Thank you. It's great to read your experience-based opinion of the British vs. Chinese MINI Cooper SEs, especially because your conclusion is that the F56 is the better SE. I don't mind the styling of the Chinese SE (I appreciate the absence of an ornamental hood scoop), but I assume the extra weight would make it less MINI-like to drive around corners.
Yes. That said it is not a bad car.
It was mainly that it was just less "mini", and more "normal" car in the driving feeling. A little heavier, and a little softer suspension and chassi. That is both plus and minus: it is a bit more comfortable driving over potholes and speed bumps, but the negative (for me personally) it was a little less sporty and more leaning/rolling in sharp corners.
Regarding design it also has it plus and minuses. Exterior wise I general prefer the cleaner design of the new Mini. Both the sides without the "SUV-plastics" around the wheel arches, and also that it has no fake hood scope in the front. Regarding the back I prefer the F56 styling of the lights and I also prefer the more rounder (less BMW hexagonal like in the new) grill/front on F56.
The same goes for the interior as it also has its plusses and minuses. On the plus side I really love the new round OLED screen in the middle. As an old M3-driver I do not miss the screen behind the wheel, and a round speed and infoscreen in the middle is both classic Mini styling and modern at the same time. I love the design of it (even if the on screen controls are a bit more fiddly than on my Tesla M3 and BMW i5, could benefit from some improved UI software updates).
What is a negative for me personally (and I guess this is really an individual thing) is that the new switch console sticks out more, so that my knee hits it sometimes while driving (when I drive more relaxed I prefer to sit more "man spreading"). Another negative thing is that while the interior is fun and creative, it also much less premium than the old F56. A lot more cheap and scratchy plastics all around the car. Even a cheap Tesla MY standard (the new cheapest non-premium versions) feels more premium, than the highest trimmed new Mini. I understand that BMW want to produce it to a certain price point, but I think they have taken it down a little bit too far in interior quality. I personally think a modern Mini should feel more premium in the interior than a cheap plastic Toyota or Hyundai (but that is possibly just a personal opinion).
I was testing the new Mini with the possible intention to upgrade to it, but after a full day of test driving (while I did service and obligatory software update for the battery issue on our F56), I feel that it in total was feeling as a little bit of down grade, for us.
If you only can have one car, I do think the new Mini with the bigger battery (especially the new SE-model) and a little bit higher charging speed (still not great) makes more sense than the old F56 if you often want to do longer journeys and road trips with it.
But for us that already have two other cars (Tesla M3 LR and a BMW i5 touring) for our longer journeys, range is less of a factor for the Mini for our daily usage. That said longer range is always positive and nicer, and I would be very happy to take that everything else equal (which it seldom is unfortunately, like probably in this case).
I would still go for the F56 even today (even if zero cost difference between them). But that selection of compromises (as listed above) is probably a very personal thing for me/us. Both are really practical, good and fun to drive small cars! Just a little bit different i character.
But I do miss the nice big OLED screen (that screen in our F56 would have been perfect)!
