Time to pull the trigger on my next MINI. Have been dreaming of a JCW Coupe for a year or so but the practical side of me won over and I couldn't substantiate the $40K mainly for the looks of it. The HP would have been wasted on me and my current commute.

I decided to go with an R56 Hardtop and want to order before the 2014 ordering begins (don't like some of what I'm hearing about the new platform). So will be placing an order in a couple of weeks.

Here's what I've got. I am very open to suggestions and won't be insulted by any.


First, the exterior options:

-White Silver with white roof but I'm going to have the roof and mirrors painted Chili Red.

-Contrasting CR stripes on hood and boot, White Silver on the roof

-JCW exterior package

- Chrome Driving Lights

- Chrome Exhaust Tips

- Black Headlight Housing

- Rear Fog Light


Interior Stuff:

-JCW interior package
- seat option: checkered cloth seats with red trim.
- dash option: black checkered

- Rooster Red interior color line

- Chrome line interior

- "S" floor and boot mats


Performance Stuff:

- Sticking with the manual transmission

- JCW Suspension

- JCW Strut Brace


Prices out just a shade under $31K

Thanks for reading and in advance for your opinion !

 

Is this an R56 or R56S?

 

Sorry... kind of left out that key info, huh ?

It's an "S".

 

LOL sounds good to me then I went for more interior goodies than exterior goodies, techie in me wanted it that way.

 

Understandable. Me... not so much into the techie stuff. As long as I can pick up a few classis rock stations, I'm good to go.

 

Any reason why you are having the roof painted white? In the factory video I saw they paint the entire body the same color, then mask off below the roof and paint white or black if requested. It probably doesn't matter either way except for paint thickness.

 

I'm not. Having it painted Chili Red. You can only get a Chili Red roof from the factory if you order the factory JCW.

 

If you haven't already, check with your MA about whether they can do the CR roof and mirror caps from the factory as a special order paint request. Would save having to get them painted red later.

I wanted white silver/white roof but that combo was discontinued for Canadian orders for 2013. Since this was a marketing decision and nothing to do with production (you can still get it in the US, for example) I was able to request it as a one-off special order. I'd be surprised if you couldn't work a similar deal.

 

I will check with him. If it can be done, our MA will make it happen. He's a good guy to work with... has sold us a couple of our MINIs before.

 

Mine had to check with head office but they came back right away and said no problem, as long as it's a paint combo that's still technically offered by Mini, you're good. Hopefully it's the same in your case. The upcharge was $400, but I got the colours I wanted. And since you only have to pay the special order fee once, I added another option that's not normally available here either. I can see why they don't publicize why you can do this but it's good to have the flexibility.

 

Good info. I'm afraid I'm going to get the "the red roof is only available on the JCW MINIs". But it's worth a try. Having it repainted at my local body shop will run me at least twice the $400.

 

If Mini tells you that they can't paint it red, have you considered wrapping the mirrors and roof in CR? It would be a little cheaper than painting it, plus it keeps it OEM in case you want to sell the car at some point. And if you get bored of the CR color you can take it off.

 

Good luck.

 

Yes, I did consider wrapping in vinyl. My first MINI, the 06 CR Justa with checkered theme had a full vinyl wrapped roof. Looked okay but it wasn't as nice as paint, of course. I plan to keep this MINI for many, many years, so I'm not so worried about resale value and yes, I do know that non-factory painted panels will take away from the value.

Appreciate the input though !

@ Braminator - thanks !

 

Are you sure that you want the black headlight housings with the colors? I haven't seen one, but with your chrome accents and light paint, they may be a lot of contrast.

By JCW suspension, do you mean the Red Springs and shocks? There are several people here who say that you can do better, for less money, in the aftermarket. There is something to be said for being factory installed, though.

I like your choice of colors and aero body kit. Which wheels are you going with? If you are painting the roof and adding the stripes, maybe you should go with a darker red than the Chili Red, to match the rooster red interior accents. Just a thought.....

And if you are painting the roof, you should paint the stripes as well. If you want silver stripes on the roof, then get the silver (not white) roof, you can just mask off the silver when you paint the red.

Mike

 

Thanks for the well thought out reply.

Here's my thinking on the headlights: The grill is black, surrounded by chrome. So the headlights being black surrounded by chrome will fit in well with the grill.

Yes, the JCW suspension includes shocks and springs. As I understand it, it also lowers the MINI by about an inch and provides a stiffer and more stable ride, especially during spirited cornering. Might be able to get more bang for the buck aftermarket but I'm trying to keep it as much OEM as possible as I intend to purchase the extended warranty and don't want any hassles at 99,000 miles or any other time.

The configurator only give me two choices of wheels with the JCW package. Don't love either one of them but I'm going to see of the dealership can swap out a pair of black bullets for me. Then... I'm going to send them to a shop the dealership uses that will paint the silver part of those wheels Chili Red. They have a set on display at the dealership and they are STUNNING.

You can't get a body color roof with a White Silver MINI. Wish you could because I had the same though you did. Only options are black or white.

 

I also like that color combo and having the roof painted CR instead of getting the JCW is something I've not heard of anyone doing. Minor points: I like the interior options. I'd skip the factory floormats, they're crap (I have some). Go with Cocomats in front. Much higher quality, with thick backing that doesn't move. They have tons of color combos to match interiors and they cut them to fit. They cost little more than the factory nylon jobs. Mine are 6 years old and great. And I've never heard much good about the strut brace. BTW the JCW suspension only lowers the car about 1/2 inch, not an inch (I think). Overall I thing that's a very reasonable price. I paid $30k for mine in 2007.

 

Thanks, Newt... appreciate all the advice, especially from one of the old-timers around here, just like myself.

I have/had Cocomats in three of our five MINIs so far. Plan on getting them in this one too. I use the Cocomats in the nice weather months and the rubber OEM ones in the winter to keep the Cocomats from getting slopped with salt.

Half inch lower... I'm guessing that should be enough to keep the MINI from looking too jacked up. One thing I loved about the first generations, they were lower and looked more agressive because of it.

Again, thanks for the input !

 

Been checking out the Owner's Club thread for White Silver and I think you were right, mbwicz... I prefer the regular headlight housings with White Silver over the blacked out ones. Thanks!

 

maybe anthracite headliner, zenon's, cold weather package congrats in advance on your next Mini

 

anthracite headliner and xenons are in my packages.

I'm tossing around Cold Weather pkg. I'll be driving my 05 Justa on cold, snowy days. And this one will get one of the two garage bays. I keep my garage heated to about 50 degrees in the winter. But still might be nice to have.

Thanks a bunch for the input!

 

Did the same thing and went for the silver adaptives. I like the silver housings with the rest of the chrome trim. Note that there are actually three headlight housings--black, regular and adaptive. The adaptive housings are more of a matte silver inside compared to the standard ones.

 

Interesting. We have adaptive headlights on our Countryman All4 and never noticed the housing had a matte finish on it. Maybe it doesn't on the Countryman. But thanks very much for that info, did not realize that!

 

I really like the heated seats.

Mike

 

Did you cost out a JCW? You wouldn't have the hassle of painting the roof, and you've have a JCW which is well worth it.