It will be available as a dealer install on the 07 but by the time 08 comes around it will be a factory install

 

WOW! Much to consider.. I was originally asking about word on a chrono package. If there are no rumors of it being offered, how hard is it to get and install aftermarket guages that will tell me oil pressure and temp (and boost?)? How close to OEM could it look
Being new to this lingo... What is the CEL issue mentioned for early '07s?
I'd love the mileage increase with the start/stop and alternator options, but unless it is a sure thing... I won't wait a whole nother year for it.
I was able to order the OEM alarm last week.

 

Wow...good to know. I knew I'd hear it first on NAM!!!

CEL = Check Engine Light...it was illuminating due to sensing an emissions error. Software tweak fixed it.

 

When this question was asked early in the year, a lot of people stated that we should wait and let MINI solve the new model R56 problems, which, in their words, were inevitable.

Here it looks like the most common reason stated on why we should wait for the '08 is, maybe there will be some tweaks that will make the car even better yet.

That's a big change in voiced opinions in just 6 months. It says a lot for this new car.

I got one of the first ones. So far, no problems, issues, squeaks, or rattles as I now approach the 6,000 mile mark.

Go for it.

 

I did not see or order LSD. Is it available for the '07?

 

Yep, although for MCS only, I think--I didn't see one when trying to configure a MC, although it's available if I try to configure a MCS.

 

I'm planning to wait until JCW parts are factory options, hopefully in 2008. However, I'm fearful that DSC will become standard in 2008 (US gov't is mandating it for MY2009) and/or will be required with factory ordered JCW power kits, and I absolutely don't want DSC.

 

I ordered on 6/4 and am about to receive mine, with the Alarm factory installed.

 

Lol...this all reminds of computers as they relate to the gaming industry. Technology is a moving freight train. You can never catch it. Thats why I just buy what I want when I need it..

 

few months ago I started a thread similar to this and received similar replies/encouragement: go for the 07 and enjoy the car. Kind a hesitant to do it at that time but finally I succumbed to my desire.

Glad I did and now enjoying the car.

 

You flip a switch..you cut it off...whats the problem?

Just like the sport mode, you could probably wire a circuit up around it.

 

JCW factory installed in 08. I doubt it. There is too much added profit for MINI dealer. Go back and look at the history of R53 and JCW and you will find the dealer getting three years worth of profit before MINI created JCW as a factory option. I think the same will be true with the R56.

 

I think you may see the JCW factory install sooner...in the 2009 model year either as a JCW separate model or in a performance package as part of the stage II upgrade.

 

I don't want to hit the switch whenever I drive the car, and I don't want to mess with the electrical to defeat it. I just want the car to be without the electronic nanny.

 

I think it was a dumb plan then, and a dumb one now if they follow the R53 model roll-out. I waited to buy an R53 until JCW became an option, but then decided to wait for an R56 instead of buying. If it's the same with the R56, I may never get a Mini...IMO 1-2 year obsolescense is fine for a $1,500 computer, but not a $30k car.

 

The 2010 model will use a Fusion power plant. A can of beer will get you about 25000 miles.

Of course the argument in 2010 will be, "What brand beer to use in your min?" OR worse, "Light beer or dark beer"?

And of course, there will be the oddball "Can I use Wheat beer?"

 

I'd wait. No need to make the waiting line even more crowded when it is already full of people who are sure about ordering now.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'm going for it TOMORROW. I think it was Birdman that convinced me. I COULD wait forever.

 

Wow...that's pretty exciting!

 

I suppose seat belts are a bad thing as well..

*muttering* darn safety devices...all I want to do is meet Darwin!

(tongue in cheek here)

 

My 1938 ****** had mechanical brakes. If you didn't have each wheel's brakes adjusted frequently chances were good that when you braked hard your car would head off into oncoming traffic or onto the sidewalk.

Hydraulic brakes provided even distribution of braking force to each wheel (a nanny) but it was still necessary to periodically adjust the distance between brake pad and drum.

Self adjusting brakes came along next. All you had to do was do a quick drive in reverse then slam on your brakes. Your brakes were now adjusted (another nanny).


Then, not too long ago, we got automatic adjusting brakes meaning there was no longer any necessity for the driver to do anything at all to keep the brakes adjusted (another nanny yet).

Still, if we had to slam on our brakes, we could not, in any way, maneuver our car out of trouble. The car would simply slide along to wherever momentum took it. Then came the automatic braking system (ABS) that, if you braked hard, the brakes would pulse in such a way as to allow your car to be maneuvered as you stood on your brakes. Also, in keeping the skid from happening the car would stop over a significantly shorter distance (another Nanny).

Then stability control came along (DSC in our car). This is an extension of ABS that will brake a single wheel if your car isn't going in the direction you're telling it to (for instance as a result of your having to make a quick maneuver in order to avoid an object suddenly appearing on the highway). It analyzes the situation then brakes exactly the right wheel just enough to make your car do what your steering wheel is telling it to do (yet another nanny). On our car though, because some folks race them and often want the rear end to slide out to some driver controlled degree, there's a DSC disable switch.

Heck, there's even another nanny that, if it's detected that you're braking in an emergency, will add even more force to assure you stop in the quickest possible time.

These are just some of the braking nannies. There are all kinds of mechanical, hydraulic, electrical, and electronic nannies on every single car manufactured (it's nice, for instance, to have that cushiony nanny jump out in front of you as your car is crashing into another - the air bag). You can't get away from them. Of course the fact that you can't means there are fewer severely disabled former drivers, and more drivers around who would otherwise be dead, all saved by the nannies on our cars.

 

Regrettably, those who are most in need of the nannies are the ones who complain about them the most.

 

Tru dat!

 

I was debating the same thing. In the end, it's all speculation so go with your current needs or your gut.
However, if a confirmation could come through for a decrease in size of the interior grandfather clock, that may be something to wait for!

 

JohnBLZ, Ken Cooper (some free time on your hands?), LynEl, rattmobbins, and anybody else compelled to criticize those that don't want DSC...this isn't a vintage Porsche 911 or Corvair with a tendency to oversteer. A FWD car with sticky tires and relatively low horsepower is not hard to control, especially for those of us in dry climates (those without the ability should enroll in a HPDE course ASAP). However, BMW's DSC systems are extremely conservative (note it's one of three items listed in C&D's 'cons' column in its Mini comparison) and, IMO from four years with an E46 M3, unsafe when engine power is cut abruptly in completely benign situations.