News : MINI Bayswater and Baker Street unveiled

MINI Baker Street
MINI Baker Street

Two new MINI special editions have been unveiled, and continue the marque’s obsession with London – kicked off by Austin Rover back n the 1980s, with the launch of the Mayfair and Picadilly. The Baker Street and Bayswater go on sale on 1 March in 100 global markets where the marque is sold. Each is exclusive to the MINI Hatch body style.

MINI Baker Street

MINI Baker Street
MINI Baker Street

It’s all about trims and colours. A striking looking MINI in Rooftop Grey, with twin black bonnet stripes, the MINI Baker Street is available in MINI One, One D, Cooper and Cooper D guise. Pepper White or Midnight Black shades are optional. ‘Baker Street’ lettering is added to the side scuttles and door sills and the special edition features 16in ‘6-Star’ twin-spoke alloys in a high-gloss black to match the door mirror caps.

The equipment list includes automatic air conditioning, Bluetooth, on-board computer, leather steering wheel, front fog lamps, a multi-coloured interior lighting package and height adjustment for the front passenger seat. DAB digital radio is standard, as it is on all MINIs.

MINI Bayswater

MINI Bayswater
MINI Bayswater

The Bayswater is  a more sporting option, and is available in Cooper, Cooper D, Cooper S and Cooper SD models. Kite Blue metallic paint has been created especially for this model, as have the 17in ‘Sandblast’ alloys. They feature a high-gloss black finish with machined rim and spoke edges. The exterior is finished with blue and grey Sport Stripes on the bonnet, from outside the car a blue stripe is on the left and grey on the right, corresponding door mirror caps are coloured in the same way.

Both cars come with a six-speed manual gearbox as standard with a six-speed automatic transmission available as an option. Thanks to the marque’s MINIMALISM technology One D and Cooper D models offer added appeal to London drivers with exhaust emissions of just 99g/km, making both models London Congestion Charge exempt.

 

Model  OTR Price
MINI Baker Street
MINI One Baker Street £16,365
MINI One Baker Street Auto £17,580
MINI One D Baker Street £17,445
MINI Cooper Baker Street £17,465
MINI Cooper Baker Street £18,680
MINI Cooper D Baker Street £18,745
MINI Cooper D Baker Street Auto £19,945
MINI Bayswater
MINI Cooper Bayswater £18,565
MINI Cooper Bayswater Auto £19,780
MINI Cooper D Bayswater £19,845
MINI Cooper D Bayswater Auto £21,045
MINI Cooper S Bayswater £21,420
MINI Cooper S Bayswater Auto £22,580
MINI Cooper SD Bayswater £22,115
MINI Cooper SD Bayswater Auto £23,375

Meanwhile, factory production of two previously announced special editions is about to start. The London 2012 edition, complete with subtle Union Jack detailing and the capital city’s skyline engraved on the dashboard, is priced from £17,980. For something more lavish, the MINI Inspired by Goodwood, which blends Rolls Royce luxury with the unmistakable MINI driving experience will also be rolling off the production line at Oxford. Just 1000 will be made, costing £41,000 each.

 

Keith Adams

80 Comments

    • Those number plates look really cheap.

      LOL – not the number plates debate again… But then at about 25-30 Euros a pair they aren’t (IMHO). If you feel really posh you can spend another 10.20 Euro at the registration office and try to find a combination you like 😉

  1. I just noticed, indicators in headlights – for those people that don’t want anyone to see where they might be going at night.

  2. As Richard says, those Baywater stripes are very Eighties – I have to say I quite like them! Not bad special editions those, although I do think that they could have been a bit more daring with the interior, like the Eighties Mini Specials were. I also wonder whether a new version of the Mini Rose and Sky would sell, perhaps with a funky metallic coloured roof and stripes on the (now fashionable again) white paint?

  3. How about MINI Westminster. Looks brilliant on paper, nice clean face, but within a year it’ll have all your money and you’ll never trust it again.

  4. Can’t see the point of so many “special editions” when the range is already extensive enough… the top end models like Cooper S Bayswater look rather pricey for what they are!

  5. Fantastico, BMW continue go grow the Mini brand. Thank goodness Towers and his cronies didn’t get their hands on this brand, otherwise this may also be in China.

  6. Nice finsh and an air of quality oozes. But refering to the naf number plates…. the German reg’ is inappropriate to say the least. Why not UK plates on a London theme car being launched in the UK, made largely in the UK? However, give me the opportunity of a new MG ZT and that would do me nicely instead.

