I would think they'd be a bit quicker with people who actually ordered cars, considering February cars sales for most makes are almost 50% in the hole.

 

Sorry to hear about the long delay.

Where will your MINI to be delivered? Also do you have non-factory options added to your car (aero kit, jcw, anything after page 3 of the configurator)? These things are added to the vehicle at the VCD and sometimes at the dealer, and will add time to your delivery.

I hope you get some good news today.

 

Woohoo! The car is at the dealer! Now I just have to wait until Saturday for delivery

 

Ha! Maybe I will run into you during delivery after all.
I'm flying in saturday morning to pick up my MCS... only because my MA is in training out of town thursday and friday.

 

Cool! Our delivery is scheduled for 9am, and then off to get tinted at noon.

 

Delivery is in Albuquerque, NM. Didnt really know about installation at the VDC, but yeah I got the Aero kit and Limited slip diff off page 3, page 4 has the heated seats (cold wx package). Still no news. Dealer said the status changed to "released to shipper" last thursday and its typically 1-3 days from then. Tomorrow will be 6 days since that. Wonder why they thought it was supposed to be there on Sat.

I hope the truck driver didn't go bonkers and steal my MINI.

 

It looks like my plane won't arrive until 1pm. Oh well.

On the bright side, though, I got a one-way ticket from Tucson, AZ to Denver, CO for just $114 (including fees)... and it doesn't depart at the butt-crack of dawn!

Actually, the TUS->DEN ticket was $234... but TUS->DEN->COS (Colorado Springs) was $114.
It's the exact same flight for the first leg; I just won't be boarding the second leg of the ticket.

(I guess they charge $120 to *not* put your checked luggage on the DEN->COS puddle jumper.)

 

Finally got the call... they've located and wrangled the truck driver into ABQ finally. My mini is still alive and will be waiting for me to come pick up this weekend yay!

 

Congrats to everyone picking up their cars this weekend! There should be flood of pictures this weekend!

 

IT'S HERE!!! Pictures from this morning:





Jennifer drove it up to the tinting shop, so I haven't had the chance to put it through its paces yet - but she says it's awesome! Really glad we sprung for the S this time!

 

Awesome!
I just landed in Denver, myself... can't wait to go pick her up!

 

Mrdirosa & Mrsdirosa: Woohoo!! Looking good!

Nice color combo. Have a fun joy motoring this weekend!

 

Woohoo! Finally! Absolutely love the flat black stripes, exactly what I wanted. Now to get some blacking out done...

 

stvcobra: very nice! It's probably those fancy stripes that delayed your delivery. Are those from the factory? I like how they go all the way down. I also like the cool subtlety of the matte gray. Is the color midnight black? How about some specs?

So is everyone from the class of Week 3 accounted for? Anyone not get their MINI yet?

 

Nah the stripes got put on at the dealership in 1 day... they're actually flat black stripes, but in the sun they almost look gray.. I really love them.

As for the car its an MCS, Nav, Hifi Sound, Ipod/Bluetooth, Aero Kit, Premium Package, Cold Weather package, Comfort access, Xenons, Limited Slip and probably somethin else I'm forgetting...

 

Here are my some of my latest modifications.


European Version Armrest


Glovebox Tidy


Jolly Roger Grill Badge


50% Ceramic Tinting on 5 windows and 15% on the sunroof

 

Just got word that the clubman has made it to the dealer. It's a long odyssey from Oxford to Honolulu. I might be able to pick it up Friday. Then I guess it will be two or three trips around the island (the long way home).

 

I like the look of the 50% tinting, Kewlby. Does it help a lot with heat/glare? I'm trying to figure out how much to get, if any. I've never tinted windows before, but we do get a little sun here, so I'm thinking about it.

 

Tinting helps a lot with the heat, glare, and privacy. We got ours tinted to 18% and it's nice and dark, but you are still able to see at night. I'll try and get some updated pictures.

 

TH: absolutely! The tinting helps to block UV light and solar heat from entering the car. The darker your tint, the more protection. And if you have a sunroof, it's essential unless you like the heat beating down on your head. I can definitely feel a big difference with and without the tinting.

