Mini Cooper or BMW 1-Series for wife to be?

[pint6x]

Not a mini - too preppy, too obvious, too estate agent, too "mutton dressed as lamb" - lots of old divorced ladies drive them trying to pick up a toyboy and pretend they aren't really over 50 with saggy bits everywhere Also, helpless if you're trying to get anyone in the back

Not a 1 series - just a bit too "me too" I've got to have a BMW at any price, so I want a 1 series - a bit too much "trying hard". Also - useless for room in the back - described in the press as the world's first foor door 2-seater! Again - useless if you want to carry more than 2 people.

A quick trawl on www.autotrader.co.uk came up with the following:

2005 MERCEDES-BENZ C CLASS C220 CDI Elegance SE 4dr Auto Diesel Saloon for £7k

Any number of 2005/2006 Saab 9-3s

2005 BMW 3 SERIES 318i ES 4dr Saloon (trade) for £7k with only 34k miles

2006 VOLVO S60 2.4D SE 4dr Geartronic Diesel Saloon with 56k miles, leather, climate etc. for £5,795 (with new 185bhp TD engine - this really flies) seats are mega-comfortable as well.

2005 05 Reg Lexus IS200 2.0 S (trade) 23k miles £6,299 at Car Giant in London

And - a bit left field perhaps, but: www.drivethedeal.com are currently doing the Dodge Avenger 2 litre petrol SE 4 door saloon at a massive 50% off list price - yours, on the road, for £7,464.25 - now OK, it may not be a fashion icon, but that's a massive wedge off of the £15k list price and you get a brand spanking new car with full warranty.

 

[st4]

05 C220cdi for £7k. Thats gotta be worth a look as does an 05 3 series. So much more car than a silly mini.

 

[Soltan]

Quote - Mini Cooper or BMW 1-Series for wife to be?

Sounds like a fair swap
What? Come on, some-one had to say it

 

[jeremytaylor]

207? Focus? Golf? A-class? A3?

Any of them have got to be better than a MINI or a 1-series, haven't they?

OK, so the Focus falls down when it comes to badge-snobbery, but they aer supposes to be a good drive.

But when all is said and done, I think you'll find the colour may well be the most important consideration

 

[lynall]

Before you buy a mini do a google for gearbox problems the manuals tend to blow up and the cvt autos are jerky, sluggish and always give the impression they are about to go wrong!

Tha cars are pretty good but the ride is crap, no sorry utter crap

She now has a C320 and its much much better she traded cooper for the C class and had to cough up another £800 bargain.

Mpg on the minis is terrible the Mini One cvt did 30mpg and the Cooper cvt did 31/2mpg

Ps did i mention the ride is terrible.

Just reading an article on the jazz bloke has done 154k and apart from regular servicing has had no probs.



Lynall

 

[SilverSaloon]

i'd go for the MINI myself.

 

[Apial]

I have an 04 MINI One D. I have had it for the last 65k miles since new. Before that I had a MINI One right from the original launch.

Servicing has been cheap with the Tlc servicing packages, and the ONLY thing that has broken in almost 5 years is the gas struts on the rear hatch.
The ride on 17" runflats is really too hard on rural roads. The 15" wheels gives a comfortable ride whilst retaining a very direct handling experience. The standard seats are not very supportive, and the sports seats are much better.

You won't find anything going cheap though. The residuals have been fantastic. My MINI is on the books at £3750. You try and buy one for that price!

 

[rf065]

Golf, A3

If you are considering either of them, then have a look at the Seat Leon as well. Very good value compared to Volkswagen or Audi. My son bought one and so far, his first three services have cost a total of £300, compare that to my one B service with Mercedes at £468, with me supplying my own oil!

Russ

 

[A210AMG]

Hello


My mum has had a mini since they first came out, a cooper (done about 10K miles 6 or 7 years?)

Nice car (it has a LOT of options) but 30mpg and noisy power steering / hard ride.

What millage does your wife to be do?


Does she like the new Fiat 500 or Twingo Sport?

With your budget your looking almost new with one of them. Also consider leasing, some VERY cheap cars about and you get to keep your money in the bank and drive a brand new one !!

