You should get the sport package.
I have the auto with sport. It really worked out.
(I bought off the lot)

I drove an auto R53 with no sport. It was stinky.
But, that is apples to oranges.

I would not buy another expensive to me car without DSC.

As to your other question. I'm still hoping it depends on how
you take care of it plus the added factor of BMW quality/longevity
of the drive train. I'm hoping to keep mine going a long, long time.

By the way if you note on my sig, I still drive that one weekly.
I took care of it.

 

And therein lies the problem... In San Diego, your options are Brecht, Brecht, Brecht, or a 100+ mile drive up the coast.

The guy who took us out for all of the test drives was a great guy and we'd have gone out of our way to order through him. But at $500 higher than the other dealership plus $500 more on the downpayment, that's a hell of a lot to pay simply for good service.

Sadly, we were left with a pretty clear message, "Our front of house guys will kill themselves to help you. Our back of house guys know we're the only outfit in town and will gladly charge you a premium for that. If you don't like it, where are you going to go?" Turns out, the answer was "100 miles further North then."

 

I would ask for a print out of all of their inventory meeting the general specifications you want and bargain from there. With this recession, it looks like inventories have ballooned and you should be able to negotiate well below msrp. If they tell you otherwise, they are blowing smoke. Shop at the end of the month. The days of a sellers' market is over and a lot of the comments and observations of last year's r56 buyers is obsolete.

 

ps, if it's a demo car, you should get a free extended warranty automatically

 

If you take a pleasent drive up the coast, head to Long Beach Mini. They treated me pretty well.

 

Print out your order from Miniusa.com and fax it to selected mini dealers. I'm in SoCal and purchased from Mini of Pittsburgh (PA), and had it shipped out. (2003) I think Mini of the Hamptons used to help arrange cheap shipping. The Cars are 50 state legal and you do not pay double excise taxes. California dealers, especially local SoCal dealers charge lots more than list price. Be a savvy shopper.

Advantage to buying local is that when you do need service, you can arrange a loaner. I don't get a loaner. However, the dealers have courtesy shuttles which pick up and drop you off, so it is not that painful.

 

Personally I would have preferred to order one to my exact specifications but it all depends upon what is in your area.

For example I have 4 MINI dealerships within a 50 mile radius and was able to view their online inventories.Some larger dealerships had 50+ MINI's where the smaller ones had 20+.

I had a specific 2008 MINI Cooper S in mind and located several of therm at different dealerships.The big dealerships had all loaded MINI's were asking $1000 over MSRP and wouldn't budge on price so I walked.I then went to a local MINI dealership and found one that was very close to what I wanted color and all but a 6 speed manual not an automatic.I bought the car for $1700 under MSRP and was thrilled and drove off.Being 47 years old my knee was aching so much from constant clutch and shifting that I went back the next day and they just got a brand new 2008 Chili Red MINI Cooper S with an automatic in stock.They happily undid the deal from the day before and put me in that car and have been thrilled ever since.