Considering a new Mini S or JCW 'late mid-life crisis' purchase.....

When you look through the list of possible options for the vehicle, which ones do you wish you had gotten, including after market?

Which options you purchased were not worth it?

Thanks for any input.

 

The best bang for the buck in motoring enjoyment mods is replacing the struts and rear sway bar with KONI FSD struts and a 19 or 22 MM RSB. MotoringWerks, one of the vendors herein has a super deal on the struts. The Alta adjustable sway bar is the one I went with and am thrilled with it.
BTW, I motored past midlife 'bout 20 years ago and haven't pulled over yet.

 

I wished I had the xenon projector head lamps but I picked my car off the lot. I also wished I had the factory alarm.

I never use my BT for my phone, so for me a waste of money. I had a loaner with NAV and no way I would pay for that overly complex and cumbersome system, I use my phone for nav.

 

I did this @ 60k wished I would've done much sooner. As far as a build goes there are a bunch of ways to do it. I've seen this question come up before and what I found is the people who have asked this end up ordering one with everything on it. Some things that I think are nice rear fog lights, seat upgrade, anthracite headliner, xenon headlights and the cold weather pkg. These options run about 3,000. I think it just depends on how much money one wants to spend. One could order one of these cars without a single option and still have one awesome ride. When I ordered my 08s I spent 25,500 and overall I've been pleased.

 

I bought (custom ordered) a new 2011 R56 S. I was very green to the brand and had only been researching for about a month or so before I pulled the trigger. Looking back, I wish I had researched more, but at the time my Mercedes was having transmission issues and I had to get a new ride soon.

Having said that, the only thing I wish I had ordered that I didn't at the time was the JCW body kit. Either that or a fJCW. I pretty much got every other option that I wanted on the car, but after 3 years and knowing what I know now about the R56 I wish I had the JCW body kit, or the fJCW.

Every other option that I got on the car I would get again and maybe more (Cold Weather Package, PDC, Alarm, etc.). I will be waiting for the F56 fJCW for certain, or at least the MCS with a JCW body kit.

 

I ordered and purchased a 2014 R57 Converitible earlier this year. My only regret is not getting the Parking Distance Control (PDC). I knew the car was tiny (my second MINI), so I thought it was not a big deal. Still happy, just think that would have been nice because the rear visibility is terrible on the convertible. Good luck with your order.

 

I spec'ed my car with very few options--see my sig for details. If I had it to do over again, I would think about a few extra things:

- Leather seats instead of cloth. The cloth are extra-staticky during the dry parts of our winter. They're also not as easy to clean as I had thought they would be.
- Heated seats. I don't need them in my area, really, but I think the wife would be happier riding in the car with those.
- Fog lights F/R. I have come to like the looks of those more over the past couple of years.
- Xenon headlights. I find myself wanting more light, especially when driving up in the hills around the Bay Area.

I would still pick the stripes, the sport suspension, and the BT integration.

Things that I have had in loaner cars that I would not get:
- Nav system. It's clunky and not as good as using my phone for navigation. I really dislike the interface, and the fact that you have to use it as the interface for the radio.
- Sunroof. If I wanted open-top motoring, I would have gotten the convertible or the roadster. The sunroof lets too much light and heat in, even with the shade closed. And it's too noisy when opened, or even when cracked.


Other stuff I could take or leave. Most of the extra "features" I would probably ignore.

 

Got:
Upgrade BRG color, xenons/white turns, color line, black rims, sport suspension.

Regret getting:
None. Well maybe the color because I was trying to decide between red, choco and BRG

Wish I had gotten:
Folding mirrors, black dash

 

I don't have roof rails on my R61, you can buy the rails but can't find anyone willing to install.

 

I would have bought brand new. Buying brand new I would have got Bi-xenons, MSFW, JCW Brembos(I just purchased these today), bluetooth, and HK sound system. Everything else to me is a waste of time and money. Then again that is just me.

 

Nothing, nada. Kept the spec simple yet complete. Figured if I was to keep it for many years past the warranty, gooping it up with gizmos that nickel and dime you to death might take the bloom off the flower. These are great motoring machines if you operate them with respect.

 

We've ordered a MINI 6 times now, I think we've got it about right. We don't need many options, most important is auto A/C, I definitely miss it when I drive a MINI without it. We prefer the seats in cloth/leather, they fit us best. To go faster we have the sport suspension and DTC. We also like the garage door opener, and I consider a rear fog light essential. That's about all we order, the rest is just cosmetics.

Edit to add: The Bluetooth and iPod adapter is also essential, but was standard the last time we ordered. As slave to feelines says, no Nav and no sunroof. I've tried the Nav in a MINI we hired, I ended up using the TomTom ap on my iPhone instead. The worst thing was it seems to have traffic information, but routed us through the worst traffic.