  7. There was a Range Rover Westminster LE – always struck me as a daft idea.

    Don’t suppose we will see the Mini Old Kent Road anytime soon….

  8. “Can’t see the point of so many “special editions” when the range is already extensive enough… ”

    The point is it makes them more money. Rover did the same in the 80’s, actually that’s where the theme of London streets and boroughs comes from. Park Lane, Chelsea, Kensington, Mayfair etc. Worked quite well for them. A lot of them weren’t particularly special at all but people paid more for them!

  9. Nice looking, a bit expensive though, the Mini now has a comprehensive range, I know in the days of ARG special editions complemented the exsisting range, as we know that the Mayfair became a standard spec for a number of other cars, i.e. Montego and Maestro. Regards Mark

  10. Must be short on news this week, aren’t there thousands of tacky special edition MINIs? All of which are ugly (especially that hideous blob of faeces, AKA Mini Countryman (5 door hatch))

  11. Presumably these limited editions don’t extend to the Countryman as even BMW realises that you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

    Regarding M car model designations, Vandem Plas would make a good one if only SAIC didn’t hold the rights!

  12. I used to be heavily in to MINIs and bought a new Cooper in 04 and a Cooper S in 07, but this over reliance on launching special editions in far too reminiscent of the dark days of the original Mini, where yet another trim re-hash and another new name is the only way of generating a bit of showroom traffic when there’s nothing much else going on.

    come on BMW, show us something new….

  13. The Mini is fantastic – I’m on my third – but the current model is nearing the end of it’s life with the mk3 due at this years Frankfurt show and so they’re doing what every other manufacture has always done at the end of a models life – bundle up the extras at a reduced price and give it a corny name.

    Please remember, the Mini is the default small car, just as the Golf is the default medium car and a 911 is the default sports car. This is an incredible achievement in 10 short years and the fact that 90% of Mini’s are built in the UK should make you proud.

    My partner drives a Jaguar XF-S diesel and together I believe we have the perfect two cars – and both British.

    BTW I don’t know much about cars, but I’m interested in your site because of the SD1. I’m from the Czech Republic, born in 1980, and my father worked as a driver for the British Embassy until everything changed in 1989. He would often come home in a white Rover, and the neighbours were simply stunned – you have to appreciate that the Skoda Estelle was the height of fashion in those days.

    Anyway guys, stop slagging off your Mini’s and Jaguar’s just because Rover didn’t work out , British cars, as far as I can see, are the coolest in the world.

  14. The problem for me is that all the MINI special editions are a mish-mash. Too many badges – in the past a special edition had one name and one spec (in most cases). Now we have Mayfairs, Playfairs, Kings Cross or whatever with ONE, COOPER, COOPER D etc etc also tacked on.

    If this is the ‘brilliant marketing’ by the car builder that so many drool about, then I have to say I am unimpressed

  15. Special editions are usually brought out when the car is about to undergo a facelift, to try and use up stocks of parts that are normally on the options lists. They should have called one of them the Bini ‘Munich’ or Bini ‘Berlin’

  16. “The problem for me is that all the MINI special editions are a mish-mash. Too many badges – in the past a special edition had one name and one spec (in most cases).”

    Not with the 80’s Mini LE’s, there were loads of them!

    People will happily pay a few quid extra or it will even sway an undecided buyer. If they think they’re getting a ‘special edition’, even if it isn’t actually that special.

    “Special editions are usually brought out when the car is about to undergo a facelift, to try and use up stocks of parts that are normally on the options lists.”
    Not with the 80’s/90’s minis they weren’t they were just there because people thought they were buying something ‘special’ they didn’t notice it was just a base model with different seat covers.

  17. Feh, I am waiting for the MG6 equivalents to emphasise the Birmingham connection. I suggest:

    The MG6 Magnette Shard End – complete with onomatopaeic razor edges and shattered glass. Comes complete with CD of gangsta rap and suspicious white powder in glove box.

    The MG6 Tyburn – entirely covered in beige and brown, this one has loose steering joints to simulate a pleasant afternoon in the eponymous pub on the eponymous road.

    The MG3 Star City. Lowered, with seats that will only accept teenagers, and blacked out windows. Comes complete with GCSE revision papers and a nice Texas Calculator. Could probably be given free when you open a Midland Bank Savings Account.

    And of course, the MG TF Aston City Special. Covering so many bases, this stripped out model comes in claret, blue and white, and has a distinctly schizophrenic personality. In fact, if it hasn’t beaten itself up in the carpark when you leave work, it’s probably faulty.

