MINI Clubman vs the BMW 135i in Pictures

Sections: MINI Competitors | R55 (Clubman) Feb 15th, 2008 45 Comments

Want to see how a MINI Clubman stacks up next to the new BMW 135i coupe? We’ve got the first photos in the world of the two side by side. Look for both reviews next Monday. One here on MF and the other on BimmerFile.

Written By: Gabe

Mark R

Decisions…decisions…
Aurel

this was a cruel …
MINI VANILLI

That 135i coupe is simply awesome looking!! If i didn’t just get my 2007 MCS a year ago i would get one for sure. I saw the clubman in person at my dealer last friday. It is one of the ugliest cars i have ever seen in person. It look like a deformed frankenstein MCS. I say if people can fit their lifestyle in a COOPER then get another car, but don’t ruin the design of the brand to squeeze in a few more inches of room.
c4

The 135i is about the same size as the MINI.

More than the cars, I am enjoying the beautiful scenery. We had a blast when we visited Monterey back in 2006.
MINI VANILLI

“I say if people can fit their lifestyle in a COOPER then get another car”

should be can’t
c4

MILLI VANILLI, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. See the 135i doesn’t do that much for me…go figure..
c4

And… I can’t fit my lifestyle much longer on a regular Cooper, hence I am getting a Frankestein Clubman S for your viewing pleasure..
http://mcarlo52.themotorcade.com mike c.

Pics can play tricks. In some of the shots the Coop looks maybe 6″ shorter, but in one shot it looks to be a couple of feet shorter. I don’t have the specs in front of me, but the 135 doesn’t look all that much smaller than a three series (in other words, way too big for me).
emtrey

Not a big fan of the Clubman. Just a bit out of proportion to my eye. I will wait to see it in real life before I decide for sure I don’t like it.

The 135i is starting to look awfully good. I will definitely have to test drive one. That 335i engine is really strong. Not leaving MINI but that baby bimmer will sell very well IMHO.
http://widepipe.tumblr.com Sunil

I, too, thought the Clubman was a bastardization of the Mini brand. But after seeing one in the flesh yesterday, accompanied by my wife and 4 month old, I decided to put in an order. It’s much better in person, and it lets my newly growing family still enjoy being part of the Mini brand and driving experience.
fdavid

Good call Sunil! I rather stay in the R53,R56 family but since we might be having a kid soon, it makes me reconsider just a tiny bit. I’ve always wanted to buy an Audi S4 avant but its too much of a gas guzzler to convince my hardcore environmentalist wife. We will go check out the Clubman this weekend and get a feel for it in person. Nevertheless, I agree with the comments in regards to the overall weird proportions of the Clubman. If you look through the amazing photo set Gabe put together on his flickr account, you can see the developing sketches for the Clubman. You can see how the smooth transition in the back, all of the sudden is adjusted with sharp, and almost rectilinear transitions making the Mini have an awkward design relationship front to back. **By the way the 135i looks amazing and might venture to guess it drives incredible.
gokartride

Hmmm…one is a MINI and one is another BMW. I’ll take the MINI any day.
Aurel

I have a kid on the way as well and wonder how easy is it to get in and out of the back of the Clubman, especially since the baby + the wife would have to get in there. How did you find it Sunil? Not to mention that I am 6’7″ and wife is 5’10″
c4

I have a big 16 month old baby boy and the only cars he is ever ridden since coming home from the hospital are MINIs. We did manage pretty well with 2 MINIs in the household plus the baby and all of his gear. He have done several road trips in my R53, plus luggage, car seat, stroller…no problems.

The Clubman should be even better! About 3 inches more legroom in the back, bit not only that, the boot is almost double the size of the standard hardtop. Having had the experience of transporting a baby in a R50 and R53 MINI, I can say that is very doable and not bad at all. When he was riding rear facing, we used to load him through the hatch opening…Loved the facial expressions of people around us!. The easiest thing in the world. Since November, he is been riding forward facing and to pluck him back there is no sweat. We use 2 Britax roundabout car seats and they fit great in the MINI. In rear facing mode, the roundabout is the only seat that will not eat into front passenger legroom.

For the stroller we have been using the Peg-Perego Aria, but since he now walks, we don’t really use the stroller that much anymore.

