::crossing fingers for sept 11th boat!:::: That would make arrival 10/4 and dealership arrival by say...hmm.. 10/15 at the latest. Well, for socal. :impatient

 

What's up everybody? My car is also waiting at the docks. This will be my first new car, and the wait is killing me! I hope I make it on one of the earliers ships too!

Anyone else order from Long Beach MINI?

 

Foomanchu ordered from LB

 

 

1

 

Actually it was Irvine Mini. Mines waiting at the dock with the rest of ya and back from Rio, Whew !!

 

There seem to be a lot of dark silver cars in this group . I went back and forth betweem dark silver and hyper blue, and finally decided to go with DS. Hopefully I didn't drive my MA too crazy

 

We had a whole week of school this week where I had to get up at 6:15 everyday to help my freshman daughter get off to zero period (class time 7:20.) We are all adjusting.

I'm very jealous - school started this week and our son (junior w/o driver's license so far) has zero period that starts at 6:40 in the am. That's not right!

 

Guess I need to figure out how the whole quote thing works.... I ordered from Irvine Mini also (sneeking in to the week 36 group - I'm supposed to be in week 37, but there is a lot of confusion right now).

 

I hope you're all right! I was told 1st or second week in November. But I think my MA is erring on the side of later, so she can surprise me with earlier! That's just her style! A MINI motorer, through and through!

Day three with my mom's hospital adventure. Nothing new. Spirits up; making her walk around whenever I visit (3 - 4 times a day.)

I'm going dancing tonight! Need to relax and let off some steam. Back in the trenches tomorrow...

 

Homey,

What High school?

 

um hum.. .what the heck happened to homeroom? Am I that old? And who in the world would start school at 6 something in the morning? Are they insane? I had a hard time making it to homeroom at 8:20 am. I graduated with a laminated tardy pass. Geez, god help me if I have a kid who has to be up earlier than the crack of flippin dawn. I do get up for work at 5:30 am, but thats only 3 times a week, and trust me, I am not happy about it.

Kissmys, originally my MA told me late nov or early dec delivery. Now, he completely screwed up my schedule, but I am not complaining!!

 

how was Rio, again...

 

hey left coast, we should be sailing away in 2 days!!

 

Our cars are probably covered in thick wax for transportation. Cocoon time, I guess.

 

Merlin was finished a week ago yesterday. Perhaphs Merlin is on one of the infamous Mystery Ships .

 

Absolutely wonderful. That place is unbeliveable. Beautiful scenery, fantastic people and very cheap gourmet food.

I'll be there again next Thursday and the 26th with a Honolulu trip on the 20th. Gotta stock up on sunscreen

 

Hey all. I was just reminiscing about my MINI as he's coming up on his first birthday. And then it hit me that I should check out the newbies for this year that are in the same production week I was. Production week 36 2005! I order him July 23 last year and took delivery of Icarus on Oct. 12. Y'all remind me of how long it felt for those days/weeks/months to pass. Forever it seemed! And now this last year has just blitzed by and I'm just as nuts over Icarus as the day I first got him.

If y'all have any questions I'd be happy to chime in. Not that I know all but maybe I can provide some insight if you want.

Great bunch of MINI's y'all got coming out. Is there a list of everyone in this week or did I miss it?

 

Gr8Force
Homecomings are a great thing and welcome aboard our ship.
I don't know? Do we have a list?

 

No, I don't think we made a list.... we were too focused on getting our MINI's through the build week.

 

I did one for ours and it made it easier to hook up with one of them when motoring around the country. Icarus loves getting together with one of his siblings. Last one I did that with took me on a personal tour of Highlands, NC. He grew up there and so he was able to show me the roads the tourists don't drive on. It was a blast.

Just a thought.

I'll keep checking in to remember what it was like and appreciate where I am all the more. Patience is the key.

 

First off, sorry for the abscence. Life, you know?

And to all of you who are obsessing in your calling and checking, I hate you. MiniUSA is a dream in personal service, in comparison to BMW in Germany. OK, at least when it comes to obsession, American-style, over the arrival of a new car. "What, you ordered the car, we told you it'd be here 10 OCT -- it'll be here 10 OCT. Why are you still standing here?" Blind faith, and vicarious living through all of you. Rrrrr....

I've taken care of the three easy after-market splurges -- Supercharged badges for the front quarter panels; fuzzy dice; and a new flaming shifter ****.

I also suspect that Strut Tower Reinforcement Plates are a non-option -- they just need to be done. Probably the one blemish on the design of the car, as I see it, is suspension, and a simple thing like this, to ward of problems later, seem like a decision not really needing much thought.

And snow tires with new rims. Gotta do that. Really unsure of what I want -- being as they'll be on the car half of the year, I don't want some lame set of cheap-o rims. No, not 22" monsters, either.

Next mental debate I am facing is suspension on the whole. One of the appeals of the Mini was the get up and go -- going from stop to Autobahn speed, in a small car, can be a dangerous proposition, but my fears were rested after some test drives.

The hills, though -- all those wonderful little side rodes I get to drive, with long stretches of no speed limits, only common sense as our guide. All of that gets disrupted by the short wheel base. Been thinking about walking away from the run-flats. Been also thinking about Koni FSD shocks and some new springs, and a rear sway bar (interesting discussion on 19mm vs 22mm).

Strangely, I am in America these days (business trip), so I can probably pick up parts for cheap, to bring back with me. Trick will be, I suppose, buying all the pieces, so I am just deal with finding someone to do the install there. If anyone has comments or advice on that, PM me.

And, sadly, Coop will arrive at the house before me. The wife will go and get the car when it arrives (yes, 10 OCT, they are sure of it) and stash it away in the garage. Or drive the hell out of it. I don't get back home until almost Thanksgiving -- she could have already logged the first few thousand miles by then.

 

Well, my week 45 MINI is scheduled to depart Southampton on the FREEDOM. I don't know when she's scheduled to depart, though - maybe the 11th or 12th?

My car is on the wait-list to be loaded (asterisk by the cargo ID), so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Nothing's been loaded on the boat since Friday, so I'll have to check again on Monday.

I'm so jazzed that my car gets pulled off the boat at New York (first US port). That means it's only nine days from when it leaves Southampton until it's on US soil, and only another two days or so until it's at my dealer in Norfolk, Virginia. I don't know how those of you on the West Coast can stand the extra time enroute.

When my wife's MINI was shipped earlier this year, I was actually out to sea when her car came across the Atlantic, so I wasn't able to track her car as often. Now with mine, I practically have the Wallenius Wilhelmsen site on auto-update on my desktop!

Anyway, I'll post back as I find out more about the ship's movements. Anyone else here on the FREEDOM?

Scott

2006 MCS Cabrio Pepper White / Cordoba Lthr (Hers)
2006 MCS Cabrio Cool Blue / Navy Lthr (His)

 

If I was your wife, I would drive the hell out of it!

 

riquiscott, I am on the wrong coast! IF our cars get on a boat on monday (so far, mine is not logged on a boat even though it's been at the dock since 9/6) it will arrive around 10/4. Seems like an eternity. I have finally started to buy some items for him/her. Congrats on getting on a boat.