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Archive for the ‘Mini News and Opinion’ Category

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Celebs back Mini E in Eco Rally

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

The prototype electric Mini E joined a selection of the world’s cleanest, greenest vehicles in the 2010 Bridgestone Eco Rally.

Launched in 2007 by the Prince of Wales, the Eco Rally was set up to showcase the very best in present and future green forms of transport.

Every year, a convoy of low or zero emission vehicles travels the classic veteran car run in reverse, setting off from the seafront in Brighton and heading to London’s Hyde Park. This year’s rally was sponsored by Formula 1 tyre manufacturer Bridgestone.

Celebrity drivers included TV presenters Lisa Rogers and Kevin McCloud, and F1 driver Nico Hulkenburg.

In everyday driving conditions the BMW Mini E can travel around 100 to 120 miles on a single charge. It motors from 0-62 mph in 8.5 seconds and has an electronically limited top speed of 95mph. The second phase of road testing in the UK will start in September 2010.

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iPod Out and about in your Mini

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

BMW Mini has just announced that it will be using new technology to fully integrate its in-car entertainment systems with iPhones and iPods.

Apple’s new iPod Out feature allows your iPhone or iPod to integrate with an outside system, such as that in your BMW or Mini. The idea is that it’ll be just like using your iPod, but on the console screen inside the car.

Drivers of future BMWs and Minis will be able to browse their music using the classic iPod interface, as well as see artist info and album art.

You’ll also be able to use iPod Out for custom playlists and the Genius system, which automatically creates ’smart playlists’.

To use iPod Out in your Mini you’ll need an iPhone or iPod that runs Apple’s iOS 4.

BMW’s Mini Connected project aims to improve software and entertainment options without increasing the risks of driver distraction.

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Record low fuel consumption for new Mini

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

Back in March BMW Mini introduced new, more efficient petrol engines for the Mini range. Now, two brand new diesel engines will feature in the revised range from August 2010.

The 1.6 litre, four cylinder engines give an astonishingly low fuel consumption of 74 miles per gallon, with C02 emissions of 99g/km. These results are a record for any series production car made by the BMW group. They’re also achieved without compromise on the high performance you’d expect in a new Mini.

Also in August, for the first time the Mini convertible will be available with a diesel engine. Running at 70 miles per gallon and 105g/km of CO2 – the new engine makes Mini Cooper D Convertible the lowest emitting convertible now on sale in the UK.

All these models also benefit from the design changes announced recently by BMW Mini. Contact Bond Street Select to find out more.

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Mini shall go to the ball!

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

Three top fashion designers have created exclusive Minis for this year’s Mini Life Ball.

The well-dressed trio will join international stars at the glamorous event in Vienna on 17th July. The annual ball is a major charity fundraiser for research into HIV/AIDS.

The creative director of Calvin Klein, Francisco Costa, has designed the Mini Countryman. Diane von Furstenberg has set her talents to work on the Mini Hatch, while Kenneth Cole applied his unmistakeable style to the Mini Convertible.

All three Minis will be auctioned to raise money for the charity amFar.

This is the 10th consecutive year that BMW Mini has supported this important cause. Every year sees the production of specially designed vehicles – previous designers of Life Ball Minis include Versace, Missoni, Diesel and Agent Provocateur.

You’ll find a equally stunning – and rather more wearable – collection of BMW Minis at Bond Street Select.

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Mini to join World Rally Championship?

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Rumours are still circulating that BMW Mini will be taking part in the World Rally Championship from 2012, racing the new Mini Countryman crossover.

Mini has been linked with the highly successful Prodrive group, a British car technology company based in Oxfordshire.

Mini of course has a proud history in rally racing going back to the 1960s. While Prodrive won six WRC titles with the Subaru World Rally Team and also led Aston Martin to back to back wins at Le Mans in 2007 and 2008.

So this could prove to be a very fruitful partnership indeed. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens next…

The regular, non-racing Mini Countryman will be available to buy, from Bond Street Select, from September 2010.

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Minis to star at Goodwood

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

Minis old and new are set to star at the 2010 Goodwood Festival of Speed. The annual FoS runs from 2nd to 4th July 2010 at Lord March’s estate in West Sussex.

