2019 models have three trim level to choose from. Classic, Signature and Iconic. $22K, $25K and $30K (rounding up $100 for each).

I'm hoping we'll still have the flexibly of adding some of the higher tier options to a lower trim levels HK, Leather, Nav, etc.).

Apparently, you have to "up" your trim level to open color options which is fine as long as you don't have to accept all the other stuff that come w/ that package.

I do not want a moon/sun roof, and apparently it comes standard w/ the mid level trim option (Signature). If they have a "delete" option, I'm in, if not, I may be looking elsewhere (or just keep my 2015).

I know BMW has added some goofy requirements on some models that if you want an upgraded stereo, you have to buy it in a package w/ crap you may not want.

https://www.miniusa.com/content/mini...uct-trims.html

What do you guys think?

 

The Classic Line is basically as is, not really much you can do in addition to it besides a few one off options that are one offs across all three lines.

With the Signature Line you have a few option packs you can add on. The Signature Upholstery Pack option ($2000) which gives you access to all of the interiors available like you get with the Iconic line. The Premium Package ($2000 justa $2250 S) gets you all of the wheel and options, LED Headlights, HK Sound, Sirius, power folding mirrors and exterior trim options. The Touchscreen Navigation Package ($2000) gives you Nav, Connected Services, CarPlay and wireless charging. If you want all three packages, just go with the Iconic.

 

We spent the better part of a year researching, shopping, and test driving vehicles preparing for our next car purchase. We tend to keep our cars 10 years or more, so we're thorough. We drove more cars than I can remember to count.

Every dealer/manufacturer has ridiculous option tiers and package groups. This becomes even more painful if you want a manual transmission and a sporty hatchback.

Seems for some reason if you want a sunroof in many cars you must order the automatic transmission (Subaru Crosstrek, Honda Fit).

To get heated seats in a Fiesta ST you have to order the $2,000 Recaro Seats.

Most vehicles aren't available in a manual transmission in the first place.

You can get a sporty Chevy Sonic in a manual transmission with most features (sunroof, heated seats, navigation, leather-ish) but only in a 4-door hatch.

EVERY SINGLE CAR we shopped had some form of option package that was less than ideal. EXCEPT MINI, we configured a 2019 exactly as we wanted. So maybe the new option tiers aren't perfect, but they are still better than anyone else.

You couldn't pay me to drive another VW, so we didn't even look at them.

 

I realize I may be in the minority on my choices. Just looking at the packages and the 3 model configurations, it appears a buyer is now stuck w/ additional items they don't want but will be paying for.

Living in Florida, I don't want heated seats or a panoramic sun roof. I do want leather interior, HK and Nav. Unless they offer a sun roof delete, I'm paying for a solarium which adds weight to a car in the worst possible place and also a potential leaker w/ more mechanics to fail. The sun roof is the deal breaker for me.

This is a real disappointment as I fully intended to trade this year. What made Mini really special was the ability to configure the car specifically to suit one's needs.

At least w/ my M240i I could choose to delete the moon-roof.

 

Did you see this thread? https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...and-specs.html

 

The good thing for 2019 is that you can delete the moonroof and they credit back $850.

 

So many people jumping to conclusions.

When we configured our 2019 Hardtop it seemed as if the packages were meant to make ordering the most popular options easier and less expensive by packaging them together. They are not etched in stone. Many of the major items in the packages seemed configurable. The system had just been released back in early February when we visited, so the dealer was still mastering the learning curve.

MINI is also trying to increase resale value by eliminating the oddball builds that some people design and lease, then MINI is stuck with them. Overall THOSE cars lower the resale of MINI as a whole. By packaging the most popular options they increase the chances of better-optioned cars getting built.

Maybe YOU want a loaded car without a sunroof, but chances are the next buyer will be like "Darn, I'd buy this but it doesn't have a sunroof." Compared to 2018 pricing the sunroof is practically free when packaged as a group. You could take it for the resale value and tint it black and then just don't use it.

