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General Anyone have a 500 and a BMW Mini

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General Anyone have a 500 and a BMW Mini

roadster1_98

roadster1_98

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As title.


I recently chopped in my Boxster S for a Mini Cooper Diesel :D (that should get a laugh for a start)

What are your thoughts between the two cars. If I'm honest I'm not sure why the 500 is compared with the mini. The only reason I got the mini was because of the deal I got on both my trade in and the price of the dealers demo with miles I mostly put on. I love my 500 however I feel that the mini is a car a segment above (I await the incoming). I nearly bought a mito but the ride in that car is awful even with smaller wheels which make the car look stupid.

Remember folks this is all IMHO. I wait the replies with interest :D
 
IMHO the 500 is a more fun car to have in many ways, and its a giggle to drive and its cheap. The MINI is far more grown up to drive, its more refined and the handling is more seriously honed, as is the ride particularly in the latest cars. The MINI in my opinion is a 'better' car but the 500 is probably more enjoyable to own. After all unless you get a seriously modded Cooper S the MINI is only averagely quick anyway. It depends what a person wants from a car because they are both excellent little cars. You can get more gadgets on a MINI of course and its more prestigious to many but again, its only a MINI so does that matter all that much?

Cost wise the 500 is cheaper to run of course but the MINI still holds its value so well its not much more to lease/PCP etc.

Its true when people say the 500 gives you plenty of smiles per mile, its a happy car and its a car you enjoy, the MINI is most often seen with very serious looking people with questionable tans lol and the convertible is just stupid looking.

If it was my money I think the MINI would just edge it, and I mean only just and thats only because its better on the motorway and on bumpy country lanes which is where I mostly drive. But its very very close and when Fiat sort the handling for the newer 500s, who knows?

The only caveat to that is that I recently had a brand new Cooper S with the sports suspension and big wheels for a day and it was really annoying on manhole covers particularly, and it torque steered badly. It also never quiet feels like its got 175bhp, the Mito 155 feels just as quick and was better riding.

The MINI diesel is IMO better than the 500 M-jet in terms of refinement and the MINIs handling doesnt suffer much, whereas the 500 becomes even more nose heavy. Its that slightly bouncy drive that makes the 500 both endearing and annoying I suppose.

There is no right answer to this question though, especially on a Fiat forum. I can see why you feel the MINI is like a step up, because it probably is but only in terms of cost. It has proper rear suspension and a well honed purpose built platform so it had a better start anyway. The 500 is of course basically 'just' a Panda which can be bought new for £5k!

So to sum up, and remember this is IMO....which is more fun to own, 500. Which is the better compromise, MINI.

The Mito is best though, somewhere between the 2 and will never be a retro pastiche of something from the past.
 
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my final choice was between the abarth 500 and the mini cooper s - the fact i chose the abarth kind of gives it away! :)

ok, so the mini had sharper steering, was faster, much better gearbox and it did feel premium inside it.

however...against it, didnt like the dashboard with the speedo, didnt like the extra cost and the way every single thing was an optional extra, didnt feel like i was enjoying driving it that much, didnt like the image the car gave off and especially how common they are on the road now. also, they're surprisingly unreliable (read the mini2 forum) given how much the press love them.

once i drove the 500 my mind was made up - much more fun, individual, cheaper and (for me at least) reliable! :)
 
Thats a good point, the 500 is mostly more reliable and oddly much less prone to squeaks and rattles....but the MINI has a better warranty for when things go wrong and is much cheaper to service, swings and roundabouts maybe?

gib1970, I see you're from Cheltenham, thats where ours mostly lives my sister is at uni there so if you are ever down the arse end of town have a look for it, its has pink crap in the windows lol.
 
Totally agree Auto_B about the big wheels and sports suspension on the mini I drove one with these options and the ride was awful. Hence I was happy to find out that the demo rode on 16's and non sports suspension. The cabrio is awful looking as well. I love my 500 it has to be the first car that after 6 months I've not thought I want rid :D

However I learnt a HUGE!!!! leason with my Porsche about resale and how much money it lost :bang: I've had mainly German cars in the past mostly all new or Demos so It was a bit of change to go and buy a Fiat.

I also got rid of the OEM run flats which is the mini's main cause of ride problems with normal tyres on Saturday. OMG what a difference.