 

My 2 cents: I ended up with ordering a JCW manual loaded with every option except I saved $1,000 skipping the sun roof which I would never open anyway. I am very pleased with the power of the JCW(no regrets) but if you prefer less spirited driving, you may not need the JCW. My wife enjoys it better than my previous BMW M Coupe and I do not need to worry about bottoming out driving in and out of driveway approaches.


I was delighted I could really pick and choose any combination of options. Obviously the packages will save a few hundred dollars each but you may end up with an option you really would not pay for by itself. I would price out with options desired separately and then with packages.


I highly recommend: Xenon with auto adjusting (once you have them you cannot go without), Harman Kardom sound system (had a loaner without it and it sounded sad), manual, heated seats, Bluetooth for phone and audio (it will also play Sirius over iphone--but that uses up bandwidth and in rural areas it does not work as well.


Not worth it (in my opinion) NAV does not speak actual street names (my $300 Garmin does better), Mini Connect (used 3x's, designed for old Iphone 4 and its adapter-useless)--that said I am not sure if the Bluetooth required Mini Connect or not.


I enjoy the integrated Sirius radio but for $750 you could instead buy an aftermarket system that has a better display for 1/3 the price. The downside with aftermarket Sirius or NAVs is that it clutters up the dash.

 

These responses are great. Thanks, folks.

Now, if I can only avoid being murdered by the wife if I get the Mini..........................

 

My only regrets, aside from having a Clubman rather than a Hardtop (which was a spousal requirement for child), are the leatherette seats and fact that I don't have a proper JCW. I ordered my car during a time where the model year change-over was happening, and the JCWs didn't appear until ~5 months later.

Other than having a "fake" JCW and not having leather, I'm perfectly satisfied.

--Matt

 

Honeslty if you have the tune kit and one or two more supporting ods it is just as good as a JCW.

 

i regret not getting the mini alarm ... i figured i could get better for less in the aftermnarket, but no, i cannot find any aftermarket alarms

other than that, i would have liked the adaptive headlights, but did not want the auto wipers that are requiured (pkg deal) so i passed on them

if i had to do it all over, i would get exactly the same + alarm

 

If I were doing it all over again, I would have gotten a convertible.

As far as features, options, etc. (mine has minimal options), I would probably opt for satellite radio.

Having driven a couple loaners back to back a couple years ago, I think MINI has made more of a difference between the regular radio system and the HK upgrade since I bought mine, so I would definitely opt for the HK upgrade now if I were buying again.

Having just bought a Toyota with the equivalent of Comfort Access, I have to say it is pretty nice not ever having to get the key out. Not sure I would pay extra for it, but I was surprised by how much I like that.

 

Except for the bigger turbo and lower compression, which I'd definitely like to have (especially once the warranty is up).

--Matt

 

You can always go aftermarket and do that yourself. It is expensive and it is a total commitment to the car.

 

btw,

count me in as someone who has "done it all over again" - twice, with two different cars.

in august of 2006 i bought an '06 evo ix gsr in black - even though i desperately wanted an MR version white. it was all the dealership had at the time. i literally never got over it, thought about it all the time, envied every white MR i saw, and early last year i finally sold the black one for a clean white ix MR. probably lost thousands in the long run. i may be more OCD than most though - but i'm happy now:



did the same thing in a similar time frame with my mini as well. after i bought the white evo, i bought the base mini as a daily driver/autox car. again though, got the wrong color, wrong options - it was never gonna be competitive in its class as it was. so i did the same thing, this time, traded it in for a brand new black one, spec'ed exactly as i want. i've never been happier, and never been poorer



moral of the story - if you're anything like me, do it once, and do it right. it may cost you more now but it'll probably save you in the long run.

 

I bought a '13 MINI Hardtop this past January. The only upgrades I have is the automatic transmission and tint. Being an old fart I'm easy to please. If I had ordered it I would have bought BRG, white roof, mirror, stripes and leather interior. As it is I have Iced Chocolate and vinyl but I really enjoy it.

 

Been there, done that one too many times with past VWs. I always end up with a car that breaks too much. I replace each broken/affected part with a better one, only to find the next broken part not too far down the road. It's a vicious cycle, making a car too much better than intended, and no matter how long I've spent dealing with hundreds or thousands in repairs month after month (even doing my own wrenching) I never end up with a properly reliable daily driver.

Expensive hardships have taught me that a plan like that only works if you're not leaning on the car for day-to-day transportation.

--Matt

 

Word.

 

Nice EVO. Do you still have it?.