Msteadman glad to hear you're getting another Mini, I was a blown away when you related your experience, and only having your car for 4 days. Sigh. I'm really glad things worked out for you

 

Msteadman, The wife and i are glad to see you are joining the pepper white club. And might I say IN STYLE too! That is one sweet car, be well and happy motoring!

 

M,

Congratulations on MINI II.

Try to take a little better care of this one!

 

Hey guys and thanks once again for everyone's kind words; you all are awesome!

Picked up my MINI this morning at 9am (actually there was a bit of traffic to it turned out to be more like 9:20am) and I am soooo in love ALL over again. Any worries I had about Pepper White has been eradicated, it's absolutely gorgeous! The black roof/mirrors/ bonnet stripes combined with the carbon lounge leather/cream color line/piano black ties the entire theme together oh so well. I couldn't be more pleased.

Morning started out a little as crazy as I start it up, am about to drive off, and what do you know; the check engine light comes on!!! MA takes it for a drive, figuring it must be a simple matter of it having sat on the lot for a week. Still doesn't go off, so they take it back to the service department and tinker with it for about half an hour. No one can figure out what's the problem so they finally resort to doing some type of procedure where they run a smoke stream through the entire powertrain system (don't ask, I still don't quite understand it, just going by what they said). Smoke starts coming out of the hood; hmmm, that's strange. Turns out the oil dipstick had never been fully inserted from the factory! So note to self (and all of you) be sure to properly secure both the gas cap and dip stick lest your check engine light illuminate.

Anywho, on to the pictures! It actually came with just 3 miles on it but I didn't think to take the last photo until I got to my first red light. Stock 16" wheels are gonna stay on until around February when the snow ends, then I'm leaning towards the 18" black JCW double spokes - NICE! Depending I may go the aftermarket, non runflat route though, we'll see. Regardless, they'll definitely be black or gunmetal and either 17" or 18".

 

Gorgeous - Many happy miles!

 

The circle is complete. From near-disaster to pure bliss.

Congratulations...what a sweet looking MINI!

 

You done good man. I love the PW, with I'd looked at it harder myself because the black accents make it. And so do the seats.

 

That's one sweet ride. I love the black and white theme. Black wheels would definitely look nice, but $ouch$.

I may be mistaken, but is that Otto's MINI outside of West Chester, PA?

I should be picking mine up there next week. Can't wait. Some questions:

Did you order the Bonnet Stripes when you originally placed the order? Are all Bonnet Stripes done at the dealership?

I'm looking for a time frame. How long after it left the distribution center was it ready to drive home from the dealership? Mine is scheduled to ship on the 14th (a Sunday?) so I'm wondering what to expect.

Was your MA Michelle, Brook, or someone else? (if that is indeed Otto's MINI)

Enjoy your new mobile.

 

Oh, sorry. I just read the first post and saw that you mentioned that it is Otto's MINI.

 

mineartg - Very right indeed. Now I can finally put all this madness behind me and enjoying motoring!

TheBigNewt - Why thank you - although it's not something I would have ordered, it's such a sharp combination. I'm much more satisfied then I expect to be with it. Although your current color and my original color may still have been my first choice if I'd built it myself.

DJMix - Thanks so much. Yep, that's the only thing about most black wheels - REALLY hurt the pocket. Going the aftermarket route it actually isn't too bad. But those JCW wheels, as gorgeous as they are, major ouch. Congrats on your order - I know you're gonna love it!

I actually bought this MINI off the lot and it did in fact come without the bonnet stripes, however I was able to get them to throw it in as part of our deal for my purchasing it. On my first MINI which I ordered, the stripes were/are done at the factory. Although I must say, these dealer installed stripes look just as good, so I'm pretty impressed with the quality of Otto's work.

My ordered MINI arrived incredibly fast - exactly 4 weeks from ordering till delivery. It stayed at the VDC for like 3 days, and I picked it up just two days after that. Keep in mind though, I had no dealer or VDC installed accessories. I know that plays a major factor in waiting time.

My original MA was Michael but he since quit and my current one is Brook - AWESOME guy. I sent him a ridiculous amount of emails per day until I took delivery and he promptly answered every single one. Even fulfilled my request to take various pictures of it before my picking it up. And it was he who got me the awesome deal of $750 off MSRP, free bonnet stripes and free floor mats.

 

The car looks great. I'll have my fingers crossed that you get through the first week this time. Congratulations and glad you're still around to be able to drive another new car.

 

Wow your car looks gorgeous! So happy it worked out for you so well in the end. Congrats!

 

MSteadman,
Thanks for the quick reply.
You lucked out with that color combo.
What is considered a Distribution Center/Dealer installed option? Sirius? iPod adapter?

I wish I knew these things...

Thanks again. Enjoy the ride.

 

Sowellman - You and I both! Thanks so much.

Scoopmama - Yep, I'm definitely loving the Pepper White - gorgeous!

DJMix - You're welcome. Sirius is installed at the factory but I'm pretty sure the iPod adapter is installed at the VDC. There may be some instances where it's installed at the dealer, but I'm honestly unsure. However, the main VDC installs I always read about on here are the JCW aero kit and iPod adapter. Common dealer installs are the bonnet stripes (although I don't see why one wouldn't just get it from the factory), mud flaps, strut brace, JCW tuning kit, etc. Again, I'm just about as new to this as you are, but you should be able to gather a lot more information searching around the forums.
Best of luck and definitely keep me updated on the arrival of your MINI.

 

Got the ALTA cold air intake and boost tubes upgrade installed today - all in red. Pics to come soon.

 

good looking MINI.... congratulations!!

 

where did you get the cold air intake and boost upgrade from may i ask? I am considering the same for mine when it arrives

 

Wowza - Congrats! I know you're going to have a FUN FUN weekend - yayyy!!!

Donna

 

andyde - Thank you! Although I must say, the Mellow Yellow/Black combination tempted me quite a lot as well - QUITE sharp.

m&g'smini - I purchased it from JSC Speed in Montgomeryville, PA. They're local to me (I prefer to pickup my packages if possible, as opposed to having them shipped) and they offer price matching on just about all of their ALTA parts. However you can also find those same parts of course at altaminiperformance.com and also namotorsports.net. I actually used the pricing advertised by the latter site to get a good price over at JSC. I've never seen prices lower then NAMS'. Good luck, you'll LOVE the upgrade in sound, power and of course looks. Couldn't recommend ALTA enough.

Donna/Mike - Thanks so much! Yep, it's gonna be quite fun indeed. I have to take a trip over to Philadelphia to pick up a friend of mine. Normally that'd be quite the annoying chore, but in the MINI I'm very much looking forward to it. Not to mention it'll help me get past break in. Just picked it up Saturday and already have over 500 miles on it.

 

Here's a quick pic! Gonna try to take a better one tomorrow when it's not pitch black out.

 

Just a quick bump to celebrate my MINI's one month birthday - WOOHOO!!! Thanks once again to all those who gave me their advice after the total and during the second purchase. I'm absolutely loving it.

 

WOOT-WOOT!

Congrats Msteadman!

Glad to see that everything worked out for you.

Second time around... It's better than the first time...

Enjoy & Motor On!

 

I think I just drooled over that interior. That is awesome. OCD can be a good thing!