2007 Mini Cooper S: Do Not Manhandle

When I test drove a mini last year, I actually had trouble getting it into reverse. I seem to recall some sort of "push down, then over" instruction.

Actually, I found our Mini S somewhat jittery when traveling over imperfect surfaces on the highway. Shuddering and whatnot over bumps, but I didn't find the wind/road noise deafening. It feels solid though, not rattley.

My S has the "push down then over" mechanism for R. I'm shocked the Mini doesn't, especially given it's locale.

A jittery ride can be solved, as on any car, by simply installing a set of KONI shocks.

You can set the turn signal to do a 3 blink indicator - just like a BMW. I set mine up this way. Tap it and you get three blinks for changing lanes.
 
And like all BMWs with a 6 speed, you gotta push down and far right to get into reverse. You really gotta push. Maybe your tranny is buggy? My wife has trouble getting the Mini in reverse because she's so unsure about pushing down and over with force.
 
Sabastian, ride on the freeway is smooth and fairly quiet. It's not as disturbingly quiet as an IS or 3 series but it's pretty muted.
 
My big issue for the day -my mini's doors (both sides and our e90 had this too) lack detents for the door mechanism. You open the door and it will swing back at you if you're level or on any incline. There exists no way to open the doors of Mini (or the current BMW 3 series) to a clicking or detent point. My shins suffer wildly because of this.

blueguy, my E90 had detents and my E92 has Frau Farbissina-style strict detents. And I thought the BMW reverse mechanism just required you to pull left to overcome the reverse-lockout resistance point. I've never had to push down (and to the right??) on my BMW 6MT's. Maybe the Mini is different?

Bimmerjay is right. In the Mini, reverse is to the left and up. It's right next to first gear. There's no pushing down of the lever, either. Just need to overcome the spring force.
 
The spring force is too light, and its way too easy to accidentally slip the Mini's lever into the reverse gate if you're quick on the stick. I've had it happen several times.
 
The detent's spring rate ought to be increased by about 50%. That would provide an appropriate amount of resistance, and would feel more like BMWs of yore.

I never saw a whole lot of point to having six forward gears versus five, except for bragging that you have another gear. Just give it a five speed and put R where 6 was. That avoids this problem altogether.

It's not that simple, greenpony. :o)

I test drove a Nissan Sentra Spec-V a while back and reverse on that six speed was impossible to find on accident. There was a small ring around the base of the shift lever that you had to pull up on in order to push the lever over into reverse. Reverse was located to the left on this model as well by the way. I really liked this feature. I played with it a lot before motoring off to make sure it was sturdy. Try as I might, I couldn't put it in reverse without lifting up on that ring. This way there was no confusion about being in first when you pushed all the way to left and up. It was pretty cool.
 
Clutch feel and engagement point...meh...not so much.

I meant left. Mea culpa. As for detents, my e90 didn't have them - doors would swing open and swing shut with zero resistance - and my cooper certainly doesn't. The doors will not stay open unless I park on a surface that's titled forward or to the left.
 
Green, that sixth gear makes for a nice cruising gear on BMWs and Coopers. But it also allows you to have 5 tightly spaced gears for more spirited driving.
 
regardless, never had an issue accidentally going into reverse with my cooper, bimmers or VWs and all used the far left, push down method.

Yea, in my '01 5sp BMW 330 the reverse set up is the same. I've only engaged reverse accidentally maybe twice, but both were in sort of the "whoops" state of mind.
 
You know, letting off the brake and hitting the gas and drifting backward at a light because you're in neutral-not-first, and your split-second reaction is to jam the gear lever to the left and up (and then you *really* start going backwards!).
 
Other than the 'panic' situations, the spring-tension-lockout seems OK, but if you're in a hurry.... A 'press down' lockout (VW, Honda 6-speeds) seems so much smarter.

blueguy: Eh, to me having a sixth gear is just one more shift to make. Five gears is perfect imo. Three for acceleration, one for economy, and one intermediate. That, and I often find myself skipping gears anyway (like a 2-5 shift).
  
Suby: I wasn't exactly suggesting that the stock 6-speed be yanked and an aftermarket 5-speed be installed. That'd be a task. I guess my point was that, in my mind, the car would be just fine if it was designed from the get-go with "only" five gears.