I never listen to the radio in a car either, doesn't mean I wouldn't take the HK for the resale.

 

Yeah it seems like a comparable 2018 build would be a few thousand dollars more.

 

Our fully-loaded F56 3-cylinder Hardtop was about $3,000 less expensive than the exact equivalent 2018 model.

PLUS, we got all the upgrades in the 2019 models AND options that we couldn't even get in 2018 (Rail Spoke wheels and Chesterfield Leather to name a few).

 

Wait and see how Mini works this. Because Mini's "claim to fame" has always been the myriad ways you can configure your car. I remember buying a 2004 Mazda 3. Choices were AT, Sunroof, 2 or 4 doors, and color. Then 2007 MCS hundreds of options, interiors, seats, trimlines. Yeah you could get a "package" and save some money but you didn't have to.

 

Well, they already sold us a 2019 that we wouldn't have bought in 2018 . . . . so that's +1 sale for them.

We couldn't build the MINI we wanted for the price we wanted to pay in 2018, so we were shopping for used.. The new packages put the new car within our reach.

 

I understand that for leases, it makes sense to have the most popular options on the returned cars, however, I buy my cars.

If Mini/BMW feels like they lose on odd ball lease orders, an easy remedy would be to limit lease orders to only certain options. Leave the cash buyers w/ a blank slate on how they want to custom order their cars.

Honestly, the least of my concerns is whether the buyer of my trade wishes I'd have ordered a sunroof or the color he wants, especially when I'm paying $35K and taking the initial hit on depreciation.

Additionally, having had Melanoma, and living in Florida, I'm doing my best to say out of the sun.

Not wanting to sound cranky (although I find myself that way more and more often). It just annoys me that they can't leave well enough alone.

I may be overreacting especially if I can still cherry-pick those options I want and not have to suffer the ones I don't.

I've been waiting for the new Mini configuator to come out and when I saw this preview, well, it was "f'-me" moment.

 

I agree with USA-RET. When I buy a car... buy, not lease. I couldn't care less what the resale is maybe gonna be sometime in the future, and I REALLY don't care how it effects your resale value. I buy the car I want, with the options I want. I'm sure as heck not gonna take a sunroof because it cost "virtually" nothing. I don't want one. I've had several and didn't like them. What the next potential owner of my car thinks? I don't Care! It's my car! I'll option it the way I want. If I can't do that, I'll look elsewhere or keep what I have. That was one of the main selling points for Mini. If you want to buy something that keeps good resale value, buy a pickup truck.

 

Obviously there are plenty of people in the position where resale value isn't a concern. Plenty of videos on YouTube where an expensive luxury car loses 90% of it's value and people don't seem to care. Must be nice I guess. A car is a losing proposition anyway, I try to plan to lose the least and still get a car I like, even if there is a few compromises.

MINI must feel that way too, or they just would have kept the existing configurator.

MINI still has the best configurator that I have seen and no, you don't HAVE to buy a sunroof if you don't want it. Sheesh. Maybe they should offer air conditioning delete, some people don't want that either.

 

Unless you sell your MINI privately, the oddball configurations still lower the value of MINI as a whole. The odd cars bring lower prices when traded or at auctions. These numbers are reported and resale values for all MINIs drop. Low resale value hurts the brand across the board. Maybe some people don't care, but many people do.

 

One reason for the new configurator is to make it EASIER and CHEAPER for the average Joe to configure a car for the best price by grouping what MINI has found to be the most popular options. Not everyone is a MINI enthusiast and cares to spend hours configuring a car. Sometimes I think dealers don't even know how to configure a car given many of the combinations we found.. It's a win-win for a lot of people and if you are an enthusiast perfectionist you can still get most of what you want through substitution or elimination.

 

You really believe sun-roof delete is a odd-ball configuration?

