Well, I went to my dealer yesterday at my MA's invitation. My MINI was delivered to the dealer on Monday and still has all the wrapping on it. Nonetheless, I got to check it out pretty well, and even got to test drive it with four of us in the car, LOL. Me, my MA (in the passenger seat), my petite wife in the rear, and my granddaughter (age 13) also in the back. Tight for them but it wasn't a long drive.

I was extremely impressed with the power. This MINI feels sufficiently stronger than the 2013 MCS that I drove in early February. The ride was quiet except for the exhaust at WOT. I did NOT want to leave it there.

The interior blew me away. BMW did a wonderful job with the upgrades. Materials and fit & finish are great. The seats (leather) were very support with a higher than normal seat back. A neat feature is the section at the front of the seat can move outward. Not sure how you would use that feature but it was cool. The mesh sunroof screens definitely have a tighter weave on this model. The radio was very nice, but I didn't get to use it much.

I was informed by my MA this morning that they have moved my MINI to their old showroom across the street (next to their BMW showroom). So she will be nicely and safely tucked away until I get her on the 15th. I was very happy with that news.

Here are some iPhone 5S photos I took.


Side shot; notice that all of the protective wrap is still in place.


Front view. I'm glad I didn't go with the chrome edge brake cooler ducts.


Another side view. Wife and I love the British Racing Green paint.


Rear view. The rear haunches are wider, making the larger rear lights look just fine. Notice the rear fog lights.


We love the interior. The brown trim/seats go nicely with the green paint. I didn't go with the JCW steering wheel, which is just fine. The stock wheel isn't much different and feels great.


Ah, the leather seats. Awesome! The leather quality and feel is top notch IMO. Very comfortable. That is brown Alcantara material on the seat edges. I had this same material on my old '03 Cobra. Nice touch!




A shot of the inside of the door. Nice job MINI/BMW!


Another rear shot. I like the rear spoiler.


And here she is as of this morning. My MA sent me this photo earlier today.


If anyone has any questions, I'll do my best to answer them. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS CAR!

Bob,


I went to my dealer today and played around with the 3 cars they had in stock. None quite like mine but between the 3 I got to see most of the features I ordered. I am not disappointed. Way too much to go into so I will just some it up like this:
Put all fears to rest, this is a superior model to the Gen 2 in every way. it may be larger than the gen 2 but even that is hard to tell unless one is right next to it. I was starting to get a bit nervous with off of the nea saying, but my fait is restored and then some.

I like that color green!

Did you tell them to drill the front plate? If not, I would have told them to order me a new front end ASAP and have it on before the 15th!

Beautiful car! I love the color combination. Too bad my wife doesn't like the BRG... I think she's crazy

Very nice, I like that Green.

thanks for posting the pics, just makes the wait even harder

mine went into paint as of yesterday....

Not a choice. Connecticut requires a front plate on new vehicles.

Oh, and the roof is black. It completely covered with white vinyl wrap.

That's crap! Washington requires front plates as well, however, it's the customer's choice, not the dealership. My dealership does not drill any plates. Gives the hardware to the customer and lets them decide what they want to do.

That's a deal breaker for me......I'd go out of state if that was the case. I know NY won't drill if you ask them not to.

Question on the brown interior. Did the door and dash surrounds match the seats? The Configurator makes the 2 look very bad together. Love the green...

It honestly wasn't a deal breaker for me, but.....I remembered this morning that I had told my MA when I placed my order to not mount the front plate. So I just contacted my MA and he said that it was his mistake and he will take care of it. He had forgotten as well that I had requested the bumper plate not be installed. My front bumper will not have holes when I pick it up on the 15th. He wants my pick-up to be a 100% positive experience. Awesome dealer!

Is not like you see the holes anyways lol, I could care less, maybe not Mini but other dealers will have the front plate holder already in place here in NY.

Good point.

Looks great, Bob! I can't decide between the Deep Blue or the BRG II.

Glad your dealer found an indoor storage solution for you, too

Beautiful car!

I havent seen one in person yet, but from everything I have read MINI really got this one right. I, like many, am not a fan of the lower lip in front, but other than that, thats one great looking car. The green is stunning and good choice on the seats. Those are the ones that I would order also.

I wish you all the best with it. The interior sounds like a great improvement, and it has a little more room, and I like the color.

I agree about that front license plate. They shouldn't mount it unless you want it.

I still have a problem with that front end. I can't get past it. Those damn horizontal bars, especially the chrome one. I just want to take a crow bar and take em out. If the intake/front grill was just that, without all of the crap they have put on it, it would be an awesome looking car. But every time I see it, it is just visually disturbing. The back end, however, I like, even though I know some folks don't.

Kellmark, I hear you. I'm fine with the front end, but then again I'm a new MINI customer with no prior experience. I know there are some who just don't like it.

My dealer just made a mistake with the mounting of the front plate. I had specified no front plate but it was put on as an oversight. My MA is fantastic and he will do whatever he has to do to be sure there are no holes in the front bumper. I know he'll take good care of me. He wants me to be 100% happy on delivery.

Awesome color, CobraBob! Now I can't wait to receive mine!

By the way, how did the clutch pedal engagement feel? Too hard/light? Did the engagement begin too close/too far away from the floor?

The clutch engagement was very light. It really felt perfect to me. So I can't say it was too close or too far from the floor. If I remember right, it was closer to the floor than it was farther from the floor. It really felt very nice.

Nice car. What interior options did you get besides the brown leather(?) seats?

Let's see.
Anthracite headliner
Center armrest
Dark cottonwood trim/dash
Auto dimming rear-view mirror
Heated front seats

Congrats! Beautiful MINI!!

I did not notice to be honest. But looking at my photos the color is not exact. I'm pretty **** about stuff like this so I would hope that my "mind" would have picked up on any distinct color mismatch. If you compare my two photos of the seat and the door trim to the Configurator you can see a difference right away. The Configurator is off, especially with the trim. Which is to be expected. Configurator colors are commonly off compared to the actual. Hope this helps. If I get back up to the dealer soon, I'll take more photos.