MINI: Did BMW Ruin or Save An Icon?

[@DWREV]

So how about you? Do you have any Mini stories you'd like to share with us?

[@davcuts2897]

I had wanted a Mini Cooper since BMW brought them to the US. I was finally able to buy one last year. I always thought they where fun little cars that people said where as fun to drive as a go-kart. Soon after I got my car I was at a gas station getting gas when someone in a Countryman pulled up and handed me a card to join a local Mini club. I had no idea that there was such a huge group of Mini enthusiast in the US. It has been a lot of fun owning one.

[@DWREV]

Great story. Whatt's the name of your club?

[@josephwright6042]

My cousin had a Morris Mini in white, it was so fun to drive around London! That was when MINI was actually mini, now they are as big as a SUV.

[@porscha901]

Yes BMW did ruin an Icon

[@DWREV]

Petition BMW to make MINI "mini" again?

[@kijekuyo9494]

This video barely touched on whether BMW "ruined" an icon, and when it did, it had only one voice saying she didn't think the BMW replicates it. All other voices of this "hot debate" supported the BMW, especially in regards to its handling. Well, a Lotus handles well, too, but that alone doesn't make it a MK I Mini. All other favorable comparisons were vague. We all have different ideas about what the Mk I Mini was, and the BMW matches few of mine. To me, the Mini was all about tiny size, simplicity, and efficiency. The BMW is merely a typical B-segment supermini with vaguely Mini-like styling. It's in the same size class as my Honda Fit/Jazz, but far less space-efficient inside. The Fit even has four doors. In the realm of efficiency and practicality, I would judge my Fit to be more in the spirit of the Austin Mini than the BMW retro version. I do like the fact that the BMW has a hatchback, though, an improvement on the original. Was this video sponsored by BMW?

[@shankarbalan3813]

I have wanted a Mini since I was a kid. Ive got an R56 Cooper S and it is absolutely lovely. I saw the new “U” series today at the unveiling. It is gorgeous. The central digital display disc is a great design as is the fact that now the car has plenty of room in the centre console and a proper functional armrest too. Im sure this new one will be fun to drive too. Yet, it is true that compared to the Classic Mini and the R50, R53 and R56, the Minis from the F56 onwards have become significantly larger.

[@DCL2988]

mini not so mini anymore

[@dougb100]

My 50th anniversary Camden S is my car of choice when just going out for a fun drive.

[@DWREV]

Lovely! Belted into the bucket seats, and Mission Control switched off, we assume?

[@dougb100]

@@DWREV Mission Control always on, neat when you get a message you’ve never heard before Got an old Jag convertible that just sits in the garage as I much prefer to take the Mini out!

[@scroggins100]

Ohh my goodness, The Mini! I have owned a few and restored a few. My kids all wanted one and I have to say the original is the best. They are simple, easy to fix and are terrific fun. The new ones are a bit overweight and the engines are not reliable enough. You can end up with a big bill to replace that timing belt tensioner! Also, the bigger ones just dont quiet look right. BMW should address a few mechanical problems and maybe slim it down a bit. Fun wise (dont try this at home) Sit on a tea tray and get pulled over the grass in one.. I will not say anymore.. Just enjoy them. Great antidote to the "Fun Police"!

[@DWREV]

So nice to hear about all the fun you've had in your Mini! Do you think any modern-day hatch comes close to that level of driving fun? Maybe the Up GTI?

[@jkk244]

At 2:45, the first production Mini, 621 AOK, did not come off the assembly line at Cowley, it came off the production line at the Longbridge factory.

[@DWREV]

Thanks for watching this, and for your insightful comment. We do realise Minis were also produced at Longbridge, but it does seem like the very first Mini rolled off the line at Cowley: www.press.bmwgroup.com/united-kingdom/article/detail/T0020971EN_GB/50-years-of-mini-production-at-plant-oxford?language=en_GB If you do know more about when exactly production began at Longbridge, we'd be very happy to learn about it.

[@Dh3hotep54y]

BMW saved the Mini Copper, but I'm not a fan past 2006.

[@cactuspharmer]

Yes.

[@toyotaprius79]

Are the Germans deluded? The MINI now is a pig of a vehicle for an affluent buyer.

[@josvandencamp8441]

All Mini's are great to drive.

[@TinLeadHammer]

This is just a 17-minute commercial with bits of historic info.

[@toyotaprius79]

At best

[@scroggins100]

OK in possible order of fun: Mini and the RIley Elf we had called, of course, Dobby. The elf was a posh version of the Mini for retired ladies.. Leather seats and wood everywhere. Honda CRX Vetch.. OMG that could shift.. Wife called, "as much fun as you could have with your clothes on". Vi the Golf GTI. Vi was a Mk2 8 valve, all the grunt around 3000 rpm and we seriously always just managed (good breaks!) to avoid a speeding ticket. Rolf the Golf Cabriolet married and honeymooned in the Black Forest! Daughters loved it and were forever being told off for standing up and singing in the back. Rolo the Polo... 1600 and it could shift.. Wife loved it.. Pink! Mid life Crisis was my MX5, no more to say about that! But my best ever mistake was a Alfa Romeo GTV Alfetta Oh dear me, when I pulled up in that the look on my wife's face was "Its war". She said, "Why" and all I could think to say, in a panic, was "its Red"! Current car Rolo the Polo little 14 diesel that still gets me from Lincolnshire to Hamburg to see the German chapter.. Hummel Hummel. Moin Moin etc.