Have fun with your new ride! Aloha!

 

Last Saturday, the 7th, I flew from Tucson, AZ to Denver, CO to pick up my new MCS from Ralph Schomp MINI. We ended up staying in Denver until Monday morning because when my MA was showing how easy it was to remove the rear deck from the hatch... yeah, it never found its way back in the car. But the delay was good, the girlfriend and I had fun (and got to use the MINI to investigate a large brush fire in the city that Sunday). Oh yeah, Steuben's is an excellent lunch spot in Denver, by the way.

Then, it was on to Santa Fe / Albuquerque for the next night. We got in fairly late because we decided to stop by Ted Haggard's old stomping grounds, the New Life megachurch in Colorado Springs. Us godless heathens had not been to a proper megachurch before (they seem to get their muzac from the same place as Chic-Fil-A). Anyway, if you're ever feeling peckish in Santa Fe, go hit a little place called "The Shed" -- great food, great atmosphere, at great prices (which is rather weird for Santa Fe).

After spending a day in Albuquerque catching up with a couple college buddies, I took the girlfriend down to my small college town of Socorro, NM, where we gorged ourselves on green chili cheese fries (nectar of the gods... you know, if we weren't still godless heathens) and swung by the Very Large Array radio telescope.

Then, we dropped down to Carlsbad to take in a tour of the caverns being guided by another friend from college (this time from grad school). We could only stay the morning, though, as we had to get back for fear the cats at home would begin to eat each other.

The road home took us through a portion of west Texas with fairly good roads, some long straights, and good visibility. By this time, the MINI was up around 1300-1400 miles (outside the break-in period), so I ran her up to around 120mph, then again up to 126mph -- man, that car is smooth at speed!
Maybe a half hour later, as we were nearing El Paso, I got dinged for my MINI's first speeding ticket.

Maybe 5 minutes and we were cited doing 84 in a 70 (I'm used to 75 on those kinds of roads, which makes it a little more reasonable). The whole ticketing process was very streamlined... perhaps a little too streamlined (as if a lot of extra effort went in to making the speeding ticket as efficient as possible). The officer pointed out the phone number (of the court) we could call to take care of the fine. The court was based in Clint, TX, which was about 30 miles out of our way, so we decided to stop by immediately to see what was up.

This is the town hall of Clint, TX. No, not the big building... that one, there (that's the accused in the back, your honor). They have it set up where you can get a "deferred" judgement for a speeding ticket. You pay the full fine, but it's wiped from your record if you go 30 days without getting another -- in other words, "we just want your cash, tourist... so we can buy a new Dodge Challenger." Yes, this shiny new Dodge Challenger belonged to the Clint, TX Justice of the Peace (he who decides your speeding ticket fate). How do we know it was his? Because he told us (that's him in the tie)... after my awesome girlfriend went in to file a complaint about the car being double parked with expired temporary registration (this was thursday, March 12th). We were there for at least an hour as the JP and a few of the officers came up with every excuse in the book as to how it was legal.

• JP: "I am the judge, and it's my car. It's ok, I have to park like that because kids will scratch it if I don't."
• JP (later): "This [municipal courthouse] is private property."
• JP (later still): "I called the county attorney's office, and they said that [the registration] is ok since it's not on a public highway... and I am the property manager here, so I assign myself those two parking spaces."

Poor JP... he was not happy.
Some little old lady who only spoke Spanish came up to my girlfriend and seemed very excited to congratulate her for being such a thorn in his side. Even the ladies working the payment counter were smirking and appeared to enjoy what was going on. I was happy to pay my fine, content that they had spent a lot more over that hour than what they took from my wallet, and just generally pleased with the front row seat to the show.

After very carefully obeying the letter of the traffic laws all the way to the Texas/New Mexico border, we stopped at Peppers on the Plaza in Mesilla, NM (just outside of Las Cruces). I mention this detail because that place was absolutely amazing! Really, that's very near nectar of the gods status, our waitress was simply the best, and the atmosphere is wonderful, as well.

