Ok, so everyone and their mother posts a "how's my build?" thread before ordering. I'm sure most of you are sick of it. But now it's my turn, so I'm going to have a go.

I'm interested in options that I may have missed that are worth considering, and options that I have selected that may not really be something I'd be happy with in real life (two different MAs have convinced me not to go with the smartphone armrest prep option, for example).

Here goes... and don't miss the notes at the end.

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My 2009 MINI Cooper S

PAINT IT
Chrome Line Exterior $250
Chrome Mirror Caps INC
Black Roof/Mirrors $0
Laser Blue Body Color $500

PACKAGES
Cold Weather Package $500Sport Package $1,500Convenience Package Plus $1,500Premium Package $1,250
PERFORMANCE
Dynamic Stability Control STD
Front Fog Lamps STD
Rear Fog Lamp $100
6-Speed Getrag Manual STD

COCKPIT
Sport Seats STD
Chrome Line Interior $250
On-Board Computer STD
Anthracite Headliner $250
Dark Grey Color Line INC
Leather: Punch Carbon Black $1,500
Computer Nav. System $2,000
Alarm System $500
10-Speaker. Hi-Fi Sound System $500
Interior Surface Piano Black INC
Rear Park Distance Control $500

JOHN COOPER WORKS ACCESSORIES**
No selections in this category

GENUINE MOTORING ACCESSORIES**
Bumper Protection (installation not incl.) $43
Grocery Bag Holder (installation not incl.) $25
Chrome Bonnet Scoop (installation not incl.) $159
Mud Flaps front and rear axle (installation not incl.) $62
"S" Rubber Floor Mats (front) (installation not incl.) $70
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Some notes...

• I am in Arizona, but yes, I want a sunroof. And, yes, I do intend to ceramic tint it.
• I am in Arizona, but yes, I want the cold weather package. It's cheap (relatively), it does get cold here (swings of 30+ degrees in one day are normal), and I don't plan on living here forever.
• I don't know how the punch leather seats will hold up over time (any pics would be appreciated)
• I'm on the fence about the dark gray interior color line -- I get a freebie with the punch leather seats, but is it just me, or does the default color line look darker (and match the rest of the dash more closely) than the dark gray color line?
• I'm on the fence as well about the piano black trim. The dark interior with piano black trim does seem a bit overdone. My second choice would probably be the brushed alloy... but I just don't know.
• "Axe the floor mats and have the dealer throw them in" -- yeah, but it's $70 and that's what, around 1/5 of one percent of the price of the car? I don't think I'll notice it. If I could get them to throw in the JCW Challenge Spoke wheels... now we'd be talking.
• Hi-Fi speakers. Some people say they suck, some people say they don't. I like having the tweeters on the post for when I upgrade the speakers in 3 years or so.
• Park distance control. Yeah, the MINI is short, and it seem silly, but I figure it will pay for itself the first time I don't back into some short concrete post or run over someone's kid.
• I don't need sat nav where I live right now, and I expect the maps will be out of date in 6 months anyway. Half the reason for adding this is because it looks much better than the standard dinner plate. The other half is because of the improved interface to the car's various options. I wish it were cheaper, but it's not.

 

The things I would have questioned you vigorously defended in you notes, so i won't go there.

 

Why no LSD? Just curious to know.

 

On the nav, I don't have it, and glad I don't, don't need it.

However, I do agree the dinner plate looks ridiculous. I'm thinking of having the outer 2/3 covering the speed indicators tinted as dark as I can, leaving the warnings/fuel/etc lights visible....

Not sure on black interior line. I have Astro Black, Punch Carbon (love it) and anthracite. I'm not much for chrome, that's an individual thing, but I went with fluid silver interior - it's more satin silver/softer than other gloss finishes, and seems to work well on the darkness. Plus some of the trim is already fluid silver so it ties in. Small section of passenger door trim and dash trim visible here:

 

Wow, that is one heavily loaded car!
I live in AZ too. Love, love, love my heated seats. I have been using them every morning lately!
Get the LSD if available with your packages. The "pull" out of corners is tremendous!
Skip the chrome line exterior and mirror caps, that's just too much chrome
Skip the Nav, too much $$
I have the DG colorline and love it!

 

Get the LSD, if you are going to move somewhere with snow, you'll want it

 

Yeah I agree with the LSD, go for it if you've got that much other stuff on there. And so what if its just 70$, let the dealer pay for the floormats. Personally I would seriously reconsider the chrome hoodscoop and mirror caps, waaaaay to much.

 

I have attached a photo of the dark grey color line with the brushed alloy(there are a few more pics in my gallery). I thought about going with the piano black but thought it might be too much black including the anthracite HL and was concerned about the piano black scratching easily. Its all a matter of taste/preference.

