So here's the introduction of what I am sure will be a years-long love story. I have never, ever fallen in love with a car so quickly.

I had a 2010 VW GTI...great car but I was getting bored as it was a fantastic machine but never really "bonded" with the car. It was the Audi A3 S-Line for $23k and a VW badge. I probably would have kept it but when I bought it it was an impulse buy and I skipped on two must-have options for me, the Adaptive Xenons and Dynaudio. Bad move, and I thought about both options every day, plus you can't really retrofit those items. The interior of the GTI was great but a bit bland in design but excellent ergonomics and gauges.

I went to Passport Mini in Alexandria a week ago on a whim, to drive an R56 Cooper S because it was a car I always wanted to own since it came out but I never bought one or even gave it a chance due to questionable reliability and interior design. I drove a used, loaded '09 S but was absolutely infuriated with the navigation, total POS and even the salesman couldn't figure it out. Regardless, it was fun to drive. They wanted $23.5k for it with 21k miles, which to me was just too much...I'll take a 128i for that money given the flaws and questionable reliability.

Then I logged onto North American Motoring, and saw that Mini was having a great promotion in March with .9%/60 months AND a free package or Steptronic. With the free package I would get $1750 off since Premium is mandatory for me. So now, with ridiculous used Mini resale, questionable early R56 reliability, and great new '11 incentives, I looked to new ones. The game sweetened with the 2011 changes: full Valvetronic, 181 hp, improved efficiency, new clutch that hopefully fixed past issues, great facelift front and back, much improved interior controls and colors, etc.

The problem is that while I wanted to order one, I wouldn't be guaranteed the free package deal when I take deliver, and I was already kinda beyond my price ceiling. Plus I'm very picky and wanted most of the options, heated seats, Premium package, Xenons with optional adaptive feature, DTC, anthracite headliner, and the list goes on. My Mini that I was going to build was $30k on the nose and was non-existant on dealer lots in the entire country. I should be in charge of ordering Minis for the country.

Passport, the largest East Coast Mini dealer and 2nd largest in US, behind Nick Alexander in LA, had a great selection. The problem with Mini is that the sales managers who order the cars are mostly retarded. They'll option $500 powerfold heated mirrors and skip the heated seats, or do the full autodim mirrors and no Xenons. Many had $750/$1250 in wheels but no $1250 Sport package with the clears and Xenons, and DTC vs. DSC. I came across a car at another dealer that had heated seats optioned as well as the power mirrors, both of which are in the Cold Weather Package, optioned separately for $250 more. Someone should be fired. Insane.

My mandatory items were:
Anthracite headliner
Adaptive Xenons
Heated seats
Rear fogs

There was one on the East Coast with Adaptive Xenons, and it was at Passport with an OE $500 alarm, $500 PDC (ARE YOU KIDDING ME? ON A MINI?), no Sport package, hideous wheels, and a beige headliner. It was a $33k Mini with $3k in retarded options. So that was a no-go, and I had to bend.

Adaptive Xenons changed to plain-Jane Xenons, which is selling them short because they are full projectors and absolutely BMW-quality.

They had an Eclipse Grey 2011 Cooper S with 5500 miles that was a BMW/Mini Executive car. The problem was that the executive was a smoker, and it reeked. Gross. :(

After consideration and research, I went to talk price, and ended up walking out of the deal and making it 20 minutes into DC traffic before my MA called me back to say that they would do the deal. I got a great deal but still wasn't totally enthused about the car. It wasn't my first color choice (but was my second or third) and didn't have the Adaptives. But since it was never titled I got the new car incentives and plenty more off. They kept it overnight and ozoned the interior, and my sensitive nose smells zero smoke.

One condition was swapping out the Conical 17" wheels (I liked them but am a die-hard BBS guy) for the silver 17" Web Spokes on another used '11 executive car. I'll buy a set of Conicals for the winter.

When I picked it up tonight in the rain, I fell in love. The color is just right. Eclipse Grey is a smokey grey with green and brown tones, I love those colors. The interior is nice for a Mini, Carbon Black leatherette sport seats, Piano black trim, and Anthracite headliner. I wish it had the Punch leather but for $1500 in questionable BMW leather quality I'm fine with the grippy leatherette.

Honestly, it's perfect. We took it to my buddy's friend's race shop where a BMW master tech and Nissan tech work, and we're already drawing plans for a meth injection kit as the carbon buildup is a major, major problem for these motors. My 2011 will be a bit of a test bed as it's technically a new motor but with the meth injection I can run an even better tune.

Now onto the pics, sorry they're at night with a marginal camera and worse photographer (me):









Don't drive your new 370Z at 11/10s, folks. This is my buddy's new one, ouch. :( Totally fixable and at a Nissan racing shop that we're friends with.

 

Looks good man, congrats! I ended up taking mine from dealer inventory, but it was still shrink-wrapped and everything. I was very flexible on color (anything but black, chili red or that powder blue was fine), and the only thing the car had that I would have changed is the leatherette (would prefer cloth).

Anyhow, I agree, I've had it only 2 weeks and I love this car already. I had a supercharged 09 Mustang GT with 500hp before this, and the MINI is more fun to drive overall. Its nowhere near as ***** out fast (that Mustang would light the tires at 60mph on a downshift, lol), but what it lacks in raw speed, it makes up for in "go kart". I never keep my cars very long, but this one has me wondering. We'll see if it breaks a record.

