pete75 wrote:Mick F wrote::lol:
As for the Mini, we had seven of them over the years.
Over five million of them sold 1959 to 2000.
That BMW abomination will never become so popular or so iconic.
I've driven both. The BMW version is vastly superior in every respect.
That's definitely over-stating it, the BMW Mini for a small car has surprisingly poor reliability made worse by horrific repair costs with many engine and transmission failures.
https://www.reliabilityindex.com/reliability/search/180
I think many would also argue the driving dynamics simply aren't as fun as the original mini with its tiny wheels and go kart handling. Yes you can make simple comparisons like its more spacious and faster but then there are many far superior cars to the BMW Mini in that regard many of which are much better made and engineered with much lower ownership costs.
If you look at something like the Toyota Aygo the BMW Mini looks like junk, its about 4x less reliable and repairs typically cost 2.5x as much that's effectively 10x more expensive. I suspect BMW garages will charge a lot more for services too. I've owned original Mini's in the past and the A series engine and gearbox was super dependable and most things were cheap to replace or repair, alternators etc. I remember them being super cheap to own and run. The BMW Mini and the Fiat 500 are basically lifestyle, fashion products, they aren't well engineered decent cars.
https://www.reliabilityindex.com/reliability/search/271
Given a choice today of a classic Mini and a BMW Mini I'd definitely like another classic Mini but I wouldn't choose either as a daily driver. I think of its time the original Mini was a far better car than the BMW Mini is for the time period it is sold in but then it is a retro appeal car.