ok, here goes:

What option has pleasantly surprised you the most? Not one option has stood out for me, although I am very satisfied with all my picks.

What option do you have that you'd not get if you could do it over? Per above, I do not regret choosing any option. Happy with all of them.

What option did you NOT get that you now wished you had gotten?
Maybe some nice racing stripes. Due partly to procrastination, partly a lazy friend who promised to install stripes for me but has not, I wish I had stripes from the get go. Oh well, someday.

Anyone with a MC now wish they had a MCS (or vice versa)? NA. I have an 'S' and do not regret the decision.

What's the most annoying thing about your MINI? The door unlock switch located in the middle of the console. Drive me nuts when I drop off the kids at school, running around the passenger side only to realize that the door is locked, then running all the way around to the driver's side again and reaching to the center console to unlock. Second most annoying - being the dinga phobe that I am, I feel compelled to park as far away as possible in order to avoid my first ding. So scared to get that first one!

What about your MINI works or performs better than you expected?
I thought the harsh ride of the run flats would bother me more than it has. As it turns out, I have adjusted pretty easily to the firm ride. Looking forward to non-run flats for an even smoother ride.

Nice job of selecting questions, Phantom! I have 8500 miles now and counting!

 

Looks like fun, sikamini!

 

It was fun! We have another event scheduled for the March 28th, probably the last decent chance to go look at wild flowers. We probably won't have 32 MINIs again, but 20 something would be a good goal. I was pleasantly surprised how we stayed together. I'll post some pics after the event. Post some pics everyone and tell us how your all doing!
PS we really should push this thread beyond 3000! And maybe they could relocate it to the off topic section!

 

Anything new? We've got another MINI drive coming up soon!

 

I'm in Florida for The 12 Hours of Sebring (through Saturday).

 

Great! Look forward to your photos!

 

just racking up the miles ... almost 9k now. Funny though all my trips have been less than 1 hour.

I bought a Jabra SP700 hands free bluetooth for the car - pretty cool gadget. I'm pretty happy with it - works better than I expected. Here's a link to the product on Amazon if anyone is interested.

http://tinyurl.com/d75uey

I happened to buy it for much less, of course. Been getting headaches from my in-the-ear bluetooth headset and really hate to wear the thing for the chance occasional call. Of course I don't want to risk a ticket for holding my phone to my ear while driving (although I have not heard anyone ever getting a ticket for that!). The Jabra clips to the visor (just like a garage door opener) and is a pretty thin and obscure device. Really like the fact that there are actually voice confirmations for pairing connections, on, and off. Nice, clear speaker. My wife didn't even know I was using it (vs. me holding the phone to my ear) on the other end, so the noise reduction seems to be working ok. Anyways, that's all for me. Just glad to have a job in this economy and grinding away. Can't wait for spring break in a few weeks so's I can take the wife and kids to Legoland!

Hope everyone is doing ok. Please check in and update us!

 

Cool! I really can't stand talking on my cell while driving (handsfree or not), but that seems like a pretty hassle-free gadget. And new gadgets are always fun.

 

Hey guys I know this is a stupid question but I have been thinking about when I am supposed to take my car in for its first service. I used to always just follow the every 3,000 miles. I havent hit 3,000 yet. (I KNOW I KNOW BUT MY COMMUTE ISNT VERY FAR) and I know your car is supposed to tell you but I am afraid I might have accidentally reset it. I hate those on board computers with one button that does everything ANNOYING. It says something like 8/2010 that cannot be right- that is super far away.

I don't have a local mini dealer so setting up an appointment is going to be quite a process. How long did you guys wait before you took it in for its regular scheduled mainentence?

 

IIRC the first scheduled maintenance occurs at about 15k-18k miles and I don't think there's any way to reset it yourself. I could be wrong though.

I'm approaching 8k miles and I haven't been back to the dealer yet.

 

When you start up your car, look at the digital readout on your tach right away. It will display how many miles you have left to go before your next service. If you are at 3K miles now, it probably says around 12000 or more.

With that said, if you don't reach that in the first year, you should take it anyway for an oil service at one year. I actually do intermediate oil changes. I have 7500 miles on mine and am getting an unscheduled oil change Friday (which I have to pay $75 for).

 

At least once a year if you don't reach the limit.

 

well i did that and it said like 13000 8/2010 I am way far from that so I was thinking before its a year old which would be august.

