2007 Cooper and Cooper S Officially Revealed

Sections: R56 (Hatch) Aug 14th, 2006 95 Comments

The day many of us have waited for is here. The press embargo wasn’t scheduled to be lifted for a few hours but several online publications have already broken it so we’re going to go ahead and post the first part of today’s big press release. We’ll have full details on both the Cooper and Cooper S but first, the photos:

Written By: Gabe

Jake

Overall, the exterior look is evolutionary, although it does not seem “improved”. New and old both look good. The new version does look taller (I presume due to safety regulations…good opportunity for aftermarket suspension and wheel upgrades). Interior will take some getting used to…not bad, just a bit different. The “Mini” switched do look a bit tacky. If I had purchased a current model, I would not feel as though I am missing out from an exterior and interior design point of view. I anticipate the biggest improvements should be in overall quality and performance…the two things that will really matter most.
Vanwall
I liked the colored duct tape better in some ways. ;-) Less is more, and the details are less busy than I expected, which is good. A lot of little BMW touches, especially around the grill and bumper interfaces, and of course the interior, which thankfully is not totally beemered – it’s good to keep one’s brand identity. Still don’t like the upper fender line on the rear corners – there should be no hint of a fender there, IMO, – breaks up the line. Wish the center pseudo-intake was an offset NACA duct – but that’s just me. :)
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AJ

Any idea what the console will look like when navigation is thrown into the mix?

Overall, the console is nice, except for the mess below the speedo. The configuration of the CD, AC and switches is a little cheap looking, but I guess I’ll remain open-minded until I see it in person.
Ralph

Interesting. I like the front grill on the Cooper (non S)and that it’s chrome (without having to get chrome mirror caps). The S Cooper front all Black grill is ugly.

One thing I’ve noticed is that the “center” (3rd) brake light is now on the rear bumper. I don’t believe that is legal in the United States (at least in California). The whole purpose of the center 3rd brake light is for it to be placed higher the normal brake lights (added Safety). With the 3rd brake light on the bumper it defeats the purpose.

I dislike the entire dash and radio/speedo setup. Ugly! And I will NOT get use to it. Mini has lost a reapeat customer in me. (I’m sure they don’t care because for every one they lose, more than enough will replace me)

I’m not crazy about the turn signal in the headlight area, but I could live with it. I like that they made the foglight opening larger. It would be nice if they offered a two-spoke steering wheel for the US. Overall the exterior is ok. The interior (Dash and related) is horrible. The classy/classic look is gone and replaced with some futuristic look. In addition, they have gone to “Idiot Lights” instead of gauges (needle gauge) for the fuel level and no more engine temp gauge. Idiot lights are the worst!
SB

Outside: Quite nice and refreshing. Inside: All OK except for console. I kept hoping the mockups were a MINI-esque joke and would actually debut as something tasteful and well … more well designed. Let the Fisher-Price, Toys R Us, and Playskool metaphors begin ringing out across the land. Anybody want to make a million on the new R56? Be the first to come up with a snap on console cover with proper switch gear and esthetics. Plug for plug identical … just designed like somebody other than Ronald McDonald created it.
Seth L

Seems I’m with the consensus, there are some things bugging me (headlights) that I will get used too, but I don’t mind the exterior.

I think the interior loses a lot of charm Way more bauhaus, less friendly. Any options for chrome lines inside? Do we know?

I love how my CR+chrome interior looks like a 50′s diner, and was hoping I could get something similar with the R56.

Love the new red seats!
rkw

One thing IÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢ve noticed is that the ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œcenterÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â (3rd) brake light is now on the rear bumper.

That’s the giant rear fog light on the Cooper. The 3rd brake light is at the top of the rear hatch window.
Seth L

Ok, spotted it in another post, sounds like chrome accents still available, yay!
Josh

The seats look just like the 2-tone seats from the ’98-’02 BMW Z3 M Roadster/M Coupe. Very nice.
Art

Wow what a fiasco. I don’t know where to begin.

The side marker/grille = lee press on garbage. Looks trite and silly….ugly, etc.

The interior is … a disaster. The center stack looks like a poorly designed use of space. To me it looks like a child designed it. Man, what a mess.

The shape of the dash with all componants looks like it was designed by the same kid who did the stack. Butt Ugly.

What a mess.

The doors… almost neat. But who wants a car that’s almost neat? I’ve seen better design on a Daewoo.

The overall impression… UGH.