 

[bigstuff]

my mate is on his third mini all from new & had no probs as yet

 

[Stan the Man]

Neither. Toyota Yaris or Honda Jazz.

 

[gIzzE]

The BMW 120d M-Sport is the only car I have managed to keep longer than 12 months, kept it for 20 months in the end, and the only reason we swapped to a 320d sport touring was we needed the extra space.

I would say it is the best all round car I have owned, and I have owned a few.

The chassis is absolutely sublime, the way it handles and the feeling of almost perfect balance is something anyone who is into cars will really appreciate, she came straight from a Mini one and an A3 S-Line before that, coming from an Audi A3 2.0tdi S-Line it was a complete revelation, and it made the Audi seem extremely poor.
I had a 535d M-Sport Touring while we had the 120d and I ended up using the little 1er more than the 5er, so I sold that and bought and M3 CSL as the 1er did the job of the sensible mile muncher.
I took it to Europe a couple of times, the last I got a Spider tuning box (210bhp) and went down through France, throug Switzerland, into Italy spent a week driving round the mountains and lakes and then went over to west France on the way back and cover 4000 miles in 3 weeks. It gobbled up the miles perfectly, the sport seats are still the best seats I have had in any car, more comfy then the seats in my old mans S320cdi, better than the seats in the 535d and miles better than the Recaro seats in our S4 avant.

The car feels like a much, much bigger car while on the motorway but feels like a go kart when pressing on down the twisties.
After the remap it was faster on the back roads then my mates 535d, well not faster but could keep the speed up better, before the map I could not keep up with him, after it he could not keep up with me, the 50:50 weight distribution in a small chassis really is impressive.

We bought the S4 avant to replace the 120d M-Sport, but the S4 just didn't get a look in, so a month later we sold that as both agreed the 1 series was a much, much better car.

As an all round package the little 1er is almost perfect, anyone who enjoys driving will love it, not everyone will appreciate its Marmite looks I agree, but I have never known anyone get out of one and say it isn't an awesome drive.

She liked the Mini as well, but she said she would not have another, but she wants another 1 series when we no longer need a big estate and it is the only car we have both regretted selling.

For me I would give it 9 out of 10, a stunning all rounder.

Up in the Highlands on the tight twisty roads, those roads insisted we drove the 500 odd miles there in the 1 series rather than take the S4 Avant!

 

[01alam]

SLK230? or CLK?

 

[Howard]

Not a mini - too preppy, too obvious, too estate agent, too "mutton dressed as lamb" - lots of old divorced ladies drive them trying to pick up a toyboy and pretend they aren't really over 50 with saggy bits everywhere Also, helpless if you're trying to get anyone in the back

Ah hahahahahahahahahahahhahahah !!!

You been in Teddington by any chance recently ?

 

[hawk20]

Some may knock it but the MINI is a truly lovely car to look at and many like that -and why not.

Whereas the BMW 1 series is one of the ugliest cars ever in many people's opinion. One of the cars that Bangle mangled. Pretty cramped.

My eldest daughter had a MINI one and loved it. But there is no room in the back and the boot holds one handbag and a toothbrush. Fun and gorgeous. She now has an A180cdi, but a lot more money.

Your wife to be should drive both cars and decide which she likes best. You could get a new Ford Ka for the same money and a three year warranty.

 

[st13phil]

It's not entirely clear if Mrs Donza-to-be wants a reliable tin box for the purpose of getting from A to B and back again or something a bit more interesting from a driving perspective. Or is it that Mr Donza is looking for a reliable tin box for the purpose of getting from A to B for Mrs Donza-to-be, that also happens to be interesting to drive for Mr Donza

If you're just looking for a reliable small(er) car and driver interest isn't important then there are any number of alternatives that are a better bet than either a 1er or a MINI, both of which are seriously flawed from a practicality point of view.

If it's driving entertainment and/or image that's more important then personally I'd go for the MINI which, apart from anything else, has absolutely rock-solid residuals and is great fun to drive. While I agree with gIzzE that the 1er is good to drive - and perhaps better than the MINI in that respect - it's similarly cramped space wise and every time I look at one it makes me want to vomit. A personal viewpoint I know, but true nevertheless.