Anyway, we made it back home later that night, collapsed, spent in bed. Earlier today (Friday), I took the new MINI down to have a car wash (that tailgate was sooooooo dirty!), then had it in the tint shop for the afternoon. All told, my new MINI is less than a week old, and the odo. has already ticked past 1900 exciting miles!
(and the best picture I have of it so far is that one in Clint, TX outside the Town Closet... er, Hall )

 

Great write up Fishbert! I enjoyed reading about your road trip and the pictures are very nice. Wow, I can't imagine going 126 mph in my MINI. That must have been thrilling. Now lets see some pictures of your new ride!! What options did you get?

Congrats and thanks for taking the time to share with us your awesome road trip!

 

Congratulations to all the Week 3'ers with their Minis now. I wound up not taking delivery of my order - for what it's worth, here's my story:

- My order arrived at Port on Feb 3, the dealer said delivery on the 7th should work. So I sold my old car on the 4th in order to have the $$ in my bank account in time.
- The first weekend passes and I have to keep asking my MA where the car is - the only response is "the truck isn't in yet".
- On the 11th, my MA says that they found some damage at port to the right Clubdoor (?!?) and rear quarter panel. They will fix it, but there is no definite word on when the car will arrive.
- I was wheelless for a week at that point - I started looking around for other options. I told the MA that I wanted a loaner, clear definition of the damage, a specific date, and some sort of discount off the car or options. He offered a loaner, but that was all.
- Next week comes and the update is that the car will be in the body shop maybe by the end of the week (20th). Owner's Lounge updates estimated arrival at the dealer is the 24th (it had shown the 8th and then the 17th before).
- I went in on the 21st and said I'll cancel the order because I'm not comfortable taking delivery of a damaged car. MA takes me to their lot to see if the car actually came in - nope, then asks what it would take to keep me interested - I said take $1000 off (order price was MSRP - just under $30K with options). MA brings over another MA who browbeats me with "Isn't this your dream car??" Not since it was damaged - my company sells factory refurbished products too, but at around 10% off the usual price. I had enough of BMW sales tactics.
- Two days ago I finally got my deposit back.

I bought a Ford Escape Hybrid instead with all the options. For $2000 more than the Mini I got everything I configured before plus nav, PDC, factory window tint and I'm still getting just over 30 mpg. I've seen more Clubmans on the road since then than during my wait - still think it's a great car, I just didn't want to take delivery of a damaged one. Happy Motoring.

 

Well congrats again on everyone getting their cars in!

Fishbert: thats a cool story on your MINI pickup/roadtrip. You'll be sure to remember your delivery forever! You were driving all over my (relatively new) stomping grounds here in Las Cruces. Never heard of Peppers, I've looked at their menu online now and I'm salivating :D The wife and I will have to head over there sometime, what do you reccomend?

Timubek: Sorry to hear about your misfortune, that sucks and I hope you're happy with your new car.


Now on to the fun... just got done with a plasti-dip extravaganza here, blacking out my headlight rings, tail light rings and grille. I'm very happy with the results and hopefully it wears well. Also you'll notice the 5% tint all the way around.. it's dark as hell but looks amazing from the outside. We'll see how long it takes for me to get into trouble with the law and back down to 20% on the fronts..

 

Oh, jeez... far too many options. My wallet feels violated.
Pictures will come. I've been busy with other things, but I'll get to it soon.

Oh yes, it is very good... but a little hard to find. It's actually inside a $40/entrée 'fine dining' place, so don't let that scare you away.

We started with the green chili wontons. Her entrée was a honey BBQ brisket cooked on cactus spears, and I chose the grilled chicken mesilla (topped with mennonite cheese and green chili... those mennonites can make a good cheese). For dessert we decided to try the ceviche. Nothing was out of place with any of the dishes, though, so feel free to try something different - I'm sure it will also exceed expectations! (just don't get something dull like a cheeseburger.)

Also, do take a trip up to (or through) Socorro some time. El Camino's green chili cheese fries are absolutely worth it! (and it's a great excuse for a MINI road trip ) The VLA is also maybe 30 minutes east of there, and is worth seeing if you haven't yet.