If all under that ugly skin kicks ass… than who knows…. will that change the overall impression of it?

I dunno, the whole thing looks like a cheap production of a poor design study.

Would I buy it? Yes, only if it were based under 20 for the S. Becuase they look that cheap.
Dave Mac Mini

I like it. A lot! This will be mt MINI number 3, as soon as we see what the JCW upgrade will have to offer. For you people that don’t like it, fair enough. Don’t buy it. There are lots of cars to choose from out there. However, I have never driven any car that gets as much positive reaction from the public as the MINI does, even after driving MINIs for four years.
Dave Mac Mini

I Like it. A lot!. This will likely be MINI number three for me, but I will wait and see what the JCW version will have to offer, as my ’05 MCS will do for a while. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. There are lots of other choices out there, but I must say, the MINI has been the most popular car I have ever owned. Even after four years, people still stop and check it out and ask lots of questions. I have owned dozens of cars, and the MINI has been the most popular and the most fun, and I expect the new one will carry that tradition forward.
BeOSKid

i wasn’t too big on the pre releases but i do like the exterior of this one. they pulled the front and back together and they look pretty darn close to the originals but yet different enough to make it Ver 2. thanks mini for proving me wrong.
GSP

I’m just fine with the Exterior – like it a lot. The dash and especially the center stack are simply awful; proportions are all wrong; cheap looking, toy-like. Is it so bad as to keep me from buying? Well maybe – that’s where I live and what I see. Yuck!
Teresa

Wow the non-S is really fugly. I mean complain all you want about the fake hoodscoop on the S but at least it hides the face that the bonnet is flatter (or practically flat).

Also I didn’t think it was possible for the interior to look cheaper than it does now but that pic of the centerstack proved me wrong : (
Shawn

Wow, where to start. As someone who works in the design field, this is a bad set of choices hoisted on top of good underlying design. You probably had a design team that wanted to leave their own stamp on the car but we’re afraid they offend us prior owners if they went too far. Most of the design changes are not properly proportioned.

Both the new wheel arches and the new larger front lights are too large (the lights especially in the side view – it’s odd to me to have essentially a vertical front to the car with large sloping lights thrown on the side). The effect of more angular metal on the hood and the new front grill is obviously done to make the car appear more aggressive and masculine so we can assume that the designers were trying to make the car less “cute.” (interestingly this is the opposite direction of what BMW designers have done with their cars by making them more neutral in stance — witness how the new 3-series is much less masculine-looking than the previous 3-series probably to appeal to a larger car audience in the new design team’s mind).

Even little details like the gas cap seem to have been done on a whim – the shape of the previous design matched up prefectly with the door handle shape – what prompted this new shape? I can’t tell. I’m sorry, but all of these design seems to have been mostly driven to add more plastic and have less metal to reduce production costs. I’m sure the engineering under the metal is better but I think the old design will go down as a classic (and I’m glad I got mine when I did).
Andy

I worried when I saw the earlier side views of the car that there was something not quite right about the wheel arch clearances. It’s actually a problem in two regards; not only does the wheel arch opening seem larger than on the ‘old’ Mini, the black trim appears wider. If one looks at a side view on the Mini USA website, the wheel arch trim on the ‘old’ Mini is not black but dark grey and a fold in the trim can be perceived. The ‘new’ Mini gets the near black trim which, while it may not actually be thicker (although I suspect it is) it appears much thicker and out of proportion.

I wonder whether the enlarged wheel arches was necessary to give the wheel more travel and thus the engineers some means by which to take the oft commented harshness out of the ride. Either way, the standard 16″ and larger wheels filled up the wheel arches on the ‘old’ Mini in a way that few production cars do. Now the ‘new’ Mini looses quite a bit of the taught, purposeful look it had in the previous model.
Evan

Ummmm….

I have never been happier with a purchase than with my 2004 MC. And I think it might stay that way…

I actually think the interior is cool- nice up date. ALthough I am hesitant about the center stack plastic until I meet it face to face.

The exterior though… they threw out all grace and proportion of the current car for a bulbous front and rear, head and tail lights that are trying to wrap around instead of just paying for the extra side lights as the current design, the window line is awful, and the car looks like it’s on its tippy toes while holding in a big, deep breath.

Looks like my next car will be a used 325i or ’05-’06 Cooper S.

