Adam M

good everyday car?

one, diesel, cooper, cooper s or convertible?

bear in mind the missus wants to use it too!

Nevetas

cooper s works

Pretty cool cars imo, but people will think your a hair dresser

Adam M

steve, remember this is a second car as a runaround. When they see the weekend toy they think I am a rice boy chav, I can't win so am trying to assess the car on its merits, not on how other perceive me driving it.

Convertible is something I am not really keen on, looks wise and image wise, until the weather allows you to drop the roof in which case can appreciate its advantages. It isn't a requirement, but with getting married etc, I would like to be able to have a less practical car before extras arrive!

Mica Blue

I've been out in a brand new Cooper S (in passenger seat tho ), and was really impressed. They are pretty quick, and are good on the motorway due to 6 speed..

They go well on the twistys aswell..

Jap2Scrap

I'm not sure how anyone can live with the Tonka Toy controls myself. Those indicator/headlight stalks are the nastiest piece of kitsch plastic I've ever seen. Having said that, the ex boss had an S and it went really well.

Adam M

second hand values seem to make it a really attractive prospect. With the servicing package too, I think style relibaility and performance wise, it is a lot of car at that price point.
It has evo appeal too.

just a question of choosing the right colour scheme etc.

would definitely buy second hand though, new price is a joke.

Nevetas

What about the peugeot GTi's. 106/206/306

I used to have a 306 GTi and that was really nice. Cost 6k, 3 years old.

Bobby Peru

Coopr S's are very thirsty if you have fun, we got fed up of puting petrol in ours and bought a POLO TDi Sport instead, brilliant cars though.

http://www.tyresmoke.net/gallery/albuq71

FletchCSL

Used to have a cooper S and loved it, had to go though when the twins came.

So many around but i really like the look still, especially in dark silver. Cooper abit gutless in my opinion.

v8voodoo

I'd like to dip in with my two penneth worth here if I may....

I recently sold my 02 Cooper S for an 03 WRX.
The early build S's were not very clever. Mine rattled and creaked like you wouldn't believe and had to go in to BMW for warranty work to the steering and various bits of trim which fell off. It went reasonably well, but the new scoob is a far better weapon in the real world for me.

The S was just as thirsty as the WRX is, especially if you give it some serious stick (which the car just makes you do - you can't help it). The supercharger whine was fantastic though. The tyres on the 16" wheels are also £120 - £150 EACH as they are runflats. If you get one, get as good a spec as you can, mine had nearly all of the bells and whistles and kept it's value very well. The ride on the S, which has "sports suspension plus" is very hard, especially coupled with the runflat tyres. Saying that, it would run rings around most cars on the road in the handling stakes, that's the trade off I guess. Boot is stupidly small, but at least the shopping won't roll around too much in there..lol! The lights are also err....crap. You'll also find that everyone wants to race you and people cut you up because "it's only a mini".

Now at this point I am going to really stick my neck out....
My girlfriend owns a Cooper (not S) and I find it a better drive.
It rides better (no sports suspension plus) and handles very nearly identically (something to do with a rear shocker revision on later cars by BMW). Hers is a 52 plate and doesn't rattle half as much as mine did, I put that down to the softer ride and lack of a sunroof. The 5 speed box is soooo slick compared to the 6 speed, but that 6speed Getrag is a very nice positive shifting box. Obviously, the S having 40- 50bhp more goes far better than the cooper, but the Coop isn't a billion miles behind unless you're doing 60-90+ rolling accelaration tests where it does lack a bit of mid range grunt. Saying that, the fuel economy is VASTLY different too.

I've never driven a One D because I've not heard good things about them and they run on the same stuff as tractors

If you really fancy a MINI, I'd nudge you in the direction of a nice, low mileage as new as you can get one-lady-owner cooper, with leather, climate and cruise, then spend a few £ on some nice chrome touches (mirrors & spots) and a few bob on a couple of engine mods to help the mid range a bit.
TLC is a nice bonus too....(the free servicing).

But hey...... that's just my opinion.
If I was to do it again, it'd be a stripped out S with an aftermarket 240bhp engine conversion.

Hope that helps you a bit.

Nige,
Dover.

workshy_fopp

I'd agree with most of what has been said on here. The S guzzles fuel, I was getting 19mpg on a test drive, you don't drive like that all the time, but still poor. Decided not to trade up to the "S", it wasn't that much better. But if we didn't have one already I'd go for an S with aircon and not much else.
My Mrs has one of the first Coopers on Sports suspension+ and it does rattle and creak like a bstard, quite annoying now and I'd like to see the back of it. Does about 40mpg, can't see the point in the diesel. Still worth about 10k after 3 years, cost £13.5k. I'd probably buy a new one rather than second-hand, DO NOT buy a one lady owner car. Ours is in a feckin state, been washed about 3 times, the alloys are a state. It's had a puncture for THREE YEARS Spose it would be alright after a decent valet.
So if anyone wants a nice one-lady-owner 13,000 mile Cooper in Cosmos black, chilli pack, aircon, ASC+T, sports+, TLC then PM me LOL

mattsan

Bought the wife an 02 cooper in black with full leather,climate,panaramic sunroof.17s etc,she loves it to bits.It handles brilliant and goes well,but i think its rather pants on juice.Gettin about 250 miles to 35quid.Only about 50 miles more than the scoob!

Bobby Peru

GF had a Cooper before getting a Cooper S, Cooper was a great car but don't drive the 'S' first or you'll not want a Cooper, the S is much more fun and looks much better.

hades

Brother had a normal cooper, with sports suspension pack, numerous add-ons. Good to drive, generally nice, but pretty gutless engine - obviously the S would resolve that one. Down side was build quality about on a par with early 1980s Friday afternoon peugeot's - both front seats, steering rack, dashboard, and numerous other parts I forget all needed replacing, in under 10k miles from new. 2 or 3 different dealers didn't care - one offered £4k under parkers "trade" price as their offer for rejecting the car -BMW(UK) effectively said "if you have a problem, your contract is with the dealer, please go away". May have been unlucky, but based on that, IMHO "nice car but no thanks".