Well, headed to the BMW and mini garage today.
Sat in all 3 cars, and only the mini felt special to me.
Took it for a test drive, loved it. Unfortunately it had the Bluetooth exhaust fitted, and fell in love with that as well...so a £1.6k option needed!! But dear lord those pops and bangs and gurgles were addictive, kept just coming off the throttle to hear them
Only downside I found is that like my old R56 JCW, something about a hot hatch makes me drive like I'm a hooligan.
Currently looking through the finance deals available, but they seem few and far between for any bargains!