 

what dealer did you go to? i live in fairfax and ended up dealing with mini of sterling.. great people and may i ask. how the f do you have that many posts?

 

Looks great! What color is the roof? Is it black or did you happen to get eclipse grey up there too? I bet either looks awesome though!

 

Passport, which was a total pleasure to deal with. I worked a bit with Paul at Sterling but needed to catch the March incentives and they only had one car that I would remotely consider but still too many wrong options. He balked when I talked price so I left.

I worked with Melissa at Annapolis and she was the best salesperson I've ever had but also they had nothing on the lot that was to my specs and I'd have to order, which was too much $$$ and I also wouldn't get that guaranteed incentive. It sucks but in my situation it became clearer that I'd have to buy in-stock and the 5,500 mile car was the obvious way to go.

As far as the posts, some sort of software glitch. I have a life outside NAM.

 

Black roof. Thanks, I really love the color as my favorite color is green and this has enough to keep my happy. Wish it was BRG but beggars can't be choosers.

 

i think the grey and balck looks awesome.. with some good sport stripes on there its gonna be real nice

 

thxs for sharing n glad u got the car

 

You getting your car today??

 

When I went car shopping Eclipse Grey was not even in my mind. I wanted a BRGII or Horizon Blue but when I saw the EG sitting in the sun I loved it. Nice car.

 

nope it just hit vdc at 7am im hoping it will be here soon

 

BRG II is a very good looking color this year.

 

Yeah, I liked the color OK but not a big grey guy and my GTI was grey. I really wanted BRG.

But when the light hits it, man.

 

Hush!

 

The color you got is very cool. They had one on the lot that was a contender for me, but it had a color-matched roof, and I just felt like the MINI belonged having either a white or black roof to contrast it out... so I skipped that one.

I never get too hung up on colors because of the 25+ new cars I've bought in my life, I've probably gotten my first choice color about 25% of the time. I typically just pick out the ones that are definitely no-go's, and then choose from the remaining that have equipment close to what I want. I'm surprised so many people order MINIs. I don't think I've had another car where it seemed that such a high percentage of the owners actually placed orders and waited. Its cool, just not something I'd be highly likely to do. There would literally have to be zero cars around that were even close to what I'd want. In my case, I lucked out because this pepper white was not only nearly dead on except the seat material, but it was in my top 2 colors. They also had a spice orange equipped exactly the same as mine, but it had a white roof. If that one had black instead, I'd have bought it for sure. I just couldn't get over the "dreamsicle" color-combo. It didn't seem that masculine to me. I stood there and stared at these two wrapped up in plastic for probably 30 minutes, lol. I asked my salesman if everyone was as indecisive as I was and he just replied "Oh yeah. You're not bad AT ALL actually." The only other car they had that I REALLY liked was a Chili Red with black wheels and xenons, but I've had several red cars in my life and they never have worn well paint-wise. So I skipped it. Wish I had those wheels now though...

 

After owning three black GTIs over the past 10 years I really wanted something different. I walked into the showroom and they had just gotten in a BRG/White JCW. Course I could not afford the JCW but told my MA I wanted that combo.

 

Nice, welcome.

 

Is the MCS really that much more exciting to drive than a '10 GTI? I find the stock MCS to not be very engaging to drive and honestly I prefer the stock GTI's handling to a stock MINI. Ditch the runflats and add a tune and it's a different story of course...

I think there's been some discussion here about meth injection not helping with carbon buildup. Maybe just get a catch can?

I wouldn't regret getting leatherette over leather. The punch leather kind of sucks and isn't worth the $1500, to me at least. You can add lumbar support to the leatherette pretty easily.

 

I had an '06 GTI that was about the same as the newer ones and it was a decent car overall. I also think the MINI is more fun to drive, and it has a hell of a lot more character for sure.

 

Congratulations

 

 

that was my expression

 

Yes. If the GTI had a sport mode (which seems gimmicky but works in the S) it would be a different story. I think that the GTI had more actual grip and was generally a more capable chassis stock for stock but it never really begged you to beat on it. It was a willing dance partner but never really asked me to dance in the first place.

As far as a jack-of-all-trades daily driver it was unbeatable IMO. But I wanted something with a bit more spirit and character.

I don't regret the leatherette now. I did regret the lack of lumbar support but if you say it can be added I'd love to see it. If you have a link handy please post it up but I'll search for it.

As far as the carbon buildup, I was brainstorming with a BMW Master Tech and a Mini tech about it last night and that's what they said. They actually said that the catch can would be inconsequential but that does go against everything I've come across on the subject. It's certainly something I need to do my homework on.

 

Yeah the steering feedback on the Cooper with sport mode on makes you feel like it's more capable than it is! The GTI is likely more capable, but feels a little too tame. Even my R32 could use some more steering feel. The early MK V GTI's could have the steering sensitivity adjusted with a vag com, but VW later disabled the adjustability.

Can't beat heated leatherette! I would do this mod if I were going to keep my car. See the link below for the lumbar retrofit:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...orts-seat.html

I think the carbon buildup is going to be a problem on any direct injection car, so maybe just learn to live with it! It's certainly a problem on 2.0T VAG cars.

 

Thanks for the link!

About the carbon deposits, we'll find a solution. I work at Mercedes-Benz but we really haven't had DI motors until recently so haven't had knowledge from work. But I'm sure the community (and by community I mean VW/Audi, BMW, Mini, etc.) will find a way around it.