First up, the festival will host the first ever Mini E race held in the UK.

The race will feature a modified version of the emissions free Mini which is currently being trialled in the UK and overseas. The event gives BMW Mini a chance to showcase the potential of the environmental friendly electric car.

Also at the Festival of Speed, rallying legend Rauno Aaltonen – one of the original ‘Flying Finns’ – will drive the Forest Rally stage in a classic Mini Cooper S. It’s the same Mini in which he won the 1965 RAC rally.

For a rather more up-to-date range of Mini models, contact Bond Street Select.

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Win a Mini with Dorset Cereals

Saturday, June 19th, 2010

Keep your eyes peeled next time you’re shopping for cereal and you could bag yourself more than just a tasty breakfast.

There was a time when all boys and girls looked forward to getting a toy Mini in with their packet of cereal.

Now Dorset Cereals are going one better and giving away three brand new BMW Mini Cooper Convertibles in an online competition.

To enter, all you need is a unique code from one of the special promotional packs of Dorset Cereals Tasty Fruit and Fibre or Tasty Low Fat Flakes. Then enter this code on the company’s website to find out if you’ve won a Mini.

So next time you’re at the supermarket, keep an eye out for the special packs!

And if you don’t win, don’t despair. Bond Street Select has a fine selection of BMW Minis to suit all budgets and tastes…

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Mini family gathering

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

Bosses at BMW Mini hosted a summer family gathering at their factory in Oxford on Friday. It was the first time that all six models of the Mini have been displayed together in the UK.

The appetising ‘six pack’ of Minis included the three current models – Hatch, Convertible and Clubman – and three future models. The new Countryman SUV will be available from September 2010. The two seater Coupe is due to go on sale next year, followed by the Roadster in 2012. Contact us to pre-order your new Mini. (Link to contact form)

The announcement that the Coupe and Roadster will be built in Oxford safeguards hundreds of jobs at the plant. It means that five of the six models will be manufactured here in the UK, with just the Countryman being produced in Graz, Austria.

Bond Street Select is the East Midlands’ independent BMW Mini service specialist. We also have used Minis for sale (link to contact Mini car sales page). Why not pop in to the showroom for a closer look?

Mini press day photos on Flickr

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10 BMW Mini facts

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

As the ‘new’ BMW Mini enters its 10th year, here are 10 things you didn’t know about how and where it is made.

  1. Plant Oxford, where the Mini is built, is the second largest car production facility in the UK.
    The factory cost 230 million Euros to build.
    About 3,500 Minis are produced there every week.
    About 80 per cent of these are exported – adding 2.6 billion to total UK exports.
    The Mini paintshop is the size of 12 full size football pitches and contains 20 kilometres of conveyor belts.
    BMW Mini employs around 5,500 people at plants in Britain. Another 50,000 are directly or indirectly employed in the supply chain.
    It takes 10 hours to paint a Mini.
    The dimensions of the Mini body shell are tested to an accuracy of 0.05mm – half the width of a human hair.
    On the assembly line 2,415 different parts are mounted to the Mini bodyshell.
    The Mini plant has its own railway line to transport cars to Purfleet on the Thames estuary. From there they are shipped to mainland Europe and other destinations.

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Thumbs up for the Mini-E

Monday, May 17th, 2010

On show at the BMW Mini factory last week was the Mini-E, the all-electric, zero emission model which is currently being tested in field trials in the UK and overseas.

The Mini-E itself will not go into production, but the technology it uses will. For the last six months members of the public have been test driving the Mini E in real-life conditions. The results of the trials will help develop a new city car for release in 2013.

And as the first part of the Mini-E trial comes to an end, one of the test pioneers has said he
doesn’t want to give his back.

John Beesley explained: “It is a totally different experience to anything I’ve driven before and probably anything I’ll be driving in the future.”

He acknowledged that there have been one or two teething problems – notably in the sub-zero temperatures at the start of the year – but isn’t that the point of a trial?

BMW Mini says these problems will all be resolved before they begin marketing electric cars to customers.

The Mini E takes about three hours to charge fully, which costs about £3, but Mr Beesley is converted. “I cannot fault the thing, even in its present form,” he said.

Read the full story on the BBC

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