BMW Mini owners - motorway refinement, seats and Bluefin

davidstone28 · 14 Oct 2006 at 00:06

I'm considering adding to my car family by picking up used 02 Mini Cooper (or possibly a Mini One) for us to use mainly as a city runabout. However, we occasionally go to Manchester during the weekends (from Leeds) which is about an hour's drive along the motorway.

So the questions are:-

1. What's the motorway refinement like on these cars say at 90mph? For reference, lets say refinement compared to a) the current Nissan Micra b) Peugeot 206 (c) Ford Focus (old model) and (d) BMW 320D (E46) Is the engine quite rough at high revs, and is there much difference in refinement between the One and the Cooper?

2. What are the seats like on long journey? A few people have suggested that they're pretty flat, too short and not particularly comfortable. Any views?

3. Anyone tried the Bluefin upgrade and is it detrimental to smoothness or driving in stop/start traffic?

Finally, please don't anyone suggest that I should be looking at Mondeos or the like - that isn't the question!

FlyingFish · 14 Oct 2006 at 07:30

I had a cooper for 2 years, and the ride is not bouncy and squishy, but its not too harsh either. We did an 8 hour run up to Scotland in ours and the drive was fantastic. Its easy to cruise along the motorway in one, no problem.

I had mine fitted with the half leather fully adjustable sports seats, not sure what the standard ones are like tho. They are fantastic cars to drive, especially if you do like to drive. Best thing you can do is go take one for a test drive.
I also had sports suspension on mine and also the 8 spoke white alloys and funflats, which dont help iron out the road, but the road comfort never became an issue.

I did have a one mini while mine was in for a service, and although it was newer it didnt seem as well built, or should I say feel as solid.

Mick

thepharcyde · 14 Oct 2006 at 09:13

I went from a leather seated Focus to a Mini, and defo noticed the lack of space and comfort. But its something I have got used too. Just make sure you take one for a proper test drive and listen out for rattling from the dash. If there is any walk away IMO as BM are useless at fixing this.

paradigm · 14 Oct 2006 at 10:25

Also, if there is a rattle from the back, its most likely the tailgate "catch", its too small (in diameter) for the lock and rattles around a few mm. BMW did issue a replacement part (standard issue on the facelifts), but that doesn't ALWAYS clear the problem. Bit of electrical tape wrapped around the catch does though

davidstone28 · 14 Oct 2006 at 11:16

Would welcome comments on how noisy it is at 90mph.

thepharcyde · 14 Oct 2006 at 11:24

davidstone28 said:
Would welcome comments on how noisy it is at 90mph.

It would be sitting at around 4k so not really cruising revs 70mph is 3k if I remember, road noise is better than my focus but would be better if i did not have run flat tyres fitted

FlyingFish · 14 Oct 2006 at 12:30

I noticed a certain amount of the audiable road noise came from the fact that the mini has frameless doors. But I love frameless doors

My scooby has frameless doors too, tho they seem to do a better job at dampening out the noise.

Mick

feenster99 · 14 Oct 2006 at 12:48

Hi,
I have a Feb. 2002 MINI Cooper - I live not too far from you too by the sound of it!

Mine has full leather seats - they are relatively comfortable, but don't hold you much when going round the bends. I also find them quite diffcult to adjust into a comfortable position, as I am fairly tall and the steering wheel doesn't adjust for reach. Have found a fairly good driving position now though.

Road noise is fairly bad if you have Runflat tyres. I've just had mine changed for "normal" ones and it is much quieter.

Catch me on MSN or via email if you like, or post back here if you want more info.

Matt