thanks for officially jacking my thread..

 

Sorry.....back to our regularly scheduled programming.

 

You do realize that HID lights put out somewhere between 2 and 3 times the light of Halogen bulbs right? The only benefit of having Halogen over HID is the color temperature. In bad weather (Rain/snow) blue light is refracted off the water droplets and can cause glare, yellow light cuts through better. You can get around that problem with yellow fog lights. That doesn't even get into the fact that most HID lighting systems will last the life of the car (150k+ miles). There's nothing to debate, HID lights work better, it's like temperature, you can't argue that 50 degrees is hotter than 80 degrees. Likewise, 4800 lumens is better than 1900 lumens (Not to mention humans can naturally see better in white *Sun?* light). I can't see ANYTHING when I drive cars without HID lights. Every single car i've owned has had HID's on it (If it didn't come with them I put them on).

 

No pics yet, I will take some soon. Louder, not really. Only that you can hear the blow off valve. Also when you rev over 4500 rpm you can hear a high pitch note

 

A lot of folks don't like Xenons...a lot do. Both groups have compelling reasons for their preference. If someone specs them, I assume they must really want them.

 

My suggestion is never step foot in an S. If you can live with how the MC feels, don't even worry about it. I was just about to write a cheque for an MC but then I decided to see what some option was that was only available on the S. I drove the S and was sold instantly. For me the only things that I really LOVE are...
1. S
2. MFSW
3. Auto gearbox
4. Sunroof
5. Xenons

 

if you were considering the civic si, there is no reason not to consider the cooper s. if you want good gas mileage, the civic si is not the one to even consider. so either you meant to just say civic, or you really want a performance car. in that case, you would want the S. and you could get a new one or a used 2007. the cooper 2 base price is actually either a hundred or a couple hundred (cant remember) dollars less than the civic si, and you wont get an si for msrp. at least 99.9999999% of the time. the dealer i went to (i considered the si too) was marking the up something like $2500 - $3000. an si, with wheel locks and mudflaps, ended up being $25,000, which is what i paid for my MCS, with the sport package and some other things. not to mention the MCS, even a bone stock base model, is faster, brakes harder, handles better (this one could be contested), and gets better gas mileage than an si. so you will probably save money and get a better car.

so if you were thinking about the si, go for the cooper s and you wont be dissapointed. i know from what you said it seems like you are set on the MC, and i dont want to try to force my choice on you, but i thought it was strange that you put the si in there and compared it to the base MC. anyway, good luck.

 

DSC is a good idea. It is a great safety feature that can mean the difference between avoiding an accident and being in one. No matter how capable a driver you are, DSC can do things you can't.

 

Not always a good thing.

Adding yellow light will not reduce the glare from the blue in the Xenons.

Except that firing up the Xenons is hard on the igniters, and they are slow to come on. So forget about flashing your lights when they aren't already on.

There is plenty to debate. Here are some of the arguments:
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...dvantages.html

 

Well, I've never driven a Merc, so I can't compare those. I would imagine a certain type of woman swoons for the AMG. I can say the MINI gets way more smiles and waves from women than the 3/4 ton Dodge got. Plus, the few that did smile and wave at the Dodge were into diesel trucks...

I am all sorts of marred, though. So I can't vouch for more than a smile and a wave. A word of advice: I was not popular at home when I mentioned this observation.


I sort of like my Xenons. The light they give off has been more than adequate in all situations I have found myself in so far. I was sold on the bulb life, especially since the last car I had with stiff suspension ate halogens. But, you can't flash to pass, as Robin noted already. On top of that, on bumpy roads at night, some folks think I am flashing my brights at them.

 

I went from a BMW X5 SUV to a Mini S. I will say that I do miss the roominess of the X5 but I dont miss the $75/week for gas! I love my mini and I dont feel guilty for taking it out for long unnecessary drives as I did with the X5. Also, the mini makes me feel young again and yes, I have been getting waves from girls when driving it... that never happened with the X5.

 

if your looking for a totally different car and feeling then go for it. My past 2 cars are a 2001 ML55 and a 2004 E55. I wanted a change and wanted mostly to save money. build quality and ride comfort of course is worse than the MBs but over all I am quite satisfied with my change in cars. My next car on order is the new Nissan GTR but I still will probably keep the Mini simply because I enjoy driving it.

 

We actually sold an 06 E350 (non AMG) for the MINI. Totally different world, but I wouldn't do it any other way.

I haven't been in for MINI service yet, but the way the MBZ world treated me, I have no were to go but up.