I like FUN2MTR, then MITMINI (thought I might use MYTMINI so it isn't confused with a reference to MIT University.), then MINIMZE. You can't go wrong with any of these choices.

Cheers,

 

I am soooo happy! I got Padre back from the tint shop and I love the California flag on the roof. It is full of little holes and I can still see the sky and trees. Awesome. I feel like Padre is completely my car now and there isn't another one just like it in the world. The window tint will also help keep me and my leather seats cooler through the hot summer. I also drove Padre for the first time at night last night. Wow, those zenons are bright! I can see everything. I now have my MP3 player hooked into the aux input so I have about 5000 songs at my fingertips. I hardly even weave anymore when cruising down the road! I think I'll give up the apartment and live in the car. I can't wait for this weekend when I get to drive to the SF bay and try some of the fun roads in the hills.

Cheers,

P.s. Still working on pics.

 

It is soooo much fun to hear from a happy camper! Pete F, you sound just as happy as can be.

I'm going to put in a word for the cloth seats. I had ordered leather almost automatically -- our other cars have leather and I didn't even think I would consider anything else. There was something about it that didn't look right for this car, though, and when I saw one with cloth it looked and felt great so I changed my mind. I'm really liking it -- the style and color are just right. Once the windows are tinted the car is really going to POP.

My husband took it to work today. He says he was very impressed with its guts in the upper gears: to change lanes on the freeway to zip around someone at highway speed without downshifting and no lugging and lots of pep. Going up the exit ramps with no braking and absolutely flat on the road is Porsche-cool.

 

...I'm wondering if MINI is still sending out the travel mugs to new MINI owners, or if that practice ended with the installation of the Cuplink as standard. Anybody gotten any goodies yet? I got the survey call the other night and they made a point of confirming my address, so I'm hopeful. It's never enough, I guess.

Also--what have people paid for the euro parcel shelf (uninstalled, of course)?

Happy motoring this weekend!

 

I have never had windows tinted. About how much is it? I think it would look perfect on my PW/B.

Also, tell me when you are goin to the bay area. I would love to join you for some motoring action. Im sure SFJames wouldnt mind coming along either. I am available Saturday (tomorrow) if you wanna go cruising. I know the hills over there fairly well but Im sure James knows them better.

Give me a call tomorrow or leave a message. Ill leave my number in a PM.

 

Hi all,

I'm winechic's MA. <ducks tomatoes thrown his way>

In addition to her beautiful LY/B MCS, we also suffered ~$100,000 in damages to other cars (we're a BMW, MINI and Cadillac dealer) and our under construction BMW parts/service department. Parts were stolen and destroyed, things were just generally really messed up.

We take great pains to keep things secured around here, but unfortunately we can't keep out the REALLY determined a-holes.

winechic's new car is on order, and since some of our '05 MCS's (week 28 build) are already starting to go into production, hers should be heading there soon.

 

Hi Campos,

I pm'd you about this weekend with my numbers. The window tint looks great, definitely a finishing touch in making the car look special. Mine cost $219 for all 5 windows. 20% on rear 3 and 50% tint on front two). In CA any tint on the front windows is illegal but this is pretty light and most cops won't bother you if you stay away from 'cruise' areas etc. I carry a badge, so I'm hoping they'll give me 'law enforcement courtesy' and let me skate. I also got my sunroof graphic installed at the same place. They charge $40 an hour but were really late so they comped the install. Sweet!

The car looks great but the brake dust is already all over my white rims. AArrrrggghhh. I am going to put Klasse synthetic on them this weekend when I get a chance.

Cheers,

 

Hi Obiwann, (Nice handle)

Thanks for cheching in and letting us know that you are taking care of our friend WineChic. We know you guys took a big hit in this too. some of us Californians (and others too) were going to come down to Texas and make sure they caught the jerks and imposed some Texas justice on them. I was going to call in the Govenator to do some real damage. Winechic is cool though and calmed down the lynch mob. We Maydayers are a tight knit group. Keep us up to date on her progress if you can.

Cheers,

 

I'm going to pick up my MINI in about an hour and 15 minutes!!!! I'll have pics when I get home, or when I stop motoring for the evening, whichever comes first!

