Hi everyone, I am a newbie to the Countryman and mini world currently in the process of purchasing my first mini and I'm hoping for some advice. I have decided to go with the royal grey countryman all4s. My issue is deciding options. I thought I was set on, premium, style, wired, lights and black alloy rims, but after reading on here and talking with people I have decided that wired might be over rated. The dealership currently has a grey in stock with premium, style, and a comfort package. No lights pkg or black rims. Or I can have them search and try to find a different one. What is everyone's opinion on the light package. Is it worth it the continued search. Rims I can always do aftermarket. Love to hear opinions as this whole wheeling and dealing with car salesman can be exhausting.

 

if by the "light package" you mean the xeon over the halogens i would say xeons are ABSOLUTELY worth it. funny things make you decide on what makes the car you want. i lot picked mine because it has the blacklight housing over the chrome. sacrificing mini connected, a hk audio system and whatever that temperature comfort thing is from another model i am still happy with the decision on the black housing.

 

Personally, I would not buy a Countryman without the lighting package. If you order a 2015, the lighting package will come with LED day time running light and LED fog lights.

 

If you never drove with xenons you will not know the difference but if you are used to them, I would highly recommend. Also, I think the HK sound upgrade is worth it. I had driven a dealers loaner without HK and it sounded unimpressive in comparison.

You are likely to get the better deals on 2014s as the dealer needs to unload their inventory as 2015s can be ordered now. What is awesome about Mini's is that you can literally custom order any option individually: Mini-fication. With the packages usually you get some options you would not pay for on its own but you will save some money if you needed to buy them separately. Also most dealer websites you can check out out of town Mini dealers to see what they have. The larger dealerships will likely have more options and more willing to negotiate.

 

Definitely get Xenon headlights. Huge difference in illumination from the Halogens. I've had both.

 

I couldn't agree more - the xenons make a significant contribution.

On rims, ours arrived with one design of black rims that, seen on the car, we didn't like - and the dealer swapped them out for another before we took the car. Anything's possible...

 

Get the lights...

 

Just pick what you want and order. The wait is fun, you will get to cruise whole other ections of the board as you learn track ships and lots of other usefull situation. Dealer tried to talk me into the black and red JCW on the floor over and over while I was in doing the order. But I wanted a stick and crystal silver, and he wanted a quick sale.

 

Thanks everyone for the comments. So in the end it came down to the best deal and driving distance for service. Since I live in a place that the nearest dealership it 1.5 hrs away and the next closest is five hours; this all factored into my decision. Plus the deal worked on my trade (2009 Jeep Wrangler). Still can't believe I am giving up my Jeep but I have a thing for round headlights and the Mini won my heart. So my purchase is a Royal Grey Countryman All4S-premium pkg, style pkg, comfort access, automatic with steptronic shifter, black roof and mirror caps and black bonnet stripes. The rims are currently the silver colour-not my favorite choice but I will look into switching those out. I will be picking up my new baby on Friday. I have already booked her in for tinting on Monday- I can't wait to make her my own. So many options and things I can add once she arrives. So continuing with advice is there anything I should know about my new car...

 

That's correct, but you cannot add xenon light, at least or easily. Like someone have mentioned already, dealers always try very hard to get you to buy what they have in stock. It is in their best interest to do so, not yours. Another thing I like to point out is that you do need to maintain your Mini from the purchasing dealer.

 

I realize I have passed up on the headlights, but like you said it was the issue of service and distance that sealed my deal. The dealer I went with is the closest one, and I want the best service relationship possible.

 

Most of the time, I buy my car from out of state or from a dealer that is not the closest. I always service my cars at the closest dealer and never had a problem. I always have loaner cars and have a good relationship with the service department. Some salesman will try to tell that you will get better service if you buy the car from them, this is nothing more than a sales pitch. Sales department and service department in most dealerships are separate entities, dealers will make more off the servicing of your Mini than the sales itself. It would be foolish for the dealership's service department to not try to win over your business.

 

I'm sorry is this not a contradiction to your original post, when you stated that I needed to maintain my mini from the purchasing dealer? Anyway, thank you for your input.

 

I am sorry, now that I re-read my original post, I meant to say you do not need to maintain your Mini from the purchasing dealer. I sure hope you did not buy from that dealer based on my post.

 

Break her in gently as instructed by MINI, then after the 1200 miles drive her like you stole her
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