Hey all! I've been lurking on the forum for a while counting the days until I could be an actual "owner" and last weekend was finally the time. WOW! I think I've got hands down the sweetest MINI to ever leave the production lines - and I got it right from stock at Scottsdale MINI in Arizona (who were awesome by the way) so I didn't even have to wait for it.

I got the cabrio S with the sweeeeeeeeet JCW full kit and as I understand it, every single option available on a Mini except for the GPS Nav and Sat radio. Sticker was $38k. Didn't know they went that high. I was really wanting the same car minus the JCW for just over $30k, but they didn't have any. I was antsy so I picked up the JCW and MAN am I glad I did. This car is almost scary fast. Right off the lot it's got more pickup than just about anything on the road. 0 to whatever almost as fast as you can mash the gas. I rode sportbikes for years and it's not quite that zippy, but it's certainly darn close. SWEEEEEEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!


But I do have a few questions now though I didn't really see answered.....


1) Who the @#$#@ mounted the tach so the wheel blocked all the numbers?!?! I can see the low and the high, but all the meat of the numbers in the middle - like 2k to 6k or whatever - are blocked by the steering wheel. I lowered the seat as far as it would go (which wasn't nearly low enough) and I still have to hunker down at the neck to see the blocked numbers.

Is there an easy way to remove that tach or move it? I really want to hit up a local track-day (there's a race track w/ Mini Days right down the street), but I can't see the darn tach while driving. Wussup with that???!?!? Any fixes?


2) The passenger seat belt flops and clanks like mad when at any road speed with the top down. The buckle smacks hard on the plastic side trim so hard I'm afraid it'll crack - so I just pull the belt over the imaginary passenger and latch it - which looks lame. Is there a way to secure this? There must be - the fist 3 days I was blasting down the freeway at 90-whatever and never noticed it, then all of a sudden, anything over 30 and I hear it "fwhapp-fwapping" the plastic.f


3) My first impression of the car - freaking sweet overall. I owned a loaded Jetta a few years back and thought that was sweet, but no way - not compared to this car. I don't think I'd be happier even with a porche. This car is IT for me - and when seeing 30 mpg on the computer while the cruise is locked into 90 - that's way cool.

4) That horrific looking cup-holder is actually growing on me. I use it all the time. Gotta have a coke when driving.

5) And it doubles as an iPod holder. BTW, the included system is very good. One Q though - where are all the speakers? I hear a sub for sure - is it inside the rear folding seats? They look to thin to have a sub, but I definitely hear a sub thumping when playing.

6) About the "convertible blind spot" when the roof is up - sorry gang, but whoever complained about this can't use a mirror. I was almost turned off to the cabrio from all the folks talking about how awful the visibility was - but it's not bad at all. I had no complaints. Drove it in freeway traffic at night a few times now - no worries at all. Dem are some BIG windows and a bit of head movement, you can easily see all around in your mirrors. I used to drive an S-10 with a speaker box in the rear window using only my side mirrors, and this car is MUCH better than that ever was.

7) Is there a good source for an after-market 3rd party iPod adaptor? I use a regular mini-jack patch to the glove compartment right now, but I want that sweet adaptor where you can control the iPod from the wheel or see the song names in the stereo display - the one they want to jack you $400 for. They said it was because it was "installed", but I can wrap wires myself. Any good sources? I'm not scared to install it myself and only pay the $20 or so the simple adaptor and wires should cost. Help on that?

Anyway, great forum you all have here and I look forward to contributing. Every time I walk up to my car in a lot now I'm thinking "man, I'm really THAT lucky, huh?"

Thanks guys and gals. You rock.

 

Congrats on your new ride

About the seatbelt buckle, try wedging it into the slot where the belt reels into.

For a ipod adapter, get the Dice: http://www.europeanautosource.com/pr...oducts_id=1639

I have one and I couldn't be happier. It has all the features you're looking for, full scrolling text display, browse by track, playlist, albums, and you can use the steering wheel controls. Head over to the audio section on this forum for more info.

 

Congrats on the cabrio. If you didn't get the original window sticker, you can call 866-ASK-MINI or talk to your dealer, and they should be able to get you a copy. If the original price was $38k, there are probably a few other options you're missing beside HD radio and NAV. Believe it or not, you could actually get the price up to almost 50k with just factory options.

As to your questions:

1) Is your speedometer behind the steering wheel or in the center of the dash? I have the Chrono Pack, so both the speedo and tach are behind the wheel, and I can see all of both gauges with no problems, and I'm a tall dude. Have you tried adjusting the height of the steering wheel? Perhaps the previous owner had the wheel in the lower position.

2) I just make sure the passenger-side seat belt "tongue" is at the very top of the belt (sitting against the plastic panel), and that the belt is fully-retracted onto its reel, and it doesn't flop around on me. For the back seats, there are little vinyl loops near the headrests that fasten with a snap. If you rarely have backseat passengers, you can put the seat belt tongues above those loops, and that will hold them still. Also, if you get the MINI wind deflector, that cuts down on the in-cabin buffeting drastically.

5) No factory subwoofer - just 6.5" speakers at the four corners and the tweeters in the door panels. It's possible that your car has either the Harmon/Kardon stereo or the DPSM upgrade, either of which give you a more-powerful amplifier than the baseline stereo.

7) Best bet for the aftermarket iPod adapter is going to European Auto Source (they're in the vendor directory) and checking out the DICE iPod adapter. BTW, The factory adapter doesn't show any track information on the head unit, so if that feature is important to you, you *definitely* want an aftermarket solution.

 

Congratulations, kevj. Don't forget to include a pic or two of your new MINI.

 

You can always just fasten the passenger seat belt to keep it from flapping in the wind..

 

Great to see any another Mini lover.

As for the steering wheel issue, I guess it does not set on the "ideal" position, if it does, you always should able to see the whole gauge though the upper part of the steering wheel; same logic as the other cars I guess, and drove.

welcome to the Mini world, I think after the Mini, the next car which can give you as much fun will be a Porsche or cars cost over 50K lol.

Enjoy!

 

Welcome aboard and glad it's working out so far. Be sure to check out the top down motoring tips stickied at the top of this section. It sure helped me with a bunch great tips.

Post pics soon.