I'm getting the S/S automatic, blk roof with black lounge leather seats...so the price is up there for me. I must drop some, if not all options. Cruise control, D.S.C., Heated seats (Boo Hoo), black inside roof liner (what ever it's called) I need the most comfortable seat due to an injury...so that has to stay. Fell in love with the S/S. Any feed back??

 

Have you sat in the cloth seats? My impression is that the seats are the same, just the covering changes. I have the cloth seats and they seem comfortable.

You might find the heated seats more important for your injury than leather, and DSC might keep you out of another injury. Cruise control can relieve the strain of keeping your foot in the same place for extended times on long trips. If it is a back injury and you drive long distances, cruise control could be a critical necessity.

You can live without the Anthracite (fancy name for coal) headliner.

 

How much do you need to take off

 

There are some folks here who bought every option they wanted. Most of us though have gone through exactly what you're experiencing. It's maddening. If you're like some of us, once you order, the first question you'll ask is how long do I have before I can no longer change my mind. Then you'll go through several changes of mind. It's the nature of the beast to cause this kind of madness.

That said, if I were in your shoes, the only items I would consider to be MUST items are DSC and Cruise.

 

Well, the DSC is $500, Cruise is $350, Heated Seats are $270, and the Anthracite Headliner is $200. So, there's no single option that's going to save much money, compared to the total price of the car.

If a manual transmission is a possibility for you, the $1350 savings from not getting the automatic would save you more than the combined costs of the four options you mentioned.

Of the four you mentioned, I'd delete them in this order: Headliner, Cruise, Heated Seats, DSC, but that's strictly personal preference.

 

This is an especially common dilemma with MINIs because of the large number of options and the fact that they are available a la carte as well as in packages.

If it were me, I'd ditch the black headliner. It just makes a dark interior even darker.

Also consider the leatherette, which is very nice and leather-like, or the cloth.

But only you can decide what is important to you and your driving style.

 

WoW! Great things to think about. I'm in a lot of stop and go traffic, short trips and then some H.W. stretches, lots of wet weather. I learned on a stick, but found automatic less stressful. I did test drive a stick.
I like the lounge leather because it's less firm behind my knees, no hump in the middle front edge of the seat...and the lumbar support is good. I fractured L-5 vertabrae (sp?) at a gym. I could actually use the mini seats to drop a bit in the front, so my knees would be lower. I cannot change my mind once I order...the order would go right in. Comfortable seats are one of the main reasons why I'm investing in a new vehicle.

 

...get a Mini Cooper instead of an S and manual transmission instead of automatic.

Also, you'd get $450 back to put towards something else if you went with a non-metalic color like say, Pepper White. ;^)

 

I agree, if you haven't sat in the cloth seats, give it a shot before making your decision. I actually like them a lot once I sat in them (but I ended up with the lounge leather myself). Just make sure your sitting in the "sport" seat and not the standard, that's the biggest difference I noticed in all of them. Cloth and leatherette come in both standard and sport. That's a huge savings if you like the feel of the cloth seats.

As far as I'm concerned, a MINI just isn't a MINI without a sun roof, that should be standard...... but, just my humble opinion.

 

After reading through your requirements, I'd suggest getting a MC (non-S) with an auto tranny. Ditch the anthracite h/l and stick with the premium package (MFSW, auto AC and moonroof), DSC and heated seats (depending on where you live). Take a look at the leatherette option as well. Its pretty comfortable and is probably more durable than regular leather. Don't compromise with the exterior color since that is the first thing you might end up regretting.
You should be able to price one at under 22k.

 

Well, this is just my two cents, but...

I would loose the Lounge Leather ($1500-1900) and KEEP the heated seats ($300 for the cold pack), cruise (MF wheel is down to $350 now from $500) and antracite headliner ($200). The leatherette is very-very nice in person. See if your dealer will let you spend some time with some, or try the cloth and see how that feels as well. Both are fairly supple and supportive too, provided you get the sport seats. With the back injury, heated seats and cruise and the auto will provide a good deal of physical relief at times (maybe?).

