From reading i get the impression that the Bentley's manual is the "best" one to buy. Found one on Amazon but only goes up to 2011. Is there one that covers our cars?
Bentley hasn't published a MINI manual for 2011 and beyond (i.e., specifically covering the N18 engine). However, the 2007-2011 manual is still accurate for most things in your GP (even for most engine topics).
Took them forever to come out with the R56 manual... Don't hold your breath on a GP2 specific manual... The sticking point for the new Bentley manual.... They don't want to put a picture of the "S" on the cover... Soooooo, consensus at Bentley..... They are tossing up the idea of just doing a MINI manual that deals with stickers, and be done with it....
+1 The Bentley manual will cover everything except GP specific items, interior trim, stickers, canned tune. It would be cool if the came out with a excerpt for items like that but don't see that happening. Realoem.com can give you and idea how things go together.
They never published anything for the GP1, and I wouldn't expect any for the GP2. The numbers are way too low. Even the production of the MINI brand as a whole is barely enough to motivate them. They didn't publish an update for the refreshed 2005+ 1st gen until it was out of production, and took years to bring out an R56 manual. They might very well update the manual for the 2011+ R56 some day, but it will depend on how many they think they can sell.
And while the Bentley manual was more complete for my R53, the R53 Haynes guide covered 95% of what I needed and was substantially cheaper and easier to use. If you are going to rebuild your engine, get the Bentley guide. If you want to learn how to bleed the brakes and do the standard maintenance stuff, get the Haynes guide and save the $.