I picked up my BRG/BLK Clubman S last night. I drove about 50 minutes around town. I must say, the car fits me like a glove. The driver's door armrest and the center armrest are perfectly positioned, particularly to keep you hand on the shifter. I do think I will be buying some smaller shoes as the boots I had an don't work well with the closely spaced pedals. I really dig the BRG exterior and HC interior combo. I would imagine I am in a small club considering the configurator would not allow this combo and my MA made it happen.

As for driving impressions. Power is linear and smooth as I remember, but a little less than the JCW I test drove last week. I don't know what I was thinking test driving that thing a week before my car showed up. Sort of like taking out a supermodel the night before you get married. I cannot wait to get it above 4 grand.

The car handles wonderfully. I am still trying to decide if I like Sport mode on all the time. I really like the throttle setting, but would prefer the looser steering around town. This is the first car that required me to read the owner's manual. I will say that for all its coolness, the car is not terribly intuitive. It is fast becoming second nature, but things like opening the window just a little versus auto down are tricky for a newbie. The NAV is great. I do miss having 6 preset buttons for quickly changing stations. I think I only have the option to move from one preset to another sequentially using the joystick or advance buttons on the center stack.

I have a pronounced squeak and rattle coming from the passenger side club door or rear quarter area. It is definitely suspension related as its loader on rougher roads. The squeak almost sounds like the spring compressing, but the rattle is hard to discern. It appears to be the old build quality issue so far.

I will post pics later as it rained on the way home. All in all I am very pleased and the gas mileage on the way into work was outstanding. Back to reading the owner's manual.

 

congrats and pass on the "WAVE"

 

Congratulations, now we have two in that color combo!

It's good to see that you are keeping it under 4 grand.

We need pics!

Regards,
Terry

 

Here are some pics. I put about 50 miles on it today and simply love it. I did a search for squeak and low and behold others had the same problem with the latch on the rear passenger seat. I put a little lube on it as recommended. We will see if that works. I love forums! What a great resource.

 

Is keeping it under 4k related to RPM's? If so, is this a common rule during break in? And if so, how long before break in is complete and you can really open things up?

 

Yes, keeping it under 4 grand for the first 1,200 miles is the recommendation in the owners manual.

 

Very VERY nice Clubman, well done - especially as you've avoided the traps of anthracite headlining and stripes!

 

Very nice - Congrats!!!!

Donna

 

Love it!

 

Great looking car!
I think the car butt looks particularly good in the BRG/B combo.

On choosing your radio station you might give the voice command a try. Just push the voice command button on the steering wheel, then speak loudly toward the mic in section above the rear view mirror. Say "Frequency eighty eight point five" or "one O seven point seven" or whatever's the colloquial way of saying the number. It works sometimes!