it leaves.

My initial reaction to the Hifi Speaker system was a little disappointed but I have set it up for my needs with loads of bass the treble turned down a bit and faded to the rear slightly and its now great, the vocal range is amazing compared to my old one with boos the clarity of the music is amazing wish there was a little more bass but the louder you go the more bass u get, but I have found it a very different system but it really delivers when you set it up to you own personal taste.

Rite to the driving first thing I keep forgetting is how light the steering is I keep thinking I am getting into my old 1 but the R56 is effortless and I think I prefer it just easier to live with. The starter button is very cool amused alot of people with that one, and the mood lights are very nice mine is always set to blue just think it could do with being a little brighter but no complaints very fun toy, What else hmmmm the engine sounds alittle like strange from the outside all I can think to describe it is a diesel sound a little rattly, but hay who cares WHAT A ENGINE, I cant believe its a 1.6 just amazing. The exhaust popping and burbling is very cool and I thought I could hear a whistle the other day which I presume is the turbo was very nice had to listen very hard but I am sure it will get better once the run in has been done. But it puts a smile on my face just pressing start.

One thing I have noticed as well is if any one has ordered the brushed alloy dash or I cant rember what one it is which apparently dents easily is when you take you seat belt off as it pulls back it wacks right against the door trim so I would be very very careful makes me wince every time it hits as I keep forgetting,

The ride is so much better than my one which has 15" alloys and just normal suspension, and just driving on the exact same roads my MCS with 17" and Sports suspension is sooo much smoother just gliding over the bumps etc so I think its a much less jarring ride and especially when you consider just how smooth it feels.

I have found deep scratches on my CD insert and not very happy about that obviously done when being built and just not acceptable after 19k I think going to speak to my dealer about that soon.

Car is very solid not 1 rattle yet which makes me very happy just lets me get on with driving and once you get the hang of the strange arrangement of all the CD controls being kind of upside down and backwards lol its very easy and intuitive to use.

Very sorry that the review is not as well written as Pauls but I just thought I would give a brief review of what I feel about the car so far.

If you have any questions then please feel free to ask me as my mind went blank after deciding to write this so again I take my hat off to Paul as I never realised how hard this was before.

[UKC4]

I have one or two questions, how many miles does it take to run the new mini in, in the old model i think it was 1400 ish?

Elso my dealer told me that the "Sports Button" does not come standard on the Cooper S, but in the brochure it says it's standard, who is right on this???

[ru81]

A slightly weird question....... is the spare key the same as the main key (i.e. a round disc)?

[rec]

mentioned several times before, 1250 no more than 4500rpm.

nice write up R60 :] i'm getting mine next week and will do the same from a Cooper perspective

[R60 Mike]

Yep as said above is correct, The round disc has a button on the back that when you press it out pops a normal key to enter the car with incase fob fails but I cant see a key start for the car hope I neva have to look in to the situation,

The service indercator is very cool telling you how far your breaks have got left etc very usefull in a way but BMW will know exacitly how you driving it hmmmm not sure about that.

Also had 4 people in the car quite comfortably and in 6th doing 70 pulled very very well and impressed me loads. and probably the most impessive part are the breaks gives you loads of confidence and lots of feel, Can you tell I love the car?

[rec]

the key will allow you to get into the car should your battery run out in the fob. once you are in the car, you can then just put the key in the slot and it'll charge :]

that's what i've determined !

[UKC4]

Quote: Originally Posted by baldrick (original)

Sport button is std on the S in the UK
The handbook says 1250 miles

Ta mate

[UKC4]

Quote: Originally Posted by baldrick (original)

Yep, programmable for a different driver.

Another dum question, but what do you mean when you say... "programmable for a different driver"?

[Olly.]

Nice review

I have a really boring question but what sort of MPG are you getting? I'm interested to see if the promised MPG stats will ever come through

[Conor]

Great review,

How are you finding the quality of the half leather seats?

[UKC4]

Those part leather seats only look like minuete bit of leather compared to the outgoing Mini Part leather? havnt realy had chance to look in the flesh tbh.

[Paul]

Quote: Originally Posted by UKC4 (original)

Another dum question, but what do you mean when you say... "programmable for a different driver"?

In the new MINI you get "BMW style" Personal Profile options, that allow you to program various bits and pieces to your own liking (such as headlight courtesy delay, flashes for locking/unlocking the car and so on), and these are set "per key", so you can have different settings for different drivers.

[UKC4]

Thats not bad a nice little feature.

I suppose you can have one key for when your in a bad mood and another for when your in a Good mood!

[Paul]

Or (as we'll do) have "his n hers" settings.

[UKC4]

Went in today for a proper test drive, what a brilliant car!!! the power and the handling just brilliant. Scared the dealer person a bit as I thrashed A Fiesta ST and i was only in the car 5 minutes out of the 20 mins ish run!! It got round to valueing my mini, and that shattered any prospect of getting a new S early/mid 2007 full stop!!!! he only offered £10500 for my car, I wouldnt mind I speced it nowing that an S was in the pipline and was thinking of re-sale value!! Came out of the dealers striaght in to a Macdonalds (Comfort eating) for a large Big Mac!! The dealership was very helpfull though, but a bit too much hard sell for my liking!! He seemed desparate even?!?!

[UKC4]

I havnt had a Mcd's in months, but it still tasted rubbish!!

Spec: Cooper 05 plate (9810 miles on the clock)
Chilli
Autocon
Xenons
H/K
Tinted rear glass (Factory)
S-spokes (New tyers 300 miles on them)
ASC-T & DSC
Aerokit

[Purple Dave]

Quote: Originally Posted by UKC4 (original)

I havnt had a Mcd's in months, but it still tasted rubbish!!

Spec: Cooper 05 plate (9810 miles on the clock)
Chilli
Autocon
Xenons
H/K
Tinted rear glass (Factory)
S-spokes (New tyers 300 miles on them)
ASC-T & DSC
Aerokit

UKC4 ... The dealer is taking the ****. £10.5k is miles too low. I ordered my new S on launch day and was offered £12750 for my July 04 plate with 24k on the clock. Much the same spec as yours. I was told that the price I was being offered was a good price as book value was just over £12k.
Try somewhere else.