More Next Generation MINI Mock-ups

Brian May 18th, 2005 Link

There’s a bit of a Renalt Twingo in that light design. OUCH!

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johnsocal May 18th, 2005 Link

The colored face tech & speedo look cool and the front and rear end look alright.

While Im not the biggest fan of the interior that new mock-up looks alot better. The only thing that really bugs me on the exterior are the new oval-ish headlights.

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Gabe May 18th, 2005 Link

And since i know someone will ask… that is most likely not the final steering wheel.

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Sean Bancroft May 18th, 2005 Link

I hope they figure something out for the center stack. The rest of the dash and instrumentation I can tolerate…but there is just something not right about the asthetics of the center stack.

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Jamie May 18th, 2005 Link

Don’t give up the day job Autobilde…shockingly bad…

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JBFromoOz May 18th, 2005 Link

I dont know how well this thing is going to drive, with the 17″ near side and 24″ farside front wheels, i think we may have finally seen the end of the MINI’s renowned go-kart like handling for a purely cosmetic reason, oh and it looks uglier like that too!

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Ouch May 18th, 2005 Link

Two words….

Steaming pile.

Even cleaned up, the interior looks like a Fisher Price snap on dashboard set (fun for the whole family, but not for small kids, they might eat parts of the plastic).

This should send MINI right past the VW Beetle into the insignificant category after a rousing reintroduction of the car.

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Zach Senders May 18th, 2005 Link

For something like the MINI, which people like because of its uniqueness, I’m suprised they’ll be ok with changing it so drastically. If my memory serves me, the new Beetle has been around longer than the MINI and hasnt changed very noticeably. I guess BMW knows what they’re doing though, considering those hideous new 5’s.

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Josh Wardell May 18th, 2005 Link

The front end has lost a lot of its charm. It’s like they kept the same design, but gave it to Chery to nearly copy it like they do to everyone else.

I’m ignoring that nissan cube-looking SUV because I refuse to believe MINI would be that stupid.

I hope MINI has a few improving finishing touches up its sleeve before these are finalized.

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ChrisLW May 18th, 2005 Link

Uh, can the new dash be retrofitted? LOL

Seriously, the design seems more [i]evolutionary[/i] rather than [i]revolutionary[/i] as some of the earlier speculation seemed.

Like others, I’m not a big fan of the reworked dash, seems that the speedo will become the ‘center’, but it is getting confusing, too much for a quick glance.

Also, the wagon rear looks like a Saturn car over here from a few years back — ugh…

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beekman May 18th, 2005 Link

I like the way it’s starting to come together – it looks a touch less cutesy and curvy than the current model, a bit less self conciously retro, starting to become more its own car and rely less on styling cues from the classic.

If they want to avoid new beetle irrelevency, surely they have to keep evolving it?

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Mark May 18th, 2005 Link

I think if they keep this interior design, it will hurt the mini bad! I would not buy another one if that is what is going to look like.

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Wraith May 18th, 2005 Link

i know gabe said thats prolly not the final steering wheel, but come on; they know all this stuff about the interior yet they still put an old two spoke steering wheel in the picture

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Theo May 18th, 2005 Link

I realize that with the turbo there is little need for a hood scoop, but I wonder if the S-version will have still have it? I think its loss would be a shame.

Does anyone else think that the center stack looks like it has had its equipment attached in kind of a “Mr. Potato Head” add-on fashion?

Generally, the body seems to have kept most of it character. Wonder if they’ll have an Aero Kit and if it will make the form look a bit too “chunky”.

Seems like the car is sitting a bit higher. Check out the distance from the ground to the front air dam. Is this to support the new pedestrian safety regulations?

Theo

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Ken May 18th, 2005 Link

Ah man …. the rear brake lights looks quite nice from the last photo …I wonder if the signal and the parking light is intergrated in the clear lens part and having the whole red lens to be the brake light … if its LED brake lights … then it will be even better !!!!

