this car is for my wife (we are expecting and buying a MINI, I see alot of people selling their MINIs when they have one on the way) and the car will be a daily driver for her and a few track/autox for me on the weekend. No more than 4 or 5 events per year, just for fun.

She is very specific on the color and cold package due to living in Denver. I found one in EB, all the right options with only 9k miles for sub $20k. It is very far from us. owned by a middle aged lady.

problem is all the options are right except for DSC and Xenon (i believe they are included with the sport package).

What do i do? I like the safety of dsc for wife and baby and the xenons for ease of driving at night especially if we take it to the mountains. Should I wait to find another eb/w with dsc and xenons or buy the one with 9k miles and put on a great set of snows and driving lights.

Cheers
Cenk

 

In my opinon DSC and Xenons are two of the items very short list of must have items in my book. I love my xenons and they are well worth the money. The DSC is hated by true performance drivers but it is very valuable to have in the concrete jungle, It will bail you out of snap lane change trouble.

But maybe you should check this one out
http://forums.kcminiclub.com/viewtopic.php?t=952

Less than 20k It is FULL loaded with all 3 packages (including dsc and xenons) not to mention it is a JCW!!!!!!!! and not far away from you in Kansas City

 

Oh, crap......my bad.....Im sorry.....I think it is sold already. I just saw it a couple weeks ago i didn't think to look at the latest reply on his ad

 

The Xenons are very optionable but with snow ,DSC ,even with snow tires (not all seasons)is needed.My opinion

 

On a scale of 1 - 10, with 1 being "waste of money" and 10 being "must have", I rate them this way:

Xenon headlights: 6

DSC: 9.9

Look for another MINI, is my advice.

 

thank you very much for the replies. especially after the 7 or 8 snow storms of this year, i have been leaning towards the DSC route as well.

she must have eb/w and heated seats
I must have 05 for the different tranny.
this pigeon holes us on the choices. My hope is that the floodgate of r53s open as more people try to move up to r56s.

 

^^^ +1 (edit: too slow. this is a +1 to ChiliRed&PepperWhite)

DSC and Xenons are too valuable (and have pulled me out of a few tight situations).

 

I've had DSC on some of our cars, my MINI doesn't have it. I live in Wisconsin. I have NO trouble. I've only even activated the stability control in our A3 once, and that was on purpose, just to see what it would do.

I'm one of the people who think Stability control in a small car just leads to a sense of 'the car will take care of it' which becomes even more dangerous.

I'm all for stability control in vehicles with a high rollover risk, however.

As for the Xenons, just get a set of driving lights.

Neither option is worth losing a car you want over.

 

I agree with YellowMiniS. I don't have DSC or xenons and ordered my car that way. My MINI handled a blizzard at the Grand Canyon with no problem. If you live in Denver, your wife is probably quite used to driving in snow and I don't know how much benefit the DSC would really be.
I'd say go with the car you want and get a set of rally lights for when you want more light.

 

I have ASC+T but not DSC. The difference is very subtle. I have not been in a situation where DSC is a definite requirement, and I've taken my car to the ski slopes. So it's not a big deal. ASC+T is standard on all MINIs in Canada. However, I can't vouch for that in the USA.

I have Xenons and though I don't think they are a definite requirement, I find it hard to imagine not getting Xenons on any future cars I buy. They are a much whiter light and lights up the street much better. I'm thinking a whiter bulb on the halogen equipped cars would accomplish nearly the same thing.

I am generally put off by people who retrofit after market xenons on their cars (not MINIs) that don't have the proper horizontal level cut-off. It blinds all cars in front of you, which is then a dangerous thing.

