I'm getting ready to place an order for a custom MCS Hardtop. Is there a term for the Agony Of Option Selection Overload?

Here's what I'm thinking of ordering now, and I'd like to get a bit of feedback on whether I'm missing (or including) anything I'll regret.


I've gone back and forth on a few items, mostly the color and sport suspension.

The car will mostly be a commuter, but with some fun times on backroads and maybe, just maybe, a track day or two. So I could live without sport suspension, though assuming I can live with it I think I'd prefer the firmer ride. My thinking is that with 16" tires, especially if I someday ditch the runflats, the ride should be fine even with stiffer springs.

I picked the 6-Star black wheels partly because they look cool, and partly because I'm hoping black wheels won't show brake dust and grime so much. I purposely avoided 17" wheels due to their reported reduction in ride quality and somewhat pricier tires.

The interior is pretty much stock other than the anthracite headliner. Any really worth-it interior upgrades?

I also debated GPS. I'm a big fan of in-car nav, but as an Android user I just can't see paying for the expensive iConnect and Nav system. So next I considered Mini's Garmin system. I still haven't ruled it out, though it seems the forum wisdom is that you can get a better Garmin elsewhere with plenty of aftermarket mounts to choose from. So for now I'm leaning towards a Garmin from Costco and a mount from ProClip or Kuda.

Thanks for any input. If all goes well, I'll be placing an order within a week. Sadly, the dealer reports that this means I won't see the car until March, but I guess that will give me time to finish making space in the garage...

Very excited to be joining the Mini community!

-Brett

 

The great thing about MINI's is that you can do what you want. I have done some changes to my 08MCSa. My car had sport suspension and 16" runflats when I got it. I put 17" wheels with normal all season tires on it (used, not my choice), and I prefered the steering response with the 16" rft, ride was similar between the two. I now have replaced the 16" runflats with non-runflat snows, and the steering response is dramatically slower, it takes away the go-kart handling of the MINI. My reccomendation on tires: 16" runflat. I have not tried 17" runflats, so cannot comment on them.

I replaced the sport springs with TSW springs to lower the car slightly. The ride was slightly better, handling seemed similar to stock. I then swapped to the 'standard' MCS shocks, and the ride seemed significantly better than the sport shocks. I have a set of Koni Yellows to put on when the weather warms up (I'm too much of a woosie to work in a 20 degree garage). My opinion, keep the $500 in your pocket for the sport suspension. Several posts on NAM indicate that Koni Yellows with aftermarket springs are a nice setup, with an improvement of both ride and handling over stock (or stock sport).

If I was ordering a car, I like the chromeline interior trim, but that is personal taste. I also don't mind the regular 'leatherette' seats with the seat heaters. Nearly all cars that I have seen used with the checkered cloth show stretching and wear on the seat bottoms.

Good luck, and enjoy your choices.

Mike

 

+1 on the leatherette. It doesn't really have the drawbacks of actual real leather (cracking and tearing... or at least not yet..) and having heated seats is pretty amazing. Then again you're out in Cali.. so.. just depends. If I could have had the chromeline accents, I'd have went for it. It adds that extra touch of class to the interior.

 

I placed my preorder on Friday afternoon, pretty much as described in my second build listing, e.g. w/ NAV. He said they'd be claiming allocations with the factory on Monday, so hopefully I'll get my build # early next week. In the meantime, I could probably make a few changes, though the window is closing rapidly.

My wife really wants NAV, so I'm pretty committed to that now.

But all this talk has me rethinking my seat choice. I ordered cloth, since it promises to breath better and have better "butt grip" for corners. The leather sounds nice, but it's just too expensive for full leather, and I don't see enough benefit for leather+cloth. Apparently it's easy to retrofit the lumbar support into base sport seats. A prior car of mine had (nice BMW) leather seats, but I didn't apply leather treatment nearly as often as I should, and they showed quite a bit of wear after six years.

A lot of people on these forums with leatherette complain about sweaty backs when they drive. But I'm a little worried about cloth's longevity and cleaning issues, so I'm still debating whether to switch to leatherette.

Regarding springs and shocks, other posts I've read basically agree that you can do better with aftermarket components, but it costs a lot more than $500 to do so. So for the time and money, the sport suspension is supposed to be a pretty good deal. I guess the more relevant issue is whether or not I'll be happy with the sport ride.

-Brett

 

I really like my cloth sport seats.

I would have passed on the stripes and the suspension. While it's convenient to get them from the factory, there are much better and varied options in the aftermarket.

As for NAv... You are getting the much nicer display/speedo, and you won't have to clutter up, worry about someone breaking in to steal things because they see a bracket or the spots on the windshield of a portable nav. The downside is updating maps is expensive, if it ever breaks, only the dealer can fix it, and it will be HORRIBLY expensive. As opposed to just buying another $150 Garmin with lifetime maps...

Good call on the headliner. The black just fits in better.

If you didn't get the black headlight housings, I would have opted for the adaptive xenons. They are that good. (they don't come in black, and I wish they were available when I ordered my car) (yea, I'd make that change)


Anyway, have fun...

 

Yes, I saw several of your posts on this topic while searching for seat input on this forum.

Right, the lack of clutter and theft target were two big factors in favor of built-in NAV.

I did end up opting for those. My MA thought there weren't necessary, but they sure sound wonderful to me.

-Brett

 

I went through this back in October/early Nov. When I ordered my car. I added things 3 times throughout the process. Overall I am very happy with my decisions. I decided against interior chromeline trim because when the sun catches it, it can be blinding. To class up the interior I chose the toffee colorline which looks great. I wanted the English Oak surfaces and door pulls, but they were discontinued for '13. I had the parts dept. order them as service parts and had service install them upon delivery.
I also chose leatherette sport seats. It's true you can get a sweaty back in the Summertime, but truth be told in prior cars with cloth seats, I still got a sweaty back.