  18. Quote: “come on BMW, show us something new….”

    In the last few years BMW have introduced a steady succession of new MINI variants to the range with more like the Roadster, Paceman, Rocketman concept, Moke/Beachcomber and rumoured to be coming in March at Geneva a Clubman based MINI-van for the small commercial market! Not to mention the Mk3 MINI production lines now being installed in new buildings under construction at Plant Oxford.

    I don’t remember BL/Rover ‘showing us something new’ on the original Mini after 1970 and even then only if you count the square front Clubman ‘facelift’ !!

  19. “I don’t remember BL/Rover ‘showing us something new’ on the original Mini after 1970 and even then only if you count the square front Clubman ‘facelift’ !!”

    Fuel injection, front mounted radiator?

  20. If people want to buy these special editon MINIs then good luck to them, as at least they are built in this country.

    Admittedly the names seem a bit kitsch and I would rather have seen a yesteryear special edition name dusted off and given a modern twist, like Picadilly or Chelsea. Then again, if SAIC doesn’t own the rights to Kensington or Knightsbridge, as used on the Austin Metro (Knightsbridge) and Rover 100 Series (both names), then what about these instead?

    Both have associations with premium London areas and could be used effectively to adorn a couple of interesting runout colour and trim specials.

    As well as the Baker Street and Bayswater, don’t forget there will be a further special edition model coming out over the coming months with an Olympic Games theme.

  21. @ Richard Kilpatrick:

    Driver’s Supplementary Restraint System, side impact bars, multi-point fuel injection, convertible bodystyle…

  22. @Keith

    My dad saw your white 3500 in Olney a few months ago – he cried, it’s the first one he’d seen in 20 years. He’s sending me some pictures of his (it wasn’t his it belongs to the British Embassy but it’s best to tell him it was his!). He’s sending me some photos of it in Prague, I hope you’ll publish them…..sorry this has nothing to do with Mini

  23. “Then again, if SAIC doesn’t own the rights to Kensington or Knightsbridge, as used on the Austin Metro (Knightsbridge) and Rover 100 Series (both names), then what about these instead?”

    There was a Mini Knightsbridge in about 2000. I don’t think anyone owns the rights to those names except perhaps the respective London Borough Councils. So SAIC could i think bring out an MG6 Kensington, but no one else other than BMW can use Mini Kensington.

    No doubt you could do postcode themed ones too “Mini WC1” with pictures of London landmarks or something.

  24. “I don’t remember BL/Rover ‘showing us something new’ on the original Mini after 1970 and even then only if you count the square front Clubman ‘facelift’ !!”

    Fuel injection, front mounted radiator?

    The last MPi Mini developments were funded by BMW in 1996 to meet the new European safety and emissions regulations and allow Mini production to continue until year 2000. BMW therefore actually had to stop Rover from ending classic Mini production as they had originally planned in 1997 and extended its life by 4 years!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iodnXn9oQAg

    The MPi front mounted radiator was required to meet drive by noise regulations.

  25. @Milly – great post. Czech cars are very cool too, I have had several Skoda and loved them to bits – unfortunately this was literally in the context of my first one, an Estelle 105 lux.

  26. @ Dennis comment 23

    What I meant was that the Mini 25 or Mini 30, to quote two examples I have owned, came with one engine size (998cc) even although there were others available (1098cc, 1275cc) that were being used in other cars. The only variable was that the 30 was oeffered with an option auto box (like mine) in 200 models, which does make those very rare. There were certainly loads of special editions in the 80’s & 90’s, as can be testified by the extensive lists in the Haynes Restoration/Renovation Manuals! I just feel that having a multiple of badges on the MINI confuses the issue – there are about 8 different versions of each special edition, and that’s only trim & engine options. I haven’t even looked at paint options in that number.

    Unfortunately a lot of the classic LE’s were based on the City (fixed rear windows and slow engines) and BL thought they could tart up the interiors with stripey seats and red seatbelts to give them a look of exclusivity! Noty ehri finest hour, but as others have said it helped to shift cars.

  27. @ Brian

    Not a rumour, it is coming. I’m actually looking forward to it 🙂

    I’m curious to see what they’ll do with side doors, though

  28. Mini Englischer Garten, for that combination of Munich location and Englishness?

    There used to be a battered Mk 3 Mini in the car park at Gaydon with “Old Kent Road” hand painted on the boot lid.

  29. “i just cant justify over 23k for one of these cars thats a lot of money for special edition.”

    I agree, especially for one that isn’t that special, but there are people who will and all that extra money goes straight in BMW’s pocket.