 

I totally think you guys ought to give her a 2005 MCS at 2004 prices.

 

And here are the promised pics, right after her first bath. I have a feeling that if I had time, I'd give her a bath after every drive.

Hopefully this attachment thing works.

Happy motoring to those with their new babies. Winechic, Charlie and I are very sorry that his party got out of hand, but he says he was just trying to keep up with Dobby.

 

Congrats, Storm. Charlie looks great! Love the "Stop Drooling" sticker. I've got one in Ollie's rear window, and it will be making its way into O2.

obiwann, thanks for bringing us up to speed. Don't let the buzzturds get you down.

On the good news front: GRUS PEOPLE my MA has provided confirmation that our cars are at Pt Heuneme.

 

I'll leave it up to her to decide if she wants to share the details, but I can assure you that we're doing everything we can for her.

 

I've finally got an update, so beware an extra long post. (That, and I'm writing this at 3:30 am, so fear the rambling)

After the confusing hopping of my delivery date, I rode my motorcycle home from work, and thought I'd drop by the dealer, since supposedly, they were expecting a delivery of MINIs. Keep in mind that this is about 9 pm, since I work the swing shift. And what did my little eyes (and digital camera) spy in that moody twilight?

A new batch of MINIs parked in the back of the lot. And one of them was dark silver. And one of them was dark silver.

Ok, so I awake this morning to my dealer calling me about a final decision on the rims. I can't remember if I've told you this, but magically, my Cooper S was ordered with 17" S-Lites. I chose during ordering to forego the 17-inchers for a variety of reasons:

1. practicality - the wear life on the 17s seems to be substantially shorter than that of the 16s.
2. the ride is only a touch smoother in the 16s, and in Salt Lake, where the potholes are usually filled with smaller cars, a *little* more padding to protect the occupants and rims can help a lot.
3. the massive surface area of the S-Lites in WHITE seemed like it would overpower the neutral of my Dark Silver MCS (you can see my reasoning in the next pictures). While white looks fantastic on blue or red, those have chromatic value to attract your eye to the car - whereas my monochromatic scheme is completely overwhelmed by the pure BRIGHTNESS of the S-Lites.

Anyway, back to the rim issue. It's my suspision that my dealer had tried to placate me with some extras (e.g. the $100 chrome grill which I was prepared to purchase on my own), but it seemed a poor consolation prize in exchange for $600 extra for rims I didn't order. I spoke with the manager, and she was wonderful - unless my dealer suddenly had a change of heart, I think she had a small chat with him. I could either take a $600 rebate, I could - and yes, they were dead serious - re-order with the right rims, or they could just give me my $2000 deposit back, and call the whole thing off.

Now, I don't know about you, but if an order had been botched like that, then I can assure you that were I a dealer, I'd order the right rims, have them waiting, and install them without the customer ever having to raise a fuss. Seeing as how 17" S-Lites are available as a dealer-installable option, then one has to assume that keeping a set around for a little while until someone wants them isn't going to kill me. Might make someone's day. But that's just me.

Ok, so I chose the rebate (as though I spent 5 months in snow on public transportation and biking 12 miles to work in the rain, only to say "No, I'll re-order. Thanks.")

A short while later, he calls me and says he's having the chrome grille installed and he'll check on the chances of getting it through detail by tomorrow. At 1:00, he calls and says he can get it to me today, and if I can make it there by 5:45, I can be motoring today.

Needless to say, I was there sharply, and picked up Agrippa (with all of 13 miles on him) - and what a handsome devil he is, what with that gleaming chrome grin, and all.

Agrippa 1 Agrippa 2

He's sitting in my driveway, with 100 miles on him after my first delicious taste of motoring (and a healthy rainstorm, to boot).


I've got 2 questions: my right xenon headlight seems to be tilted up on the right side - as though the bulb is installed a little twisted. Is this easy to correct, or ought I take him to the service center tomorrow? Which white rims would you recommend I pick up, as replacements (assuming I can't find some MC or MCS owner in Salt Lake who would like to swap upwards)?

 

Agrippa is looking good. Congratulations!

I like the look of the S-lites as they are.

