More Radical Look for Next MCS?

I know a bunch of people complained about the radical styling changes, but I really like the new look and think that this would be a good candidate to replace my ’04 MC when it comes time to buy a new car.

me like it alot. bye bye 2005 MC.

I doubt those extra driving lights will stick-out like the sketch shows but be recessed and more incorporated into the design to meet the new pedestrian safety laws.

I’m sure Mini’s new design will do a good job.

The main thing that no new article seems to mention was the removal of the black or white painted roof on the next-Mini.

A while back it was mentioned the the next-Mini would no longer have a opposing white or black painted roof to cut costs of having to send the car into the paint shop twice and instead would have a painted plastic cover that would fit over the roof.

I would suspect if this is true they would have two roof cover designs for a Mini with and without the panoramic sunroof. It will be interesting to see if these roof covers are colored plastic or actually painted and if these roof covers will also be avaialbe with flags, checkers, and etc as factory options.

john – that’s actually not quite correct. MINI has stated previously it was looking into ways of pre-painting the roofs and installing them on cars as they rolled down the line. Essentially having clip-on roofs. The issue was painting the roof separately from the body is a very tricky and time consuming process. Apparently it has been a bottleneck in terms of increasing production capacity. This doesn’t mean they won’t be offering white and black roofs. Far from since that’s one of the MINI’s most distinctive features. I guarantee that MINI won’t mess with something as iconic as the white or black roof.

Gabe- I agree, But I thought that while next-gen MINI’s would still have colored roof options they wont be painted in the same way the current car is. So the whole car (including the roof) would get painted in the body shop once and then if a customer ordered a white or black roof it would added afterward as some sort of white or black clip-on cover that fits over the body-colored factory metal roof.

I was speculating/guessing that this clip-on roof cover would be made out of plastic and was wondering if the cover would be molded in either white or black plastic or if the cover would actually be painted before installation.

The reason why I think this roof cover could be constructed out of plastic is to help prevent rust and if it was molded in either white or black it would be cheaper to produce then if they had to paint them before installation.

It would be cool if this roof cover could be taken off be the customer so a person could switch from having a white roof to a body-colored roof or switch to a black roof and etc.

John – gotcha. I could be totally off base but I foresee several issues with a roof that isn’t permenantly installed at the factory. For one – rattles. Creating something as large as a roof cover that’s able to be removed at a later date would create some huge rattle potential. Secondly quality fit and finish around the roof could be rather difficult considering the design of the car (framelss doors for example).

I can see the potential of a plastic roof but I would expect BMW to paint it in the same way as the rest of the car. Otherwise body colored roofs would be rather difficult.

If they go with something like the design at the top of this page, I kinda’ like it. A bit more evolutionary than revolutionary, with the grill shape recalling the second generation Classic Mini.

I’m not entirely sure yet Frank. As a few know I’ve been toying with the idea of ordering an ’05 for quite some time. However my original plan was to wait until ’07 for the next generation. Now with confirmation that the new car will be coming in late ’06 I’m left with a desicion to make.

One thing is certain… MINIs hold their value very well and I’ll be able to do rather well whenever I go to sell my car.

I would love to see a 2009 factory-built JCW with AWD and 230HP priced around $29,995 (in 2008/09 US dollars).

It would be cool if next-gen JCW Mini’s come directly from the factory and are not costly dealer installed add-ons.

Other than the extra black plastic on the front, I like… I always thought that the weakest part of the current design is the big split in the grille…

Gabe- Any word on what might be different for the 06′s? I haven’t heard anything about what might change between 05 and 06… or when the 06s would come out. Just curious at what the last of the R53s will be like.

i really like the new design. of course, i would keep my 04′ and 05′ mcs’s, but i could see myself buying one of these in the future. and as for the black plactic on the bumper, i’d just get it painted as i’ve already done to the fenders on my 04′ and 05′. so if chris bangle designed this one, i give him props. but then again. this isn’t the origional new mini. my 04′ is.

I’m afraid that the “built-in” driving lamps will be mostly cosmetic. The MINI OEM lamps may not be the greatest in the world, but all it takes is the removal of two nuts and 4 wires to upgrade to whatever you like. I ordered the OEM lamps on my 05 MCS, but I’ll upgrade them in a snap if they are subpar. At least with this design, I can.

Rawhyde

MINIpablo – i’ve heard very little on the ’06 changes. That leads me to believe two things… either they will be minor or totally non-existant. I wouldn’t be surprised to a special edition of some kind though.

Please read the post before you comment.

$30,000 in 2009 dollars for a 230HP AWD JCW Mini won’t be a big deal considering that many people have easily paid over that in 2005 dollar for a MCS with a 210 JCW kit.

230HP in such a small car would be very competive and since the next-Mini will be turbo’d there will be alot of aftermarket mods to get it up to 300HP.

Don’t forget the Euro has continued to climb against the US dollar and the the next-gen Mini will take this into consideration. I would guess that Mini’s prices will increase accross the board but while all the cars in their lineup will be more expensive they will all have more power, more room inside,use higher quality materials in the interior, and have larger wheels as standard.

Has anyone else seen the pics of the new VW GTI V with the blackened front facia? I wonder if this is going to become the next trend?

I was also wondering the same thing James, this front black facia is like the new GTI.

Well one thing is clear the MIni will change and I’m sure for the overall better. The problem I see is how more “moddern” BMW wants to make it and that’s both good and bad. I’m sure it will stand out from the rest when it’s out, hope it has AWD but more then anything it’s “still” a Mini.

All these changes make me want to hold onto my 04 more:)

That is not the picture you want to look at to see any indications of the next MINI. Like I said above … the only ones of any importance are the ones posted above in this story.

Rattle city in my ’05 MCS — mainly right over the steering wheel. Got an idea about how to stop it– as a new dash pad has not the trick. A DSC lite that continues to come on, when i nail it. Otherwise, i love this car!

james- its funny you bring up the new GTi. I was just wondering if audi had something to say about the grill. and is it just me or does the silver concept in the gallery look like a tt. P.S.- does anyone have anymore solid info on the AWD mini

petsounds and ANTSMINI,

I have rattles ALL OVER the dash in my ’04 MCS. Above the speedo, above the glove box, the glove box door…

With less than 10,000 miles on the Cooper S, sometimes I wish I would have thrown down the extra bank and gone with an IS300. I was pretty close. Rattles in a car are like nails on a chalkboard in my mind, and it’s getting harder to tolerate them in my $27k investment.

The front end is a classic Aston Martin look and Will serve a purpose with air flow….99% of Mini dealers will try there best to fix rattles due to CSI ! lots of bad CSI stops the dealer getting bigger allocations in the future, so bad CSI scores mean less cars and less money.