Finally took delivery of our 2023 Mini Cooper SE Iconic

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Jkoya said:
We have the Taycan Cross Turismo and even though it handles nicely, you definitely feel the weight of the car. My first Impression of the SE is the backup camera is far superior to the backup camera of the Taycan, but the Taycan user interface is more intuitive - maybe because I'm used to the Taycan now. I'll have a better comparison for you in a few weeks if you are still interested. The method for setting up delayed charging is also very similar between the SE and Taycan. Overall though, I think both cars are amazing !!
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That’s a VW thing. My e-tron was really anxiety inducing at night because the 360 and backup cameras were all useless. Agree with your bottom conclusion. :D Enjoy them!
 
Jkoya said:
Picked up our 2023 Mini Cooper SE Iconic earlier today. Dealer had 7 or 8 SEs on the showroom floor - all of them sold and belonging to customers who ordered their car a few months ago.

Had a 93 mile drive home ranging in speeds from stop and go traffic to 65+ mph and some small hills. Display showed 4.5 miles/kWh and made it home with 3 bars remaining. I was pleasantly surprised !!

One pic is one of many I took with the car on the showroom floor and the other is safely home in the garage, plugged in with charging to start after 12 AM.


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Congratulations! We took delivery of our SE iconic from Mini of Marin back in June, they were great to deal with. We also drove a bit further to deal with them over the closest dealership. The SE is really a fun little car to zip around in, you’re going to enjoy it. We also have a Rivian which is great and all but I still find myself driving the SE for short journeys around town. I wouldn’t be surprised if you have a similar experience with your SE and Cross Turismo (beautiful car btw).
 
TsylviaNH said:
Congratulations! We took delivery of our SE iconic from Mini of Marin back in June, they were great to deal with. We also drove a bit further to deal with them over the closest dealership. The SE is really a fun little car to zip around in, you’re going to enjoy it. We also have a Rivian which is great and all but I still find myself driving the SE for short journeys around town. I wouldn’t be surprised if you have a similar experience with your SE and Cross Turismo (beautiful car btw).
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Wow - Congrats on the Rivian !! I still haven't see one in real life yet. Out of curiosity, any pics of the Mini Cooper SE next to the Rivian ?

I agree that Mini of Marin was great to deal with. Everyone at the dealership was so helpful and they checked on us often to make sure we were comfortable. The big plus for me was no ADM !!
 
Jkoya said:
Wow - Congrats on the Rivian !! I still haven't see one in real life yet. Out of curiosity, any pics of the Mini Cooper SE next to the Rivian ?

I agree that Mini of Marin was great to deal with. Everyone at the dealership was so helpful and they checked on us often to make sure we were comfortable. The big plus for me was no ADM !!
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You can check the Rivian forums...
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Jkoya said:
The Yellow color of your Rivian is amazing !! Does the Rivian take up a lot of the garage space ?
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Our house is older with a garage on the smaller side by today's standards but I'm pretty sure the Rivian would just barely fit if it wasn't full of gym equipment and bicycles. It looks huge next to the MINI but it's smaller than a typical full-size truck. I believe the overall dimensions are somewhere between a Tacoma and a F-150. Still a pain to park compared to the MINI :p

They're very different vehicles which makes for a good combo; there isn't a ton of overlap. The Rivian is very comfortable, has a massive amount of storage space, and is easy to drive smoothly. Everything feels very heavy and fluid...steering, pedals, doors, etc. I'm sure I could adjust the settings somewhere so it was more "responsive" but I find the slow and steady setup suits the truck. The MINI feels like a caffeinated rabbit in comparison. Everything feels much more responsive and direct. It feels faster even though the Rivian will technically hit 60 in half the time and has something stupid like 4x the horsepower along with weighing close to 2.5x and getting half the miles per kWh. Ultimately the Rivian has a lot of hype so people expect it to be fantastic, myself included...which it mostly lives up too. The MINI SE is largely ignored by the general public and doesn't have much hype...but it's a surprisingly good little car and quite underrated.
 
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Jkoya said:
The Yellow color of your Rivian is amazing !! Does the Rivian take up a lot of the garage space ?
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Rivian's Plymouth, MI, vehicle development, prototyping and testing facility isn't far from me so I've seen quite a few Rivian trucks, but never a yellow one. That's a beautiful yellow!

Why didn't MINI offer an Energetic Yellow SE? Were they afraid of making one that looked too electric?
 
insightman said:
Why didn't MINI offer an Energetic Yellow SE? Were they afraid of making one that looked too electric?
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MINI used to have Volcanic Orange, which I kind of like. But I've heard people refer to it as "school bus orange".

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I can't believe MINI doesn't have Pepper White for the SE, that's such an iconic MINI color.
 
Puppethead said:
MINI used to have Volcanic Orange, which I kind of like. But I've heard people refer to it as "school bus orange".

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I can't believe MINI doesn't have Pepper White for the SE, that's such an iconic MINI color.
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I loved my volcanic orange Mini Cooper D- he looked gorgeous in every weather/time of day. Had to sell him when I moved to the US :(. Can’t wait to be a Mini owner once again!
 
PSGee said:
I loved my volcanic orange Mini Cooper D-
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Volcanic Orange = best MINI color ever.

If the SE came in Volcanic Orange, I'd buy it even without the tax credit.

[My wife spouse says I should have bought it anyway, but I'm too cheap... better to pass the extra $7.5k along to the kids.]
 
insightman said:
Rivian's Plymouth, MI, vehicle development, prototyping and testing facility isn't far from me so I've seen quite a few Rivian trucks, but never a yellow one. That's a beautiful yellow!

Why didn't MINI offer an Energetic Yellow SE? Were they afraid of making one that looked too electric?
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I would have gotten an Energetic Yellow SE, but had to settle for the yellow mirror caps. The SE is a replacement for a 1997 Acura NSX-T I owned that was in "Spa Yellow Metallic".

I love the size of the SE and it's perfect for me. I'm used to small 2 seater cars and the Taycan Cross Turismo is by far the largest car I have ever purchased.
 
My buddy has a volcanic orange S, and his wife has a one of one orange Cayman S. The more I see his S the more I like it. But after the Dakar Yellow E36 M3 my wife is not keen on fun colors. I will probably sell the Cayman S, and possibly replace it with a 944 or a R56 S or JCW. If the right car comes up, and it is orange (assuming the JCW was made in orange), I may just have to do it.
 
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