  30. Does the Baker Street special edition come with a copy of Gerry Rafferty’s greatest hits, a large pipe and a deer-stalker hat?

  31. @ Dennis:

    I had forgotten about the 2000 MY Mini Knightsbridge which was one of the four Classic Final Edition derivatives introduced from the end of March 2000, albeit for sale in export markets only. Thank you for reminding me of this.

    I have, however, seen two examples of the Mini 1.3i Knightsbridge registered in the UK and both were finished in Sienna Gold. One was the example used for the initial press photos released in late February 2000, which I last saw in East Devon about six years ago. The other one was another Rover Group registered example now residing in Somerset.

  32. I remember reading an article in Autocar a couple of years back which predicted the new Mini variants including the Countryman, coupe, and convertible. The article also stated that there were to to Riley versions of both the standard Mini and the 5 door Countryman. This has not yet happened – anyone got any information on these badge engineered versions or are BMW waiting for the Mk3 version to relaunch Riley?

  33. @54 – I’d take any scoop you see in Autocar with a hefty pinch of salt. They’ve also been scooping the return of Triumph, Austin Healey and the second coming.

  34. I was about to scoff, but of the few minis owned by my mother in the 1990s, the one I really remember from my childhood was the ‘Sidewalk’ with tartan seats.

    I think the Bayswater is rather cool actually.

    Will 

  35. @ i would agree with you 100% will if it was priced at twelve and a half grand,but priced upto and above 23k takes the piss.I know cars cost money to make and market etc i would love to know how much of a rake off BMW make on these things.

  36. How about some new Mini specials from around the ‘UK’…..Mini Stirling for Scotland or the Mini Cardiff for Wales….???

  37. “How about some new Mini specials from around the ‘UK’…..Mini Stirling for Scotland or the Mini Cardiff for Wales….???”

    Thing is these are designed to be sold globally, the London names are seen as ‘cool’ in many parts of the world.  

    It’s a lot like a french manufacturer having the choice between say Champs-Elysee and Guadaloupe.

    Some people outside of the UK don’t even realise Wales is separate from England.

    Besides can you imagine a Scottish LE? It would probably have tartan skirts dangling from the sills or some other such stereotypical tat. 

  38. @ Dennis comment 59

    I hope that was your opinion of how BMW would perceive a Scottish LE, and not the stereotypical Englishman’s view of the Scots…….. If it is then you should hang your head. If we get independence (which most of England seem to want as they have some wild idea that England subsidises Scotland) then that will be racist… 😀

    Joking aside, I agree with what you say about worldwide appeal being necessary for LE’s, and on that basis I think their London 2012 edition is potentially a bomber as I can’t imagine them selling many overseas, especially in France since Paris lost out to London for the event!

  39. @52. I looked up ‘golden rain’ (I was brought up on a cul-de-sac) in the urban dictionary. I didn’t understand the 1st bit, but the 2nd bit said ‘usually practised by Germans’. What could that mean?

  40. @ Dennis and Paul T:

    There is nothing new about doing regional special editions. In approximately 2000 there was the Land Rover Freelander M25 for dealers in the London area, while in 2001 there was the Braemar edition of the Discovery and Range Rover (25 examples of the latter were made) which was exclusive to Scotland.

    I seem to have read somewhere that there was also either a Discovery or Range Rover Cairngorm, again built and sold as a regional special edition derivative.

  41. In approximately 2000 there was the Land Rover Freelander M25 for dealers in the London area”

    Did that come with ‘stop start’ technology as standard?

     

  42. @ David 3500

    I think a lot of those types of LE were probably after-market add-ons (can’t speak for the Land Rovers though, tbh) but we used to see all sorts of nonsense for World Cups, Commonwealth Games etc on such things as Vauxhall Novas.

    Not sure if they really acquired any extra value or exclusivity because of them, and don’t see many on ebay these days……

  43. I think a lot of those types of LE were probably after-market add-ons (can’t speak for the Land Rovers though, tbh) but we used to see all sorts of nonsense for World Cups, Commonwealth Games etc on such things as Vauxhall Novas.”

    A lot of those come from large dealer groups, they have the buying power to go to a manufacturer and order say 1000 cars at a time, because they order so many they can either get a discount or they can get a few options thrown in for free. So what they do is get a car for the price of a base model, but with Aircon and alloys thrown in for example. Then they lob some stickers on it and advertise it along the lines of “to celebrate the commonwealth world games cup whatever, we’re bringing you the XXX special edition with free aircon and alloy wheels”

    When it comes to resale value the extra value just comes from it being a car with AC and alloys rather than a car that doesn’t. 

