I'm *this* close to placing my order after many, many hours of researching options online. A huge thank you to all of you here on NAM for sharing your vast experience with MINIs! I just have a handful of questions if you don't mind.

Metallic paint: Although I've been planning to get DS/B, I also love LB/W and CR/W is very nice too. I just read a post about metallic colors scratching easily. Is this true? What are the pros and cons of metallic paint?

Driving Lights: I really love the look and they'll come in handy at some point, but do they get damaged easily and do they get stolen and vandalized often?

Roof color: What are the pros and cons of the black and white roofs?

Wheels: I would get the cool wheels if I could but since I live in the Midwest, I'm going for safety and practicality and ordering the Bridge Spokes and all season tires. Do you think it would look stupid if I had the calipers painted red with the Bridge Spokes?

Thank you so much for your help!

 

I have Pure Silver metallic on my MCS. I have not noticed it scratching easily. Seems pretty tough to me. Over the years it has seemed to me that metallic colors are less prone to fading than standard colors.

I have no experience with driving lights, but I could see how someone parking by feel could destroy them quickly.

Black looks great with many colors, but is a solar collector and may overcome your air conditioning in very hot sunny weather. Black also needs to be kept very clean.

White reflects sun so would be cooler than most body colors. It is also a traditional color for Mini roofs. It doesn't look a macho as black.

I don't think it would look stupid, but the calipers wont show as much as they would with other designs.

What is it about the Midwest that requires heavy OEM wheels? Lighter weight third-party wheels don't have to be very expensive and can improve ride comfort, braking, acceleration, and handling. I'm in California and the roads around me are not that good.

For snow, people often buy an extra set of 16" for an MCS or 15" for an MC and put snow tires on them. That is much safer in those conditions than all season tires.

I bought a set of 14 lb. Rota RB 16x7 wheels, and a set of 16 lb. Centerline RPM 17x7 wheels. The Rotas are available online for $575 for four shipped (about the cost of a set of tires). The Centerline were about $750. You don't need to pay $1800 for optional OEM wheels to get good lightweight wheels.

 

Welcome, and be sure to post pics when you get you baby.

The questions you're asking are highly subjective.

Paint: I dare say these days, most cars have metallic paint, so I would say they aren't any worse or better off than non-metallic paint.

Driving lights: If you hit a deer, you'll damage them, and then some. As far as vanadalism, highly dependent on your neighbourhood. I live in a suburb where if some punk breaks a window, it'll make front page news.

Roof colour: A lighter coloured roof will reflect more of the sun than a darker coloured roof, it that matters to you. Otherwise it's really personal preference.

Wheels/painted calipers: It's your car - if you like red calipers, go for it. If you're looking for an opinin, personally I'd leave red or painted calipers for big brake kits.

 

Living here in Florida a white roof is a must for me Keeps the interior cool. . The driving lights are both cool looking and functional, I have not had any damage done to them, white wheels are a pain in the a$$ to keep clean but they look good.

 

Metallic paint isn't gonna wear any different than any other paint. Go with the color you like.
I've said this before: Black or white, it makes no difference with respect to temperature in the car. The temp in the car depends on where the car is, not what color it is. A car's a metal box. If it's in hot sun it gets hot! Go with the color you like.

 

I dont agree with you on your theory, It will cost you 2 eggs and a white and a black metal surface. See which one fries first in the Sun.. The white surface will maintain a cooler temp than the black one... regardless of ambient temperature. White surfaces reflect the Infra Red rays which have the heat content that we feel. White cars are ALWAYS cooler than a black or dark color.

 

I like the driving lights. My issue was if they were worth $500. I think they look cool, but on the old car I only actually used them a handful of times, so I spent the money on an LSD instead.

White roof is the way to go IMO. It just looks more like a MINI. Plus, it makes it easier to see your car in the parking lot.

I went with 17" wheels. I was going to go with 16s, but after seeing them in person, I didn't think they filled up the wheel wells as nice. Go for the painted calipers though. They look cool on almost every MINI that I have seen them on.

 

Buy the OEMS and install them yourself. There are lots of help here on NAM for that.

 

Metallic Paint - Shouldn't scratch any easier, but if you need a repair, metallic is much harder to match as the metal flakes will lay down at a different angle than the original paint and cause the color to look slightly different.

As for the roof, pick what you like. You can also choose body color which is seems to be pretty rare from the cars I've seen. (most are black or white)

Good Luck!

 

Roof Color - If you buy into the tradition of the contrasting roof then go for it. Black looks good on everything I've seen but I think white only looks good with certain colors. I actually had a white roof picked out with some checkered mirror caps but in the end gave up on the idea. It just seemed too eye catching and not in a good way. Especially since I had never seen that combination before with the color I had chosen. If you don't care for the contrasting roof then go for the body color roof. It's sharp and normal looking.

Wheels - I did some research on this and after much reading I came to the consensus that if you need "winter" tires then get winter tires. The "all season" option isn't great for the winter. This allows you to get the wheels you want and get some cheap wheels/winter tires for when you really need them. You also get to step down a size in winter which I'm told helps with ride comfort when you can't be all that spirited anyway.

good luck with the wait

 

Welcome!!