Loading and unloading the baby in the Clubman should be an absolute piece of cake thanks to the Clubdoor and added rear seat legroom. It carrying a baby in a R53/R56 is more than doable, it should be a “walk in the park” in the Clubman.
http://bravo5.org/ blalor

One here on MF and the other on BimmerFile.

But which will be where?? Dammit, Gabe, I can’t take this kind of confusion and suspense!
c4

I’ll post pics of my Clubby once I take delivery sometime next week.
Mark

Between the 2 dealers in my area, they have 21 Clubmans on their lots right now, and the SAs are running into the same thing posted above, people don’t like the look (or the price), and they just aren’t selling. Wonder how this total lack of interest in the Clubman by U.S. buyers will translate into cut-backs on the 4WD SAV model’s release.
cct1

Mike C, the 1 series is substantially smaller than the 3 series in the flesh–side by side, the size difference is significant, and there is no mistaking on for the other. I agree with you on the size though–3-series is bigger than what I want, 1-series is just about right. I’m just not sure I like the looks of the 1-series enough to buy one though–it looks better in pictures than it does in person.

The tii looks fantastic though, and with a little bit of modifcation, the 1-series could be a homerun–but it may be ridiculously expensive to do that. So it’ll either be a R56 Stage II, or 135i when the time comes to sell my R53.
Aurel

the price is really the deal breaker for me … i mean an S with 2 packages and an Auto is $30K … is it “worth” it? … not sure. there are a lot of options out there when you hit the $30K mark.

the cool factor is worth a few bucks though ;)
lavardera

Already we are starting with the fiction that they are not selling? Boy, that was even faster than the R56 intro.
MINIme

Apples vs. Oranges

I wouldn’t purchase either car, but I really don’t like the BMW.

Now, the new M3 coupe is a different story…
c4

Aurel, I got a Clubman S, no packages, just auto, front/rear fogs, MSFW, metallic paint…$28K out the door.
http://widepipe.tumblr.com Sunil

Aurel:

I have a kid on the way as well and wonder how easy is it to get in and out of the back of the Clubman, especially since the baby + the wife would have to get in there. How did you find it Sunil? Not to mention that I am 6Ã¢â‚¬Â²7Ã¢â‚¬Â³ and wife is 5Ã¢â‚¬Â²10Ã¢â‚¬Â³

I have to preface my opinion on the fact that we were seriously thinking about a normal S, justifying a lot because we really wanted it. The normal S fit an infant car seat fine, with enough room for my 5’9″ wife to sit comfortably in the passenger seat. But it was a little difficult to get the car seat in and out. The suicide door on the Clubman completely changed that. It is almost as easy as having a four-door. And my wife has even more room, though it was fine in the regular S. The slightly larger trunk still won’t fit our stroller, but we’re planning on getting a smaller one.

I’m 6’1″ and have always found the Mini to be one of the more comfortable cars I’ve been in. It has more room for my legs than most “normal-sized” cars.
Mark

Already we are starting with the fiction that they are not selling? Boy, that was even faster than the R56 intro.

Hope they are selling someplace, so feel free to post your proof. Am good friends with a local MINI SA and he is really worried. They had to predict and commit to their inventory purchases way last year, so now they are receiving between 3 and 4 Clubmans a week shipped from the factory, and are lucky of they can sell one every week or two (in an urban population area of 1.2 million). Have had to rent off-lot storage this month, and have just cut their SA staff from 5 to 3. He’d like some good news, and know what those other Dealers are doing differently, if they are having no problem moving Clubmans.
c4

Well admitedly, the Clubman is an expensive car, no doubt about that.

But also the lousy economy has much to do with with as well. The mortgage crisis is leaving many people with no homes, little money and many tough decisions to do. The last thing in most people’s minds right now is to drop $30K on a brand new car..
Aurel

yeah, it certainly does not help that the economy is weak. could i do it? probably. do I “need” it? probably not. I think the hype would make it more of an impulse buy in some ways.

I swore my next MINI would be customized how I want it (as I bought my first one off the lot), but I can’t seem to price one out nicely for less than $30K
robble

Mark, please put down the crack pipe.

You are right in one thing only – there haven’t been many clubman’s sold in the US. they don’t go on sale until tomorrow sheesh.

