I have the sunroof and both anthracites. I love the interior I have so it was worth the extra money to me. ski

 

I have cr/b with the anthracite. I never thought twice about it, I couldn't deal with a beige headliner on a car that would be virtually all red, black, and grey. Check my picture gallery for a great shot of it.

mb

 

I have a CR/B Cooper S with the Red Cloth/Black Leather, Anthracite headliner and Anthracite trim, no sunroof either. Noone has ever complained about the car feeling tight or confining. There is still plenty of light being let in and personally I feel the Anthracite headliner really finished off my red/black theme well. These are the best pics I have of the interior but I'll try and shoot some more to get a better representation.

200 is a complete rip off for a black headliner but I'm a sucker and it was worth it to me
Mike

 

Its funny that after we fought and petitioned for MINI to bring back the Anthracite headliner that we get a thread like this which is almost like the anti-anthracite thread.

Honestly i started the petition because i wanted it badly on my 05' MCS along with the LSD. I've been amazingly surprised at how many MINI's i see with it here and on the road. I saw a DS MCS on the streets of NYC with Anthracite headliner on a recent trip and had a fun time explaining how I helped along with the NAM community get it back in the US.

My New MCS with Anthracite headliner should be here soon, its currently in production.

 

I thank you for your efforts in bringing the anthracite headliner back! As I stated, I am extremely pleased with mine, though would have preferred it to be a free-of-charge option...

 

The blue carpet that goes with the Lapis Blue seats looked horrible on the website. I really was fretting over the looks before delivery. Honestly though, you hardly realize the carpet is blue when sitting in the car. It doesn't look bad at all. Guess MINI knows what they are doing...

 

Just curious: is the interior A-pillar trim dark grey on all MINIs now? Or just the ones with the Anthracite headliner?

From the MINIUSA site it makes it look like it changed on all MINIs.

 

Bill,

The selfish part of me wants to scream, "Don't get it!!". But in the interest of fair play, I have to tell you I'm thrilled with the effect of the anthracite headliner/anthracite trim combination.

As you can see in the signature, my MCS is DS/B with Black leather/red cloth seats, anthracite trim & headliner, sunroof and chromline interior. Like you, I struggled with the options. Because I couldn't see a car with the headliner/trim combo, I ended up just trusting MINI to get it right. And, boy, did they get it right.

IMO, the interior just looks like it belongs in a much more expensive car. The $200 for the headliner and the $200 for the chrome never crosses my mind as I rush to get into the car each and every time. It's more than the sum of its parts.

I never feel any sense of confinement. I think the sunroof probably helps with that. I feel a little confined, despite the extra space without the sunroof, even with the lighter standard headliner.

Obviously, those with the standard headliner are also happy with their choice. Do whatever you can to see it for yourself. But even if you can't, don't be afraid to go for it. This combination is a winner.

 

I ordered the Anthracite headliner. It seems that most "sport" versions of cars have a black headliner (M3, S4). It does make it seem more "high end", but I personally like the consistancy of a all black interior.

I believe that the $200 price tag will deter some people from ordering, cause it is a little steep. However, maybe it will make the car more rare or desirable 10 years from now. They are trying very hard to keep the uniqueness and value very high. Than again, maybe not?!

 

I had the dark interior in my Audi...I also had a sunroof..and even then I found the interior a bit dark. Personally, in such a small car as the MINI I opted not to have the the darker headliner (and also because I didn't want the sunroof and would need some light). My door panel and dash inserts are the standard silver colour so overall I think the colour of the light headliner is exactly the right colour to really compliment those bits.

It definitely is a personal preference sort of thing and I doubt you can go wrong either way.

 

UUNetBill,

Is any of this helping? Let us know what you decide.

 

Same as before. Standard Grey headliner/gray pillars. Antharcite headliner/dark gray pillars.

Here is my '05 MCS with antharcite interior trim and gray headliner with no sunroof:

 

At least! This subject ought to have its own thread--how many visits to the dealer and how many to the configurator?

 

Thanks for this photo. It looks so sunny and cheerful with the light colored headliner and pillar (or is that due to that famous climate?).