Seriously, are you looking for OEM/Stock rims or aftermarket? R-84's are always a good choice for the stock rim.

Get the headlight into service. Now. You don't want to find out that the light's
pointing towards Pluto, and then have service want to charge you for repairing it.

 

Hey Deadguy,

Can you keep us updated on your experience with the dealer in SLC, especially anything about their service department. From Twin Falls, they are our closest dealer, if we need anything done, and I'm just wondering how they are.

Agrippa looks great! Enjoy the motoring!

 

Absolutely! I just want to clarify that not having to pay for rims that I didn't order really removed all traces of doubt from my mind concerning this dealership - even though I feel I had to go to the manager. I feel like they really care about their customer satisfaction.

I'm actually taking Agrippa to meet the service manager on Monday morning to have his xenon headlights looked at. I'll let you know what I think. And Agrippa got an all-natural bath last night on his first drive up to Park City (and desperately needs an unnatural bath today, due to it).

jimskater - I'm looking for either at the moment - something that has less surface area than these S-Lites (which are horrifically dirty with brake dust, ATM). That's one of the reasons I had ordered the stock 16" rims, since they didn't cost me anything, I'd have money to spend on any rims that really caught my eye.

 

Deadguy,

Wish I could help you with brands/styles of rims. I usually just see them and say "Hey, I like those rims."

Try http://www.tirerack.com They're a sponsor & they've got good stuff. Yoko AVS 100 ES's at a reasonable price too.

We interrupt our regular posting with this breaking news update:


Ollie 2 (IB/W MCS, 17" Silver S-lites, Sport Pkg, HK, Cloth, driving lights & front/rear fog lights) is at the VPC as of yesterday. Any day now...

 

Quote: You can call ASKMINI to find out if Livia is on the ground. After it was at the vehicle distribution center, my car had an estimated delivery date again on the MINI USA site. It arrived at the dealer on the day listed on MINIUSA. You should be motoring soon.

Thanks, Padre's Dad! Livia is officially at the VDC (per the OL) and my MA says she should be in Fife on or about June 22. HOLY SMOKES - that's two days from now!!!
HarborFirl

 

It's pretty cool to see more of the newer posters as more of us get our cars and spend more time driving or detailing than posting. :smile:

I just wanted to say that if anyone has yet to order their MINI, getting one from MINI of the Main Line in Philly was a great experience. I did most of the shopping long-distance (as apparently quite a few of their customers do), but still Tony (MA) and Michelle (SM) were awesome. I listened to Amos (another MA) deliver a car at the same time as me and he seemed really cool as well. My wife and I decided on the drive back to Pittsburgh that we'll be ordering her MINI from them next year. They're worth the drive.

Now all we need is the Dealer Reviews up and running so we can all post there as well.

 

My MINI Cooper S is at the BMW VDC in Oxnard CA. This time next week I hope I will be driving it. I should be picking it up Friday or Saturday if all goes well. THE 9 month wait is almost over and my IB/IB MCS is about to be delivered.

My wife and I are going to have a baby shower.

 

Here's a pic of Agrippa five minutes after I washed and dried him, and approximately 45 seconds before nature noticed a freshly washed car, and rained on him.

http://deadguy.hwcommunity.com/driveway_shot_01.jpg

(Oh, that's my girlfriend in the upper left.)

 

Congrats again to our new arrivals! Here's something for everyone to look forward to.

We went to Buffalo this weekend for a wedding, and when we left Henley had 1200 miles. He now has 2250, and the break-in is complete. I had the opportunity to explore the right half of the tachometer Wow! He sounds great and pulls like crazy! It's like a new addiction! First the looks and now the power

Pete - we NEED pics of the tint and bear flag!

 

Hey I like your screen name.
They know you all have been treatin' me right. I never said it was your fault. Just really bumbed and had to share with people who understand my pain. And thanks for the update on my ride. I will talk to you soon.

 

That's great, Obiwann. Whatever you can do for her is a great thing. I'm so sorry that you suffered so much damage. I can imagine it was probably kids, too. Kids that wished they had a BMW or MCS, so decided to trash the place instead. How terrible.

Winechic is our friend, and we would like to see her happy. She's had a tough time lately!

Thanks for the post!