Dodgy: I just noticed that your guy was born on 9/08/10, the same day that mine was ordered, but you ordered it on 8/30/10. I, still haven't gotten a build date, although the friendly gal at Miniusa says that it is to go to the body shop during week 40, and has something called a 150 to it. I, still get the same message on the Owners Lounge that it has been ordered, but no production date has been set. It's almost three weeks now.

I've also been told that NO JCW's have been produced yet, too. We can all speculate on the reason for that. I'd like to speculate on good thoughts, like something added.

I saw a SilverWhite Just a Cooper in West Chester, PA last week, and I think that it had the NAV type radio screen too. I know that it had HK, but I didn't look much further than that. Maybe they build a bunch of WhiteSilver Coopers with the new Mini Connect before they put a hold on that system and these just don't work. Who knows.

 

Hemi: congrads, a build week! Switching to 150 is good, it means you're a confirmed build and they're going to start it ASAP. Week 40 is either this week or next week, and it seems like this is the first week of production for JCWs, so good thing you ordered when you did!
Now, the real wait begins Although once things get moving and your car actually begins production, it gets a bit easier because then you really know it's coming Although the whole "watching the ship come across the ocean" kinda sucks because you wish it would just pull a StarTrek and go warp speed across the dang pong.

Speaking of ships, Tamesis is somewhere off the American coast, finnaally. I know, I swore I wouldn't check it's location, but I finally had to yesterday, and sure enough, yesterday was the one day it hadn't sent a weather report Checked today and it's back on the radar and has made pretty darn good time! Looks like another 2 day sail to the MD/VA region, then a few hours to get up into the Bay and into Baltimore. Right on schedule! I figure I'll start hassling my MA when it lands and discharges my car

 

sweet, wahoo, almost there!

when do you guys consider is your 'born date' out of curiosity? Day it stated production, day it ended, what?

 

Hemisedan, congrats on the build date! You'll find that the owner's lounge is always behind the times. The ASK-MINI telephone line was always up to date.

Congrats, Wahoo--I figured you'd give in at some point. Glad you're close! Don Carlos is just south of Hispaniola. You don't think about how far south Panama is until you see the plot from England! Two more weeks for me at least...

You'll get a completed prouduction date once it's gone from the body shop, to the paint shop, to assembly. That's the date I've been using for the "born" date.

 

Dodgy it's coming man! Just be glad that hurricane will be nowhere near the boat!

Hemi, most people use the date the car finished production. Sometimes production takes 8 days, sometimes a day shorter or longer. Also, MINI refers to the build process as the "birth canal" so it's birthday is when it's done and outta there.

 

UAL_K brought up an interesting point on another thread about run-flats.

Who's planning to keep there's? I don't really have disposable funds to just ditch them right away, much less before their run time is up. Even if I switch out of them, I doubt I'll buy a spare either because I'm living in a pretty major city and I figure either getting to a tire shop or getting a tow won't be difficult. Course, that one time I'm out in the mountains will be the time I blow a tire I'm sure, so I'll probably just stick with RFs. I'm young and dumb so the "feel-everything" ride doesn't bother me as much as others too

 

wahoo-shoe: I don't think that there's just a whole lot of guys/gals out there that keep the runflats long. Myself? About the first thing that I'm going to do is get Winter tires. Hey, I live in Iowa, and after last years fiasco of snow, well the Lil Guy will get here about the first snow. Hopefully not, but November could mean snow, and with all the rain that we've gotten this Summer, and while I was on the East Coast, it rained everyday last week. So, Winter tires and they will NOT be runflats. Just get a can of slippery fill, and don't worry about it. Blowouts? That doesn't happen very often, if ever. A slow leak is more likely.

 

I read legions of posts against run flats. They're heavy, they're a rough ride, they're expensive, they're unrepairable by virtue of the tires own warranty, if not in practical reality, etc.

