I had an "ah-ha" moment yesterday. I'm 5'7" but my legs are long and so I was really reaching for the wheel and didn't have any relief for my arms. I was miles away from the armrest for my elbow. I was wondering how I'd handle this on long trips. I knew that the wheel went up and down and had adjusted it a couple of times, but yesterday I realized that it goes IN and OUT!!! Mine was all of the way in and by pulling it out, I can just barely get to the armrest with the corner of my elbow! Not great, but better!

Grace

 

I pick mine up in an hour, but don't count on me using the Gallery. I keep my pictures in my own gallery or blog, and is always reachable from my sig.

 

After reading the helpful notes about things others are discovering about their MINIs, I'm really grateful to have had such a good MA. Things like the fact that settings are based on each key fob, and the steering wheel adjusts up and down and in and out... and lots of other things were all covered by my MA when we went over the car. It probably helped that he's a MINI owner, too, so was able to speak from experience.

But this forum is for those things that the MA didn't tell us. Anyway, I highly recommend Cincinnati MINI. And by the way, when I was there to pick up my car Monday, they must have had about 30 cars on the lot for sale (new and used, I think). I think they got an extra allotment from BMW. So, if you want a MINI now... and you're not too far away, you might want to check them out.

http://www.cincinnatimini.com/

 

Yes - our MA went over all the features, but did not mention that they were specific to each key fob. He covered nearly everything very well, though.

 

keep posting your aha moments, thoughts, and questions - very useful for me as I sit waiting for the call. thx

 

Yes, absolutely. I hope my earlier post wasn't interpreted to discourage reporting things we discover about our cars. Those are important to many of us. I was just trying to point out that, given what we are paying for our MINIs, our dealerships (and MAs) owe us a thorough explanation of the car, the warranty, the maintenance coverage, etc. etc. And I think my MA did an exceptionally good job.

Keep the comments coming. I'm sure I'll add a few myself when I do my initial ownership writeup - probably after the first couple weeks of driving.

 

Ooh - I've got another aha! moment!

I read on here somewhere that the Hi-Fi Audio System wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Some said it was sub-par. We got the Hi-Fi via the Premium Package on the 2008. Upon first use with an iPod, I definitely agreed. It sounded a little crackly at higher volume and higher bass.

So, I tried something. I normally always have the iPod's equalizer settings set to "Rock." On most things, that's the one that sounds best. However, I thought I'd experiment and set it to "Bass Reducer." I hooked it up to the Mini and come to find out, it sounds GREAT! Bass is clear, sounds nice. I have the settings on the Mini sound system set to +2 on Bass and, I believe a +3 on treble. It sounds fine now, it was almost like having the equalizer settings on the iPod AND the Mini system was like a double-whammy and was just too much. The "Bass Reducer" helps the whole thing sound better.

 

Mine gave me a thorough presentation, unfortunately I was so excited I forget most of it when a new topic came up!! He did say I should call him if I have any additional questions. But, I prefer to check the manual and all of you first!! I enjoy reading the experiences everyone is having, keep posting and more pics please!

 

[quote=PhantomMC;2462931]Yes, absolutely. I hope my earlier post wasn't interpreted to discourage reporting things we discover about our cars. Those are important to many of us. I was just trying to point out that, given what we are paying for our MINIs, our dealerships (and MAs) owe us a thorough explanation of the car, the warranty, the maintenance coverage, etc. etc. And I think my MA did an exceptionally good job.
/quote]

Phantom - not at all interpreted that way - I think I can speak for the others as well. No worries!

 

WhiteLightning - that's a very interesting finding! I will definitely try it. I have been getting worried with all the negative posts about the Hi Fi ... am already thinking of swapping out the front speakers for something better, plus monitoring posts by Shatzy and others closely to see if they figure out how the Hi Fi setup works in conjunction with the OBC. Your post reminds me to take a step back and judge for myself, first. Thx.

 

I agree. Haven't tried my iPod, yet, but with some tuning of the settings, I was able to get the radio on the HIFI system to sound plenty good for me. I will note that I'm not an audiophile. I think the radio sounds great even with the sunroof open, the windows down, and motoring at 40-50 mph. I just doubt that under any circumstances one is going to have "living room quality" sound from a car - especially while moving. So far, the HIFI system seems just fine to me.

 

See, I was spoiled, though - I had a Jeep with the Infiniti sound system for 6 years and it was an amazing "stock" sound system! It rocked. But, unfortunately, the front two speakers blew about a year ago and now pop at high volumes with high bass.

I didn't mean to make the Mini Hi-Fi system sound awful, it just wasn't FABULOUS, which is what I expected. It is really good now with some adjustment, which I need - I listen to the iPod about 90% of the time or I listen to Sports Talk Radio.

 

Got my car today! Woohoo!!!

It is awesome, and very engaging to drive. It's very different from the M3 (as anyone should expect). I put a whole 9 miles on it before dropping it off for installation of sport stripes, clear bra, and tint. I should have it back tomorrow evening.

