Tuned: Bean Machine, Mini Cooper

At evo India, we live by a single motto – The Thrill of Driving. And Mini Coopers have always delivered. That badge on the steering wheel practically dares you to pull off a Hollywood chase scene – through narrow alleys and across train tracks. The first time I saw a Mini Cooper? Probably where you did too – courtesy of a certain British chap with a teddy bear and a questionable grasp on reality. Mr Bean. And in a tribute to everyone’s favourite clumsy hero, Digvijay, the proud owner of this particular Mini, wrapped it in a Mr Bean livery for his three-year-old daughter. If Digvijay’s name rings a bell, it’s because he parted ways with his beloved purple BMW 523i, which we featured in the August issue of evo India.

The car gets a custom lime green wrap with Mr.Bean decals, laser projector headlamps, and Monoblock wheels

Now that you have already started drooling over the latest fourth-gen Mini Cooper S that you must have seen a few pages before, let me tell you why this R56 generation Cooper has my heart. This was the first Mini to make its way to India, back in 2012. It came as a CBU and cost around ₹25 lakh – not a small amount for a car its size. I remember when people saw the first ads in the paper, they thought it might be a viable upgrade from a Maruti Suzuki Swift. Then they saw the price tag and well, let’s just say most quickly retreated to their local Maruti dealers. After all, the Swift costs a fraction of the Mini. It became abundantly clear that this was a car for the elite.

The rear gets a spoiler, F56 upgraded Union Jack tail lamps, and a brake light on the diffuser

Digvijay’s Mini Cooper stands out anywhere you go. One look at it and nostalgia strikes you like lightning because of the Lime Green wrap with Mr Bean graphics. It rides on 17-inch black Monoblock wheels wrapped in Hankook rubber and the brake calipers get a green reflective wrap. The rear gets custom Union Jack taillamps, similar to the optional ones in the F56 generation. There’s also a race-inspired brake light on the rear diffuser, a custom wing on the roof and carbonfibre trim on the chrome panels.

The engine bay gets hydro-dipped components in a comical graphic

This Cooper houses a 1.6-litre four- cylinder nat-asp petrol mill and the engine bay gets a BMC conical air-intake and some hydro-dipped components in a comical graphic paint. Rather than chasing big power figures, the tune’s all about spitting flames. Power gains are minimal at 23 extra horses and 30Nm of added torque. The tune helps with low-end torque, which means overtaking on the highway is a breeze. As for the straight-piped exhaust? You can keep the marshmallows ready to be roasted because you’ll know Digvijay’s Mini is approaching long before you see it.

The comical graphic has also been carried over inside to the dash

The interior also got a fair few optional extras at launch but unfortunately this particular car wasn’t specced well. There was an option of a 6.6-inch BMW iDrive system built into the centre console but instead of picking that option, the first owner of this car went with the standard analogue centre console. The optional Harman Kardon sound system was also not optioned, so Digvijay upgraded the sound system with Infinity components and a JBL subwoofer. But the cabin looks fun. The comical graphics from the engine bay have been carried over inside to the dash and the centre panel. There’s custom Teal Pastel Green upholstery with extra padding to compensate for the stiff ride, complemented by the Hankook soft- compound tyres, instead of the RFTs (Run Flat Tyres) that came as stock fitment and added to the poor ride quality. All the work on this Mini? Courtesy of Piston Wolves, Digvijay’s own automotive modification shop in Pune.

In conclusion, while the latest-gen Mini might boast more bells and whistles, it’s hard to beat the charm of an old-school Cooper
– toggle switches, analogue dials and an unfiltered sweet engine melody. It’s as if the car invites you to be a part of its mechanical symphony, letting you feel every shift and every surge of power, without being overly refined. Plus, in the used market, you can pick one up for `40 lakh less than a brand- new one. Sure, they’re not the most reliable machines but there’s something special about keeping an old car alive, especially when it can handle mountain roads at triple- digit speeds without breaking a sweat