Three years ago, I bought my wife a 2002 Cooper. This past weekend, I ordered a 2005 Cooper S for myself. I'm turning in the 2002 Cooper and giving the wife my Touareg.

Production started a couple of days ago and is scheduled to be completed by 20-MAR-2005. A few weeks to come across the pond and then it's mine! I purposefully haven't driven an 'S' in over three years. I want to get that "wow" feeling when I sit in mine for the first time.

Here's the specs:

 

Congratulations ... you will really get a MAJOR WOW as well, because the '05s are much improved over previous years with the altered gear ratios. Just going from a pre-'05 MCS to an '05 MCS is a shock.

 

HAve fun! and with the white wheels, make sure you have lots of wheel cleaner and rags! If you don't track, get EBC GreenStuff pads..... Much less dust. And with more power to go faster, you'll be hitting the brakes much harder!

Enjoy your toy. Why did the wife let you give her and SUV over the Mini?

Matt

 

I hated the GreenStuff pads.
They did not keep my wheels much cleaner; they badly scored my disks, and they did not stop as well as the stock brakes.

 

My GreenStuff pads squeal a lot But anyways, The car looks great, you will definitely love it, especially coming from a Cooper.

 

jsewell,

Aloha and welcome to NAM.
You could not have picked a better time to order an MCS.
Build quality is better in 2005 than in 2002. Small but definite improvements have been made. More HP, lower gearing, and LSD make the newest MCS a dream. Your white wheels will be fine. If you don't get EBC greens try Mintex Redbox which stop well, are cheap and shed much less dust than the stock MINI pads. A little wheelwax from tirerack.com wouldn't hurt either.

 

Sigh... if only Mini BRG actually looked like that.

 

Thanks all for the warm welcome and useful advice. I know that the white wheels are going to require constant cleaning. My current MINI has white wheels and although they're a pain to keep clean, they look spectacular when they are clean.

I checked the status in the owner's lounge today. It says "scheduled for production" although the folks at 877.ASK.MINI tell me that it's already started production. I've got the VIN for it. Can't wait for this car!

The wife likes the MINI that we have but prefers the taller Touareg as her daily driver. I'm a big fan of small cars, but the normally aspirated MINI just didn't have enough umph for me. I think the MINI S will solve this problem and I'm really looking forward to driving it.

For what it's worth, my previous cars were: 90 VW Corrado VR6, 92 Miata, 2000 Miata, 2002 Subaru WRX, 2002 MINI Cooper, 2004 Touareg V8.

I was tempted to buy another Miata if only for the rear-wheel-drive power-slideability of it, but the wife insisted we get something that we can put a baby seat in if we absolutely need to.

Cheers!
-Jason

 

Looks like a great combination. Its a bit different than my BRG. Personally the white wheels don't do it for me but I'd sure love to see yours...maybe you'll want to drive it down here to Guatemala!

In any case, enjoy!