I\'ve pretty much ruled out the S for several reasons. I don\'t like the bulge in the hood or the scoop. BMW has admitted the scoop is not large enough, but to go to a proper one would make the car look very odd. The supercharger requires a richer fuel mixture, so that translates to worse fuel economy. (I have two friends with Nissan trucks. The one with the standard engine gets around 25mpg, the supercharged version gets about 15.) My insurance agent said the Cooper S is classified as a \"sports sedan\" and carries a higher premium than the standard model.
I would prefer the Getrag over the Peugeot gearbox, assuming the ratios are spaced closer together to keep the engine in the power band. It is possible BMW won\'t offer the Getrag on the Cooper, only on the S, and use it as a carrot to get us to buy the more expensive supercharged engine.
My 30-year-old Datsun pickup has a 1600 engine in it with less power than the Cooper engine. It has a camper shell and homebrew four wheel drive. It isn\'t a rocket, but it runs fine, pulls hills fine in third because the ratios are spaced nicely. Maybe the Rover box will be changed to get second and third closer together, but I would still prefer the Getrag as I would expect it to last a lot longer. I\'ve never been too keen on French cars.