I'm new to the forums -- and am still a MINI dreamer, not an owner. I am looking for advice about purchasing a new MINI Cooper S.

Are there any options you got that you just can't live without?

Or do you wish you had paid the extra $1300 for the leather seats instead of saving the money on the leatherette?

I really appreciate any advice you pros can give me

 

My favorite is the MFSW.

Do a search on leather. There have been some concerns expressed over quality.

 

The only option I wish I had gotten was the sunroof. I have the leatherette and have no problems with it. It looks exactly like the day I first drove my toy home. Otherwise the car has power everything anyway. I don't need nav, the stereo is decent, and there nothing else I wanted. The MINI is great for the main reason I purchased it and that is for smiles per miles..

 

If you don't get the MFSW you won't have cruise control. Someday you'll wish you had it, even if it's not until you try to sell or trade the car.



R.E.

 

auto-dimming mirror/rain sensing wipers/heated seats

 

Thanks for the advice so far!

I'm thinking of getting:

Silver MCS, Cold/Premium/Sport, AutoWipers, Rear Fogs, Driving Lamps (they are so cool!), and Sirius radio.

I think I'm going to pass on the leather -- $1300 I can put towards something else. Are the waits for new MINIs as bad as the Clubs indicate??? Maybe I should order within the month!

 

>>Thanks for the advice so far!
>>
>>I'm thinking of getting:
>>
>>Silver MCS, Cold/Premium/Sport, AutoWipers, Rear Fogs, Driving Lamps (they are so cool!), and Sirius radio.
>>
>>I think I'm going to pass on the leather -- $1300 I can put towards something else. Are the waits for new MINIs as bad as the Clubs indicate??? Maybe I should order within the month!
>>
>>

I just ordered mine, Brit Racing Green MCS, Sport/MFSW/HK Stereo with aux port/Space Cloth. I didn't get the premium package because there wasn't really anything on there I couldn't live without, except cruise control so I got the MFSW as an option. I opted against the Sun roof because as you'll see, the sun roof doesn't have an opaque cover to keep light from getting in when you don't want it. I'm going to be living in Florida for a while and then probably San Diego after that, and I envisioned my car getting very very toasty when parked or when I was driving.

Anyway, some of the stuff I felt I could get later on my own, like the Driving Lamps. Sure they're really cool looking, but you could probably get some from an auto store that look just as cool and are probably cheaper, same think with the roof racks and stuff, I'll go to Yakima for that.

 

I just picked up my Mini S four days ago after a 10 month wait. The wait in northern California for MSRP Mini's are long but shorter if you want to pay $3K over. Anyway as for picking out options all I can say is PICK WHAT YOU LIKE! I have the new threes spoke wheel and when I first saw the pictures I liked it a lot better then the other. I then looked at all the forums and the majority of people started to bash the three spoke wheel, well I have it now and it's the best thing, way, way better then the other wheel IMO of course. The other thing thats a big water cooler talk is the leather seats. I'll tell you, you'll hear every complaint on it not being as good as their $40-50K german car and you know what it might not be, it's not a $40-50K car anyway, but I still ordered it and I really like it A LOT. I picked all the packages because I liiked everything in them but again only you know what you want and what you might use your Mini. Example, the guys wanting the autocross or track their cars want to save on weight, no sunroof, leather or anything in there mind that adds weight. Others who don't like to learn how the auto climate controls works don't like it. Simple is better as they may say. Anyway, the point isn't to bash anybody but rather to say be carful on what you read because everybody has saomething to say and I'm one of them. I say order what you can afford and what you like, if your not sure bring a friend or girlfriend and have them help you. Go to a dealer and see as many options on the car so you get a good idea as to what it looks like or how it works on the car.

Hope this helps.

 

>>Anyway, some of the stuff I felt I could get later on my own, like the Driving Lamps. Sure they're really cool looking, but you could probably get some from an auto store that look just as cool and are probably cheaper, same think with the roof racks and stuff, I'll go to Yakima for that.

That is a good idea about the Driving Lamps -- also it's true that the dealer will probably ding me another coupld hundred for installation, right?

 

Man am I happy that I got Sirius, I absolutely love it. I hardly, check that, I never listen to the crappy regular radio any more.

