Just got home from a long day in Escondido.
I ordered my first Mini today after driving the new R56.

I started off driving a SS/B Cooper S. that was a big mistake because i would have rather driven a cooper first and avoided the S.
This car had sport suspension, DSC (which may have kicked in during the drive) and 17" wheels. I did not think the ride was very rough.
(please note that i am coming from a honda insight as my daily driver)

Next I drove a cooper auto that had shown up while we were driving the S. took it for a VERY short drive and ran out of gas. kinda funny. i am glad that i noticed and called the trip short as i was about to get on the freeway when i noticed. The dealer gave me the option to continue on or turn around. i turned around and the car died shortly after. We had to wait quite a while for them to go get gas and bring it to us. So, I really did not get to experience the Cooper.
I went in knowing that i wanted an automatic. after driving the S manual and the cooper auto, i felt so bored in the auto that my wife convinced me that the only way we were going to stay under 30k was to lose the auto.

I ended up placing the order (after some haggling).
SS/B Cooper S
premium
sport (webspokes)
red lounge

I ended up not getting the conv package even though i was very close. my wife did not like the arm rest.
Since i did not get the package, i also chose to not get the Comfort Access. Very cool, but probably not worth $500 to me.
I also wanted the chromeline exterior but chose not to get it because i dont want the mirror caps. i may change that if i can find a local with black caps that wants chrome.
My wife preferred the orage turn signals even though i wanted to spend the extra $100 to get the white.

Comments on R56:
-I noticed several panels that had very large gaps. Inside, the upper storage area had a large gap.
The exterior wheel gaps did not bother me. Did not seem out of whack.
There was a very large gap between the back window and the body...so much so that i could see the yellow paint. it looked very bad on this car but not so bad on the others.
-The center stack, while not as good as R53, did not bother me as much in person as it did in the pics.
-The sunroof shade, as already reported, is not spring loaded. I kinda like the spring loaded. Also, the sunshade did not completely close. there was still a gap that i could see through. maybe because of my angle? I did not like that. it was pretty noisy at 50mph. i hope they can adjust it to make it better.
-The HIFI sounded pretty good. I like audio and have had aftermarket stuff in all of my cars. I wil probably miss that, but this will have to do.
-The wrap around glass is far superior to the new design. It appears to have a rounded square edge as oppossed to being smooth.....
-The side markers/blinkers are much better on R53.
-the blinker mechanism will take some getting used to.
-the volume control being seperate from the stereo is VERY annoying.

thats all for now!

 

Congrats on taking the leap! Your final config looks great.

 

+1 When do they estimate your new MINI will arrive, kook?

 

Welcome to the madness!

 

Congratulations! Your config looks good, you will love your car! I ordered the sport package for my Mini too and was surprised at how smooth the ride was too. Youll have to keep us updated on your car's progress!

 

I saw that exact color\wheel combo at MINI of Peabody's launch party last night......Holy crikey it's gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best of luck with the new beastie!

 

The MA told me 2 months. I dont really have much faith though because I knew more about the car than he did. I guess that is to be expected since I have been on NAM, Motoringfile, and MiniUSA religiously for the past year.


I thought of more comments last night.

When configuring a Cooper, I always opted for the 16" Bridgespokes. Seeing them in person yesterday, I have to say that I liked them more online than in the flesh. This helped to push me into the S.

The Chromeline exterior includes some trim that is not mentioned in text on the configurator. On the S, the rear grill is lined.

The white turn signal option, according to the booklet i picked up, changes the rear, side, and front lights to get rid of the orange. I thought it only did the back. i wish i would have payed more attention to that yesterday.

Thanks all!

 

Nice spec, my dealer had a demo on launch day that was almost the same, very nice.

 

It seems like your impression of the fit and finishes (gaps), etc. is less than stellar but ordered that day. What am I missing?.

 

That the sum of the car was positive?

Has any car you ever bought been perfect in every way?

 

I realize that most of the comments that i made on the list were negatives. Perhaps this is risky, but i figured that these cars did not exactly represent what i would be getting in 2 or so months. These must have been built much earlier.
And the time that they will have to work these things out has been sufficient.....I HOPE!

 

I took it as a perfect example of how most people post the negative things and not the positive.. even when it's positive enough you can't wait to get one =)

 

You definately deserve to be in the "R56 Optimist Club", then!



I think, except for maybe some panel and sunroof gap issues... what you saw is what you'll get.

 

So I'm super excited because I order my MINI today as well!!!

DS/B MCS
Con. Package
Cold Weather
Premium
Sport

Auto
Chrome line interior/exterior
Redwood Red Leather
Nav
Hifi

And some other fun stuff!!!!

I'm so excited!!!!!!!!

 

I would take the attitude that if I could not live with what I saw then I would not assume that mine would be any better in 2 months if it takes that long. Mine was built and on a ship in 17 or 18 days. If you are expecting the builds to be different, I would not put money on that. Remember these cars have been built for thr UK market for months now and have the niggles you are pointing out. I prefer to hope for the best but be prepared for less than the best.