MINI Convertible (2004 - Date)
BY ANDY ENRIGHT
Theres not too much that beats the cheeky feel-good factor of a soft top MINI and while the queues may have been long to join the waiting lists from new, used buyers can get instant access as long as theyre willing to pay the price. Heres how to sift the wheat from the chaff.
The roof itself is a fully automatic fabric affair, MINI wisely choosing to reject the far more complex folding hard top fashion. Opting for this more complex engineering solution would not only have ruined the MINIs shape but also severely impinged on its luggage space. As it stands, the MINI retains a characteristic profile with the roof in place yet looks appealingly cheeky with the hood down. Press a button once and the roof slides back by 40cm, creating a sunroof effect.
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A pair of steel cables mounted on a sprung retractor act as boot hinges and can hold up to 80kg which, in old money, is nigh on 13 stone. With the roof in place i.e. up - theres 165 litres of stowage space but those wishing to transport bulkier items are also accommodated.
By flicking a pair of levers located in the boot, the rear fastening of the roof can be detached, allowing the entire rear section to be raised. This in turn creates a wider space through which bigger items can be loaded. Couple that with the folding rear seats and youll be able to jemmy-in some surprisingly loads. MINI claim a total capacity of 605 litres.
If youre after a soft-top One, youll need around £11,800 for the entry-level manual car. Plenty of owners upgraded to the Salt and Pepper option packs for this model and the Salt tacks another £300 onto the base price while the Pepper commands an additional £700 above the standard car. The Cooper was extremely popular and probably makes the most attractive compromise between affordability and acceleration. These open at £13,300 on an 04-plate with the Pepper packed cars commanding £13,700 and the Chiili models £14,300.
The Cooper S models offer a lot of power and are something of an acquired taste. These open at £14,700 with the autromatic version tacking £500 onto that price.
Practically all MINI owners paid the extra £100 for the five-year TLC servicing option, and as such your prospective purchase will probably have had some main dealer attention. The unfortunate fact that is beginning to emerge is that it may well have needed it. Apart from a recall to modify some cars fuel filler necks, many owners have seen somewhat more of their local BMW service bay than they would have expected. More than a few have reported that the ball races at the top pivot points of their front suspension struts were lacking caps and exposed to the elements.
This seemed to be the cause of left hand pull on some models, rectified by fitting new struts. Rattling dashboards and badly fitting roof guttering were also repetitive complaints amongst owners. The hood mechanism has proved reasonably sturdy to date but check for rips of the hood material or staining caused by water trapped in a retracted hood.
A clutch assembly is around £130. Front brake pads are around £40, a full exhaust about £360, an alternator around £100 and a tyre around £40. A starter motor is about £120. A headlamp is about £165.
One of the key aims when designing the Convertible was to offer the fun of top-down motoring without sacrificing too much in terms of space and driving dynamics. Imagine a shoe box with the lid on it. Its quite rigid but if you pop the lid off it suddenly becomes a rather wobbly thing. The same applies to convertible cars when their hard tops are removed and a lot of work goes into remedial reinforcement work to rectify this.
If youve ever wondered why soft top cars are often heavier than their tin top equivalents, now you know. MINI claim their Convertible offers the same go-kart style handling as the hatch and this is testament to thorough bracing. Weight has crept up and as a result acceleration is a little blunted compared to the hard top sibling but the One will still hit 60mph in 11.6 seconds and the Cooper will stop the watch in a very reasonable 9.
6 seconds. Get the Cooper S and were talking 7.4s, that should be fast enough for most.
The MINI Convertible may not be especially practical nor is it the drivers tool that the hard top version is but its nevertheless a fun piece of kit. The Cooper S seems a little OTT, and most buyers will be perfectly happy with the prettier Cooper model.
