Looks good to me. I regret not getting the Convenience Package. I'm not sure why I turned it down. Oh well, she's already built and will be on her way tomorrow

 

Do the headliner. It makes the interior of the car flow together as opposed to having some dark material and then light material overhead.

 

I got the convenience package because it wasn't much more expensive than getting the home-link alone. Little did I know how much I would LOVE the auto-wipers. I thought that they would be a complete waste, but they are one of my favorite features on the car.

/me climbs up onto the soapbox:

I'm amazed, with the number of flame-wars that have already happened on NAM, that someone would say anything like 'the rest of it is crap'. Good Lord, people... Not everyone wants a stripped down, lightweight, racer MINI and not everyone wants a fully-loaded gadgetmobile. It's all about your own needs and preferences! If you think there is an argument to be made for a lightweight, low feature car; great! Make it! Don't just call someone else's idea 'crap'. How rude.

/me climbs down off the soapbox and feels a bit better...

 

I second the headliner! I love the black headliner in my black/tan leather w/ Anthracite dash car!

 

I have a 06 Astro Black monotone with anthracite interior. I wish I had added the Anthracite headliner. IMHO it should come with the interior.

If you have a bluetooth phone get the factory bluetooth so that the steering wheel buttons work the phone. The add on kit at the dealer doesn't work with the wheel buttons. They put in a sepparate part for the buttons.

Xenons are well worth the investment. Also get a full set of toggles by specifying both the front and rear fog lights.

I would CLEARLY SPECIFY the second version of the factory Ipod Adapter.

Don't forget floor mats. MINI doesn't give you a free set, and the floor mounted throttle pedal makes cutting down a set from wally mart a bit difficult.

 

agranger... This is as I said the most expensive car we have ever purcahsed. We are not trying to go nuts on it but I figure if it is going to be really nice.. I want it to be REALLY nice.

You guys have got me thinking about the Sport Package. I can add the bonnet stripes later ($50 - after market) and I want the DSC ($500) and and the front fog lights ($150) for function and looks. So are the Xenons worth it?

 

I like the Xenons -- no regrets.

S-lites suck. Save your money, avoid this shortcoming.

- it's easy to find R85 S-lite wheels for sale cheap (you can maybe get $300 for yours if they're pristine); but you'll have a hard time finding used R84 X-lite wheels, and to you'll pay a higher price for them. This point alone speaks clearly about the opinion of most owners;

- they're $600 extra at ordering time. Order the Sport package components individually so you're not stuck with them, save some $$. Even if they were free, you don't want them. If you decide that two extra inches of sidewall are tragically ugly and want to go to bigger wheels later, you sure won't choose the S-lites;

- 17" tires for them are expensive and considered "performance" (no treadwear warranty) -- the 17" vs 15" price difference between two sets of tires is great enough to pay for 15" rims;

- they're very heavy wheels offering performance disadvantages when compared to lighter wheels that cost 1/3 less;

- the ridiculously expensive runflat/runcrap tires that come on these wheels provide a harsh ride that is drastically improved by switching to non-runflats. It's common for people to immediately throw away the runflats in favor of real tires when money is no object. When money's not free, the rest of us live with them for 25,000 miles, switch to non-runflats when they're worn out, and regret getting the S-lites.


When you discover all this a year after enjoying your MINI, you'll wish you'd researched your wheel choice better.
I wish I had -- it's my only ordering regret.

Flat? Get some fix-a-flat and a tiny portable compressor, or use the free towing that comes with your MINI or through your insurance.

 

Before taking this advice, read this https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=66176

Then make up your mind on how your going to handle the tires

 

Recently I went back East to visit Mom in Newton, MA. While there I drove her older Volvo with "normal" lights.... all I can say is "yuck." After having driven my MCS with the xenons, I'd have to say that my night-driving is MUCH more pleasent and SAFER! I can see further and more clearly with the xenons. I'd say, from a safty standpoint, get the xenons. IMHO

 

mr_edly... good insight, thank you

 

And again... How does the ipod adapter work? How does it control your ipod through the HU? Can you just skip to the next and previous songs like if playing a CD? I guess I am trying to figure out if the aux would be a better option (since it is about 1/4 of the price).

