Thanks, it is pretty isn't it. I didn't go seeking it -- in fact, with over 40 cars owned this is my first white one -- and just pursued this one because the price was 1500+ less than anything competing with under 50,000 miles. I would be worried about the seats as well, but with 30,000 miles on them they look factory new, so hopefully they're easy to keep clean.

It looks like a weathertech mat in back, but I didn't inspect it before. Should know in about 3 hours.

Well, wound up with the Michelin Premier A/S in 215/45. At about a buck-fifty a corner they're definitely not cheap, but I'm delighted with the improvement in NVH over the Driveguards that were on it. I deflated to 33psi and drove them 350 miles to the beach yesterday and it really transformed the experience. Michelin now has a thing where they'll either tow you 150 miles or bring a new tire and mount it at your location if you get a flat and have one of their tires, so hopefully that will ease any flat tire concerns. I'm also carrying my tire plug kit and a small compressor, which should be enough for most "nail in the tread" type flats, should one occur.

New things I've learned:

1) I don't have Proximity Key (whatever they call it) where it stays in your pocket and you push the button. That's fine, I don't actually like it on the cars I've had with it, and have actually ordered my last two German cars without it.

2) There's a cable in the owners manual pouch. It is designed to let you hook your iPhone up with one cable which charges it and also splits and plugs into the AUX port. But... it has the old iPhone 1- iPhone 4 connector (forgotten what those were even called). I've just been using a USB-Lightening cable to charge and a separate AUX cable to play music.

3) I have no sat radio! The hardware's there but it has to be programmed, to the tune of $500+ labor included. Plus subscription. I'll do it because I'm weaned on sat channels and listening to local FM has been excruciating these last few days.

4) Replacement stripes are in at the dealer. I'll pick them up shortly when I get back to town. Old ones are faded from FLA sun.

5) I really, really dislike the inability to block the sun completely! Who knew such a car existed? Sun in the southern US is intense enough that you can feel it uncomfortably on your head, even with a good tint on the sunroof glass and the mesh shade closed. I've ordered an aftermarket screen that fits to the underside of the glass, but will explore other options as well. Something affixed to the mesh screen would be great.

6) The car is a blast to drive, seriously. It shares garage space with some nice iron, including a GT4, and it holds its own in the fun-to-drive category. Certainly not the penalty box I've found the Japanese subcompacts to be. Of course, it costs a lot more new, also.

7) So far, I'm very happy with the amount of car I seem to have gotten for under 15,000 bucks. Sure, you can see where some costs were cut to keep pricing reasonable, but overall they did a remarkable job with their budget. Hats off to BMW on this one.

Hmmm... I wrote a fairly extensive review of my experience so far getting to know her, posted it last night. Instead of appearing, I got a little message that said it wouldn't be posted until review by a moderator. I didn't use any salty language, to quote my dad, and I never got that before. Not sure why it hasn't appeared. If it doesn't show by the end of the day I'll repost something similar.

Thanks everybody. Bugeye, I'll check out those motor mounts. Sounds like a good idea. PokerMunkee, I don't need your type on here goading me to destroy -- oops, I mean tune -- another perfectly good road car. :D It's already right at the edge of comfortable on the interstate. I probably should have gotten a used LS430 or something so I could really zone out and float down the road. Just couldn't bring myself to do it.

Initial thoughts after a 5-hour drive to the beach and a few days running around both in Atlanta and on the GA. Coast:

1) Replacing Runflat Bridgestone Driveguards with Michelin Premier A/S was a big improvement in noise and harsh transmittal of road imperfections. Car felt and sounded like it was crashing on the bumpstops when you hit a wide crack or something at 30mph. Now it is much smoother -- not Lexus LS smooth, but also far better riding than my daughters 05 Mazda 3 was on any tires we tried. Also a very quiet interior for a built-to-a-price premium compact. Sunroofs don't whistle or let air noises in on the interstate

2) I'm impressed with the MINI's build quality and interior appointments. It was said back when the car came out that BMW was sort of inventing the Premium Subcompact segment, or some such. It is certainly nice to have a car with such a small footprint that still gives you excellent objective performance, very good ergos, decent quality leather (for the segment -- not in the universe of leathers), and a very high fun-to-drive quotient.

