Just got back from ordering my next MINI .

Dark Silver / Black Cooper S Manual
Cold Weather, Convenience, & Premium Packages
Black Bonnet Stripes
LSD
DSC
Sport Suspension
16" S-Winders w/ All Seasons (plan to roll my old wheels for summer and use these for winters)
Xenon Headlights
Rear Fogs
White Turn Signals
Carbon Black Cloth Upholstery
Anthracite Headliner
Brushed Alloy Interior

I'm still a bit torn on color. I really like LiB/W w/ white wheels and sport/viper stripes (particularly with the JCW Aero Kit), but the DS/B is probably better on my license/insurance and looks a bit more menacing to me.

I went back and forth on the Sport Suspension as well. After test driving demos w/ and w/o it, the sport suspension seemed to ride at least = if not > than the standard and was missing the slightly disconcerting whip/weight shift that the standard seemed to have when exiting sharp turns and chicanes (I guess this could be good in some instances, but felt a bit dicey on the AS runflats). Unfortunately, I didn't get to drive them back to back, so I don't have supreme confidence in the objectivity of my assessment.

Apparently, my MCS will start production on Wednesday with an estimated delivery in the first week of May.

I've got until Monday morning/afternoon to make changes to my order. Did I make any big mistakes?

Sorry for another "Just Ordered" thread (there are many like it, but this one is mine ), I'm just excited.

 

Paint dries faster than the wait for my new R56. I placed my order last Saturday a week after sacrificing my P.O.S. Honda Accord [yawn] at the alter of the snow gods in the blizzard that hit Cincinnati on 3/08.

Mine is as follows

Chili Red
Black Roof and Mirrors
Black Sport Viper stripes
16" Bridge Spoke with Performance tires
DSC
Sport Suspension
Cold Weather Pack
Premeium Pack
Convience Pack
Anthracite Headliner
Xenons

Immediate Mods:
I'm going to take the stripes all the way down the bumpers
Body cover vinyl wraps for the grill surounf and headlight rings from Vynal Creations.
Side markere blackout stickers from Aesthetic Creations
Three coats of Zaino as soon as I get it home

Mods in the near future:
Alta Cold intake
17" lite weight wheels/tires
Maybe the new unichip. Not sure yet
Garmin Nuvi 780 with the Kuda mounf on the dash.

And the list goes on...

 

Congratulations on the orders! I find I enjoy the fact that my car was custom built to my specs. It really makes the 3 month wait I had worth it!

 

Congrats. My personal preference would be for DS.

Personally, I don't particularly like Xenons (I have them).
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...dvantages.html

Otherwise, it all looks good. DSC and LSD are good choices, IMO.

There are a few things that you don't list that I like, but they cost $$ and a budget is a budget. FWIW, here they are:

Heated Seats: they warm up long before the heater does, and heat on your back is a really nice thing.

Rain Sensing Wipers: they work well in rain that varies in intensity. You don't have to think about it nor keep fiddling with the wiper control to adjust.

Park Distance Control: the high waist of the mini makes it difficult to see low obstacles when backing up.

NAV: Nice integration of many features including audio (mutes for navigation commands, displays playlists for track selection), PDC, and car settings.

 

Hmm, that's an interesting read. My current MCS is the first car I've owned with HIDs, and I've been happy enough with them in general to consider them as must have options on my future cars. But I can relate to what he's saying about inclement weather, I have noticed my headlights getting a bit lost in torrential downpours.

Yeah, definite must haves for me.

Couldn't live without these either. I wind up using them three season out of the year, and rarely use my heat except on extremely cold days. Also really nice on long drives for relaxing the back as you mentioned. Got these in the Cold Weather Package.

These are pretty nice in my R53, as well as the auto headlights ( I pretty much always leave my headlights on auto). Add in the auto-dimming rear mirror, MFSW, and the iPod/USB/Bluetooth integration and the Convenience package made it's way into my order without hesitation. I could see some potential issues/annoyances with Comfort Access, but I guess it could wind up being kinda nifty as well.

Have this in my R53, and it is kinda nice, except when you have ice/snow collected on your rear bumper, makes me feel like I've got a MiG on my tail w/ lock on until the stuff melts/flies off. Easily remedied by scraping off the bumper before hitting the road, but this doesn't always happen when I'm in a hurry. I can see more of a need for this in the R56 w/ its higher belt line, but I sacrificed PDC in the name of vanity to make room for the anthracite headliner, brushed alloy, white turn signals, and bonnet stripes.