 

[cmarkod]

May be able to get an A3 with some canny negotiating. there's a 55 plate 2.0TDi DSG fastback up near me for £7995 .

 

[st4]

The BMW 120d M-Sport is the only car I have managed to keep longer than 12 months, kept it for 20 months in the end, and the only reason we swapped to a 320d sport touring was we needed the extra space.

I would say it is the best all round car I have owned, and I have owned a few.

The chassis is absolutely sublime, the way it handles and the feeling of almost perfect balance is something anyone who is into cars will really appreciate, she came straight from a Mini one and an A3 S-Line before that, coming from an Audi A3 2.0tdi S-Line it was a complete revelation, and it made the Audi seem extremely poor.
I had a 535d M-Sport Touring while we had the 120d and I ended up using the little 1er more than the 5er, so I sold that and bought and M3 CSL as the 1er did the job of the sensible mile muncher.
I took it to Europe a couple of times, the last I got a Spider tuning box (210bhp) and went down through France, throug Switzerland, into Italy spent a week driving round the mountains and lakes and then went over to west France on the way back and cover 4000 miles in 3 weeks. It gobbled up the miles perfectly, the sport seats are still the best seats I have had in any car, more comfy then the seats in my old mans S320cdi, better than the seats in the 535d and miles better than the Recaro seats in our S4 avant.

The car feels like a much, much bigger car while on the motorway but feels like a go kart when pressing on down the twisties.
After the remap it was faster on the back roads then my mates 535d, well not faster but could keep the speed up better, before the map I could not keep up with him, after it he could not keep up with me, the 50:50 weight distribution in a small chassis really is impressive.

We bought the S4 avant to replace the 120d M-Sport, but the S4 just didn't get a look in, so a month later we sold that as both agreed the 1 series was a much, much better car.

As an all round package the little 1er is almost perfect, anyone who enjoys driving will love it, not everyone will appreciate its Marmite looks I agree, but I have never known anyone get out of one and say it isn't an awesome drive.

She liked the Mini as well, but she said she would not have another, but she wants another 1 series when we no longer need a big estate and it is the only car we have both regretted selling.

For me I would give it 9 out of 10, a stunning all rounder.

Up in the Highlands on the tight twisty roads, those roads insisted we drove the 500 odd miles there in the 1 series rather than take the S4 Avant!

That is a nice one you had there, leathers and auto - The car seems familiar, you weren't on babybmw.net were you? The best mod for a 1er is to ditch the runflats and run the car on conventional tyres.

My cousin was thinking of a 130i 5dr door and for the money there is no performance hatch that can touch it (and its the only RWD option).

Being a Merc forum and all I would also suggest a Merc C class coupe, 220cdi or a 200k or if MPG isn'ta concern a 320. If you need 5drs the BMW is miles ahead of the MINI.

 

[teknow]

My ex wife had a Mini Cooper Park Lane, it rode like it had no suspension at all. Awful thing. Probably as much to do with the rock hard run flat tyres as anything else.

Never driven a 1 series BMW

If you and your wife to be plan on kids .....

.... the boot in the 1-series is tiny! We were shocked ... a pushchair would be a squeeeeeeeze!

I saw a 55-plate 120d M-sport with 30k on the clock on AutoTrader for £5,500 last week!

 

[gIzzE]

That is a nice one you had there, leathers and auto - The car seems familiar, you weren't on babybmw.net were you? The best mod for a 1er is to ditch the runflats and run the car on conventional tyres.

My cousin was thinking of a 130i 5dr door and for the money there is no performance hatch that can touch it (and its the only RWD option).

Being a Merc forum and all I would also suggest a Merc C class coupe, 220cdi or a 200k or if MPG isn'ta concern a 320. If you need 5drs the BMW is miles ahead of the MINI.

Yeah was on babybmw.net, I did a pictorial on fitting a GPStar flip up nav system on there.
Nav install for a more OEM look.

You are right, you need to budget £300 to ditch the run flats for the 1er or for the mini.


Also those that say space it tight have not driven one, they are as big as a 3 series, C class on the inside, and are more comfy than a 5 series and E class if it has the sublime sport seats.