So, my wife and I showed up at the dealer around 5pm tonight to pick up our 09 S Convertible, and what a beauty she is. The factor did screw up on my order by not including the Parking Distance Control I wanted, but that's ok. They managed to build the car to by spec except for that one option and I was told it's too costly for the dealer to correct.

We drove it for a bit, had dinner, and drove it much more until it was way to late to grab pictures, but I'll be posting a few tomorrow or Saturday.

So how did I configure it:

• Convenience/Sport/Cold/Premium Packages
• Limited Slip
• Sport Suspension
• Rear Fog
• GPS
• HD Radio
• Mini HiFi
• Sports Strips
• JCW Aero Kit II with Brake Ducts
• JCW CF Bonnet Scoop
• JCW CF Diffuser
• JCW Strut Brace

How long did it take from begining to end:

• Feb 20th - Booked on the Topeka Vessel.
• Feb 24th - Build process started.
• March 4th - Build process completed.
• March 6th - Arrived at the terminal/port.
• March 13th - Loaded on the Topeka.
• March 14th - Departed South Hampton for NY City.
• March 15th - WW site updated to show all the above information by entering my VIN as the Cargo ID.
• March 23rd - Arrived in NY City, and then Departed for Panama.
• March 28th - Arrived in Panama, and then Departed for Port Hueneme.
• April 8th - Arrived at Port Hueneme and then transported to the VPC/VDC in Southern California.
• April 10th - Discharged from the VPC/VDC and on the car carrier to East Bay Mini.
• April 14th - Arrived at East Bay Mini, JCW options to be installed starting the 14th.
• April 16th - Pickup my baby from East Bay Mini.

I have to say that she rides like nothing else and gets glances like no other vehicle I have had in the past. I'm guessing it's becuase it was around 50 degrees and I had the top down with the heater and the seats on high.

I'm still trying to figure out all the configurable options for each of the key fobs, plus how the whole HD Radio and GPS integrates and ofcourse the Bluetooth thing.

Ohh yeah, I also installed two Recaro tonight. Not the Recaro's your thinking of, but the Recaro YoungSports. Fits just perfectly.

 

Let me be the first to congratulate you! That's fantastic; looks like a great MINI with many bits to top it off! And now, you got it just before the height of Motoring season. Have fun and be safe out there!

 

Congrats and welcome... cant wait for pics..

 

I can see your smiles from all the way here in WI, welcome!

 

Awesome post some pics!
Mine '09 still two weeks out.

 

Congratulations!!
They should have given you a discount and then some for not including the Park Distance Control. Still, that spec looks fabulous!

Looking forward to photos as well. Cheers!

 

Congratulations.

 

Actually at first I was very disappointed, and told them that I was considering not picking up this one, and ordering another one spec'ed exactly the same with the PDC and wating 3 months for it to arrive. With that statement, they offered me an additional discount if I were to take this one with the missing PDC. Ultimately I took it and I'm not looking back at all one bit. I'm so happy I got it and with 87 degrees this weekend, all I can say is... just in time.

It's Motoring weather in the SF Bay Area this weekend.

 

Pictures? I'd love to see it! That color really catches my eye.

 

Congrats.
Just saw two IY Cabs at the dealer - very nice!

 

Congrats on the new MINI!!! I did see one of the factory-spec IY cars at the dealership and it really was amazing!!!

 

Pictures to arrive later this afternoon/evening

 

And here are the pictures you've been waiting for. Note, these are all unedited pictures except for resizing them down to 1024x768.






For those who will notice that I didn't put the top teather stap correctly, I plan to correct that tonight. I didn't realize that the strap should go under the rear seat hear rest unless I actually saw the diagram in the user manual. That will be correctect tonight.

So that's a YES, you can get two toddler car seats in the back area and they do enjoy top down motoring as much as the parents do.



Even though the factory forgot to install he PDC, I had ordered the JCW Aero II kit for PDC, so my dealer installed the sensors, but they are not connected to anything as there's no PDC in the car, and to do that would require replacing the wiring harness, something I didn't want to do. So it's just a fake PDC look, not the real thing.








You know, I'm pretty sure these are the Runflats that come with the S with Sport package, but I have yet to confirm that.




So yes, in two days we've driven 2 hours and 44 minutes with the top down. There will be many more hours added to it this weekend and ofcourse all year long

 

Congrats, looks nice!

 

Perrrrty!
Congrats!
As for determining if the Conti's are run-flats, just look for an "RSC" in a circle, that means that they are run-flats.

 

Awesome, simply awesome

 

You make me want a convertible!

 

Nice looking car! Congrats!

 

Wow, that R57 looks beautiful! I hope to see you driving that around, because it looks great!!

 

zanary !!!

Great pics..And what a weekend for "TopDown" motoring.. Enjoy...
You made my wife and I feel much better. My California girl is excited about getting ours on the 22nd.. In the 70's back in Pa. this weekend..

 

It looks so nice!!! It just makes me more excited for Simone to hurry up and come

 

Thanks to all for the nice comments. So our adventure in Motoring continues, but this time it's out of the normal, or I thinks so.

So the family decide to take a little drive around town and we did. Two parents, and a set of almost 24 month old twins.

So at the end of our drive, the wife wants to pick up some groceries and stuff. After an hour of shopping at the local safeway, we had around $200 dollars worth of groceries in 19 of those plastic bags. Ofcourse it didn't strike me until we walked to our Mini... WOW, will that all fit in?

Well it did. 19 plastic bags of groceries from our local Safeway, two adults, and a set of twins all fit, and we motored home topless...

Now if that doesn't say versitility for the Convertible, then what does???

Sorry, I wasn't able to take any pictures, but I'm sure this will occur again.

Ever so small, and so wonderful to drive with just enough storage for a family and a top that comes down. What more could you ask for...

 

Gorgeous car! 19 bags is impressive...
What are those things in the back bumper? They almost look like eyes. Is that for the PDC?

 

Amen to versatility. We've done big grocery trips, Costco, restaurant supply and Home Depot/Lowe's trips. Even a cross country trip from Texas to Colorado with 2 adults and a 9 year old.

Although the Texas weather has been kind to us the winter and spring, I know the Bay Area must be like heaven for convertibles. Enjoy!

 

Yup, those are my non-functional PDC sensors... Key word is non-functional. The factory chose not to install PDC even though it was on my order slip and entered into the system.

I do have a one of a kind 2009 Convertible now