Tear.
mr.abulia

It’s funny really… when I first saw the spy photos I thought I would hate the interior and be ok with the exterior. In fact, its now the other way around! The wheel arches are far too large, making the car look like proper sized wheels are sporting tractor tyres, the front lights (moved outward to keep the front profile the same?! What? That makes NO sense) look all wrong and the fog lights are much to big in proportion to the rest of the car. The black mesh would be a nice option on the S, but on some colours it will just look like a giant gaping hole that should be covered by something. And Shawn’s note vis-a-vis the ‘S’ gas cap is bang-on: it was something sleek and interesting, now it is just an ugly hunk of chrome-coloured plastic. And please don’t get me started on the new chrome badging on the side for the ‘S’… where the grills were subtle and elegant, these look like something matchbox would have come up with.

Meanwhile, the interior looks fabulous with the possible exception of the environmental controls. And, of course, there is now no easy way to swap in an aftermarket stereo, so for anyone who likes music it’s the HK or the highway!

Overall, however, I hope the engineering makes up for these faults. We all knew the car wouldn’t stay exactly the same, and over time we will grow to accept the things that have changed while hoping that things will move the other way in the third generation (or possibly second gen facelift).

In the meantime, I have questions that I hope are answered much sooner rather than later: 1) When do we get solid info on the power and availability of the JCW car? 2) Can the dashboard/instrumentation lighting change colour, or just the mood lighting? 3) Can the new car use the current wheels? 4) When do we find out how the new S stacks up to the current S and S/JCW? 5) Have they finally seperated the turn indicators into two lights, or left it as a single light? And am I the only person that is annoyed by not having a turn indicator light on the dash that blinks the direction being indicated?
Mike

The interior is horrific. Are these the same guys who designed the Aztek? Looks like this MINI was put together by committee, with little communication between them. I’ll be very happy holding onto my 2002 ‘base’ Cooper ;>)

Let’s hope a new design team is on board for the Traveler…
http://www.atlantaminis.net M. Dillon

Frist,and formost…thank you,Gabe,for this great post. You really outdid yourself on this one. Next,my verdict: So far…so good. The interior\exterior is great,IMO. The only,”problem”,with this new MINI is the gaps between the wheel wells,and the top part of the tires. However,considering that the R56 is bigger,lighter,faster,and sips fuel better…I say,it’s a great trade-off. In closing,I really feel that I have come close to finding the car that will retire my beloved,”Sade”(PW/MC-Blk.,White,and British)to the land of the Delta Blues(my Momma’s house,in Clarksdale,MS.)and be replaced with,”Robert Johnson”(Oxygen Blue/Blk.,MC).
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Aqualung

I’ll be curious to see what effect, if any the new C pillars w/ their “bump” along w/ the spoiler (MCS) have in terms of keeping the boot clean(er)…i.e. improving the aerodynamics.
yo

El interior estÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¡ de la verga!
Marc

sigh Looks like a “mini” crossover suv wanna-be type thing to me. Update the mech bits, but leave the design alone. Long live the `06′s! (I might swap in the turbo lump though.)
Will

I have to say the new car is a “wait and see”. There are problems with the interior and exterior as noted previously. However, I can’t tell you how many times I have read up on a car, made a judgement, and then changed my mind once I saw it in person.

Mike, that chrome circle is the glove box release button.

Also, I saw one of these being test driven on a freeway here in LA. It was heavily disguised, but I could tell it was a “S”, from the scoop. It did not look that much different, but again, I have to hold judgement until I see it for real.
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Peter Rappel

The nose sticks out a little too much, which is particularly accented by the headlights seemingly pointed outward. The rear of the car has a slightly more accented curve. The nose and rear gives the car a Wagon-like look.

The turnlights in the Headlamps gives a cheap look (i’ve felt that way about every car that has this), the Grille is touch more curvy (will grow on me), the rear lamps are more curvy, and the interiors are now very cartoonish and lack class. The interiors of the present Gen (i own an ’06 Cooper) are abolutely classy without being flashy. The center stack redesign is very disheartening, the present one is perfect.

I honestly expected the new Cooper to pack more than 120 bhp. Esp with the S having 175. The diff between Cooper and S is even a little more stark than the present Gen (55 bhp as opposed to 53 bhp). True the engines will be much better than the present Gen, but its a big surprise.