 

It doesn't hurt to bring it in more than required, but they cover the required service ones. My MA and SA both told me to bring her in at a minimum of once a year regardless of my mileage. How far is your dealer?

 

Mine says 10k miles and 08/2009. Makes since as I have just under 8k miles on it and I bought it in 08/2008.

 

Yea I bought mine at the same time but it says 2010 I think i might have accidentally reset it

I didnt buy through a dealer but a fleet guy so I had no contact with an MA or anything when I ordered so I didnt get all the helpful advice. The closest mini dealer is in Irvine, Ca which is like 40 miles away but it will probably take like two hrs to get there with traffic so I have to kind of plan my day around it. Damn local BMW Dealers dont take minis.

 

Whoops, I forgot this was the Week 32 thread, after all. Hah.

 

RaceTripper - How was the trip to Sebring? I watched most of the race on Speed TV. Love the new BMW M3 GT1 of Rahal's. They just need some more test time and I am sure they will be very competitive.

Are you going on the StL MINI Club rally on April 18? We are thinking about it, but need to double check the schedule. I just found out about it today.


Hope all you Week 32'ers are doing well. I have not been on NAM for awhile. March has been especially busy for us this year.

However, I have some good MINI news. Last Saturday, we ordered a new '09 MCS Convertible (R57). Got the production number when we placed the order, got a VIN on Monday as she went in to production. She was in the paint shop on Tuesday. WOW, we could not believe it. Hope this is not too good to be true....

We planned on ordering another MCS, but got to the dealer and they had the new R57 on the showroom. We sat it and played with the roof, then took a test drive in one that was outside. Well, long story short, we went back and placed the order for the Convertible instead of another Hardtop.

She is Chili Red with Black Top and Black Checker Interior, MFSW, Auto Dimming Mirror, Cold Pkg, Xenon Headlights, Driving Lights, LSD, Rear Foglights, and a few other goodies. She is coming from the factory with 16" Bridge Spoke Wheels, but I already have 17" JCW Challenge Wheels for her. I ordered them and the TPMS kit from Morristown MINI two weeks ago - they were on sale. I am having Michelin Pilot Sports A/S Plus 205/45/17 tires mounted next week so I will be ready to change wheels/tires when she arrives home.

Ever since we got our first MINI last September (for my wife), I have been wanting one of my own. I have my '92 Corvette for sale on AutoTrader.com, so if you know anyone looking for a premium low mileage (22,000 miles) '92 Corvette from the original owner, let me know. I have it priced to sell.

I never thought I'd give up one of my Corvettes for a MINI, but I am...

I will keep you all posted. For now I have attached a picture from the Configurator. Hope I did it right???

Have a good weekend!

 

Sebring was awesome. I got to do 3 parade laps with the BMWs on Friday afternoon. The lead cars were an M1 and 3.0 CSL race cars. We got to go pretty fast for a parade lap. I was hitting 95 on the back straight. I have in-car video which I need to get on UTube. Maybe by this weekend.

The DNFs for the BMWs were a disappointment, but they were looking pretty good until then. It wasn't an issue of testing, but one opf reliability. Sebring will expose reliability weaknesses very quickly. The big surprise was seeing the PTG Panoz get on the podium. Congrats to Tom Milner and crew.

I am not planning to do the Rally. Probably my next events are the Euro Car Show and the HPDE at Gateway, both in June.

Congrats on the MINI Vert.

 

Has anyone had the timing chain/tensioner belt / etc fix for the cold start chatter yet? I have an email in with my SA inquiring about it.

Also, RT and sikamini (and whoever else has JCWs), does your fan stay on after you've turned the car off?

 

Yes, the fan does stay on, but it shuts down after a while. It seems to sometimes turn on just after I shut the engine off. And if I understand correctly it's normal, just as long as it does turn off eventually.



We just had our first encounter with a UFO recently! We were just slowing to a stop when an object flew into us from the oncoming lane. All I saw was a blur in the corner of my eye and the painful sound of a broken windshield.

She's as good as new the windshield was just replaced.

 

Yeah, it's normal to stay on for a bit. I've never heard mine after shutting the car off, even after a hot hot day of driving. I'm not sure if it's normal or not.

 

If yours doesn't come on, I'd say that maybe a reason to ask the dealer - what's up?

 

I asked my SA twice via email and his response was the same "It's normal for the fan to come on for a few minutes after shutting the car off"

/facepalm

I'll mention it when I go in for the cold start fix.

 

Maybe your MINI is extra efficient! But, I'd ask too.