It’s an odd comparison that to me actually makes more sense than most that I have been writing about lately (ie: BMW 550i/Pontiac G8 GT). Even though the Mini and the BMW are cousins they have a lot of similarities, and probably just as many differences. As I tend to say, beauty is in the eye of the buyer. I personally love both cars, and have driven each to great lengths, and would defend them to the death. Which one is better? Which one is more usable? Well, that there lies within you as the reader and the buyer. So for right now let’s just compare them the best way we know how.
I start with the Mini because technically it has been around longer. When I worked as a car salesman, we had a beautiful cream colored 2004 Mini Cooper S with black racing stripes. It even had the rather nice 6-speed manual tranny too. Any time that I had to go and do something for the dealership, the Cooper S was the car I immediately got the keys for. I loved it. If you know me I’m not much on front-wheel drive cars, but Mini’s I love, I love them more than many rear-wheel drive cars. A Cooper to me holds so true to the value of less is more, while at the same time being a true BMW. Drive one; you will understand then what I’ve been saying to you.
The Mini Cooper S has a semi-wallet caring price of $21,200. Be careful though, because the options list is long and can get rather pricey in the end. Outside of Porsche’s, I have never ever built another car online that has more options and accessories to make the car individually yours. They might as well add in a free logo on the roof of the car that says “this car is mine and made by me!” The one I just happened to build landed me in hot water at $37,746. Forego some of the radical options –I pretty much fully loaded the car- and you have a reasonable $25-32K car.
Read Article