With dealers being so rare and far between I've ordered my R56 Mini without test driving one and with limited sightings. Needless to say NAM has been a great help in choosing the right options and the enthusiasm of owners posting here has pushed me over the edge and made me order a Mini somewhat blindfolded. Was I in for a big surprise when I went to pick the car up at the dealership and drove it back 150 miles home the other day! It drives and looks way better than I had expected and I am thrilled.

Coming from a 1998 VW Beetle and owning a Honda Odyssey minivan as the other car, I was looking for nice design, good gas mileage and a fun drive, not cargo room or comfort. I was initially drawn to the Mayfair SE, then to a BRG with redwood red leather, but the former turned out to have a somewhat bland interior color scheme in person, while the superb british green was a ho-hum match for the abundant black trim outside the car. That's when I figured that a lighter color would contrast better with the black trim and that spending over 30k for a subcompact would be difficult. Don't you love the BMW philosophy of price gouging on the options? This is where the NAM community has been of inestimable help in choosing the "must have options" and avoiding regrets down the road, while ending up with a <25k price tag before taxes. The 5% off MSRP discount that my dealer (in NYS) has graciously agreed to offer me also contributed to the lighter price tag. The car was ordered early December 2009 and arrived on February 18th.

After spending quite a few hours reading the forums on NAM and building different configurations on the Mini.com website, this ended up being my order list.
Turbo engine: still not sure wether I need this and I much prefer the design of the bonnet of the non-turbo Cooper, without the useless air intake. Maybe I will change the bonnet down the road. The turbo is undoubtedly a lot of fun to drive and the only way to get the LSD. The consensus on NAM had also made me weary of possibly regretting the regularly aspirated engine.
6SPD: no traffic jams around where I live (and I don't miss them).
DTC + LSD: there is a lot of snow instead. This is not SoCal.
S-Winders: the lightest stock wheel on a MCS and more comfortable than 17" wheels. Their design also allows one to check the condition of the brake pads without having to remove the wheel.
Chili red/white top: I've spent the last 11 years driving a blue VW Beetle whose flashy color (and style) proved on numerous occasions to be a valuable passive safety feature as it made other drivers aware of an otherwise small car. Yellow paint on the Mini would've been even better, but alas it was no longer available for order in Dec 2009.
Rooster red/piano black interior with cloth/leather seats: great contrast, the cheapest option with lumbar support, nice match for the exterior paint, slip-proof non-stick seating surface and no need for bun warmers in my cold climate. For long hauls, the lounge seats would probably be worth the extra 1k as they lack the side bolsters which are great for tight turns but also a pain in the thighs for a 6'2" after more than one hour of driving. Moreover, design-wise, they could've used some more red leather patches, particularly on the rear seats or arm-rests.
Anthracite headliner: with such a predominantly black interior this made sense a priori and now that I actually see it, I have to agree that the anthracite headliner is well worth the otherwise unjustifiable $250 over the regular gray.
Xenon headlights: quite practical in the country and I don't see the issue with the cut-off between the bright beam and the dark area beyond it as those beams are wide enough to spot deers anywhere (or almost) within collision course.
Rear fog-lights: not terribly useful, relatively cheap, should be a standard feature if only to fill the toggle switch rack above the speed stick.
Rear white turn signals: to break the monotony of a red light on a red car.
Base Bluetooth: it doesn't work flawlessly with my Verizon Casio G-Boulder phone, but it is nonetheless more practical than the portable alternatives for hands-free use.

Other comments:
The base sound system sounds impeccable according to me, particularly considering the road and wind noise and not being used to premium systems in cars. Moreover, the base radio antenna reception in this car is surprisingly good as it can pick radio stations 65 miles away as well as a Volvo C30 and better than a Honda Odyssey, Lexus RS300, Nissan Altima or VW Beetle.
I can't wait for someone to come up with an after-market gauge for the R56 speedometer whose stock gauge lacks detail. And can someone tell me why the speedometer goes up to 160 mph? How useless is that, particularly given the lack of other gauges required for track driving. With state troopers stationed everywhere around these parts of the country (NYS) I have a hard time even imagining going over 100 mph for any length of time. Is there a way to change the gauge for one going up to say 120 mph with an increase in details?

Thanks to the NAM community for sharing its experience in these forums and I hope that this post will also help others with their purchase.

 

Very nice, great color choice. ENJOY

 

Nice pick!

 

Great color

 

A beautiful color!! These are fun cars to drive.

 

Welcome to the club!
Very impressive list of options you have there
My MINI just celebrated her 5th birthday and is rock solid.
Got an extra set of wheels with snow tires for better motoring in the snow!
(check the gallery)
As a daily driver, I can't see myself driving anything else
Motor on!

 

Let me be the first non-red MINI to say

 

Congrats. I don't think you will have much luck finding an aftermarket speedo. I typically just use the digital speedometer in the tach rather than the large central one.

 

Welcome

 

A great color choice. Enjoy!