Ultimately I’m glad a got mine last year. Maybe a few years down the line I’ll try to fit a New Gen engine into mine. Or maybe they’ll bring out a new gen sooner than expected which will take the best of the past two Gens and improve on it.
RenÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â©

Mini did a great job by not changing too much on first glance even so so many things have changed. Interior is great, but I always like to have the speedo in front of me, hope that option is still available. To my opinion the mini didn’t have to grow larger, because that’s why it’s called a mini. The tail lights appear too be a little too big to me, but maybe it’s something to get used to. And I hoped they left the fog light in the middle like the old one, a reference to what the F1 cars have. I like the toggle switches at the ceiling very much, and that the car weights less and the weight balance is a great achievement of the constructors of mini. I still don’t like the orange clignotors in front, glad they can be blanc too. I hope the cooper s doesn’t have to sacrifice the great sound it had like a mini supposed to produce, but I am affraid it has. Despite it’s a new better engine this time. Overall I think I stick to my own mini.
http://www.ccfduluth.org Jack

I will tell you what I would like to see is the same shots of the 06 side by side so it would be more easy to compare them. I kind of like some of the stuff but will probably order an 06 before they are all gone
Bullydog

What’s up with the droopy side mirrors. While I am sure the provide a better viewing angle, I cant get over the way they look like the have somehow melted and warped. Very odd. Take a look…. you will see what I mean. Also the interior is a mix of good and bad as everyone previous has stated. I reallly like the seats though. They do look like the Z3 seats. They’ve gotta be better than the current seats.
Vladimir

Its too awful, I can’t look any longer. The charm is lost, the interior is gimmicky and cheesy. How can anyone think this is an improvement?
RascalQueen

I like the interiror very much! Great looking seats! Exteriror – I gotta study it to see the diff between the ’06 and ’07. I’ve heard good things about the performance, though – I’m really glad my girlfriend is waiting for the ’07 – will be fun playing with an ’06 and an ’07 together.
Paul

VERY DISSAPOINTING! The headlights look funny like the nose has been squished into a cone. The inside looks repulsive! What is with that stupid mini logo dash control thing on the center stack??? It looks like crap! The seats look betterÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦more supportive, like the M roadster seats from a few years back. The steering wheel is really UGLY! I donÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t understand why so few car manufactures can manage to put a decent steering wheel in a car. ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œHey BMW Take A Look Inside An AUDI!!!!ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â Also is that the stereo/CD player integrated into the speedo? ThatÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s just stupid! What if I want to upgrade my stereo? Well BMW? I would not be surprised to find out that that JACK ASS Chris Bangel ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦BengelÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦however he spells his name hand something to do with this bastardizing of a classic!
joema

I like the smoothed over look of the outer body. The fake hood scoop is cheesy though. The dashboard, especially with wood inserts and chrome line interior, looks great. I would like the chrono package that the current model offers, but it doesn’t appear to be available this time around. Center stack appears low rent and reeks of cost cutting. That’s a shame as the rest of the interior seems like an improvement, such as a slight increase in leg room in the rear seat area. Anyone seen US gas mileage figures yet or pictures of the other colors to be offered? I’m curious to see what Oxygen Blue looks like.
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D

I’m not gonna lie; I REALLY don’t like the new design. Making the car bigger in size makes it less appealing (even if it is only by 3 inches). It looks a bit high, like it is ready to go mudding (which would be loads of fun), and the lights look a bit out of place. The interior is nice, but all the new gadgets will have problems or be hard to use, like in the 7 series. In general, diehard MINI fans aren’t too happy. (this coming from a 16 year old…who had to have the first liscensed and registered MINI in Texas- my grandfather bought a 1951 Morris Minor new and left it in my name before he died and before I was born. All original sitting in his house with 50,000 original miles. And my father learned to drive in a ’72 Radford MINI. I followed learning to drive in my dad’s 2002 Cooper S)

~~~MOTOR ON~~~
Chad

Any indications if there will be changes to “US-Spec” cars? Like with the reflectors on the wheel arches?
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Syndil

UGH WHY, WHY!!! The last thing I would want is a bigger Mini. The headlights look wall-eyed, and the overall look of the car is bloated. I look at it and it makes me cringe.

I applaud the technological advancements, but the new porker look has taken the Mini off of my short list. Why oh why does every vehicle always get larger after a redesign?? STOP IT!!
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vijay

hummm…wen wanna power n feel while u drive..go for BMW MINI… n style…nothing u can get for tat price..making weight reduction…speed is ultimate..n the control…hummm…u drive…n know tat…

n the colors…the best n first of its kind…women..go for it..
kent

I’m so HAPPY I bought this car!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D LOVIN’ IT!!

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