I did my first two mods. The checkered glovebox tidy, and the checkered mirror caps. The mirror caps took me a whole 5 minutes (literally) -- I can't see how dealers charge $100 or more for the install. It is easy-peasy.

The VDC got my driving lamps wrong. It came in with black lamps/black caps whereas I ordered chrome lamps with white caps. The sales manager had the correct ones ordered within an hour. I should get them swapped out next week.

 

My MA gave a loooong intro to the car, but only covered the stuff that I already knew or could read about in a heartbeat in the manual. Things like how to work the cruise, the radio etc. I had to ask about the paddleshifters, I think he was shocked that I wanted to know. When he raised the hood, it was just to show me where the windshield washer fluid was....grrrr....he was shocked when I asked some educated questions about the engine and then made them work on removing the cosmoline that was visible under the hood!
Also he was dead wrong on so many things that I got tired of correcting him. He said: no lumbar support, the computer button was only for the dealership to use, my phone wouldn't work in the armrest and there was no such thing as an adapter for the armrest until 09, settings applied to both keys and they weren't different, cosmoline didn't stain, my bluetooth voice commands would work automatically (the original iphone has to be manually added), the ipod only needed to be connected to one end of the split cable not both, the errors went on and on.

The NAM boards have been invaluable!

Grace

 

RaceTripper, congrats on getting your car! Glad to know you're finally out motoring with the rest of us now.

-Will

 

Congrats, RaceTripper. About damn time!

Re: not having pictures in my gallery. I keep ALL my photos on one site. If I add or change my MINI photos, and I wanted to do the same with my gallery, I'd have to do that all again. Plus, I like the UI of my site much better. I'll put them in my sig when I make one. I have them turned off for now because it makes browsing at work easier.

Re: iPods. For those of you using an iPod with the Aux jack, get a Dock connector to 3.5mm (headphone jack) plug ASAP! I just got mine this week and it helped a *ton*. I bought this one: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000O80HJM. It's not the best quality, but for 5 bucks, who cares. It does the job.

 

Curious... what's better about this than the cable that comes with the car? Mine has an AUX jack and USB connector that plug in together, and the other end plugs into the bottom of the iPod. Just wondered if this did something different that what I'm using now. Thanks!

 

Hmm, I only have the Aux jack (no USB). If yours uses just the dock connector, then that's probably fine. Basically, the dock provides an line-out that's not amplified, making for a much better quality sound than going from the iPod headphone jack to the Aux jack.

 

RaceTripper - CONGRATS!!! It sure is about time!!

Re: Ipods.. that's what I have been working on ALL DAY!!! (well - I did manage to put a few more miles on!!) New Ipod.. never had one before, but my computer won't run itunes!!! Seems to be a pretty common issue.. and I can't figure out why. Old dell laptop (about 5 yrs old) works fine, but my new dell laptop (just 1 yr. old) won't work!! Think I finally found a solution... I have yet to try in in the car!

It sounds like some of you had some pretty good explaining MA's!! My husband hasn't even called to check on his MCC, can you believe it!! Of course, I feel like a pro and made a few calls just to see where it's at ( it's in production) but I am NOT excited and the wait won't bother me one bit - since I already have my baby!!

 

I also have the AUX jack and USB connector that plug in together....

 

Congrats!!!!!! Now as soon as you get it atke some pics and put them in your sig link!! Can't wait to read your critique, after a longer test drive!

 

Yes, after 3+ years in the M3 this is going to be interesting. The M3 is such a wild beast, yet solid and refined. It will take some getting used to the JCW. It's not as powerful and precise, but is has it's advantages. Hope to get some miles on it this weekend. After I get it back tomorrow, Friday will be spent cleaning and getting the Zaino treatment on it.

 

Got my MINI back today... The damaged scuttles were replaced and look really nice, and the water pump was also replaced. I will reserve judgment on that until tomorrow, when I get a chance to listen to the engine in the morning. It sounded great on the way home, though, so I'm hopeful. All the fiddling seems to have unearthed a rattle... But it's not too bad.

It's good that this car is so much fun, or I'd be more upset by now.

 

YEA!!! I got the call im picking my car up Friday at 3pm!

 

Thanks - I'm enjoying the AB as well - so many of the MINIs are such fun colors that I wanted my to be a little different. Who would have thought you have to go "old school" and have a single color car to stand out!! Actually, I'm not that good with colors so having one color was probably the safest thing I could have done

As for the homelink system I struggled with it at first as well, until I realized that I was overthinking. We have a garage door with rotating signals so after holding the button on the rear view to learn the remote all I needed to do was press the "learn" button on the back on the garage door opener main box (yes - get the ladder out) and run back to the MINI and press the same button on the rear view mirror 3 times (you have 30 seconds to make the trip from up on the ladder to MINI and 3 pushes) Perfect after that - but the previous 10 minutes of brain deadness was just silly.