On the other hand, having had flats on them, it was quite nice to be able to get to my destination and be able to deal with the tire then rather than on the side of the road. While in truth we can rely on roadside assistance for help, even without rf tires or a spare, the reality of my personal experience was that EVERY flat was either on the way to a meeting or late at night in a dubious area.

To me, the rfs were and are a great feature.

 

Having a spare will give you a little piece of mind. It will cost you about $300 for the spare wheel, tire, mounting & balancing, wheel foam tray, retaining bolt, and retainer clamp. The spare will only fit on the rear because it won't clear the calipers on the front. Should you have a flat on the front, you have to move the rear tire to the front and mount the spare on the rear.

Even if I have run-flats, I won't drive on them when the tire pressure monitoring sensor goes off. One should then just pull to the side of the road and call roadside assistance to mount the spare. This will buy you some time to find a shop that is willing to fix your run-flat.

 

Agreed contrary to the previous post, if your tire sensor goes on with your run flats, you can pull over and check the tire but you do not need to change it right then and there. The whole point of run flats is that you can drive to your destination or a shop to purchase a new tire. Even if i had a spare there are not many areas i would want to stop to change a flat tire, especially at night. It is not safe to do. Run flats are a great feature, next i will be getting run flat winter tires.

 

I mean I think there's arguments both ways. I just like the ability to proceed on non-blown-out rfs until you get to the appropriate place to deal with it. I know my wife feels this way, that's for sure.

 

Good to know there are others out there that agree about the #1 good thing about RFs: the safety and peace of mind not having to stand on the side of a road and be forced to change a tire. Being female, it's just more comforting to me to have that security. A $200 tire is a no-brainer when compared to my safety.

 

Especially for a young female, I agree with you on the run flats. But in saying all that, I really can't remember the last time that I had a flat tire. Also, the run flats, especially in 17" tires/wheels, are rough. For me, I'll probably be using more than one set of tires, and of course, with Winter coming right after I get the JCW, well, I'll need to get Winter tires anyway, and I will buy only non runflats. By the way, week 40 is not this week like I had hoped, but next week, or the first week of October. Guess Lil Guy won'at be here until mid November.

 

hemisedan, there are some runflat winter tires available at tire rack. Unless you have a spare getting non runflats for winter would make me feel uncomfortable. And even if u have a spare, getting a flat somewhere and having to change it in freezing weather is not something I would wanna do, but at least you can call roadside to change it if u wanted.

 

Runflats, will never be bought for any car of mine. Way too rough a riding and you mentioned about being hesitant about running non run flats in the Winter. Well, I live in Iowa and we do have Winter weather. Right now, for the past three years, I have driven a Miata MX-5 with non run flat winter tires on the rear. No flats, before that I had another Mazda for three years, no flat tires. The last flat tire I had was in 2001 when I was driving about 55,000 miles a year in sales for Orking Pest Control. One flat then. Plus, I would have the jelly or whatever they call it to do a fix if I actually had to. I may not know what they call it, but I have seen it used and it works great. Also, ever found a place to fix a runflat tire? Right, they are not suppose to fix these tires, so why are they so good. And again, if you do have a slow leak, wouldn't that show up with the tire sensors and notify you on the dash? Even though I just had those sensor warnings, that would let you know if you were losing air.

For me, flat tires are a non issue. And, as I said, I don't get flat tires, and if you take care of your vehicle, Mini or not, you should not have a flat tire, unless you do something stupid, like run into a curb. Plus, the damn things are heavier than crap.

