Look at where I live. I've heard over and over and over again that I should get the cold weather package. Well not "I" but people in the same areas as me. Lets break it down by part:

Heated side mirrors. Why. what does it do that requires me to have it. I've nver had this before on a car and clearing a side mirror of snow and ice is like a 2 second job while clearing the rest of your car. I've never seen a mirror fog up or freeze up again while I drive. The water just doesn't stick to the mirror side while driving. So why?

Heated washer jets. Is the mini's washer jets susceptible to freezing? I seriously see this as the most useless and lazy of the three.

Heated Seats. Ok I heard that if you don't want the other two that you should still get this. Why. I've never had heated seats in my car before, perhaps I'm missing out on something incredible. Even so my rear end has never been cold enough to warrent it. the coldest part of my body inthe winter is my hands and face, and those are not on the seat...I hope. I even had a friend whose MINI was in for repairs so he got a loner which had these. He even said that while they were nice they were in no way a necessity.

I'll be straight. When I'm looking at options I look at what is necessary to either have or keep the character of the car. I'm getting no packages, no JCW parts, only dealer installed part will be the Aux. Input, and the only "extravagances" on my MCSa will be body color interior and chrome line interior just because it looks so darned good that I have to have it and even those can be chucked if I feel I need to pull the price down more.

So, convince me why this is a must...preferably with out using insults and angry words.

You know how you feel about your color matching interior and the chrome pack? Then that's how you should feel about the cold pack. It doesn't sound like it's essential to you so you probably shouldn't get it. I got all three of those options (interior color, chrome & cold pack). I didn't HAVE TO HAVE any of them. I wanted them and I'm very happy with them. It's as simple as that. In the end it's what you want that counts.

You don't need it. How's that.

Deuce --

forget the washer jets and mirrors. I, just like you, never had heated seats before, but I never regretted getting them. I love driving with the windows down and roof open at night, and once the temperatures drop below 50, teh seats keep me nice and warm. Kind'a like opening your bedroom window in the wintertime, I guess. Also, the seats heat up much quicker than the engine, which is a great benefit in the winter.

Get it.

®

Remember this Mustang Commercial?



No heated seats



Don't let this happen to you

One of the reasonst that I have heard about the necessity to obtain heated seats, etc. is for the resale value of the Mini. However, if you are like me, you probably don't plan on ever selling your car. I would agree with you on the heated washer jets and mirrors...those are an extra that most of us can probably do without. The heated seats, however, are really a pretty nice luxury extra. Especially in deep winter, there is nothing quite so nice as a warm seat. Having said that, however, I would toss my money into one of the other packages to improve performance if I had to allocate money on upgrades.

Exactly. The MINI's washer jets are susceptible to freezing, though that's hardly a justification for however many hundreds of dollars the package costs. A cup of warm water every once in a while is free. I agree with you 100% on the heated side mirrors; that's just silly.

For almost every option on the MINI, there's going to be a crowd here who thinks it's a "must." Xenons, park distance control, DSC, etc. Bottom line is that the MINI, bone stock, comes very well equipped from the factory with everything that you actually need.

ok being a person that WOULDN'T buy a mini without them I will try to make this clear. It is $300 and you get a heated seat with the heated other stuff. Now I don't know what your job is but my back gets tired and when you sit in your heated seats it just feels SOOOOOO good and for $300 its one of the cheapest of the packages. oh well if you dont want it it will lower your payment by like 10 dollars?


-Josh

I've had the outside mirrors freeze over in a variety of past cars. I've also had the washer jets freeze, although this should be avoidable by using winter formulation washer fluid. Both of these are potential safety issues if they happen while you're out on the highway.

Heated seats are very nice to have with leather or vinyl seating surfaces but are much less important with cloth, which warms to the body almost immediately.

In the end it comes down to personal choice. After all, things we now consider necessities were once luxuries. I used to own a car (Fiat 500)which had no gas gauge, just a reserve light which flashed with increased urgency as there was less and less fuel to slosh around in its tiny tank.

You pays your money and you makes your choice!

Neil
05 MCS
96 M3
(Both with cold weather package and other goodies)

On a cold moring those heated seats are a God send! They heat up fast. I have also used them on long drives when my back has gotten a little stiff and let me tell you what a relief that was. It's like having a built in heating pad. I will never have another car without them.

About the mirrors. Here in Maryland we get lots of slush and ice and I have had it build up on my mirrors pretty thick, even while driving.

I love the heated features and I am so glad that I have them.

MTFBWY,
--Will

I live in mild-weather Los Angeles, 2 miles from the Pacific Ocean, and I ordered the heated seats! They are fantastic for keeping one's back limber on long roadtrips. Plus, I like to have the a/c on AND the heated seats on at the same time! Don't dig turning the heater on too much, but LOVE the seats! They've ended up being one of my favorite options!


