New Mini Owner in Ohio...
 

My order for a 2016 2-door hardtop finally posted to the Owners Lounge today so some progress! Next step is Production... I'm guessing I'll take delivery in mid to late June or beginning of July? Working very hard to be patient and non-obsessive over the next couple weeks and months but not doing well at that.. :-P So lots of MINI youtube vids and reading the owners manual cover to cover for a bedtime story... Just can't wait for my baby to arrive!

Welcome. Congrats on the new F56 MINIs. Make sure you post ups some pics. If you get it in time you might be able to make MTTS.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...es-2016-a.html


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...6982f727df.jpg

MTTS Looks awesome.... I could definitely join up in Michigan for a couple of days if my MINI arrives before mid-July!

I am currently "scheduled for production" according to the owner's lounge, so I'm not sure what the lead time is from being 'scheduled' to actual 'production'... a few days... a week or longer?

Hello and welcome! O...H....

I.....o !!!!!!! :)

Darn you beat me to it... :-D

New MINI owner.
 

Welcome aboard! We appreciate your impatience. When you're done with the manuals, you can kill some time watching the "Italian Job." :nod:


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...4781d55070.jpg

So I called the 866 MINI help number for the first time today... the automated system says that my vehicle has an estimated completion date of May 17th... a week from today. I ordered on April 19th and am hoping that I will be able to get my new MINI around June 20th... the 2 month mark ::fingers crossed::

Congratulations and welcome to NAM! Assuming this is your first MINI? Don't forget to share pictures with us once you get some. Hope time goes by quickly for you. :nod:

Yup first MINI, super excited and will definitely take tons of photos when 'Nigel' arrives in Ohio! Thank you PelicanParts!

Nigel is preparing for transport!

New Mini Owner
 

The clock is ticking . . . :nod:

WELCOME TO NAM and welcome you to the MINI family! Make sure to check out our web site MINIPartsmass.com for all your discounted OEM parts needs. We’re always here to help you, with all your mini needs. Don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions you might have on what you can do to make your MINI more you!
Also congratulations on the new Cooper S Hardtop

https://www.minipartsmass.com/partlo...?siteid=215989

Thank you! It is a 'just a' and not a Cooper S... but thats ok :-) My MA contacted me today to tell me Nigel is on his cruise and is expected to arrive in the Port of Baltimore on the 6th of June... then another week to get to Ohio... then at some point I have to find time to drive down to Columbus to take delivery! (I'm about an hour north of the dealership)

Thats exciting ! Getting closer.

I am seriously considering adding the 'secret' compartment as my first mod, read and watched some stuff and how to do it and I think it's within my skill level. Do you carry the hidden compartment part and/or replacement dash trim pieces?

New MINI
 

We totally agree. The non-Cooper S model is awesome, frequently more reliable in certain model years, great torque, and arguably the best bang for the buck when purchasing a new or used MINI. I just bought a 2004 Cooper S which I absolutely love, and my next addition to the car family (which includes a 2008 Neon ACR championship-winning race car and a vintage 1988 V6 Fiero Formula) will be a Cooper base model. Drive Hard, Drive Safe, and Keep Grinning! :nod: Happy MINI Motoring!

So I have decided that once Nigel arrives I am going to put him to good use in filming some good MINI videos to excite people on the MINI experience.... The last 2 months of waiting have taught me that there is a very limited supply of good MINI videos online to keep myself excited during the long delivery waiting period. Ive gotten pretty good with being an amateur filmmaker with the wonders of iMovie and FinalCut so I think I can come up with some good stuff... I'm already beginning to piece together titles and music from the opening title to 2001: A Space Odyssey (Otherwise known as "Also Sprach Zarathustra" by Strauss) I'm thinking "Cooper: A MINI Odyssey" and big, epic, cinematic, but perhaps a bit fewer lens flares that JJ Abrams might prefer...

Really basic stuff without any car pictures, b-roll footage, and other content to fill in all the blanks. Im thinking of using this theme for opening the door, seeing the MINI's 'heartbeat' the ignition glowing, foot on the brake, the ignition lighting up brighter, pressing start and seeing the car come to life, nav screen, speedometer, headlights on, brake lights, and the car is ready to motor! All in about 90 seconds...

I did some rough-storyboarding on my first mini video, all the pictures and photos are just stuff grabbed off of youtube until i get my own MINI and can do a lot of shots and filming on my own in HD, but i think this gives an idea of what I am aiming for... still a few seconds of blank video with music towards the end but I really like the closing tagline... inspired by the end of Star Trek: The Motion Picture...

New MINI Owner
 

That's great! Love the soundtrack, too. What editing software you using, and is it easy to use or need some training?

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

Thank you! The software all of that video was edited on is iMovie... comes standard with any Mac computer and is super easy to start using from novice to advanced... I look back at some of my earliest iMovie projects today and I cringe but I see the huge progress I have made in my editing skills over the years by tinkering and playing with the software and just learning as I go...

A good example of this would be the first Star-Spangled Banner video I put together as a teacher for my students years ago... just kinda slapped it together as a novice:

and then after several revisions, and a huge step up in editing skills over the span of about 5-6 years the most recent version is a big improvement:

The original version still gets the most views but the 4th version gets a higher % of 'likes'... I look at the first version and think it is crappy, but people seem to like it so I leave it up, but the 4th version is definitely much better in my opinion...

New MINI Owner
 

Good stuff! Makes me wince to think of all the time I spent trying to learn Sony video software and could probably do everything I want on a Mac :roll:

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

Yeah, I went all-in on working within the 'Apple Ecosystem" in 2006 and have never used anything other than apple macs, iPad, iPods, an iPhone, and an Apple TV since then... Never once had a problem with any of them... Apple builds a far superior product by controlling the entire design and fabrication process and I am continually amazed by the seamless integration and synergy that exists between all of my 'i-devices'. Everything is continually synchronized and updated to everything else instantly... and I can use any one device to access any content on any of the other devices from anywhere in the world with an internet connection... it is just a brilliant system. I would not want a windows PC even if they paid me to use it... (Yes, I know, I am an 'Apple Snob") I only upgraded my 2006 college-era MacBook to a new MacBook Air this year... nearly 10 years on my old macbook (and it still works!) I do most of my video editing on my MacMini (no MINI relationship) which is plugged into my 46" HD tv with a wireless keyboard and trackpad... I work with large video files and a huge library of images so my MacMini has a high end processor, video card, and 2TB Fusion drive to store it all.. so I do all my videos on a 46-inch screen in HD and publish them to be best viewed on a larger screen without losing quality... When I work on my videos, I expect them to look good on a large tv screen and just as good on a cell phone screen also.