BMW SA’s recently-facelifted Mini lineup has been bolstered by the arrival of convertible versions of the Cooper and Cooper S in fabulous colours, doll. Prices start at R207 600.
BMW SA’s recently-facelifted Mini lineup has been bolstered by the arrival of convertible versions of the Cooper and Cooper S in fabulous colours, doll. Prices start at R207 600.
The convertible version’s waistline, accentuated by chrome strips, rises slightly towards the rear. With its top down, the convertible Mini is distinguished by a steeply raked windscreen, frameless side windows, double roll bars behind the rear seats and the space-saving folding roof without tonneau cover.
The roof is operated at the push of a button and is claimed to take 15 seconds to fold away… The integrated sliding roof slides open, followed by the entire soft roof. With the soft roof folding to the rear, the roof pillars are automatically retracted and the rear side windows move down at the same time. The intelligent Z-folding mechanism allows the complete roof to fold up in a compact arrangement behind the rear seats, with no need for a tonneau cover. The sliding roof integrated in the soft top can be opened up to 40 cm while driving, up to a speed of 120 km/h – a unique feature in the convertible market.
When open, the drop-down boot lid is held in position by two steel cables on a spring-mounted retractor system. That allows use of the lid with its exterior hinges as a loading platform for weights of up to 80 kg.
According to BMW SA, the Mini Convertible’s luggage compartment accommodates 165 litres with the roof closed and 120 litres with the top down.
To operate the Easy-Load through-loading system with the roof closed, turn two levers in the luggage compartment to fold up the bottom section of the folding top and attach it in position. With the rear lid open, there is convenient access to the luggage compartment through a large opening able to accommodate even bulky objects. And in conjunction with the rear seat backrests folding forward and fastened in position, luggage compartment capacity can be increased to 605 litres.
To compensate for the loss of torsional stiffness due to the absence of a fixed roof, Mini implemented construction-related measures such as an increase in the thickness of the sheet metal of the side-sills and the integration of additional stiffening and reinforcement plates to the body and floor. In the event of a rollover, the A-pillars incorporate a tubular steel design to withstand high loads. And at the rear, double roll bars made of high-strength aluminium tubes, complete with integrated headrests, optimise passenger safety.
Further safety features are “intelligent” front and two integrated head/thorax airbags, four-channel ABS, electronic brake force distribution (EBD), cornering brake control (CBC), Control + Traction (ASC+T) – optional on the Cooper – and dynamic stability control (DSC), which is an optional extra on both models.