Comments on: MINI’s Updated Interior Revealed

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 23:16:18 +0000

RKW- Hate to tell you but the new in car systems will blow away a phone- they have much more processing power- rip a CD to MP3, control all in car systems and rip, The new systems are M4 ARM chips with the same cycles as the A4 in the iPhone 4- oh and they can control multiple system inputs and converse with other system processors via fiber optics with a speed faster than anything a phone can do (Flex Ray). The ECU in the M3 has more power than the iPhone 4. I would agree with systems from a year or two ago but not now, and when BMW launches the new chip it is working on, there will be no competition along with it being smart voltage.

By: Nick

Nick — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:43:46 +0000

Now that’s what I’m talkin about…what a big improvement!

By: rkw

rkw — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 10:03:30 +0000

While in theory your idea of using a phone as the Navi makes sense it really doesnâ€™t for several reasons.The processing power is limited

While there may be reasons for not choosing a phone, lack of processing power is not one of them. A phone such as an Evo or iPhone 4 has more processing power than any OEM Nav. Car manufacturers favor old, slow, simple and reliable electronics over higher performance, and they can do that because the computational requirements in an automobile are not very demanding at all when compared to other consumer electronics.

By: Hemisedan

Hemisedan — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 07:48:33 +0000

I’ve kind of wondered about having the dark gray upgraded plastic made available for all the 2nd Generation models. There appears to be some changes in the bottom of the speedometer, or it looks different from last years, around the radio. That would, or might cause problems.

By: Hor

Hor — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:31:12 +0000

Oh.....great....fun little car turns into gloom and doom black goth.

Joy.

By: lilcoopr

lilcoopr — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 20:24:00 +0000

But, Rgc0233, the larger the speedo the SMALLER the MINI looks!!!! ;):P

On a more serious note, the interior refresh looks great and is a welcome addition to the MINI. Now how about a retrofit kit for those who have the 07-10 version of the centre stack? :)

By: Rgc0233

Rgc0233 — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 17:13:29 +0000

I don’t mind the center speedo location, but the size it has grown to is ridiculous!

By: Jas

Jas — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 15:29:42 +0000

Sorry about the pics: here are bigger ones:

http://www.motoringfile.com/wp-content/gallery/countryman_nyc/IMG_5902.jpg

http://www.motoringfile.com/wp-content/gallery/countryman_nyc/IMG_5903.jpg

http://www.motoringfile.com/wp-content/gallery/countryman_nyc/IMG_5913.jpg

http://www.motoringfile.com/wp-content/gallery/countryman_nyc/IMG_5914.jpg

By: Jas

Jas — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 15:27:20 +0000

So it will be like the countryman:

http://www.motoringfile.com/wp-content/gallery/countryman_nyc/thumbs/thumbs_IMG_5902.jpg

http://www.motoringfile.com/wp-content/gallery/countryman_nyc/thumbs/thumbs_IMG_5903.jpg

http://www.motoringfile.com/wp-content/gallery/countryman_nyc/thumbs/thumbs_IMG_5913.jpg

http://www.motoringfile.com/wp-content/gallery/countryman_nyc/thumbs/thumbs_IMG_5914.jpg

By: nickminir56

nickminir56 — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 13:27:29 +0000

German-ish black interior.

By: Minipuma

Minipuma — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 13:01:05 +0000

Jas – Big Blogg makes it sound like Brushed Alloy will be replaced with something called Striped Alloy.

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 12:05:08 +0000

Jared- While in theory your idea of using a phone as the Navi makes sense it really doesn't for several reasons. The processing power is limited and the OS may not be adequate to run items for the vehicle (which is what iDrive is all about). Also, it opens a can or worms for liability- for example each model phone/cradle would need to be crash tested since it is within the passenger compartment, then certain apps would need to be blocked such as youtube b/c if drivers decide to watch a video while driving the manufacturer of the vehicle is liable because they did not prevent the individual from doing such a thing. There are too many apps to keep doing this for (not cost effective) so it would always be an uphill battle.- I can see it now: Teen crashes father's BMW/MINI while play "Farm", the BMW factory Nav/Phone system allows you to play games and drive!