No AC (in Florida), yeah -odd ball unless it's a track car. A near fully optioned Mini w/o a sun-roof is a pariah? really?

 

You can delete the moonroof from the Iconic and Signature trims (and get a $650 credit) - ZMR is the option code. You can also delete the Active Driver Assitant, which is included on the Iconic and Signature trims for a $350 credit.

Outside of those, you can still specify whether or not to have sport seats or JCW seats on the S and JCW models, choose your exterior trim (chrome, ALL4, piano black, none, etc), as well as a few other choices. Granted, it's not as many choices as before, it is more streamlined. You may end up with more equipment than you like, but you don't pay much more for it - it ends up being a better value.

 

On a higher end car I think the lack of a sunroof is a detriment. When I was selling cars the people who wanted the roof, or at least were indifferent, far outnumbered the people who disliked the sunroof. Lost plenty of sales because the car didn't have a roof, or they sat a lot longer. Back in the day we'd send cars out and have them installed if we had to. Always a pain and never as good as the factory.

But then again, I don't live in the sun belt.

MINI included the sunroof in their second tier package, rather than move it to the most expensive third tier, or make it completely optional. That tells me it's an important option with demand.

 

I definitely think it's a regional thing. There are states like Arizona, for example, where a moonroof is something a lot of people don't want. I think it would be safe to say, the majority of MINI buyers probably want a moonroof, but MINI is giving dealers who sell cars in hot climates the option to delete them so as to cater to their market better.

 

I can honestly say that in all my years (lots of them) buying cars, I've never once thought or considered best "options" for resale.

 

Here's the problem I ran into, I had a 2019 F55 S preliminary order in based on 2018 configs. Fully Loaded for $4750, KDE1 Cloth/Leatherette Black Pearl for $750 and Thunder Grey Metallic for $500 for a total of $6000 in options. With the 2019, I get forced into the Signature Line for $4000 + Upholstery Pack for $2000 for the same $6000 and I don't have a bunch of stuff that the Fully Loaded pack included (Navigation, DDC, LED Headlights, Power Folding mirrors, etc.), I'd have to go up to Iconic for $2000 more plus another $500 for the standalone DDC option.

Sure, I could option out leather, a color line, Mini Yours Interior trim and the sport automatic transmission to try and make up for the price increase but then I'm ending up with stuff I didn't want in the first place and the whole point in ordering a Mini was so I could spec it the way I wanted and just pay for the options I wanted. Now you feel you have to take all of the options since you're already paying for them anyway. Great, I saved some money over if I would have spec'd a 2018 that way, but I never would have spec'd the 2018 that way in the first place.

 

 

I can honestly say that in all my years (lots of them) buying cars, I always do consider popular options when buying a car so that it might be worth more, or sell faster, when it comes time to sell or trade the vehicle. I can think of a few reasons why you might not care, but I don't fall into any of those categories.

It's difficult enough to sell a manual transmission car, I don't want to cripple the future sale by omitting a few extra percent of the purchase price on a few options. So far it's worked fine for me.

 

That is great to hear. I hope you are correct.

Looking for a S w/ DDC, Steptronic, JCW interior, comfort access, Nav, HK, Leather, Storage, Homelink. So based on what I see, I'm into a fully optioned Signature or the Iconic line (as key things I want are spread between packages). May not be a bad deal if end price is within reason.

I was really enthused to hear that there was a cross-stitched brown leather interior option available in the Cooper S for 2019. Finally be able to marry the BRG exterior w/ a nice brown interior. Unsure whether Mini will offer a matching dash piece and door covering to go w/ those seats. if not will I'll opt for something else.

Anyone know if the Chesterfield brown has the matching dash piece and door panels?

Was seriously considering a JCW, but axed that when I found out my after market wheels won't fit that car (due to the brakes). So the "S" is on the drawing boards w/ either a JCW tune or a Dinan Stage 1 (installed by my BMW dealership).