Definitely one of the long debated features for me. I would love to have the GPS functions, and the display for audio and car control menus seem pretty nice as well, but I have an extreme aversion to iDrive and the videos I've seen of the NAV menu operations make it seem virtually identical to this system. The joystick seems like it would be relatively inaccessible when you're in 1st, 3rd, or 5th, but I've never had the oportunity to try out this system in person, so I really can't judge. In the end the $2K price tag put me out of the market for this (need to keep my payments under $400/mo.). If I was getting more for my trade in or could afford to put another $3-4K down, I'd probably add this, the JCW Aero Kit, and maybe the black lounge leather.

Thanks a bunch for the input .

 

Bummer about your Accord, but you can take solace in knowing that you're replacing it with a great car that should be several orders of magnitude more fun to drive (unless you dumped a whole lotta money into your Honda). I had issues getting up the hill right before my apartment building a couple of times this winter (would help if they actually treated/plowed it I suppose ). I'm thinking this is nothing a good set of snow tires wouldn't fix though once I can afford them. Until then, I'll just have to throw some crampons and an ice axe in my boot.

Looking good

Did you order at Cincinnati MINI? When do you get to take delivery?

I've been thinking about a black out kit myself, but I kinda like the chrome as well. The blackout treatment looks really good though especially w/ anthracite/black wheels.

 

Yeah, ordering definitely seems like it will make it feel much more like MY car.

Hopefully they weren't just blowing smoke up my nether regions on my delivery date and will honor the deal we negotiated (no reason to think they wouldn't I guess).

 

i just ordered mine 5 days ago and im already going insane!!!!

Chili red/ black roof and black bonnet stripes
Sport package
Sport web wheels
LSD
6-speed
center arm-rest

INSTANT MOD: Blow off valve!

 

Hah! Yes, BOV is what I was thinking as my first "mod" as well After that, some nice 17" gunmetal wheels/tires for 3 season driving, maybe relegate the run flats/crown spokes to winter driving or sell them altogether and get some blizzaks.

Also Silver, went with sport suspension as well after testing both. IMO there wasn't a substantial enough difference in ride comfort compared to standard suspension to sacrifice what I felt was a more direct feel with the sports suspension (make sense?). I think you made the right choice, but in the end it's all a matter of personal taste. Nice color choice, btw -- I had a huge hangup between DS/B and AB w/ white viper stripes, but DS won out in the end.

It's awesome to see so many new owners here, btw, congrats to everyone

 

Those Web Spokes are teh hawtness If this wasn't going to be a daily driver, the roads around here weren't so bad, and money was no object, I'd be on them in a second. Definitely the best aesthetic choice of the OEM wheel selection IMHO (although the 17" multi spokes look really nice as well).

 

i disagree with two things here:

1. the standard halogens are terrible, IMO. i think what that stern link points out is that there 'are' good halogen based designs that can approximate HID lighting with better beam distribution, but it's the design of the beam projection --e.g. Suburus come with nice projection halogen lighting on the new legacy. the lighting on the MINI is horrendous to the point of being useless on back country roads that are unlit.

2. the NAV: it's quite possibly the nicest NAV screen i've seen for sharpness and it's nice to be able to adjust while the car is moving. that said, is it worth $2000? i'd argue not. esp. since MINI improved the OBC interface for the R56. i find the money much better spent on a $500 afterOEM unit and applying said moneys on other options or toward wheels/tires.

just my opinions. i have an 07 car that i'm replacing with an 08 to address these two nagging issues. i simply cannot deal with the OEM halogens, i never use the NAV, either.

 

i like the red/black combo, not many ppl around my area have those colors. I like to stand out. Have anyone heard of the Duck call BOV?

 

Ordered it fom Jay at Cincinnati MINI. The status line says it is in the paint shop right now and is schedule for a 3/26 completion. I talked to Jay yesterday to add the JCW shifter and rubber boot mat and he said it will be about the 3rd week of April.

I have never been a huge fan of chrome and I think there is too much on the car. I have seen some body color blackouts that I think lok really great so I am going that way.

 

Nice, I ordered through Jay as well. They certainly seem busy over there.

If you're going with dark colored wheels, the blackout treatment looks great. I'll probably hold off on adding one unless I wind up going w/ anthracite / gunmetal / black rims and/or the JCW aero kit down the road. The chrome bits just pull the car together better with silver wheels for me.

 

well done, that's a real nice setup

enjoy the wait

 

Thanks!

For some strange reason I figured I would be able to calm down once I finally made my decisions on spec and placed my order, but no dice, I'm as obsessed as ever.

MINI needs to start handing out some kinda time dilation doohicky when you place an order.

 

Just wait, it gets worse.