Thanks! Looking forward to that video!! I'm actually hoping to get up to the dealer this weekend. It's going to be one heck of a day trip.

 

I couldn't abide the sunroof. It was 3°C when I test drove the car and it was hot.

There is a thread with links to other threads. I couldn't find it.
There are a few threads in the R56 forum about what to do with the sunroof. The ideas are:
Buy a ZippeeShade sunroof blocker.
Have MINI install a decal. The checkerboard pattern blocks half of the light. Some block all.
Have a custom graphic or a "wrap" installed. There's some nice examples.
Replace mesh blind with a solid blind. The guy mentions a store called blinds to fit.
Tint the sunroof with the darkest limousine tint. Someone said the glass could crack.
Replace the the entire sunroof with a carbon fibre insert. This is done to lighten car for racing.
Replace entire roof with roof skin. If you really hate the roof, for several thousands of dollars.


The best idea I saw:
Replace glass with fiberglass/carbon fibre. No one seems to have done this.


The idea I came up with:
Coat glass with GlassKote. It is saftey glass. There is no mention of auto-glass as an application. I haven't been able to locate a company that does this. It seems like you can get any colour or pattern you want.

There also may be some kind of glass paint available. I haven't found it yet.