Who cares.

apparently (Matt Farah etc.) the gearbox is appalling, as in car-ruining bad. And the turbo6 is lifeless. I see no reason to consider this mess (marketing and otherwise).

Why is it being made at all? It is stupid and useless.

Agreed. Alfisti drive manuals. End.

This is a toy, a weekend car. Not a daily. Do not judge it as such.

Future classic guaranteed, and these actually are reliable. Not much to go wrong on them. Buy these before they go up in price.

Justin, your definition of “good” needs a re-evaluation. Stop coddling BMW, tell it how it is. It looks like a beaver with lipstick.

This truck is so, so stupid. Leave the trucks to do truck stuff, what they are designed to do.

That is because cars and traffic are only a small part of the overall puzzle.

The R53 has the Brazil built Chrysler 1.6 supercharged. Better engine than the Peugeot motor, but not by much.

As someone who worked at a shop and drove the parts car, they are NOT maintained well. They usually are the last things to get work done to them, and then only reluctantly as they become a danger to the driver. Our shop car was always broken, and never was fixed until it was physically not able to move. Then used…

Please, I am trying to save you the pain and tears. Do not do it. I loved my R53 JCW, but it broke my heart and my wallet as it was always broken. Always.

I also had an 06, a JCW. It had nothing but problems. YMMV big time with these things. Best to just stay away and let these cars die out, or stay in the hands of masochists.

Yep, loved mine to drive, but damn did it have all the problems you mentioned. I kept fixing what I could until I just gave up.

I agree. Best driving, but most unreliable car I have ever owned. My JCW had a check engine light the entire time I owned it.

As a former R53 owner, I completely disagree. These are just as unreliable as the other Minis - they all are unreliable. This generation compounds that by having first-gen problems.

NO! Never!

I voted NP just because Merc finally built a REAL coupe...in 1993, not the sloped backed crossovers and cars they call coupes these days.

Nah, the 90s is when Merc overbuilt their cars. They are stout. It is the early 2000s you need to watch out for.

I daily a manual. My summer car is a manual. I say this with all due respect: trucks dont need a manual and are better with an automatic. Same thing with SUVs and CUVs. If dedicated offroad...might be different, but trucks...nope. savethemanual campaign should be for sports cars and sport sedans.