Mini Cooper S...

[steve threlfall]

Originally posted by Howard
How long ago was this?

I'm asking cos I don't know, not to doubt you or anything..

yeah np matey

minis were so good in rallys that other teams followed there 'race lines' around the corners as they rarely put a foot wrong.

The rally spec coopers are great looking cars tho arent they

how long ago? well when did they make the italian job?

[TeePee]

bah, same wheelbase as a Landrover Discovery...

[Rave]

Originally posted by RocketmanX
I know but I was just making a comparison- A Beamer here starts at twice as much as a Mini Cooper S.
If you can get a BMW for close to 20k and a Mini for 20k in pounds that doesn't compare to the 20k for a Mini and 40+ for a BMW here.

Perhaps they don't sell the cheap 3 series compacts in the states? Anyway, who buys new? I'm looking at paying 1/10th of the new price for an 8 year old 740i as my next car.

Rich :¬)

Edit: might have to make it a 10 year old M5 though

[DR]

I think you guys should go drive the Cooper-S before you start touting statements saying it is over rated.... make your own decsion.

[RocketmanX]

A Z28 version of a Camaro goes for around 28-36,000.
A plain old Camaro with 6 Cylinder and all is around 20.

And no, they don't sell any cheap versions of BMW's over here. We have the 3 series but they aren't cheap. Over here BMW's are all considered to be cars for the upper middle class to upper class.
Along with Mercedes, Jaguar, Volvo, Saab....
All of those brands compete in a price bracket just above any Chevy, Ford or Chrysler. You can usually buy 2 domestic cars for the price of any British, German, or Swiss car.
The only "affordable" BMW's are the Z3 (around mid 30's) and the Z4- around 40-50.
Of course these are all new prices. If I were to spend the money on a Beamer it'd have to be a new Z4

Was at the BMW dealer in a near by city the other day looking at the Z4's and the mmost expensive BMW I saw was 94,000
I could buy a Viper for that, or a REALLY nice ZO6 'Vette

[Richie]

Originally posted by Rave
Anyway, who buys new? I'm looking at paying 1/10th of the new price for an 8 year old 740i as my next car.

Same here... Bought me a 4 year old BMW 540 (Oct 1998 model) last Nov for £11,000. When it was new it cost £45,000 including options)

£34,000 drop in 4 years is shocking but not when it aint coming from my pocket and it wont drop as much now


Still got it now and not even slightly bored with it like I did with previous cars

[Rave]

Damn that's cheap, Parkers reckon it's still worth more than that now. How come you paid so little?

It'll be a while before I can afford one, but I'll get there eventually.....

Rich :¬)

[Richie]

A lot of ppl were put off with the mileage.

It had done 112,900 miles when I bought it but 80% of them were M-Way miles and it had a full BMW Service History as it was an ex company car....

Its now done 120,000 miles.



Didnt bother me cause lets face it, a 4.4 litre V8 engine is basically never stressed even when accelerating hard, least not like 4 cylinder 2 litre engined cars are.... Also, altho its an ex company car, you dont give £45,000 cars to sales reps.... More likely to be higher management car.


The BMW V8's are only "run-in" at 100,000 miles and there is no reason for this to not reach 250,000 miles easily. Just had it in for MOT 2 days ago and it oly failed on handbrake needing adjusted but then after 120,000 miles I would expect it.... it failed on NOTHING else and even the emmisions were almost zilch (0.04% etc) and the engine still runs bang on a LAMBDA value of 1 (stoich)


Pics here if you're interested - http://www.a-bothie.demon.co.uk/boar...ypics/gallery/



True, BMW's are common (well only some of the models are) but this has a lot to do with their reliability and reputation.... What other car can you sell for £500 thats 17 years old and has 130,000 miles on the clock and almost NO rust (my old E30 320)

[Raz316]

http://www.a-bothie.demon.co.uk/boar...40_engine1.jpg hahahah that is just sooooo scotland ; )

Very VERY nice car

[Richie]

LOL

Just put it on to show the sheer size and scale of the engine TBH

[sdp]

My mate said he got caned by a csw's cooper a while ago. He was driving a Corrado VR6 at the time.