Clover

Even though I live in a warm climate, I wish I had not been hasty to purchase a car identical to the one I ordered with the exception of no heated seats.

Great for my aching back on long road trips. .. . .

Our new Cooper has them though!

Most things in life are not needs, but wants. If you don't want it, dont get it.

But its the only package I got. And I dig the heated seats. They get hot fast. My wife has it on her truck, and i never got it on my bmws. Now i'm so happy to have it.
Put it another way. Its not an expensive option, and would be costly to do aftermarket.

I been jumping back and forward in my last two cars with and without heated mirror.. I bet once you had it and you will aware the problem without a heated mirror.
1. In summer, rainy days. Non heated mirror covered with rain, even you wipe it off when you get on the car, you still have rain covered on the mirror and blur what you see. With heated mirror, rain drops vaporize, the mirror is always crystal clear.
2. In winter: Yes, you can scrap off the snows cumulate on the mirror, but during the driving, there always have chance to cumulate snows on the mirror. i.e. tail winds blow on the snow.

Heated water jet... I admit that is the least favor/Used feature I had.

Heated Seat.. as what other people said. BTW, I agree the coldest part of my body is my hand.. with heated seat, and I always sit on one of my hand during driving.... My hand warm up really fast. If MINI offer heated steering wheel like the 5-series, I would get one.

It's not something I would have ever ordered. After all, I've lived all these years without them. But after they were included on a Focus SVT we bought, my wife (and myself) won't buy a car w/o them. She loves them in the winter. I love them because they help my back. Also, I can keep the interior of the MINI much cooler. The seats keep her warmer and I like the car colder....and since the MINI doesn't come with dual zone climate control.

Anyhow, I like it and my wife Loves it.

Have to get them? No. (now we need a shaking head smilie! )
Foolish not to get them? Yes.

In my case its more for the S.O. than for me.
I take that back. It's for me.
When the S.O. is freezing (on a pleasant day), instead of cranking up the heat she can turn on her seat heater and be toasty warm, instead of me frying in what feels like sub-tropical heat blasting on me.

It just makes the driving experience that much more pleasant. Would I perish without them? No. Would I pay $300 again? In an instant. Now I just need to see about retrofitting them in our Subaru...

I don't know if the heated mirrors do much, but I do know they didn't freeze over while driving through a Kansas blizzard. It's a bit silly that they're on all the time - you'd think they'd link them to the OBC and turn on when the freeze warning comes on...

The Cold Weather Option Package is... just an option. If you're not inclined to purchase it, you probably won't miss it. You may want to consider test driving the heated seats. They are really nice.

Necessity? No. Nice to have? Oh yeah!


My situation exactly. No regrets at all.

I have heated seats in my truck, and count me in the minority that don't like them. I ordered my mini without. They're great for about 5 minutes, but after awhile they're just too hot.

I LOVE my heated seats.........it's nice to have the option....even if you think you may not use them much - boy does it feel good.....

Donna

The cold weather package is the best "bang for the buck" option bar-none! It used to be the $150 auto dim mirror/rain sens wiper but they jacked the price on that a couple of years ago

I bought my cabrio off the lot. I SO wish I had them. Driving around, top down, in 40 degree weather demands them.

I second all this. The seats are great....

Well, there seems to be a lot of votes for the seats from people who have had them. Yucca and I live in a generally warm spot but there is nothing nicer than those heated seats when it is just a bit chilly. I am the type of person who is usually warm, but I love them, because when I do get cold, I don't have to have yucky hot air blowing on me. I can even have cool air on my face and stay comfy. Perfect for me.

Very nice if your muscles are tense or tired. Wouldn't have it any other way. It is almost like a soothing massage from your lower bag to your legs.

your rational makes no sense.

you never had those options so why would you need them now , and to that dedution you assume all these options are worthless because YOU have never had them before.

the cold weather package it my favorite option on the mini. i live in cleveland. it gets 5 degree f here. have you ever had your washer jets freeze up on you on the freeway? and the heated seats feel so DA^% good when you get into a freezing cold car in the morning. they take like 20 seconds to heat up.

if everyone used your rational people would never order automatic transmissions (which i see you did). and air conditioning, and ABS, or how about air bags (those did not exist 30 years ago and people got along ok). how about fog lights or better yet a sunroof. and those automatic windows that come standard are a real pain. i mean somehow people survived without automatic windows and locks back in the day so they must be useless now. and the thought of getting a CD player standard must keep you up at night.

come on man...you cant be serious.

Im just sure a potential buyer will go:

"Oh wow, heated seats, how about I give you another two bills?"