[@DWREV]

Boy oh boy, we sure love a proper account of a car enthusiast's garage over the years. Complete with family anecdotes thrown in. Thanks for sharing! What ever happened to that red Alfa Romeo GTV Alfetta? And if you're ever blatting about Germany in Rolo the Polo, swing by the DW REV offices in Berlin!

[@scroggins100]

@@DWREV The Alfa made a lovely noise, the wife sadly did not. So, traded the wife in for a lower emissions version. Then was posted 1989 to BERLIN , just in time for the worlds best party! I have to say not mad keen with the new Potsdamer Platz! Loved my tour in Berlin so many laughs. Berlin people have a wicked sense of humour. x

[@konliner9286]

The real successor of the original Mini is the Suzuki Lapin.

[@janusz4156]

65 years of MINI in 2024.

[@mgithaiga1]

My neighbour owned a mini.

[@lesklower7281]

The original Mini gave one legacy that continues today transverse engine front wheel drive infact our Suzuki Baleno is front wheel drive and so many manufacturers make frond wheel drives infact commercial vehicles a are front wheel drive this makes them iconic and revolutionary and another sporting victory was the 1966 2in in the Armstrong 500 held at Mt Panorama Bathurst N.S.W Australia and l had friends who owned Minis also BMW aren't the most reliable brand these days and to repair a New Mini which happens a lot the engine has to be removed not a cheap to repair were as the old Mini all t I repair it the engine doesn't have to be removed and ca mm easily be repaired by the owner of there older Mini

[@DWREV]

Thanks for watching the video, and for jogging our memories about the 1966 Bathurst 500! That Cooper S podium lockout was quite something!

[@lesklower7281]

@@DWREV Unfortunately in 1967 Ford and Holden started to build V8s so tbey won from then on

[@vistazo9]

Laughing at the Ridiculous Mini Cooper Pitiful Oversized Fakes

[@AsherPiesman]

Did BMW ruin an icon? I’d say no I love the classic OG MINI but they couldn’t keep selling the original MINI forever, it had to move on with the times to meet modern regulations and expectations. The BMW MINI has the spirit of the OG MINI in a practical, modern package fit for the 21st century.

[@davidblumenthal1771]

The mini Cooper I owned burned through three transmissions in four years. Normal driving. Radiator, plumbing, everything on it broke constantly. Unreliable.

[@DWREV]

Oh dear! What model year was your Mini?

[@urbanstrencan]

Just such an icon, would love to convert one of the originals to the EV😊❤❤❤

[@toyotaprius79]

Better than any current mini...

[@TheTux]

17 inch wheels and 4 doors is not mini. . .

[@DWREV]

So, it's a BMW Midi or BMW Maxi, then?

[@TheTux]

@@DWREV We've already had Maxi's, made by Mini's original parent company, so we'll have to go with the first suggestion! 😁

[@DWREV]

Haha! Right you are, so Midi it is! :-)

[@josephkelly4893]

Loving the negative comments on the video, if you don’t like it, just click away, no need to comment. Love the video DW, go the mini, was my first car in the early 90s, miss that little go cart

[@DWREV]

Glad you liked it. Please pass it on to a friend!

[@metricstormtrooper]

The BMW mini is a poor, bloated excuse for an homage to a great car. Its not mini in any way. I don't give 3 💩💩💩 s for tha abomination.

[@-DC-]

Truly dreadful little car never seen the appeal of a noisy slow cramped death trap on wheels.

[@Lando-kx6so]

14:35 still very much British

[@DWREV]

There's been a lot of debate about this. Is Mini still a British brand or is it now a German one since it was bought by BMW? Today's models are designed by BMW in Germany, but many of them are still produced at the Mini plant in the UK.

[@Samuel-fd6hy]

@@DWREV Even though it moved from Longbridge to Munich, the soul is still intact.

[@kallekas8551]

@@DWREVGerman overly complicated engineering and biodegradable plastics combined with questionable British build quality make an” interesting” match.😂

[@toyotaprius79]

​@@DWREVit's a cash cow being milked dry targeted exclusively towards the affluent buyer. A far cry from the MINI's namesake

[@kallekas8551]

Original was fantastic if a bit compromised…the new one captured much of the spirit of the original. My cousin Timo Mäkinen was a successful international rally driver in one. The new one however is hampered by modern German engineering and biodegradable plastics as legislated in the German Reichstag in the 1990s. Ask any mechanic about working on modern German cars and unfortunately the answer is always the same…😟🪣💩

[@DWREV]

How cool. Do you have any stories about Timo you'd like to share?