Hi all,
I am now an official member of the MCS Waiting Club.
After researching the MINI, hanging out on the forums, and finally on Friday going for a test drive, I put down my deposit and signed up today.

I am ordering through New Country MINI of Hartford, CT. They are selling at MSRP & no forced accessories.

They have quoted about a 6-month wait for an S, and I am waiting for December build so I can get the HK stereo as well as the auto-dimming mirror & rain sensing wipers.

My S will be electric blue/white with the standard 16" wheels in white. Space cloth with black door panels, premium & cold weather pkg, HK stereo, xenons & fogs. The rain-sensing wipers & auto-dimming mirror will be a part of the cold weather package for 2003, and the price of the CWP has thus gone up to $500.

While there the BMW Ultimate Drive for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation was going on. A number of BMW cars are available for a test drive, and they lay out a 10-mile test drive course for you. For every mile you drive, BMW donates $1 to the foundation. There was a bit of a wait but I got to drive a 330Ci and a Z3 2.5Ci. The Z3 was outstanding, almost as much fun to drive as the MCS
They also had available a number of other cars but I didn't have time to stick around: various 3-series cars including a wagon and a convertible, a couple 5-series cars, a couple X5s, 3 or so Z3s, and a couple 745i's.

See here for a web link, sign up for when they come to your town: http://www.bmwusa.com/ - Click on News & Events.
If you don't register in advance, you can always sign up as a walk-in, which is what I did.