2007 MINI: Your Take

Hey, as long as the car is still fun to drive, I love it. When I sit in the driver’s seat, start the engine, put the car in gear, take my foot off the clutch and toe the gas, if my face lights up with a smile reminiscent of a teenager exposed to “truly good driving” for the first time, it’s golden. The first time I ever drove a MINI, the feeling was unforgettable. I went through 2 1/2 tanks of gas in the first two days.

I’ll probably buy one of the new cars, that’s just the way I am. They will still turn heads and make people smile from the sidewalk, they will still growl and buzz like only a MINI can, and from the sound of it, in a more aggressive and less “pissed off bumble bee” way, and they look like they can handle possibly even better than the current car, which is very impressive… kudos, MINI. I love the car, down to the last detail, call me crazy…

That being said… why can’t I still grab a chrome grille with the MCS? That really would clinch the deal for me…

My biggest problem with the center console controls are the two silver plastic dials sticking out on either side of the MINI logo-shaped ventilation controls. These tacky-looking ear shaped things are some sort of air temperature/flow dials, but I can’t tell from the pictures.

Nothing in the pictures or details is offensive to me, so I’m waiting until I see the car in person to make a final judgement. I am hopeful for improvements in a few areas… mainly the seats.

The whole new design disappointed me. While the cheif designer “Frank Stevson” has gone, the new team got hard work in modify the original design.But all the modifications were done painstakingly.Especially the interior control interface,it goes to far and loses the tradition of MINI.What we can expect is..the new engine of 07 model. Deeply hope that BMW MINI group spare no effort in keep the fame of MINI and will last long.

The video is located in “2007 MINIs in motion” The best example of turn signal visibility occures at approximately 3:28 into the video.

I agree that the turn signal will be very difficult to see at night – the headlights being on will blur it out. This is an all too common problem these days. More color choices (other than 3 different silvers) would be a big plus. The new Laser Blue looks terrific. Otherwise, I’m fine with the exterior – nice evolution of the car. I hate the center stack, like others have said the temperature controls look like a Fisher-Price radio. :( I hope that a chrono package is available as I am not on board with the over done center speedo and I rue the loss of a coolant temperature gauge. The rest of the interior looks fine but I’m hoping that there is still sufficient storage space in the car to pigeon hole smallish items. My MINI is a daily driver, not a garage queen so I need places for various small items. The new seats look great and the ability to change the interior lighting color seems cool. The push button start and having to put the key fob into the dash is just stupid. I think the turbo will be fantastic and I hold out hope that the Cooper will finally have sufficient hp to get up and go even with the AC on. Hopefully the S will get 35+ MPG US highway and the Cooper 40+.

I’m buying a 2007 S.

Things I’m looking foreward to: -A little more HP with a LOT more torque off the bottom (plus the mod potential of a turbo). -JCW sized brakes come stock on the S. -GP-style rear suspention compontents on the new cars. -I like the aero kit look… so I like the black grille on the front.

Bad: -Center stack (though I actually am one of those who like the big speedo)… the stuff below it looks cheesy. I’m hoping there are some changes here, at least in the silver plastic. Maybe a chrome kit will clean things up a bit. I’m hoping. -Non-functional (for now) scoop on the hood. There’s gotta be something this slot can eventually do… -No leatherette! I guess I’ll have to splurge for real leather.

The stuff that doesn’t matter as it will most likely get changed within a week or two of delivery: -Ride height. The car needs to be dropped an inch or so (looks tall). Hello Eibach… H&R? -Wheels. I used to like S-lites. The white ones pictured look a little funny. Where are the lug nuts? I’ll bee looking for a nice set of 18″s fairly soon… but I’m now leaning towards web-spokes as stock (or maybe I’ll splurge for the R90′s).

We’ll see…

Is it confirmed what is in fact the function of the overhead switches? Remember there’s still a bunch of these switches down below. Even if you’re right, that doesn’t mean the convertable version of the R56 (which is still at least a year away, I think) will have all the switches in the same place.

More colors please! At this point our ’07 will be ordered in the Dark Grey for lack of another color wife and I both like. We’d really like a non-metalic Hyper blue. I’d like a non-metalic BRG. Yellow color’s good, but need more like it.

KILL THE CHAMPAGNE COLOR TODAY. NOW. THIS IS NOT AN 80′S ACURA LEGEND OR A MERC DIESEL.

Drop the Silver too. That was the color of the new Millinium 7 years ago. That boat has sailed, and it was never destined for the Mini anyway. I prefer the Pepper White to the Alpine White being asked for but white’s not in the cards for the S anyway. And while we’re at it, why limit colors to Cooper and Cooper S. BAD IDEA. Dislike the metalic Black. non-metalic would work. Basically, politely ask the colour specialist to retire and hire the guy from Volkswagen who mixed up the R32 blue, New Beetle Deep Yellow, TT Putty Grey -amazing how nobody in recent history figured out that if you drop metal flake from silver it makes a cool color. Those were good colors. Would it help if Gabe started a thread where owners submitted existing colors from other marques? This is what non-purist car restorers do. They go in and tell the PPG guy, I want that yellow off of the 84 Prelude 2.0.

We’ll likely add wide-assed offset stripes after purchase. Really dislike the new ’06 “U” stipes. What about alternative sunroof decals for the silver roof to match like the white one does.

’07 likes: Engine (mileage, power, torque, PSA heritage over Chrysler YAY!). No added weight. Looks like rear seats are getting less econo look, right?

’06 dislikes that BMW can still correct for ’07: Make better sport seats. The wide-butted PlaySchool pattern in the seat back stitching is the hugest of turn offs. This is a place where a Recaro clone would help generate more love by Mini owners, and more well spent money to dealers (they make the money on options, right?). Would love the sport seats from our Z3 in the Mini!!!

Could this be the longest comment section ever for a MF atricle? there sure is a healthly amount of quality comments.

I’ll keep my comments short. like the interior, like the exterior. Center stack could use some work. Like the speedo size with the nav. not a fan of the a/c controls, yet. I look forward to seeing it in person.

There is many nice improvements such as the new engine with its improved mileage and torque. But the speedo and the center stack are foul . The way the speedo is stuck on the dash changes the looks an not for the better. I also prefer a standard radio that can easly be changed if i so desire.

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