Up untill June last year I had owned a 1.2 Tsi 110 Fabia Estae SEL from new. Having been a serial car changer all my motoring life the fact that I had kept it for 2.5 years having never kept a car longer than a year should have rang warning bells. I fancied another Fabia Estate but wifey was against buying the same car again and said she fancied a Mini. Now I have never been a fan of BMW products either two or four wheels but lets not be selfish so a 5 door Mini Cooper Auto with a couple of ludicrously priced add on packs was duelly purchased. BIG MISTAKE. From the word go I have never "gelled" with the car and cant wait till it is economically viable to get rid and get another Fabia Estate.

 

Older and wiser, well definatelly older.

 

Geoff.

2 minutes ago, macamx said:

Up untill June last year I had owned a 1.2 Tsi 110 Fabia Estae SEL from new. Having been a serial car changer all my motoring life the fact that I had kept it for 2.5 years having never kept a car longer than a year should have rang warning bells. I fancied another Fabia Estate but wifey was against buying the same car again and said she fancied a Mini. Now I have never been a fan of BMW products either two or four wheels but lets not be selfish so a 5 door Mini Cooper Auto with a couple of ludicrously priced add on packs was duelly purchased. BIG MISTAKE. From the word go I have never "gelled" with the car and cant wait till it is economically viable to get rid and get another Fabia Estate.

 

Older and wiser, well definatelly older.

 

Geoff.

Mini products like many BMW products are over priced and over rated but many still believe the badge on the bonnet make them better than cheaper better optioned alternatives. One of my work colleagues owns two Mini's a 64 plate diesel and a 16 plate petrol and I can't believe how much Sytner Leicester charges him for routine servicing.

Look on the bright side: you could have bought a Range Rover and it woud be in the garage waiting for another repair. 

Just out of interest did you buy the Mini Cooper with the 1.5 petrol engine because Auto Express are running a front wheel drive BMW 118i M Sport with the same 138bhp engine and BMW claim it should average between 42.2-47.1mpg but in reality over 3,900 miles it has managed just 33.8mpg. My 360bhp petrol Skoda is averaging 38mpg for comparison.

26 minutes ago, shyVRS245 said:

Just out of interest did you buy the Mini Cooper with the 1.5 petrol engine because Auto Express are running a front wheel drive BMW 118i M Sport with the same 138bhp engine and BMW claim it should average between 42.2-47.1mpg but in reality over 3,900 miles it has managed just 33.8mpg. My 360bhp petrol Skoda is averaging 38mpg for comparison.

Excellent point, driven with a bit of "enthusiasam" 30 to 35 mpg is the norm, flipping hopeless.

 

Geoff.

I purchased a new Fabia Estate 1.9l diesel back in March 2006 which I eventually passed on to my son who is still driving it. It has done over 130k miles and still returns over 60 mpg on a long run. The BMW diesel sounds like a loser!

I also had a Fabia 1.9 diesel back on 2008.  I regularly managed 57mpg on a mix of motorway and urban driving.  What a powerful car it was and it never let me down.  I've had 4 other Skodas since but without a doubt, the 1.9 was the best in my opinion despite it being agricultural.  Not a fan of BMW cars.  Over engineered and certainly over priced.

18 minutes ago, nbramwel said:

I also had a Fabia 1.9 diesel back on 2008.  I regularly managed 57mpg on a mix of motorway and urban driving.  What a powerful car it was and it never let me down.  I've had 4 other Skodas since but without a doubt, the 1.9 was the best in my opinion despite it being agricultural.  Not a fan of BMW cars.  Over engineered and certainly over priced.

A new BMW M8 Competition costs £130,000 and weighs over 2 tonnes and has no rear legroom which is a joke for such a long car.

BMW = Big Money Worries.

 

Thanks AG Falco

On 24/04/2020 at 18:14, shyVRS245 said:

A new BMW M8 Competition costs £130,000 and weighs over 2 tonnes and has no rear legroom which is a joke for such a long car.

I had a colleague with a monstrous Jeep Cherokee Indian Chief. We went out in it one day to visit clients and I drew the short straw, so had to take a back seat. Wow: leg room below seat height is sufficient for a stunted 5 year old. My knees were virtually wrapped around my head if I tried to sit up right. How can such a monstrous beast have no leg room!!!

Yes I'm afraid people are completely taken in by the BMW mini-cooper sign. Not only is it seriously overpriced but is at least 50% larger than the true BMC mini which I owned all those years ago. It was S/H, cost me the princely sum of £240 and I still can't recall where I got such a sum from in my poverty stricken days.