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Pete/MyMini May 18th, 2005 Link

Hmmmm..MINI, what did you do with our radio? I hope it’s not on the “joystick” in center console we’ve seen earlier! Or is this a teaser to throw off the competition?

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Gabe May 18th, 2005 Link

Not to beat a dead horse… but many of the qustions posed here can be answered on that previous article: motoringfile.com/2005/03/20/nextgenerationmini_revealed

Nevertheless here are a few answers to the above questions:

• The joystick will only be on MINIs with iDrive

• They don’t show any images of the MCS because very little is known about it. What is known is in this article.

• The old two spoke steering wheel is there because that’s what was stuck on the design mock-up in the photos that these images are based on.

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greg May 18th, 2005 Link

The interior is too spartan. Where are the toggle switches? No more middle exhaust pipes?

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Gabe May 18th, 2005 Link

Again – there are no photos of the MCS. That will come later. The toggles are there but hidden by the shifter.

As mentioned previously – you can read and see lots more info here: http://www.motoringfile.com/2005/03/20/nextgenerationmini_revealed

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Bart May 18th, 2005 Link

At first I was kind of neutral about the new interior look, but now I just don’t think I like it. The speedo IS too big. Too much dash padding and not enough color… and yes, Mr. Potatohead is a good nickname for the center stack design….

Ok well now that I’ve vented my opinion, what I’m really wondering is when the new 2007 debuts, will the convertible be available immediately -? or will there be a 1-2 year lag time when no convertible is offered?

I think I remember back that VW once or twice continued to make the old model cabrio Golf for a while after the new one had come out… I’m pretty sure MINI won’t do that though -?

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Gabe May 18th, 2005 Link

The next gen convertible probably won’t be available for at least two years after the intro of the R56. During that time, I would guess that there most likely won’t be a convertible offered.

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ChrisW May 18th, 2005 Link

Excellent! No cabrio available for a couple of years? Looks like I won’t have to worry about resale value on my ‘05 MCSC. :)

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ChrisW May 18th, 2005 Link

P.S. I too despise the new interior mock-up.

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Crush May 18th, 2005 Link

There is no 3 or 4 door mock up :(

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isellem May 18th, 2005 Link

if you ask me… the whole front clip seems retrofitable by all of these Mock pictures… Seriously… every picture i see of the new MINI just has a differnt front end. and basically its the bonnet(and everything attached to it) and the front bumper. The doors, even the tiny 1/4 panels with vents look identical to the current car. All of these picture look like photochopped current cars with new front clips and thats it…

Am i crazy? Am i wrong?

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Alex F. May 18th, 2005 Link

While the old two spoke wheel may be thrown on, didn’t I read that there are plans to return to a two spoke design?

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Asterix2112 May 18th, 2005 Link

Ugg, that interior is horrendous. The speedo is WAY to big, I hope you still have the option of putting something else there and moving the speedo to the steering wheel where it belongs.

Really noting they’ve done looks better, it all looks worse.

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Michael Burchill May 18th, 2005 Link

[snip] “…since its launch in 2002″[un-snip]

Didn’t the MINI launch in europe in 2000?

• • m

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Alan May 18th, 2005 Link

… I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. The speedo looks like it came from the Titanic.

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TooLShack May 18th, 2005 Link

You people can been such drama queens sometimes!

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Alex F. May 18th, 2005 Link

Stylisticly, I think they really go astray with the downtubes by integrating them into the horizontal portion of the dash.

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James Irmiger May 18th, 2005 Link

Geeez, who needs a radar gun? All the police have to do is read my speedo from three cars back! Yuck.

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johnny May 18th, 2005 Link

The front right tire of the main picture is laughably oversized, wow. Back to photoshop…

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DCE May 18th, 2005 Link

A young lady in my local MINI club said she took part in a MINI focus group about 2 months ago. apparently they had an interior mockup and an exterior mockup. She said that the interior was definitely a step back from the current design. She referred to the current car’s look as “50’s retro” and the mock up as “70;s disco”. Yuck! Though I can’t clearly read the details in the picture, I’d say it doesn’t appear to be an improvement. Sigh. OTH, the clubman variation does work. And a 2 seater roadster is defintley a cool addition. Until the final pictures are released, I wouldn’t get too worked up about these photoshop concepts.