3) Mileage. Said to be 37 or something. I need to actually measure it; maybe I will on the way home from the beach tomorrow, where I pretty much set the cruise at 79 and point the car for 5 hours. At any rate, delivering me from Atlanta to the coast (350 miles) with nearly a quarter tank still showing on the gauge is a very nice change from the Wrangler's 2-gas-stops version of that trip.

4) Performance. Lots of torque steer when you nail it from zero or low speeds. Not unmanageable at all but definitely requires attention and some counter-steering pressure on the wheel to keep it between the lines. The car really feels like its moving out; I suspect its 0-40 time is much more impressive (on paper) than its 0-60, which is said to be 6.2/14.9 quarter in some piece I read online (no idea if that's accurate, but it feels slower than the initial lunge, which is why I said the 0-40 is probably more impressive).

Gearing is such that 80 in 6th is about 500rpm lower than my sportscar, so its quiet and relaxed in that role. There's a sport button that must be activated with every drive if you want it. Tightens up DBW and steering responses and is noticeable. Unfortunately, it also introduces a ridiculous backfiring sound on in-gear deceleration, not at all like the Porsche burble or blatt I'm used to. I really wish it could be defeated without turning Sport off.

5) Utility and niggling issues: Hauled my Bianchi race bike down to the beach with just the front wheel removed. Back seats folded of course. I love the little barn doors back there, if only for the novelty of them. All the hardware feels top rate in the hand. Doors close with a tinny lightweight sound rather than the cliche'd Swiss bank vault of older German cars or even modern Benzs and Porsches (not been in a BMW in awhile).

The twin sunroofs have a strange way of working, and if I were getting the car new I'd have skipped them. When you pull the toggle that opens them, for the first five seconds both front and rear roofs tilt. If you keep pulling after that, rear roof goes back into the closed position and front roof slides back open and sits atop rear roof. There's no way to open rear roof, nor are there any rear windows. Worst feature is the mesh inner panel. No way to actually close off the sun with an opaque shade, like every other car I've ever seen. Even in early May southern sun, it's too much. I've ordered an aftermarket screen you can suction to the underside of the glass, but that has the obvious problem of ease of removal when you want to open it or just see out after the sun goes down.

All in all, I'm delighted with the Clubman so far (but then I'm still under warranty for 3 months! ) Given the fit/finish, the handling, and the strong motor for this segment, as well as the utility and efficiency, I'm still surprised you could buy this much car with under 30k miles for under $15,000 US. Good job BMW! My first ownership of one of their cars since my '76 530i (which was old and a nightmare when I had it in the late-80s). And best of all -- it is genuinely a very fun car to drive and I can tell I'll enjoy it for a long time, not just till the newness wears off. And I don't say "fun to drive" lightly, as it shares garage space with a Wrangler and a GT4, two cars that are no stranger at all to fun-to-drive.

Cheers!

The car lived its first 4 years in Florida and already has a generous tint on the sunroofs. Definitively helps, over typical factory tint to the glass. But it's not enough for me. I wound up stuffing a cotton rag between the mesh and the glass on the trip to the beach this week; unsightly but confirmed to me there's a need for total blocking for me to not be annoyed by sun coming in. (Truth be told, I'm a slicktop guy by nature -- always order cars without one if the majority of models on dealer lots have sunroofs. I especially don't like the look from outside the car, but it's never been a problem inside before because I just keep it closed.)

I suppose so; probably easier to replace the motor with an LS7 crate motor. :D

It's a shame it wasn't done right from the factory; sometimes the reason every manufacturer does it essentially the same is that is the best way; innovation for innovation's sake may reduce utility. With a solid shade you can have "no sunroof", roll it open and have nicely tinted sunroof (a factory tint that creates the same amount of shading the mesh fabric currently does), or fully open. With the MINI setup you get 2 of those three options (tinted or open), but still have the exact same cost and complexity as The Other Guys.

By the way, the suction shade came in and it's horrible looking, as expected, but works fine. Would only use for longish trips in midday. Perhaps I'll talk to a tint joint and see about going darker. But that's a compromise also, because in morning or evening light, with the sun not straight overhead, I'll now have a much darker experience than I want.

Oh well, it's a small niggle, to be sure. All in all I'm glad BMW took an innovative approach to the car overall. Just think this little detail failed.