You may not like them but these things aren’t going to be in stock come Monday.
Mark

They don’t go on sale until tomorrow? How odd, they’ve been on my Dealers lot for several weeks, and they have been selling them off the lot since last month. One of our local MINI Club members has had her’s for two and a half weeks.
c4

Aurel, my budget for the new car was around $26K, hence our decision to get a very lightly optioned Clubman. We looked at the options sheet and picked and chose things we absolutely needed/wanted and options we could do without. Sunroof, leather seats, NAV, upgraded stereo all went out the window, including all packages. It figures this is a nice car pretty much as it comes right out of the box. We settled pretty much with the automatic, rear fog light, MFSW, metallic paint and that’s about it. Total MSRP $26,200. Not bad at all.

While I like gizmos, I can do without most of them in a car. To me what really matters is the engine, transmission, suspension and the experience.

After all, we lived with a stripper ’02 Cooper for nearly six years…. And we had as much fun in that car as the next guy with a loaded MINI.

Sometimes, less is more.
robble

I don’t believe you unless you live outside the US.
c4

Mark, are you serious? Dealers did not begin to receive Clubman shipments until the end of last week. Dealers are not authorized to sell any of them (and in some cases even showing them) until the official launch day (tomorrow morning).

Are you sure we are talking about the Clubman or left over ’07 R56s?
c4

Mark, please post the name of the dealership and I’ll give them a call to corroborate your story.
robble

Also Mark, you may want to read this article from a place where they have been on sale for awhile – the UK: http://www.mini2.com/2007/12/07/clubman-sales-kick-start-a-record-november-for-mini/

I think the headline itself may disappoint you.
fdavid

I put together a really nice one with leather seats, navigation, ect…for about 33k…I am going to MINI Manhattan tonight to check it out. D
c4

why am I back in moderation?
c4

Mark went silent all of a sudden….hmmmmmmm
VMMVMMM

I’ve experienced both cars up close, and I predict they will both sell extremely well.
robble

Mark went silent all of a suddenÃ¢â‚¬Â¦.hmmmmmmm

yep, another troll shut down.
nuvolari

Arrgh. it just burns me to look at all that wasted space in the back of the 135. Why can’t they bring the 1-Series hatch to the US? I would be all over it.
Chris B.

I really want a 135i but don’t have $40k to drop on a set of wheels at the moment. Both fortunately and unfortunately I have the $30+k to drop on a Clubman S. Real bummer I tell you. ;)
http://miniblog.guapacha.com paul

As some people might have noticed recently, I don’t like BMW much but that 135i sure looks stylish!
lavardera

Why does everybody compare to the 135i – its the non turbo version that is more comparable to the Clubman S (what is it? 126?). Frankly the Clubman offers more utility. Getting a baby in and out will always be easier in the Clubman. For its size the 1 series sacrafices a lot of utility to the 2door form factor, but hey – its not about utility. So if its not about utility the Cooper S really looks like the deal. But if you have to have a BMW, well knock yourself out. I’d try one if I had the disposable income.
bluzeke

To me, it is, as above, apples and oranges. Had Gabe been reared in the back seat of an Audi or Volvo we’d be looking at side by side pictures with an A3 or C30. Clubman or no, I’m still a MINI guy at heart and have no interest in (d)evolving into one of “those people”. ;-)

Bimmers on the Dragon? Nah – it’s just not the same. BTW – I hear there’s a new website for folks who are really into said sedans. ;)
http://www.motoringfile.com/ Gabe

Had Gabe been reared in the back seat of an Audi or Volvo weÃ¢â‚¬â„¢d be looking at side by side pictures with an A3 or C30. Clubman or no, IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m still a MINI guy at heart and have no interest in (d)evolving into one of “those people”. ;-)

Well not really. These photos are here because BMW introduced both at a press event I attended this week. I managed to grab both for some quick photos since there has been so much interest in the 1 Series by MF readers over the last six months.
Aussom

Still like / prefer the Clubman due to its barn doors really opening up the back payload area, plus the suicide door providing easier access for the passengers to the back seats. I’m also slightly biased because of owning an R50/R53 MCS, which I still prefer the look of its front design compared to the R56 series. A set of spotties plus bonnet stripes could spruce the Clubman up nicely.

Will be interesting to compare after-sales depreciation values for both vehicles to see which one holds its resale value better.

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