I hate to say it, but here we go again! Some people will loathe it, some people will love it.

Personally, these days the whole 'is it or isn't it a proper MINI' thing just goes right over my head (like most things cos I'm a short *rse). It's been a LONG time since MINI created anything like the impact it did back in 2001, and it has evolved into what it is, in some ways not as good as the 'original', in some ways better. No real point getting fussed about it. It's not going to affect anything.

If you like it, great, if you don't, just enjoy the older versions. Nothing stays the same, in cars, or in life.