    ” I just feel that having a multiple of badges on the MINI confuses the issue – there are about 8 different versions of each special edition, and that’s only trim & engine options”
    It’s not really though, you just get a Choice of how fast it goes and what fuel it runs on. Usually The paint colour is one of the things that’s limited, you get maybe a choice of 2 colours. 

    ” Agree, even though it had bargain basement roots I was quite fond of the Mini Sprite”

    The 90’s Sprite wasn’t an SE/LE though, it was simply the replacement for the City. Mini’s went to a 3 tier line up Sprite, Mayfair and Cooper. The ‘sprite’ trim level also resurfaced on the CityRover a few years later as the base model. 

  44. It’s probably just me, not following new cars that closely. Somehow, however, they just don’t seem anywhere near as distinctive as original Mini limited editions.

  45. Excellent names from wellknown and appreciated street names and London area.
    There has always been special editions and names, today all coming from the company itself. In the Sixties the special names came from the outside:
    Radford, Wood & Picket, Speedwell, Downton etc.

    I could never understand why the name Camden was ever  chosen, a place that does not meet the premium brand of today’s MINI.
    A place where rats from the canal climb up to flats on the 3rd floor,
    where the Northern line is often diverted: Change at Camden Town, and where the
    “People’s Republic of Camden” has the most unfriendly Traffic Wardens of London.

  46. I could never understand why the name Camden was ever  chosen, a place that does not meet the premium brand of today’s MINI”

    Most people that buy them have never been there. so it’s not really an issue.

    ” It’s probably just me, not following new cars that closely. Somehow, however, they just don’t seem anywhere near as distinctive as original Mini limited editions. ”

    Not many of the old ‘London’ Themed cars were that distinctive either, as i Remember the Chelsea was just a Mayfair with different colour paint and came fitted with the Optional Mayfair alloys as standard. Most of them were just marketing tools to shift cars and it worked. 

  47. MINI brown-turned that colour after a poorly(open to debate)aimed petrol bomb attack in the previous nights rioting in a town of ones choice.

  48. MINI pisstake would be a surefire hit,especially after being stung for the money they are asking or MINImug?

  49. MINI Camden?
    As soon as I saw a picture of one for the first time, I read “Camden” as “Condom”; perhaps it was the special edition’s off white colour that didn’t help…

  50. @ Dennis

    The Mini 50 came in 2 guises, the Mayfair and Camden with crappy (sic) colours and barely noticeable grille badge with ’50’ on it. Totally feeble effort to celebrate the 8th anniversary of the car 🙂

  51. @ Dennis
    The Mini 50 came in 2 guises, the Mayfair and Camden with crappy (sic) colours and barely noticeable grille badge with ’50′ on it. Totally feeble effort to celebrate the 8th anniversary of the car :-)

    Agreed, although the Mini 35 wasn’t too spectacular either. Compared to the 30 and 40.

    The 2004 Monte Carlo LE they did was nice, but only LHD! 

  52. Have a look through some of the ‘accessories’ they do in there, they know how to charge for it.

    What i don’t get though is all the nice retro stuff with pictures of ‘classic’ minis on seems to be aimed at women, the purses for example, but the blokes wallet just seems pointless. May as well go and buy a Paul Smith. 

  53. Like bmc, blmc, arg, bmw is starting to bite its own tail… Milking it for as long as it will last!!! Wait and see… They’ve done very well so far, but in these times of penny pinching, one has to realise that the MINI isn’t good value for money”23K” for a 2+2 with an oversized glovebox for a boot… Limited/Special editions help boost sales (or keep sales up), so once again, has bmw-mini reached BMC, BLMC, ARG point where LE/SE was the only way to shift cars? I wouldn’t take a 25 yrs mortgage if I was working at cowley’s what ever they callit now at bmw!!!! At a quarter million minis being produced every year and figures to be expected to go UPPPP, there’s no exclusivity what-so-ever in a bmw-mini, even a special limited edition with a W1 postcode… Anyhow, I don’t like the mini from bmw, too many of them, I’ve driven a clubman many moons ago,1985-86, compared to my sister’s Peugeot 104 SR, with a healthy 1124cc and 50bhp, it had a hatchback with defrost and wiper to boast, 4 doors in a fairly compact car, and electric windows.. It was luxury compared to the other euro box, let alone Peugeot was home brand… What will bmw do when sales chart(“profits”) will slip?  

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