 

wahoo_shoe and all:

Well, just got off the phone with my wonderful guy, I think that I am going to switch to the gal next time, and he informed me that my Lil Guy is NOT yet scheduled for any particular build week yet. I asked him about Week #40, and he said, that's next week and I doubt that it will be built that week. I asked him if it being a JCW might be having a bearing on why it hasn't been scheduled yet, and he didn't know, but said that being a JCW might be a reason, especially with certain options. So, we're back to square one, no date yet. Maybe I'll get this in time for my birthday in December, who knows. Rather discouraging. It was ordered on Sept. 8th, set for production on Sept. 10th, and now nothing since. Maybe I could send my carbon fibre exterior door handles over there and they could just mount them with the build, rather than having to take the doors apart to mount them here. Hey, it's an idea. Also have the carbon fibre hatch handle, too. Going to do the gas filler in carbon fibre, and that's it, got to stop somewhere.

So, Week #40 is out, how about week #45. Hell, who knows.

 

Hemi: you know you're taunting the tire gods, don't you?

Who does that dumb@ss move?? I parked in this one spot near my apartment in college hundreds of times. The one day I actually needed to depend on my car, I hit the edge of the storm drain top (you know, the big gray concrete slab that they apparently secure a piece of freaking steel to the edge). Tire was flat almost instantly

Is the ride really that much different? I'm in the DC metro area and in a well-populated area. My commute is mainly highway so if it does snow, I should be ok. My worst fear is getting a flat in the middle of nowhere, even though I have AAA. A flat at night warrants a call to the state police in my book, but I still have to wait..
Errrgggg. Thankfully I definitely won't be changing them out right away so I have time to think about it. Also have time to judge the jarring ride..

 

Uh, yeah. I would change them out ASAP before your MINI is beat to hell.

 

Yes, I understand. I'll try them out, well for a month that is, the first snow usually hits in mid to late November, and definately by the second week in December. So, I had better have Winter tires on it by then. But, the way this is going now, December 15th looks like my delivery date. No week #40, all JCW's got pulled according to my ***.

By the way, anyone want my new, never used Carbon Fibre outside door handles. Give you all a shot at them first before Ebay.

 

Hemi: so sorry man. I got told when I first called my car should've been built that week, but I ended up waiting till the next week. ASK-MINI isn't always reliable as the people sometimes tell you completely different things. Sometimes you gotta dig for answers too, although until something is set in stone, the answer isn't always clear, much less obtainable. You should try talking to your MA, I bet if you hint canceling your order due to no answers, some answers may appear

 

It seems really frustrating that the two hottest, most desirable options that involve paying more than most, are the ones delayed. Weak! however those that wanted nav would probably regret not waiting in the long run, and if you can afford jcw, it's gotta be worth the wait. If I could have rationalized that additional cost, I would be waiting with you!

 

We have friends that had runflats on their Toyota. They had a puncture in Virginia and made it to a hotel, where they waited three days to get another tire. They finally rented a car and left their car at the motel. A week later they returned to retrieve their car. When they got home they immediately replaced the runflats with standard tires.
I once waited four days in Vermont with a Porsche because no tires in that size where available.
Nobody is sitting on the edge of their chair waiting to send you a replacement tire; I've been there.
When my new MCS arrives in early November, the runflats will off in a the first week. See the "Market" for a great deal on new runflats.

 

What a frickin' nightmare!

 

Many places, even in large cities, don't have your particular run-flat in stock. They have to special order it for you. Even if they have one in your size at that location, it might be a different brand. If you buy that one tire they have, your car will have two different tread patterns. To balance that out, you buy another one to match the new tire. Now you are down $500.

Option 2: is to drive all over looking for a place that is willing to fix your run-flat. In the meantime you know you can only drive safely on the damaged run-flat for 50 miles max. (read about the 50 miles limit on the tire forum section)

Option 3: If you decide to wait for the special order tire, you better hope you get the new tire installed before you reach 50 miles on your damaged run-flat.

In my opinion, the safest thing to do is keep a spare tire or a spare run-flat available. Look in the "Market" section to purchase the ones that Capt Fred will be selling shortly.

 

I'm going to keep the runflats, but I'm also getting separate winter tires. If one of the runflats need to be replaced and the tire shop doesn't have one in the stock, then I will just replace all of them with standard tires.