You right this is a Fiat forum I was just curious to see if anyone else had the two cars. The 500 is my first fiat and in 20K I've only had 1 problem 1 week after I got which was fixed and nothing since then really. So I well pleased.
 
gib1970 said:
my final choice was between the abarth 500 and the mini cooper s - the fact i chose the abarth kind of gives it away! :)

ok, so the mini had sharper steering, was faster, much better gearbox and it did feel premium inside it.

however...against it, didnt like the dashboard with the speedo, didnt like the extra cost and the way every single thing was an optional extra, didnt feel like i was enjoying driving it that much, didnt like the image the car gave off and especially how common they are on the road now. also, they're surprisingly unreliable (read the mini2 forum) given how much the press love them.

once i drove the 500 my mind was made up - much more fun, individual, cheaper and (for me at least) reliable! :)
Click to expand...

Agree on the price thing my car would've been over £18K and there would've been NO! way I'd have paid that for it. The TLC service package is a major plus point to this car however as what you save on the 500 buying it you'll spend (1.2 dualogic) £800.00 servicing it over the a three year period (dealer servicing).

There are a lot on the road but I like to think that will help resale when I get rid.
 
mini is defo class above BUT now looking dated and has quite a lot of negitivity in it's image ('poncy' many would say). 500 has, so far at least, avoided those conatations [sic].
 
MINI vs 500 Hmmm...

I will just throw this little bit it to the pot...

I am a Classic Mini owner and have been for 29 years :eek: and as such have been heavly involved in the club scene and when I decided to by my first NEW car I chose a 500, at first I was worried about telling my Mini mates BUT without exeception they have all been positive and many are envious, now I know for a fact if i had said I was buying a BMW MINI i would have got a very cold shoulder.

The 500 is without a doubt the more FUN & FRIENDLY option and cant wait til mine arrives in September.

I know this is not a technical assesment of the issue but an equally important emotional assessment.
 
I've just sold my classic Mini to fund my new 500. I like cars which are classless, hence the "proper" Mini, the 500, and I also think the Smart Fortwo which I own. I believe these 3 cars don't make a statement as to your wealth.
 
I chose the 500 over a Mini One as the 500 has a braked towing capacity of 800kg, but the Mini One only 650kg.
I bet nobody can come up with a better reason than that - and it's true too!
 
Traded in my BMW Mini for a 500 (or two!) and found that the ride quality in the 500 is much better and so is visibility.
The Mini seems slightly better quality but the 500 gives more bang per buck. My 500 is faster than my old Mini too and cost about three quarters of the price once I'd added the options I wanted.
 
Biggles500 said:
MINI vs 500 Hmmm...

I will just throw this little bit it to the pot...

I am a Classic Mini owner and have been for 29 years :eek: and as such have been heavly involved in the club scene and when I decided to by my first NEW car I chose a 500, at first I was worried about telling my Mini mates BUT without exeception they have all been positive and many are envious, now I know for a fact if i had said I was buying a BMW MINI i would have got a very cold shoulder.

The 500 is without a doubt the more FUN & FRIENDLY option and cant wait til mine arrives in September.

I know this is not a technical assesment of the issue but an equally important emotional assessment.
Click to expand...

I agree with this, we too have owned a number of "proper" Mini's and chose the 500 because it seems to induce the same feelings of happiness and camaraderie in people that owning and driving a Mini do.

Driving the 500 for only a week we were amazed at the proportion of other 500 drivers who wave or flash their lights, even though there are not masses of them about yet.

I have to say that I think that the driving position also reminds me very much of that of the original mini.

Once we'd test driven the 500, the BMW Mini wasn't even in the running, as it was way more expensive in comparison, and the Mini One definitely looks to be a poor relation compared to the others on the Mini range, whereas due to the configurability and availability of all engines across all models, all 500's seem special! IMO :)
 
I'm selling my Mini one in order to get my 500 :) I will be sad to see the mini go because I always wanted a purple car and it does look smart. I don't know about technical reasons but I looked at the new mini one and just didn't like it, it's lost it's "fun drive" and was going to cost a fortune in order to get it to the same/simlilar spec to the 500. Can't wait to get my 500 and I'm sure I won't regret the change. :D
 
RobW said:
BMC is a collective for Austin, Morris and Rover :p
Click to expand...

Actually BMC didn't include Rover, BMC was the amalgamation of Austin and the Nuffield group in 1952. BMC merged with Pressed Steel and Jaguar in 1966 to form BMH. It wasn't until 1968 when BMH merged with Leyland (which had aquired Rover in 1967) to form BLMC that Rover became part of the same group as the Mini. :p
 
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