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Eric May 18th, 2005 Link

I wouldn’t get too worked up as DCE has mentioned. They are only photoshops anyway.

What do you guys think about having the center speedo intergrated into the center dash so that the console is completely flat straight across? Would that work??? Would be worth a shot trying…

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Gabe May 18th, 2005 Link

Yes yes – these are photoshoped images (or photochopped in some cases) that are based on photos of the current car. That’s where most magazines start with images like this. That said they are closer to the finished product than anything else we’ve seen (except for the interior shots that we referenced a few months back)

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IGoDayGlo May 18th, 2005 Link

Gabe –

You’re right, these aren’t very representative of the car I saw in the focus group. That one had a taller cowl, so the height of the windshield is remarkably shorter, and presents a noticable smaller view.

From these photos, you would think the only change Mini is making is repositioning the headlights. It’s much worse than that.

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Lee L May 18th, 2005 Link

It must just be me but I love the new speedo (at least its size and numbers, I could do without the body color background).

I do agree about the Mr Potato head nature of the center stack. If the pieces were wider it would lose that look a little probably.

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JAG May 18th, 2005 Link

Frankly, I do not think MINI is going to go with that interior. Its ugly, out of proportion and too “out there”. Even die hard fans of Philip Stark would avoid this interior. On the other hand everything is possible after the Nissan Quest middle pod. Hope its just a tease.

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rick May 18th, 2005 Link

I would have to agree with Gabe that this is the closest thing to the finished product (well, at least the focus group car) out publicly. The one thing that doesn’t come across very well in the pictures is the shape of the new headlights, which are more bubblous and bug-eyed than the current model.

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Alex May 18th, 2005 Link

Those of you who have been to the focus groups – is the mock-up you saw nicer than this on the outside?

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dgszweda May 18th, 2005 Link

I cannot believe they are putting iDrive on the new Mini. I love gadgets, and modern looks and lots of electronics, but I think that it looks way out of place on the Mini. To me the Mini should be partial retro, partial modern, with a real driving feel from the era of British road cars. A real drivers feel is missing in modern cars now. To me driving feel is really about a tactile feel among many other things. By pushing the car to a more modern feel, I think it begins to loose that tactile feel. Stuff like iDrive just contributes to that. The dash is looking more like that of the Z4 than the older Mini. I still am not in favor of the huge looking air vents, or the speedo. It is like they shrunk things, just to make certain things stand out. For us “purists” I just don’t see the interior ever winning us over. At least with the older interior you could say it was retro. This one, I just don’t know what to call it, except, yucky.

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MiniToy May 18th, 2005 Link

• I like the front and rear fog lights that are bigger than the present version.
• I don’t like the front direction lights included with the headlights. They want to save money and it looks cheap.
• I really don’t like the large speedometer and I hope they will not use this ugly steering wheel.
• I really think that this interior is very very BMW and I am happy to get my 2005 Mini next week with the more Original British interior Design.

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F.R Walter May 18th, 2005 Link

I’m liking it; but I’ll wait until it’s ready for “prime time”

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Ian May 18th, 2005 Link

Obviously “you can’t please all the people all the time” … MiniToy wrote I hope they will not use this ugly steering wheel – owners of ‘02/’03 MINIs say the same about the new three spoke wheel ;)

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Mike (The Office Maven) May 18th, 2005 Link

[Those of you who have been to the focus groups - is the mock-up you saw nicer than this on the outside?]

I was at one of the focus groups and the blue MINI depicted in the drawings above is nearly identical to the car I saw (especially the bumpers, tail lights, fog lights, headlamps, etc.). They’ve pretty much got it spot on I’m afraid (including the interior as well).

