[jamesbeaumont]

I think its time for some positive words on an R56
Had my cooper for 3 weeks now and covered 1000 blissfull miles. The engine has loosened up significantly and has gone from quite sluggish feeling to revvy and free. Havent been over 4k rpm yet but havent exactly been hanging around. So far I have no squeeks, rattles, niggles and touch wood that continues!
I have sports suspension and 16" wheels which seems like the perfect combo for me and my driving with good grip and body control but not too bad on the potholes of Edinburgh The handling is superb and completely addictive, I take corners far quicker than I used to! I love the white wheels but they are a beast to keep clean, worth it in my opinion though
Xenons are worth their weight in gold, sports seats are good but with the amount of grip the car has the could be even more supportive! I think the MFSW is the best value option on the car and is fantastic, 3 spoke wheel feels nice and chunky, the Hi-fi upgrade on my car is faultless, the DAB is good but I dont use it enough, automatic lights, wipers and dimming mirror all do their job well and have had no issues with them. The only thing I might change if I got the chance was to upgrade the fluid silver trim to the aluminium for a more solid feel.
The engine has a slightly rough idle when cold with a strange feeling when changing up a gear and accelerating, like the engine sticks for a second, but this goes away after a minute or so.
The car really likes being driven enthusiastically and I cant wait to push it a bit more after 1250 miles. Fantastic motorway manners, I was amazed by how smooth the car was at high speed and also by how quickly it built up speed! The car does feel as if it could handle lots of power so I might be looking for a bluefin etc in the future so give it an extra but if ooomph. So to sum up my MINI experience so far in one word....P-E-R-F-E-C-T!!

[mmalc]

Quote: Originally Posted by jamesbeaumont (original)

I think its time for some positive words on an R56
Had my cooper for 3 weeks now and covered 1000 blissfull miles.

I'm up to 1700 or so in mine, and my sentiments are generally similar.

My MC does seem to have developed the (US) driver's side twangy-rattle that afflicts some others and the iPod adaptor crashes from time to time, but other than that things are fine.

If I had to sum up the car in a single word now it would probably be "purposeful". It's generally very smooth and refined. All the little touches that I spent a fortune on have proven worth the investment.

The SatNav system was a boon in Los Angeles over the weekend -- especially combined with the Traffic Info. The auto-dimming mirror is subtle but effective, and soothing. The comfort access makes access comfortable. ( ) The auto gearbox is now a genuine delight. And in general the car just doesn't seem to fuss about stuff. I drove back non-stop from Alhambra to Cupertino last night and arrived at 1am feeling almost relaxed and refreshed...

mmalc

[rec]

i've only done 3600 miles since December 4th :/

mine's ok tho, cant wait to ditch the runflats, hence the reason i'm wheel spinning and sliding it around everywhere :P

[smartbomb]

3000+ since late December. Have an odd buzzing sound from a speaker ? or someting else. A badly fitting scuff plate and that's it.
Love the whole experience and it's a cracking car.

[jamesbeaumont]

rec why ditch the runflats? cost or performance?

[guppy]

hah i just got my car too and it only has 250 miles, hopefully it will feel a lot better like you guys are saying. but the car is already good as it is =p.
what exactly is DAB?

[isthar]

250miles, R56 MC:

* +1 on wanting the run flats off. They just worsen the ride for no reason that I can care for.

* I hear a "thump" at the rear, left from the driver's seat position... I'm not sure if it's a speaker doing that, or something else. I hear it "periodically", like every 20 seconds, it thumps. then I wait... thump... repeat. I'm not sure if it does it all the time, but when I notice it, I can sit and wait and the next thump happens. any ideas?

* Brake dust: OMG! It better be because it is new. I know BMWs are terrible, but I was hoping the mini wouldn't suffer from it :-( And I just have the 16" silver 5 spokers... can't imagine if they are white!

* paint: very faint, but on my astro black there are little splashes of 'decoloration' that can be found (each no bigger than the size of my thumb) if looking at the right angle when it's clean. I thought bmw/mini was supposed to be careful in that area...

* sport mode/sport button: it revs very eagerly over 4500rpm. [why is that a problem? cuz I'm still in the break-in period! LOL ;-)

* brakes: man they better stop being so twitchy/grippy after the breakin.. tough to brake smoothly...

Overall, a fantastic choice and I don't regret it a bit. I don't even regret not getting an S (my other car serves the duty as fast-and-furious anyways, and budget was a concern here).

[rec]

Quote: Originally Posted by jamesbeaumont (original)

rec why ditch the runflats? cost or performance?

i prefer Eagle F1's on a car. i've had them on the last few car's i've owned and the run flats on the MINI, i feel, are much much worse !

[jamesbeaumont]

Quote: Originally Posted by guppy (original)

hah i just got my car too and it only has 250 miles, hopefully it will feel a lot better like you guys are saying. but the car is already good as it is =p.
what exactly is DAB?

DAB is digital radio

Quote: Originally Posted by isthar (original)

250miles, R56 MC:

* +1 on wanting the run flats off. They just worsen the ride for no reason that I can care for.