I decided to go with the brushed alloy and stay with the standard headliner to make the interior feel roomier and save the $250 on the headliner. The grey in the brushed alloy pulls the grey in the standard headliner together. I also went with the chrome interior and its worth every penny. I have seen a lot of regrets over not going with it because of all of the plastic trim. The interior chrome adds a richness and I have not experienced any glare from it at all.

Heated seats are well worth the money in any climate. I find them very theraputic after a long day at work even if it isn't cold out! The only change I would make since taking delivery is getting driving lights which I can still do... and will soon.

You've defended some of the other add-ons that I may consider not getting and that's what so great about building a MINI! Your build sounds great and if you're happy with it, go for it. I know I built mine about 20 different times and second guessed my decision the entire wait but go with your gut and push the order button!

Good luck to you and great color choice!

 

I didn't think I'd need the NAV, but am very glad I got it. Since you are getting the Bluetooth/iPod option, it will display your playlists and make it easy to navigate through them. It is also useful for phone handling, radio control, and setting car options. The NAV map in the direction of travel is fun to leave up while driving. My passengers have found it most impressive, and rather cool looking.

You must really like chrome. In the bright Arizona sun, you may end up blinding someone and causing an accident.

I'm in California and think the heated seats are well worth having.

Other than the chrome, the only thing I wouldn't get is the sunroof.

I think the Piano Black looks much better than the various aluminum options. If I had it to do over again, I'd get English Oak and Redwood Lounge Leather.

Here is an old photo with Piano Black and the standard grey. I couldn't see much difference in it and the greyline interior. Currently, the shift **** and eBrake handle are now walnut, the armrest is gone (ripped it out), and the iPod holder has been replaced with an iPhone dock on the left cup holder. I've also added a ScanGaugeII on top of the dash between the steering wheel NAV.

 

Sounds like you cherry picked your options very carefully. That's good. Second guessing is a pain, but buyer's remorse is worse!

I think you've got a winner in the making there. Good job!

I am curious why the MAs convinced you to pass on the smart phone armrest prep. I just got an iPhone, and was thinking about getting that. Currently, I've got to unplug and stash my iPod every time I get out of the car, because the USB/power line hang in front of the shifter in plain sight. Granted, I will have to open and remove my iPhone from the armrest cradle anyway, but I like that it doesn't involve any wires hanging out of the dash.

What did the MAs say to discourage your getting the smart phone prep?

 

I went with Laser Blue with the White top & mirrors - same wheels as you, with the cloth and leather seats and blue line interior with brushed alloy. I went with most of the old sport package but skipped the stiffer suspension. I just do not think the car needs it. I also have the cold weather package and LSD (Colorado, are you kidding, should be standard!) . I skipped the premium and convenience packages, I did not want a sunroof. I went with the arm rest and an IPOD interface not the full phone/bluetooth. Everything else is just personalization stuff but in my opinion, if you are getting the sunroof, I would skip the headliner. There are pictures in my gallery and I will send you more of the interior if you like.

bob g
1966 OEW MGB
1966 OEW MGB-GT
1973 Green Mallard MGB
1976 Inca Yellow TR-6
2009 Laser Blue MINI Cooper S

 

I don't know what the MAs said, but I ripped my armrest out (it came with a package in 2007) because it really annoyed me. The sliding lid wouldn't stay shut, the armrest got in the way of shifting (varies with a person's height and seat position), and didn't fold back far enough to really get out of the way. If you get it, you still have buy the interior cradle to match your phone, if one is available.

For my iPhone, I do this:

 

Also on the interior, I have the piano black w/ dark grey line only because you don't get a choice with the redwood red lounge leather, and I do love the way it looks, but if I had a choice I would have gone with the brushed alloy, super stylin without being too over the top.

 

Good color choice!

 

Ok, lots of comments on the chrome so far...

I want the chrome interior because I think it looks much nicer (especially around the speedo). I was sold on that very early on by DavidB_2008's flickr photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidba...7600300704451/

On the exterior, I want something other than the bland same-as-the-body color boot handle and I think chrome might look nice against the blue there. The hood is much the same -- stripes are too over-done, but I don't want a bland mono-chromatic hood either, so I thought a chrome bonnet scoop would work nicely there as well. The rest of the chrome I could take or leave, but that boot handle is most of the way to the exterior chrome's $250 price anyway, so I picked the whole option.

I like the color a lot (again, DavidB_2008's photos -- he really should get a commission on my order). The other colors I was considering were the...

1. Sparkling Silver -- the girlfriend said "champaign" was an old-person's car color, pointed to her 60 year old boss's Jag for exhibit A, and then made sure I was aware of every single champaign-colored car we'd see on the road with a retired snowbird at the wheel until I promised not to get it
2. Dark Silver -- but I'd feel quite the hypocrite with my past laughter over BMW, Audi, and Merc's color options looking like they're all in grayscale for the past 5 years.

