And the CD slot looks like some type of flying saucer or cat eye. I think they are trying to compete with SCION and the Young crowd to much.

I’m glad that they will bring back the 2 spoke steering wheel.

I have also viewed pictures of the exterior and while I understand some changes had to be made (European Ped Safety) the rear end doesn’t appeal to me.

If MINI brings in all these changes especially the Radio/CD interior then they have lost me as a return customer.

I’m sure glad I purchased a 2004 Mini. I don’t understand why the 2005 had so many of it’s options eliminated/cut down for the regular MINI (no 8 Spoke rim; which is a classic design i.e Mini Lites), Steering wheel option reduced to one, no bumper inserts, and in the interior the clock was made smaller and moved.

Everyone I know that purchased a 2005 dislikes what happen to the placement of the clock.

On the positive side for 2005 A Chrono pack option and the stand alone option for an Autodim Rearview mirror (without the Autodim Headlights. I wish they would have done that for the 2004 Mini.

While I understand that some changes are always done, it’s a shame they decided to make so many drastic changes. They should have kept the MINI in a Classic style.

That said I agree that people should lay to rest the whole Chris Bangle design criticism. First off he has yet to design a single BMW. Secondly all the BMWs that have come out while he’s been design director have gone on to outsell their predecessors by wide margins (including the current 7 series)

This is ugly.

I am trading in my 02 MCS for an 05, but it doesn’t look like I will be doing that again, if this horror shows up as an 07.

Bangle GO HOME

Everyone hates iDrive, but everyone is headed in this direction for nav systems and the like. Audi has its MMI and Mercedes will be showing its version soon on the new S Class. BMW was the first to do it so has the received the most critism- but it is improving and at least iDrive version 3.0 or later will be in the MINI.

One key thing is to make the downtubes more noticable and to make sure a large, black plastic background doesn’t surround everything in the center stack. Make it more compact and keep the storage underneath.

It is more modern, but reasonably clean for a mock up this early- we’re probably still at least a year from finalizing the interior. They want our reactions and boy do they have them. Right now it’s a 7.5 out of 10 for design and probably an 8 out of 10 for apparent quality in the mock up.

Keep the info coming Gabe!

The new dash surface and the vents. That part looks better than the current MINI. It will look even better with chrome accents.

The door panel. At least the overall design. I hope there are some color choices other than the ones shown.

It looks like the cup holders are more fuctional. Heaven for bid if a car sold in the US has crappy cupholders!

The MINI logo shaped climate control system. It looks like I will have to have another option on my 2007.

The fact the the NAV system will have the center speedometer too.

I dont like:

the downtubes are not as nice as the current ones.

The non-nav speedometer seems way too fussy and hard to read. Center mounted speedometers need to be easier to read.

The gimmicky ICE in the center.

I-drive – keep that crap Bangled crap off our MINIs!

The new 2 spoke steering wheel, bring back the 2002-2004 one!

Overall, it’s acceptable and will still want a 2007 MINI when the time comes.

I also prefer my two spoke over this new design. It looks like a bad clash of styles, & nowhere near as sporty as the current 2 or 3 spokes.

The air vents look very generic and don’t match the character of the car, not like the current ones do. The outer vents are also much too large and have the effect of squeezing the dash (making the speedo look even larger again).

The new shift knob is screaming to me – replacement. The original one is much cooler, literally. :)

The new cup holders and shifter area of the satnav version looks like Mickey Mouse.

I also prefer the downtubes in our current minis

Negative space works great for creating beautiful, clean design, which it seemed they had with the centre console until they ruined it by putting all that useless, unnecessary silver all over it. The toggle switches don’t need the silver fluff all around. And the buttons should be retained as toggles (whether on the centre stack or around the rearview mirror), not placed behind the gearshift.

I don’t mind the MINI Logo styled A/C control, but don’t care for the earmuffs either side.

No iDrive, period!! (We don’t need another BMW model)

In fact this new interior looks much less sporty, a lot more over-designed, contrived & boring. And it poorly translates the cool exterior character of the car to the inside. All of a sudden my 04 rattles are becoming a lot less noticeable! :) Lets hope they’re just playing with us to hear our reactions and see what we really want…

I don’t mind the larger speedo. The two outer air vents look bad, though. And I will always prefer a two-spoke steering wheel, I sometimes like to rest my hand at the bottom where the third spoke is. I like changing the station and volume without taking my hands from the wheel, like you have to do with the Nintendo-style buttons on the front.

I have seen few changes since 2004 that haven’t screamed “cost savings”. BMW is definitely making the MINI cheaper to build. But then why all the wasted money changing an already great design?