The only thing I kind wish I would have gotten are the clear taillights. If i had some extra money I would buy them and put them in myself but I'm too cheap.

I'm glad I didn't get the leather, one thing you might want to think about is the H/K. Its pretty nice if you don't want to spend the time and money to put a custom system in.

 

What I COULD LIVE WITHOUT is the HK option. I think it is a poor value IMHO.

Cold weather package is fantastic (I live in N. Michigan), the auto sensing wipers are really nice also, love the sun-roof.

I was searching around for an MCS that had most everything I wanted, and did not have to special order it. I could have lived without the leather and the HK upgrade, everythings else is great.

Refuse the floor-mats from the dealer, they are snuck in there on your bill. There are many options out there. The rubber ones are the best IMO, particularly the ones you can only get in Canada (as far as I know). Why only there, I dunno. They have a circle pattern on the bottom.

 

Must have: Sports seasts, MFSW, cold pack. Leatherette is trouble free, while leather will look wrinkled fairly quickly, there are many other complaints as well. Some swear by cloth. Nice to have: sunroof, ACC, which can be used w/out auto function, and looks 10 times cooler than the standard 3 dial. Besides these features, things I'm getting on my next MINI: HK sound, rain sensing wipers/auto dim mirror, driving lights (don't want xenons, due to the stupid washers), and JCW kit- yahoo!

 

Our wait wasn't too bad: Ordered Jan 17, at dealer Feb 19. We ordered Sport, Premium, Cold, rear fogs. Looked real hard at the leather but $1300 seemed steep when the leatherette looks very good. One dealer add-on we really like is the boot box. Keeps the groceries & such from rolling around back there.

 

I'm so excited to go to visit the dealer next weekend now!! My only worry is them dinging me big $$ for installation of the driving lights. I really want them but I'm worried about how much it'll end up costing me

 

>>What I COULD LIVE WITHOUT is the HK option. I think it is a poor value IMHO.
>>
>>Cold weather package is fantastic (I live in N. Michigan), the auto sensing wipers are really nice also, love the sun-roof.
>>
>>I was searching around for an MCS that had most everything I wanted, and did not have to special order it. I could have lived without the leather and the HK upgrade, everythings else is great.
>>
>>Refuse the floor-mats from the dealer, they are snuck in there on your bill. There are many options out there. The rubber ones are the best IMO, particularly the ones you can only get in Canada (as far as I know). Why only there, I dunno. They have a circle pattern on the bottom.

I think the problem that you have with the HK system, and probably a lot of other people, is that its not a booming sound system, its an audiophile system. There's really no space for a sub so you're not going to get a system where the car next to you can't hear their own system if you have yours cranked up. There's a good review of it at mini2.com.

As for the floor mats, it was rather humorus, the dealer said "And 90 dollars for floor mats, those are REQUIRED" he said and smiled at me.

 

>>As for the floor mats, it was rather humorus, the dealer said "And 90 dollars for floor mats, those are REQUIRED" he said and smiled at me.

:evil: That is so annoying -- who wants to throw another hundred bones for mats!? Booo!

 

>> :evil: That is so annoying -- who wants to throw another hundred bones for mats!? Booo!

I can see how it'd be annoying, but it was pretty much "water under the bridge" for me. The absolute max I was going to pay was 24k, and the car came in at $23,283 so I wasn't going to complain.

 

>>>> :evil: That is so annoying -- who wants to throw another hundred bones for mats!? Booo!

 

>>
>>
>>I'm so excited to go to visit the dealer next weekend now!! My only worry is them dinging me big $$ for installation of the driving lights. I really want them but I'm worried about how much it'll end up costing me


My dealer is now charging $730 for the driving lights + install. When I ordered my 03 MCS a year ago, install was free. Maybe you can negotiate with your dealer?

 

The driving lights are a 'not too difficult install'. And hey..part of owning a MINI is knowing how it works. The install instructions come with the lights and are available somewhere on this site, too. Try it. If you can't get through it you can always turn it over to the dealer.

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RIP: WMWRE33442TD57482. 2002 MCS CR/B, Aero kit, F/R Stripes, All pkgs, Leather, NAV. Born Aug 2002/ Massacred at 18K miles by DUI driver 1.17.04

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