 

Heh, one problem with that: us biggun's can't fit.

I was initially a bit concerned about headroom in the first MINI I testdrove. It was ok, I didn't have to slouch or anything, but it was a bit tight and I occasionally woulonly d bump the ceiling while driving. They had one car on the lot without a sun roof and so I tried it. I think you gain about 2 inches which for me (at 6'5") made all the difference.

 

ditch the auto, then ditch DSC, I turn it off first thing when I get in my wife's car. Go to a couple autocrosses and learn how the car handles and you'll do the same.

 

+1

Do the leatherette and cloth seat options come with a lumbar adjustment on the R56? I know that on the R50/53 they did not (I have the cloth sport seats, and love them, but they definitely do not have lumbar adjustment). This could be a factor for the OP's back injury.

 

As previously stated...

First to go would be the Antrecite (black) headliner... makes a dark int. darker.

Then I'd ditch the leather and piano black finish.

Keep the heated seats... it helps losen back muscles in cold weather (and they are cheap enough @$300 in the cold weather package) but if you must, they are less needed if you dump the leather...

If you can, I'd then dump the auto and go manual.
(save over $1000!)

I'd keep DSC (to keep you out of an accident... if you want to play, you can *always* turn it off... but I usually leave mine on.

Cruise is always nice to have if you are on a road trip (even at nite on the HW, its nice to set the thing and not worry about your friendly neighborhood ocifers

BTW, my Mini has the sport package, and multi fnx steering wheel.
That's it.
(and I would have loved the sunroof, but...)

HTH, and Good Luck!

 

I don't think this was said specificly yet...
The leatherette spot seats are only $300, instead of $2000 or whatever for the leather. They are the similar if not the same design (???) I think they are a pretty great deal.

 

I got the cloth seats because I wanted a lighter color interior and didn't like the other seat color options with the Lightening Blue exterior. The sport cloth seats do not have lumbar support.

The options I ordered are listed in my signature.

I didn't get the sun roof because it doesn't have a solid cover.

I ordered the Cold Weather package and pieced out portions of the other packages that I most cared about. I "dithered" between the MC and the MCS and went with the S because I thought I might regret it later.

 

If you are getting a Cooper you can live w/o all of that. My current '03 Cooper has none of those things, and it's been an amazing car!! Why? Because the car sans options is still fun, engaging and all one could hope for in a MINI.

BTW, I do understand how things could be less stressful w/ an automatic. I had an R56 Cooper automatic loaner all last week and it was amazing!!

 

Every time I buy a car I think I make the mistake of thinking I need all these things. So much of it is not necessary or I don't use. Heck, I rarely even use cruise control and that is pretty much standard on all cars these days.

For me, the things that I would pay for are heated seats, sunroof and xenon. I can easily live without steering wheel buttons and headlight washers, etc.

 

Adjustable lumbar support comes only with the leather seats, according to my M.A. I sat in every kind of MC seat I could find -- leatherette, cloth, punch carbon -- and the only one that really fit me and my back was the lounge leather. I have not been disappointed. I, too, have back problems -- surgically decompressed spinal stenosis L3 L4 L5, and am glad to have chosen the lounge leather, despite the very high cost. I would keep the ridiculously expensive cruise control, if only for the fact that it allows easy squirming and leg movement to realign the back.

 

strip it.

 

I retract my statement about getting cloth seats. I didn't know the leather had a lumbar support adjustment.

However, I think you may find some of the other features you plan to drop as critical as lumbar support. These options are one-time expenses. You may regret not having them for the life of the car. If they were medical bills not covered by your insurance, could you not afford to pay them? Or, are you just trying relieve guilt over buying leather seats?

 

Yeah, and they look amazing, too!!!

 

Thank you everyone!!

It does really help to think about looking at speading the expense out over time.( Or it's a great trick!) Each item itself is not that bad, (well some are) but when you add them up on top of the base price and add fees, and taxes, Yikes! It gets up their quickly! So ordered today. Dropped the D.S.C., black headliner, and probably should have dropped the cruise control, but didn't and will just have to get a fourth job. It will be here July, August.