 

Throught the mode button on the head unit select the ipod/cd-changer (they can not coexist together).You can make up to 5 playlists MINI1, MINI2, etc, which can be selected by the appropriate button on the head unit. The 6th button will play your entire song library in order. There is a random function that will mix it up for you: this has lead to some very interesting segways (spelling bad, I know). If you have the MFSW then you can control the volume and have the ability to move back and forth through the song library: one song at a time. The fast forward/rewind buttons on on the head unit will do the same thing. I'm sure I've missed something ,but this should give you a general idea of how it works. Others, I'm sure, will point out the stuff I've missed

 

I just looked back at the thread and see that you had listed the Sport Package. Guess I missed it the first time through. Ooops!

Back to recommending the Auxiliary Input and H/K.

 

Anthracite headliner =

If you need to offset the cost, lose the armrest. I read a lot of mixed reviews on NAM which stopped me from getting it.

 

Sorry I don't have an iPod so I was able to get the standard AUX plug which was much cheaper. Hopefully someone with the iPod AUX can answer you on that.

F.Y.I...My AUX has no type of control interface. To change songs I have to hit the button on my MP3 player

 

Has anyone done this? I laid awake in bed thinking over everything until 3:30 AM (I went to bed at midnight). Finally get to sleep and then woke up again at 4:40 AM. First thought that popped into my head was about the Sunroof. Damnit... so I got up and started working.

I need a coffee.

 

Cooper Guy couldn't tell the difference, but many others can. You should definitely listen to both. Bring your favorite CD to your dealer. If you can't tell the difference in 5 minutes, forget the H/K.

 

As for the H/K or not H/K, I can tell the difference when the engine is off. For me the difference is the sound from H/K is 3D, you can roughly tell the position of each muscial instruments. For the stock audio, it is one dimension.
And of course, the base is stronger on HK. But I dont have a chance to listen both when the car is moving. I suspend the noise from engine, tire and road surface will cancel the difference. Any thoughts on this?

 

I went with the stock headunit (my wife has the H/K in her MCS) and, to be honest, there's not that much difference.....to me anyway. I love listening to music, but I'm not an audiophile. A car on the move isn't an ideal place to attain high-quality accoustics.

One thing worth checking (can someone confirm?).....I think the H/K offers automatic sound/volume equalization with increasing engine noise/speed whilst the stock head unit doesn't.....I was forever fiddling with the volume control on my commute home today, which was very annoying and inconvenient.

 

a

 

I love my HK and winter package (heated leather seats) , and Zenons althouh all add weight. l did not however tolerate the s-lites and run flats. I will be happy to send you mine if you want. I do love the look but the weight ruins the car. I now have 16" Rotas's with 215 40 Toyos. It feels like I pulled 400 lbs off the car. I also have anthrasite and love it. I will be adding the Ipod adapter soon. I also chose to skip the sunroof for weight and CG considerations. Plus I plan on keeping the car a long time and I have yet to own a car with a sunroof that did not at some point become an issue (leeks, noise, etc). I do track my car and perfomance is very important.
Wes

 

I would be happy to take your S-Lites. I think I am going to try to wait for a while before upgrading the wheels. Who knows how long that will last. Until then I would like to have 2 sets of s-lites. One with perf. tires and one with all season, although I am going to try to keep the MINI garaged in the winter.

 

The HK is really not a big deal for me so I will be skipping it. I mainly listen to podcasts (Whiteroof is awesome) in the car. I am sure like others have said, I will be listening to the car from now on. I LOVE THAT WHINE!

Thanks again to all the have posted here. It has really helped me in my decision making process. Well in a way.... I decided to sell my motorcycle to get exactly what I want. I have kind of lost my passion for riding and I think the MINI is going to fill that void. So if anyone is interested in a Honda Shadow Spirit 750 with lots of mods and extras, let me know.

We are going to order in a week or two. I will post my final decisions then.

I am excited about the MINI and also excited to be a part of such a passionate community. Thanks again!