Had a mini cooper (non-s) for rental and it handles superbly on stock suspension (nonsport, mind you) The car is fun but lacked power, which john cooper works should fix, and now thinking back it's probably the better car for me right now. I commute 100 miles a day, roughly 25,000 miles a year, in an urban area. Definitely can use its size and nimbleness around town and it has the best mpg in its class of sporty and cheap. (check out this video: Fast and Frugal
http://link.brightcove.com/services/...ctid1616690456)
The 135i's performance is a huge step up from mini with some scarifies in nimbles but certainly a hot rod. It is actually too much car for my application right now. I like my 135i but I also like the mini and the s2k, exige... etc :-)