And a few comments on LSD (or the lack thereof)...
I was on the fence between LSD or the DTC in the sports package. I decided on the DTC route for a few reasons (but feel free to convince me otherwise)...

1. DTC has an 'off' button, LSD does not. Why do I want an 'off' button? The way I think of it is that spinning your tires does not transfer energy to the track very well and will lower one's track time (not a big deal for me)... but it can be a whole lot more fun. =)
2. I've read a number of complaints regarding the interaction of the LSD with torque steer.
3. A limited-slip differential strikes me as a more complex system than a regular differential, and that sounds like an increased chance of something breaking and an increased bill to fix it when it does.

If I did change my mind on the LSD, it would be in place of the DTC... it's an either-or in my mind.

Hmm, interior color lines. Standard Gray in Robin's photo, or Dark Gray in kellypgh's photo... I appreciate having the two to compare against, but I have to say I'm leaning more toward the standard; I think that slight color mismatch with the rest of the dash would really get to me.
A gross mismatch would work, though... maybe I'll just go with blue... which wouldn't work at all with the piano black, so I'd have to change that too.

 

Very pleased with Silver Critter's MINI Hi-Fi Sound System. Also, definitely order the LSD.

 

I don't recall exactly what they said, but it was along the lines of...
It's $100 for the prep, then another $150 or so for the insert that matches your phone and goes into the armrest (repeat, if you ever get a new phone... if MINI even offers an insert for it). Then, you've got something that doesn't let you use anything else on the phone (like, say, finding the address to that good italian bistro in your contacts list) because it's hidden away in the armrest.

Robin's cup holder option isn't bad, but it's too far out of the way for my tastes (especially if I plan on interacting with it occasionally), and it does eat a cup holder.

What I plan on going with instead is a proclip dashboard mount. That gives me the option of connecting with either the headphone jack (to still use the iPhone interface with music/podcasts) or the iPod connector, I can get around the funky charging incompatibility issue with the iPhone 3G (when they bump capacity so it's worth an upgrade from my 1st gen), and it's not tucked away somewhere that I'll likely forget to take it with me.

 

My MINI is straight edge.

 

I think the punch leather is over-rated for the price, look at a pic of someones that is a few years old, more wrinkles than joan rivers. Nav is also grossly overpriced. My NUVI is $99 and updates under $70. Price an update for DVD from MINI. With the MFS steering wheel you get bluetooth, voice recognition, address book loads and displays nicely, also OBD computer is great tool so using that as a justification for Nav is equalled. I love the chromeline interior. Exterior gas cap and door handles are already chromed so I opted for no ext. chrome. Also, I am very happy with the brushed alum.

Why is everyone hooked on this LSD thing? these things are 170hp toys with FWD, not high horsepower drag cars... Maybe if we had RWD and increase the boost a little...wait, that's my other car.

 

I've got a little more than 170whp. Besides, I thought the LSD would be a nice safety feature when taking the hard turns.

BTW, thank you for your military service.

 

Who has used the new DTC system? For the facory JCW, it is the only traction option -- no LSD for JCW. Is DTC as good or better than LSD? DTC wasn't available for my 2007, so glad I got LSD, but isn't DTC just as effective?

The NAV is overpriced, if it were just a NAV, but it is much more. It may still be overpriced, but a very useful option. Glad I have it.

 

Looks like a great car to me, where are you going to order it?

 

I don't think anyone's used the DTC yet, as it was introduced with the '09 sports package made available just this month. But there has been quite a bit of discussion already in other threads guessing at which would be better. I'd suggest a forum search on 'DTC' to find what others think on the question.

I've posted about the quest before...
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ealership.html

I'm not sure yet. I've contacted most dealers from California to Texas. The best deal appears to be coming from Dallas, but that's a bit far, so the top of my list at the moment is Denver. I see you're from Sandia MINI. I'd been talking with a Will Fox over there, but communication hasn't been the best. What I had gathered was no better an offer than Denver. Maybe you could do better?

 

fishbert, sounds like you're about ready to pull the trigger, but FWIW I suggest you:

-- skip the chrome exterior (agree with others here who believe it's over the top),
-- go with anthracite headliner (I've never regretted mine - looks upscale, and MINIUSA must think so, too, as it's standard in the factory JCW),
-- go with chrome interior w/piano black (again, upscale look -- plenty of threads on NAM that diss the concern of excessive scratching, etc.),
-- unless you really want to stay OEM, skip the Hi-Fi and apply the $500 to aftermarket,
-- if you have an extra $2K sitting around, I think your reasoning re: the NAV option makes sense -- especially if you intend to use the display for playlists, etc.

Good luck !!

 

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