looking to buy a 2012 countryman all4 s

[spoolin87]

I am new here my name is tim i am currently looking at buying a 2012 countryman all4 s. I test drove a 6 speed m/t i like it alot but saw reviews that said its no good and get a auto. I need input, thanks in advance tim

[Britbike]

Tim I bought my Countryman S all4 in June and am overall very pleased with it. I have the six speed and love the responsiveness of the car overall. Although the power delivery is very good considering it's a 1.6 liter I am hoping Mini offers a performance chip to increase the overall turbo boost. I am consistantly getting 27 mpg city and on a recent trip I got 32 mpg highway...it's comfortable for 4 adults

[Blackhawks]

Spool - I am from the "I'll believe when I see it" camp. That is, I have doubts on the Countryman's build quality and wanted another years data on it before I reconsider a purchase. It will be very interesting to hear how she holds up as the 2011's hit 40-60,000 km and 2012's hit 20-40,000km.

I don't want to sound like a downer, and yes there are a lot of mixed opinions and reviews out there, but I want to be damn sure about the Countryman before I handover $40K when I could easily get so, so much more within the same ball park (Mazdaspeed 3, WRX, GTI, A4, 328i, etc).

Good luck!

[steeve]

Do you really need the ALL4? Its slightly slower, less economy and adds 75 kg's.

Auto, why would you. The only autos worth bothering with are the dual clutch ones....

[spoolin87]

I live in Colorado and i need the all4 i test drove the auto and its really nice

[ehcorn]

I own the 2012 S all 4 and have the automatic transmission. I really appreciate the sport mode feature that takes the somewhat mild mannered mini to an oversized gokart. I've always driven manual since I started driving, and this is my first automatic car. I primarily got the manual because the dealership I bought it from was using it a demo car and it saved me a ton of money, but unfortunately I never did try the 6SP manual. Though with the paddle shifting and manual option mini does a good job with the "semi automatic" style.

So I'd say with automatic is worth it if you want a to drive performance minded or are buying it as a driver's car, but if you'r using it as a DD or highway cruiser like me, it doesn't make a huge difference. I can't really speak on reliability though since I haven';t had my car long enough. I do 7.4 L/100km on the highway on 91 octane premium. Apparently that's 38.17 Imperial MPG and 31.78 US MPG

in town I get about 35 Imperial MPG (29.5 US MPG) or 8 L/100km up to 28.2 Imperial MPG or 23.5 US MPG (about 10 L/100KM) depending on how I drive. When driving with friends in sport/manual mode and driving much more aggressively than I ever would normally, I broke 10.5 L/100 KM.


I think the build quality (so far) is fantastic, though the dash takes some getting used to but I've never had a passenger comment on it. The material its made of, that is not that it feels cheap at all.

Far as I'm aware the Countryman is made in BMW's factory in Austria and shares more than a few bits with the BMW 3 series. Which my cousin has had for about 2 years now without any sort of issues. I understand this is a pretty poor comparison, but I have faith in my car.

[X6Sport]

Never had any build issues with our Countryman in the year we've had it. The only fault was a split 'Sport' aerial which was replaced with the redesigned version a month back. As said, they're made in Austria on the 1-series platform (not 3-series which is a lot bigger) and the materials are top notch. I think the Magna-Steyr built Countryman may actually be a better bet than the Oxford, England built Mini models.

The auto appears a little more underpowered (transmission losses) than the manual version, but a lot will depend on how you want to drive it. If you want 'full control' go manual, if you want more relaxed, go Auto - but your fuel consumption will suffer.

[Blackhawks]

Good points ... avoid the ALL4 if you dont live in a frozen tundra like most Canadians do with 4 months of ice and snow.

Avoid the auto if you need another 0.2s 0-60 adrenalin rush.

I sure wish I lived in California ...