I initially placed my order on 3/30/13, but had to make another selection because the Lounge Satellite Leather was discontinued for April production. That also meant that I was changing my exterior color as well. I placed my finalized order for my 2013 MINI Cooper S Roadster on 4/10/13. I received notification today that my roadster has moved to production status and soon to be on it journey through the birth canal of the Oxford plant. This is exciting news.

 

Is that a typical wait, four weeks from order to start of build?

 

Sorry, for the slightly misleading information regarding my order date in my signature and post, St_G. I did forget to update it after a delay of about ten days from my original order date because my original color selection was discontinued from the April forward productions. I had to reselect colors which took a bit of time for me to decide on. That final selection was submitted on 4/10/13. My dealership was not able to secure a production slot for April, so May production it is.

 

You know, until I saw your post, I hadn't even realized that Satellite Gray leather had been discontinued. Also just noticed that the Polar Beige Mini Yours dash has similarly disappeared from the configurator. Shame. There is now no way to have your seats match your leather dash, unless you go black.

 

Just when I made up my mind, gone.

 

That's one reason I ordered a 2013 rather than wait until late summer to get a 2014. I was afraid that, with the seemingly low take rate on leather dashes, that those would be phased out. Also, Motoringfile reported that Spice Orange is being replaced by something less coppery, and I quite like Spice Orange.

At one point my plan was to match my seats to either the Satellite or Polar dash, but I ended up cutting that to trim costs. Glad u did, as I would have been very disappointed to find out that I couldn't actually order what I wanted, at the time I was ordering.

 

I really like the Spice Orange, good choice. I thought that MINI could have done a better job at having an interior color option that worked with this color better. The Satellite Grey was the only option besides black. The Polar Beige seemed to creamy. After reading what seems to be on the horizon for the 2014 model year, I'm glad I went with a 2013.

The Lounge Satellite Grey Leather was available on MINIUSA.COM for the entire month of March and the first part of April, even though this color option was discontinued for March production. Not sure why it took them so long to remove it from the build site. Very disappointing customer relations in that respect.

Originally, I chose the White Silver and Toffee combination. The more I looked at the White Silver the more indecisive the color seemed to me. No offense to other White Silver owners, but it sometimes looked like primer grey. I guess I like my silver to have a bit of sparkle. I then decided on the Lightening Blue and Satellite Grey combination. It was a NAM member that suggested that I should investigate this choice with my MA because word on the street was Satellite Grey was discontinued, and he was right, it was.

So here I am with Midnight Black and Toffee. I'm a monochromatic kind of guy, so this suits me well. I've always been attracted to black cars but always heard what a pain they are to keep up with. I'm a fanatic about the cleanliness of my car, so I don't think this will be an issue. I think this color combination makes the roadster seem a little more serious, even though I would have like a "fun color" because it seems to fit the MINI's personality.

 

Yeah, I get what you're saying about White Silver. I similarly considered Eclipse Gray, which is a lovely and classy option imo, but in the end decided that I'd lean into the inherently fun and somewhat silly aspect of a roadster and get a bright, outre color.

My current car is black, and yeah, everything you've heard is correct. It's a pain to keep looking good. But it's a great option for butching up a vehicle that many people are eager to declare a "chick car."

As for interiors that go well with Orange, I think Tofee is probably the best, but since MINI has never (to my knowledge) offered a toffee color line with a leather dash topper, and I was absolutely intent on swathing the instrument panel in leather (I rather dislike the textured plastic that comes standard, though I'll still have that exact material under my arm on the top of the doors). So, I ended up going for an Orange, black and silver motif. Hopefully it ends up working as well in person as it does on the configurator.

 

I almost wished that the Eclipse Grey was a little lighter. It seemed too dark and a little too green in tone. My "silly aspect" would have probably been Lightening Blue or Chili Red. I think that red is great but somehow doesn't really fit my personality. People probably would have thought I borrowed the car.

Maybe I'm stupid (hold your tongue) but I don't get this "chick car" comment about the roadster. I conducted a casual survey at work asking people whether they though (showing them a photo in Lightening Blue) the car was designed to attract men or women. 85% of the people questioned said men and 70% of the polled were women. If the car was in pink with a white interior and instead of racing stripes, there was a decal of Hello Kitty on the bonnet, I would possible understand (no offense to Hello Kitty lovers).

You are probably correct St_G, I don't think Toffee was ever offered in the leather dash. My biggest concern with a leather dash is exposure. It is a convertible and will be exposed to many hours of sun, but will also be exposed to the heat of the sun when the car is closed. I thought about the leather dash and decided to forgo it.

 

In my experience, there's always someone Rey to declare any small car with style a chick car. But those are the types of cars I like the most, so I'm not too bothered by it.

I share your concerns over the leather dash. Hopefully militant attention to care will protect it, but only time will tell.

 

Got word today from my MA that my roadster could be out of production as early as next week. Let's wait and see.

 

Nice! Sounds like our builds are pretty close to each other: mine's schedule to finish on next Friday, May 10.

 

Looks like my roadster is "Awaiting Transport" as of today. Now that's progress.

 

Very exciting!


Sent from my Galaxy S4 using NAMotoring

 

I really, really, REALLY wanted the leather dash... the JCW version, black with red stitching. WOW, that is beautiful.
However, I'm *NOT* one of those guys who details his cars, spending meticulous hours doing upkeep and maintenance... I'm more of a "wipe it down and drive it" guy. For that reason, I just couldn't justify getting all that leather in a convertible in this southern Texas heat. I plan to keep this car for a long time and I am afraid I wouldn't spend the time to keep it looking great with the leather. I opted out of leather seats for the same reason - although if Recaro seats had still been available, I'd have done it anyway.
WOW, those are awesome seats.

 

Hopefully I'll hear something in the next few days regarding a departure date.

 

No confirmation yet on an en route date. Hopefully soon.

 

Looks like I'm booked on the TAMESIS, which is due into Baltimore on May 19th. We're getting closer.