* I hear a "thump" at the rear, left from the driver's seat position... I'm not sure if it's a speaker doing that, or something else. I hear it "periodically", like every 20 seconds, it thumps. then I wait... thump... repeat. I'm not sure if it does it all the time, but when I notice it, I can sit and wait and the next thump happens. any ideas?

* Brake dust: OMG! It better be because it is new. I know BMWs are terrible, but I was hoping the mini wouldn't suffer from it :-( And I just have the 16" silver 5 spokers... can't imagine if they are white!

* paint: very faint, but on my astro black there are little splashes of 'decoloration' that can be found (each no bigger than the size of my thumb) if looking at the right angle when it's clean. I thought bmw/mini was supposed to be careful in that area...

* sport mode/sport button: it revs very eagerly over 4500rpm. [why is that a problem? cuz I'm still in the break-in period! LOL ;-)

* brakes: man they better stop being so twitchy/grippy after the breakin.. tough to brake smoothly...

Overall, a fantastic choice and I don't regret it a bit. I don't even regret not getting an S (my other car serves the duty as fast-and-furious anyways, and budget was a concern here).

Brake dust is pretty bad isnt it? I have white wheels... so theyre clean for 5 miles...

Quote: Originally Posted by rec (original)

i prefer Eagle F1's on a car. i've had them on the last few car's i've owned and the run flats on the MINI, i feel, are much much worse !

Interesting, I might swap when it comes to changing the tyres but are you going to carry a spare?

[rec]

you dont have to carry a spare. cos i bought the car with 15's originally, it came with a compressor and some tyre weld. that's good enough for me !

[isthar]

Quote: Originally Posted by rec (original)

you dont have to carry a spare. cos i bought the car with 15's originally, it came with a compressor and some tyre weld. that's good enough for me !

but... we still DO carry a spare though, don't we? under the car? that's the part I don't get. I'm bothered with run flats, but I still get to carry a spare, at least so says the manual and so it seems when I look under the flap in the trunk.

[mister.t]

Almost 4k miles in ours since Jan '07 - Faultless - Ruler twang dissapeared :S

[rec]

i've not looked under the car... i think the spare is a optional extra...
under the flap in my boot i got a tool kit.

[SteveBrass]

Nearly 6k miles since November - no problems at all.

[johnmichael]

Mine has been faultless. Now at 17,000 since November. Dealer lined up bonnet without being asked when it went in for tyres and the 'gaiter recall'. Average speed from new 50.6mph and mpg 36.3. Much more accomplished car than previous R53 MCS x 3 which in total did 115,000 miles. Build quality much better and contemplating keeping the R56 3 years and say 120,000 miles as it feel like it will do it instead of changing it annually. Also depreciation by September 1st and say 28,000 miles will be just under £6k so it seems economic to run it on a bit longer. It has to be worth £5k in September 09 at 120,000 miles!

[guppy]

Quote: Originally Posted by jamesbeaumont (original)

DAB is digital radio



Brake dust is pretty bad isnt it? I have white wheels... so theyre clean for 5 miles...



Interesting, I might swap when it comes to changing the tyres but are you going to carry a spare?

i guess i dont have digitial radio =/ how much did that cost? and is it availible everywhere? is it worth the money?

[jamesbeaumont]

Quote: Originally Posted by rec (original)

i've not looked under the car... i think the spare is a optional extra...
under the flap in my boot i got a tool kit.

My car came with 16's so no spare tyre included and I dont have the tyre goo or compressor from the mobility pack either, guess I could carry those elsewhere but is it really worth the bother?

Quote: Originally Posted by guppy (original)

i guess i dont have digitial radio =/ how much did that cost? and is it availible everywhere? is it worth the money?

I think DAB was £320ish, which is fairly good value as you get over 50 radio station nice and clear on a digital signal. Im not sure about the US. there'll be somebody here who can tell you if you get it or not but Id be surprised if it was the later

[MINIAC]

Quote: Originally Posted by guppy (original)

i guess i dont have digitial radio =/ how much did that cost? and is it availible everywhere? is it worth the money?

In the US DAB is referred to as High Definition Radio, a $500 standalone option or part of the $1,400 Audio Package. I don't think it's available yet.

[guppy]

wow thats a lot of money for the audo package !! im guessing that audio package also includes the craptastic hi fi i got =/

[mister.t]

Quote: Originally Posted by johnmichael (original)

Mine has been faultless. Now at 17,000 since November. Dealer lined up bonnet without being asked when it went in for tyres and the 'gaiter recall'. Average speed from new 50.6mph and mpg 36.3. Much more accomplished car than previous R53 MCS x 3 which in total did 115,000 miles. Build quality much better and contemplating keeping the R56 3 years and say 120,000 miles as it feel like it will do it instead of changing it annually. Also depreciation by September 1st and say 28,000 miles will be just under £6k so it seems economic to run it on a bit longer. It has to be worth £5k in September 09 at 120,000 miles!

Jeez 17k!!! What wheels do you have and when (miles wise) did you get them replaced??