Oh, and BTW, the MCS I saw at the focus group did indeed retain its hood scoop for those who are wondering.

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Hunter May 18th, 2005 Link

I made this crumby pencil drawing of my personal rendition of the updated MINI in class today…I can never draw wheels correctly so I left them out…also, the bottom of my MINI kept looking too “nice and sweet” because it was too rounded…bell rang so I left it as it was…Enjoy! http://www.mini2.com/gallery/personal/19177/61617_thumb.jpg

Hunter

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Bart May 18th, 2005 Link

I think if it stays an option to move the speedo over the steering wheel with the tach, you could always put the spare tire in that new center spot and dispense with the runflats…. (no really…) lol

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ChristopherW May 19th, 2005 Link

Other than the overly scooped foglamps and odd side vents, I can’t find anything intrinsically wrong with the exterior. It doesn’t really move the game along, but I wouldn’t turn my nose up at it.

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The Seeker May 19th, 2005 Link

Who “styled” the interior ? Dr. Seuss ?

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Scott May 19th, 2005 Link

Biggest complaint about the interior – no aftermarket stereo upgrades!

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Alex May 19th, 2005 Link

“I was at one of the focus groups and the blue MINI depicted in the drawings above is nearly identical to the car I saw (especially the bumpers, tail lights, fog lights, headlamps, etc.). They’ve pretty much got it spot on I’m afraid (including the interior as well).”

Oh no… Thanks for the info!

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aleks May 20th, 2005 Link

As was said by many others before these are just mock ups and I am sure the final versions will be very nice. It’s difficult to get a design that makes everybody happy. Even on the current car there are people who love the design, and then there are those who are disgusted by it. The only thing we can hope for is that more will appreciate the new form than not.

only time will tell…

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Gabe May 20th, 2005 Link

I’ve gotta tell you guys.. these pics, especially the interior shots, are very very close to the versions that are heading for production.

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Rusty May 20th, 2005 Link

Let’s face it, the MINI is a tough act to follow. Frank Stephenson did a marvelous job of capturing the spirit of “motoring”.

I do not envy the people that have to come along behind him and somehow improve the MINI while reducing manufacturing costs. It is not impossible, just very difficult.

Hopefully these designers are reading motoring file every day and listening to the people that are 100% fanatical about these cars.

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EBMCS03 May 22nd, 2005 Link

MINI isnt mini anymore… looks bigger and more aggressive!

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Dario May 23rd, 2005 Link

All of you guys realy let me down. The mini is much more about performace in a different car than just its look. All of you are so concerned about cosmetic aesthetic that it is my opinion that we could easily slip in a perfect looking mini with the guts torn out.
Then all you “hey, look at me” adherents could get your rocks off while driving around a glorified econobox.
Be careful, BMW is not as foolish as you think. It IS possible to design/build a small car capable of ANY performance/utility needs. but if you can’t let the theme carry forward, then all you have is a car tailored to the consumer and NOT the enthusiast.
Get a clue and quit worrying so much about the appearance, as opposed to its performance.
Be careful tho, If you ask too many times, BMW WILL aquiesce and build you a cheap little car, or outsource it to renault. wake up. If you want a cute little car, go to honda or toyota. If you want a COOL little car that HANDLES, then quit being so concerned with the aesthetic and not its performance.

thestickman

Looking to rock the boat, the 3dstickman.

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Fahed May 29th, 2005 Link

hi everyone i ordered my mini cooper s before three weeks and its gonna be a 2006 model and its arriving after 3 months my question is is it gonna be diffrent from the 2005 model or not ?? is it gonna look like this http://motoringfile.com/pictures/R56_autobilde/70108.jpg please anyone reply thanx

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Gabe May 29th, 2005 Link

The next generation MINI will be released as a 2007 model in late 2006. The 2006 model year MINI (released this fall) will look no different the 2005 and will have no mechanical differences.

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fahed May 30th, 2005 Link

Thanx

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