Vehicle manufacturers can not do many things the aftermarket can, such as mounting things to the windshield, allowing items to be loose in the passenger cabin etc. do I think we will eventually see this: Yes but there will be a need for phones and cars to have a unique mode, such as "Car" mode that turns everything off BUT Nav/Phone functions and Apps, you click it in the mount and it automatically does this. We are not even close to that yet as phone in the EU now have finally decided to use standard plugs (US is not even there yet!).

Personally the screen on a phone is too small to be safe to use as a true navigation anyways. On higher end vehicles the optional HUD would also not be possible with a phone. While the integrated units are more expensive- they are far superior than other units from a usability standpoint. A lot of research has shown that touch screens require the user's eyes to spend more time OFF the road ahead. There is a reason that most German brands do not use this method of selection and others are now following suit.

My wife has a Garmin hard mounted in place of an air vent in her car, she prefers my iDrive and next go around we will pony up the dough for it as our attempt at saving a few bucks was not worth it in the end.

-M

By: Jas

Jas — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 11:42:37 +0000

Looks great, but heard brushed alloy is gone from 2011.

By: goat

goat — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 09:19:24 +0000

Much better like we always said – black resin in essentially same molds fixes the “Fisher Price material quality and appearance”, at least for balance of this generation cars. The volume knob has now been physically integrated with the CD player so its location is more correctly linked to its function – also a good User Interface change. The interior is now no longer a showstopper for many who like the new cars but go running from the showroom when they see the interior.

Incidentally, several vendors (and MF sponsors) sell speedo overlays – a black one as on the MINI E would look ace and finish the refresh interior.

As for centre speedo – it is a vital design element and serves a useful purpose in assembly since all markets get the same dash with steering rack / glove box and fron seats being the only L / R swap needed to cover all countries. I agree that not all “heritage” design elements need to stay – and I too look forward to MINI taking the 3rd gen car in a more “futurist” direction – but the centre speedo and toggles are core design elements that make a MINI a MINI!

By: Minipuma

Minipuma — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 07:47:48 +0000

It looks like there's going to be Green Lounge Leather seats available for the R56. (Should be interesting...)

I'm not completely in love with the new center stack. No doubt, the black knobbage looks sharper, taken out of context, but the speedo is a bit confused looking, and I'd also be a little concerned about finding my fingers around the A/C controls out of the corner of my eye with all that black down there. (Based on previous experience with VW's similar all-black center consoles). Anyway the one shown above is a little gloomy-looking. Hopefully they aren't doing away with the silver dash options. Looking forward to some better photos, too.

By: Cory

Cory — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 07:46:20 +0000

Really, jerry? My nav is completely unresponsive for the first minute that I’m in my car.

By: ml

ml — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 04:10:19 +0000

@Aurel

Myself, and I'm sure a lot of other people, still use CDs. I don't think I will ever completely convert to digital. It's just such a back-up nightmare. I like having a hard-copy THEN ripping MP3s from that, not the other way around.

The redesign is very welcome and might convince me to trade in my 2006 in 2012...

By: David Williams

David Williams — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 03:43:06 +0000

I don't see anything to get excited about. It looks like all they really did was change the silver plastic to black plastic. Unfortunately they still have the same horrible climate and radio controls.

Unlike some I like the center speedo but I do wish they would go back to the size we had in the R50/53. I can't say I look at the speedometer much anymore as I can tell my speed fairly accurately from the RPMs.

As for the nav, I could buy a good Garmin every year which would always give me the latest maps, GPS technology and traffic for about the cost of the MINI built in option. If MINI will send out free NAV updates every year and makes the connect feature work with other smartphones than the iphone, I would consider getting the NAV on my 3rd MINI.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 03:10:08 +0000

I have first gen nav….and I have never considered it slow.

By: Gary (the other one)

Gary (the other one) — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 02:54:32 +0000

Much better…I could live with it now.