A little history for those who are interested: http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/gyhsmith/bsrally.html

[Rave]

Originally posted by Richie
Pics here if you're interested - http://www.a-bothie.demon.co.uk/boar...ypics/gallery/

Hmm. Someone appears to have half inched your spark plugs.

I agree, I wouldn't be at all bothered by high mileage on a beemer.

Rich :¬)

[RocketmanX]

What other car can you sell for £500 thats 17 years old and has 130,000 miles on the clock and almost NO rust (my old E30 320)

Any old Chevy Pick-up, the rust is an issue but around here EVERYTHING rusts, BMW's included- road salt in the winter

Not uncommon for a 1969 Chevy truck (or ford for that matter) to have close to half a million miles on them, I've owned 2. You guys a re unfortunate you only get Fords over there. Most Chevy's will run forever. Although I agree with the reputation of a BMW, I love there build quality but reliabilty from imports is a big issue over here. Some get lucky and never have a problem, my Mom is one of the unfortunates, her Saab absolutely sucked- biggest piece of junk I've ever seen- in the shop more than she drove it. My brother in laws Audi- junk as well. My Moms Volvo, nicely made but still problems. My friends BMW, uhhh you can say I expected better. You just pay way too much for em over here to be competetive with something like a Chevy or a Honda that will run just as many miles and cost half as much.

Don't get me wrong, I love BMW's, not as much as Porsches but I will own both. A Z4 will be in the near future

[Butuz]

Like David, I would suggest a drive in a new Mini before creating blanket statements out of thin air and second hand info.

Having not had the pleasure of having a go in a Cooper S i cant comment much, i can say that the Mini One is great fun, if a bit slow in a straight line, corners very well, super handling, bit expensive tho. Cooper gives you more staight line speed and better handling again, still not much more fun. Cooper S is probably the pick of the bunch although it is true you can get Faster cars (in a straight line and round corners) for the cash.

The 200bhp works should be v.good (though totally overpriced), though im not sure how 200Bhp thu that chassis would really cope. Ford had to do some serious work to make 200+Bhp worthwhile in a focus and the focus chassis was best in class and still is up there with the best all these years later, i havent looked into the works coopers spec's much tho so dont know what other mods that has apart from an extra 40bhp.

The problem with the new Mini though, is that it isnt a Mini in the true sense of the word. The Mini was a super innovative feat of enginnering. The new Mini is not, infact its far from it, its space-wastage is huge, there isnt much more room in the back of a new mini than in the back of an old one, which if you consider the external dimensions is laughable.

At the end of the day the new Mini IS a BMW 1 Series, it aint a Mini.

If you want proper fun, Grab an old mini, slap a 1.4 or 1.8 honda vtec in the front, and just hold on for dear life. It will take you a long time to wipe the grin off your face, if a lampost doesnt do it for you.

Butuz

[TiG]

Originally posted by Butuz
Having not had the pleasure of having a go in a Cooper S i cant comment much, i can say that the Mini One is great fun, if a bit slow in a straight line, corners very well, super handling, bit expensive tho. Cooper gives you more staight line speed and better handling again, still not much more fun. Cooper S is probably the pick of the bunch although it is true you can get Faster cars (in a straight line and round corners) for the cash.

I've not had a go in one, but I can definitely say that the mini goes round corners very well, I accidentally got into a race with one on the way back from the WAN LAN at Zak's house and running back through MK at 11pm ish on Sunday night, doing my usual speed, went past a mini cooper s, as if it wasn't there doing about 65 coming off a big roundabout. Next second I know its right on my tail and moving to the outside to over take, he takes the inside line round the roundabout at what I would considure dangerous speed, my Octavia Vrs will not go round the tight roundabouts at that speed, so i back off a bit, but getting back on the straights my speed starts to count, but the 200m between the tight section of Milton Keynes roundabouts is not enough distance to make it count.

Only when we got to the big willen lake section did my speed pay off, and i finally saw pay to him.

i was damn impressed with his ability to take roundabouts, i'd say it would be perfect for inner city driving but maybe not so good on longer journeys.

Sounds a good option for David tho, just not my cup of tea.

TiG