I was too cheap to order the anthracite headliner (or metallic paint) even though it was on the must-have list I was given by friends who own MINIs.

By studying this photo I can imagine how the anthracite headliner would pull the interior features together for that tailored luxury or performance look mentioned in this thread. The interior would appear more all-coordinated and functional similar to an M3.

Guess when my car arrives with the standard headliner it will look more slaphappy casual (which, admittedly, is how I dress). Oh well. It will be a giant step up from my current car.

 

We have been having great weather lately with low humidity, a mild cool breeze and plenty of sunshine. However, come May, the humidity will jump back to 100% and the heat to no less than 89F day or nite.


I have seen the all dark interiors of the M3 and they look handsome, but me personally I prefer to break the contrast as I have never been a fan off single tone interiors which are very common in most cars today.

When I ordered my MCS, I was tempted to change to the Chili Red colored dash, but something about it didn't work with me, so I decided to stick with the "business like" anthracite.

If I had ordered the sunroof, I might had considered the Anthracite headliner, but without the sliding roof, the interior is too dark for this climate, IMO.

Then again, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. After all choices is what make each and everyone of our MINIs very special.

 

I would do the entire interior in anthracite again

 

Thanks! Glad to hear it works that way. :smile:

I was hoping that was the case, but when I was looking at the MINIUSA configurator last night the A-pillar trim stayed dark grey no matter which headliner was selected.

 

You are welcome

To me the most frustrating aspect of using the MINIUSA configurator is that colors are misrepresented and this is partly due to monitor quality, settings, etc. It is better to see colors in person when ordering.

So are you still thinking about going with a new 5-speed Cooper or MCC?

 

eek, there's no way I could live with the light headliner. Here's mine:

 

I personally dont like it specially for $200. I like the standard cause it breaks up the monotony. The silvers and greys and dark greys give it a personality. No offense but the dark headliner makes the whole interior look like its the same color. The darkness of it doesnt bother me, but it does seem to make the interior smaller. I am getting the sunroof on mine but with the standard headliner it seem to lighten up the inside. Anyway thats just my $.02

 

Different strokes for different folks, i'm glad alot of you guys weren't around when we were pleading with MINIUSA to bring back the Anthracite Headliner

If you search you see a pretty long thread which used to be stickied here about the whole subject. Many of us and the petitioners said they would like to have it back even if it was a cost option and the most we would pay was $200. Thats pretty much why they set it to $200.

The reason they removed it from US market according to MINIUSA was due to extra costs in stocking the parts in the US.

 

Perfect example of why I ordered the standard headliner. :smile: Look at the A pillar against the sky. Blends in well.

For me, buying the MINI was all about the driving experience. Don't need any black bar in my face. :smile:

But, the dark headline does have a definite cool factor.

I see however that Cooper4us got the Anthracite cup holder. OPPS, sorry, wrong thread.

 

Well, the final decision is still up to my wife, since this will be her daily driver, but we're leaning toward anthracite, and probably the chrome interior - to offset the lower price of the non-metallic paint. . .I guess it all evens out, eh?

Bill

 

I'm telling you, Bill, you'll never regret it. Post photos when you get it.

 

Well, the final decision is in. After spending Sunday afternoon at Ralph Schomp in Denver (MINI Poker Run - what a blast, even if we DID have to leave early) we have reached a decision on interior trim.

The dealership had several different combos of MINI interiors (obviously!) and we saw a black/black MCS with red Viper style stripes flowing out of the red scoop (nice look) but the interior on this car was stunning - it had the black/red cloth seats, anthracite trim, anthracite headliner, and the chrome interior package. Spectacular. MUCH richer looking than our black/lapis blue with light headliner on our '04. Not that the '04 looks bad, mind you, but the darker package with the red seats, well, ZING!!

So it looks like our new MCS is going to be CR/B with the above mentioned dark yet shiny interior. Still 6-7 months out, but we're 99.9% certain this is the winner. Will post pics when it arrives.

Thanks to everyone for their inputs, pics, etc.

Bill