 

dsc is only slightly fancier than the standard asc+t. I THINK all it does is integrating all of the alphabet acronym electronic goodies whereas asc+t mainly modulates brakes (and throttle?). in winter driving, when done so safely and appropriately, i'm sure asc+t works just as well. dsc, to me, seems more like a performance-oriented traction control

when i was shopping i initially wanted an '05+ also for the shorter gearing but after test driving back and forth many times it wasn't enough of a difference for me to pay the extra $ that i didn't have =P (plus the car i eventually got was an '04 jcw anyway, and she really GOES; heck, i even almost bought a '67 cooper s instead)

thru my shopping i dropped a bunch of previously *must-have* options, including sunroof and xenon, in favor of simplicity and weight-saving on an already lightweight car. my car has no sunroof but does have xenon. xenon looks nice and cool but imo is more of a novelty and cool feature

as for the drop in r53 price, i'm sure it'll happen, but keep in mind that r53's are still quite desirable as many people (including me) sees it as a more pure and less diluted performance machine than r56, and many r53 sellers are stubborn w/ their pricing

sorry to be long-winded, but there's a very nice '05 w/ lsd that used to be for sale in seattle. this car has a winning autox history and sounds like it'd fit you well, just that it's brg not eb. do a search in the sale section if you want to check it out

but sub $20k for an '05 w/ 9k miles sounds reasonable. it may not be a steal, but if it fits you then go for it; you're pretty much guaranteed to love it =P

 

is the standard asc or asc+t in the US?

The car I am looking at already has the factory rally lights, are those helpful? do they help with width of coverage or distance?

thank you for all the helpful ideas.

Cenk

 

all season control + traction is standard on the S. Not sure about the cooper.

the lights definitely help, but they only work with the brights, which are really good even by themselves.

one advantage of the xenons is the washer feature, which I suppose could come in handy if you don't wash the car in the winter.

 

I have a car without DSC. I haven't been killed due to the lack of DSC. Learn how to drive & you won't need that blasted electro nanny.

If you feel your wife can't drive, take her to a school. She'll be a safer driver for it. That goes for anyone. Car control is just as important on the street as on a race track.

I'm a fan of Xenon lights. Best lights I've ever had on a street car.

 

I don't have DSC and have never needed it. I do have the xenons, and I like them, but looking back they're probably not worth the 500 bucks. Snow tires definitely help.

mb

 

I have to agree with mb, snow tires definitely help. For me the Xenons are worth the money. If my eyes weren't close to 6 decades old I probably wouldn't need them.

 

I bought my auto new with DSC because I thought it will help with resale value. I do not use it. I keep it turned off nearly all the time.

 

DSC incorporates yaw and steering sensors and will utilize the brakes - individually if necessary - to get the car going in the direction it thinks you want to go (where the front wheels are pointed.) I wouldn't say it's performance oriented. Most track monkeys turn it off when hitting the twisties hard. ASC doesn't do the same things.
Is it a requirement? No. Is it nice to have - especially in a snowy/icy areas.

The MCS comes standard with ASC+T.

Xenons are nice, but I wouldn't call them a must have. As has been said, driving lights only supplement the high beams.

I'd say it's a judgement call - do you think you can find an EB w/CWP,DSC and Xenons in a reasonable amount of time? Which is more important, time or features? Doubtful you'll find such a low mileage MCS. Do you put lots of miles on cars? If so, that could be a factor.

 

is there any one close to Flanders NJ who would be willing to look at this car for me?

 

Where's flanders? I live in mercer co. and work in union co.; let me know if you're anywhere near my travels.

mb

 

mb

thanks for the offer. apparently flanerds is in morris county where morristown mini is located. does that help?
cheers
cenk

 

I'll probably start a flame war for this (The DSC makes a safer car bit), but I put myself in your shoes when thinking about your question.

What would I want my wife to have? To me, her safety is the most important thing in the world, and I'm sure you feel the same about your wife.

To me, spending the extra money / looking around longer is VERY worth the time and effort to find a car/mini with DSC and Xenons.

Thus, why I said find a different MINI.

 

That's about an hour from where I live - pm me if you need some help (it'd have to be on a weekend).

mb

 

MB

thank you very much for the offer. I have always liked this board for most members willingness to help. Based on the fact that a new baby and wife will be in this car we have decided to go dsc/xenon route. it is probably being overly cautious considering high quality snow tires and her aility to drive very well but i will never have to feel guilty for rushing to buy something if she hits that patch of snow on the mountains.

cheers
cenk

anyone know of a 05 eb/w with dsc and xenons

 

Sounds like a solid decision; good luck.

Since you're in Jerz - go to nemini.org if you haven't yet and join up. It's a great group of people who regularly meet, rally, and run.

mb