My toughest choice was DSC or no.

 

Exterior Color! I bought PW/B but still want one in BRG with the Union Jack mirror covers and AB with white roof and chrome exterior points. Guess I will have to try those colors next...

 

All MCS in Canada come with DSC standard. I've never really driven one with DSC hard in the rain, but ASC+T made rain a joy!

 

DEFINITELY exterior color. I went back and forth between Indi Blue and CR on my '04 MCS. So finally decided to order IB. At the last minute, I changed my mind and wanted CR, but alas, it was too late. My car was already on the line. BUT! I am so so glad today, because I just LOVE my IB. I think it's an awesome color, and it's even cooler that it's a discontinued color!!

 

I was CR from day 1 allthough LY did taunt/tempt me a bit. The only options I was unsure of was the auto dim mirror & auto wipers & I ended up not getting them but all in all I am happy w/my choices

 

I didn't order my MINI (but i'm going to give my 2 cents anyway). Even if i had ordered it, i KNEW i wanted CR/W. Hands down. It was the color i'd always wanted, and if i ordered an R56 tomorrow, i'd still get that combo.

When I was playing around with the configurator, last year when I was still planning on ordering, i couldn't decide between piano black or CR interior. I knew I wanted cloth seats, but i couldn't decide on the silly panels! I would have gone with piano black in the end with a red shift ****, but there was also the debate of sunroof or no sunroof. I still don't know what i would have decided on that one.

But then I went to the dealer, and there Hobbes was and I said "I'll take that one!"

 

Just curious, Motor Mouth, was the destination/handling charge of $650 in US still applied to you in Hawaii or was it more?? And I think the choice of white roof for you was smart, The sun all year you know. !! Hawaii as in Florida

 

To me color was the hardest... CR/W, HB/W or more conservative? I kept second guessing myself all the time. In the end, I am picking pretty much the same color combination in my old car, which is bright blue and beige, at least I know I can live with it.

I picked off the lot though and that is the toughest thing!

 

Color.

Transmission was a close second.

 

Color, inside and out, top and bottom.

First, I wanted BRG with black roof, stripes, and mirrors. But...wife drives a green van (second one in fact) so I thought two green vehicles would be dorky. Next choice was CR. Wife HATED red, plus there were several around town. So I went with Hyper blue.

Roof/mirrors/stripes then ended up being white due to the Vegas sun...I was afraid of baking the car.

For the interior, I wanted red, but my advisor talked me out of it as being "too" different and may be hard to resell (or for him to sell if I backed out). Regret that one.

Love the rest though!

 

My toughest was manual vs. automatic. MINI decided that one for me when I found out I couldn't order a manual until 3/07. I was probably 55% manual vs 45 automatic, but given the automatic was 6 speed with manual mode and paddle shifters I went ahead and ordered automatic on 11/30. Then my car was built without MFSW and I had to reorder. I found out on 1/30 and could have reordered right away and had my car mid next month. I decided to wait an additional 1 month and order the manual, but it was close. The others were no brainers. DSC, yes for hill assist, BRG, yes since this may be the only real Brit built car I buy, and the rest was just no brainer added comforts that didn't take a lot of struggle. The main struggle was keeping the cost down, I didn't want a little luxury car, just a nice driving mini!!

 

Wheel size and type, and to a lesser degree, color.

I ended up getting the 16" bridge spoke wheels. The 17" wheels were too expensive in my view. I autocross and will probably end up with a second set of wheels with racing tires mounted on them. These will also be 16" based on what I know now. If the factory 16" wheels are light, then I might get 17" wheels for normal driving. That will depend on how the car feels on the stock wheels. I have a set of 16" SSR Comps that I'll certainly use if the offset is right.

Color? I generally like conservative colors, so the dark silver w/ white top was appealing. But I ended up with Mellow Yellow with white top. I such a small, light car, I want to be seen by the many careless cell phone users in their huge road whales. Being a good citizen I have no fear of being noticed by the police.

Almost all of the other option choices were easily made: LSD, sport suspension, cloth seats, no sun roof, and MF Sport wheel.

The really hard part isn't choosing; it's waiting for the car to arrive.

Joe

 

For me exterior color was never an option--I always wanted a red MINI--starting from the 60's when we watched them race. The interior color was a time consumer, though, since the configurator didn't show much. I opted for a conservative silver, not "busy" or "flashy." My husband's biggest item was wheels--and it was the one thing he didn't like when the car came in! The appearance was different on the configurator!

Other than that, everything was easy. One thing helped--I put the question "what would you order?" to those in the Metroplex MINI club, whose website covers Texas clubs, and I got lots of thought provoking answers. Number one on the list was LSD, and number two was the Cold Weather package (yes, even with our heat). We got both!

 

The final spec of options was the most difficult for me, we changed back and forth a couple of times before deciding on the final spec.

 

Heated seats are a wonderful thing, even in Texas. I've needed them maybe 5-10 days this season, and I only have them on for about 10 minutes or so until they warm up. What's bad is my Toyota has the switches where they're easy to accidentally hit. Fortunately in the MINI they're in a better location.

 

When we ordered our 03 MC the only difficult choice for us was the Sport PKG. We ended up not getting it. Now wish we had the Sport Seats. We did order the DSC as an option.For what it,s worth the total Price was $ 20,115.00 & we had to wait 7 months to get it it.

2003 MC. PW/B. CVT, DSC. Preminum PKG, Fog Lamps. After Mkt Rear Spoiler & After Mkt Center & Door Arm Rests & soon Rear Bumper Protection.

 

I really wanted BRG... but ended up with a DS!!! Hankered after the JCW but opted for the S knowing I could 'mod' it for alot less money.

Next time I will go for the BRG but have fallen for my DS as it looks so classy and 'clean' (boot badges have been removed) with the exterior chrome/boot and bonnet GT3 stripes/custom roof decal etc add-ons!

Colour was a huge part for me, both exterior and interior... interior chrome package was a must... when I give people rides in Bertha who have never been in a mini, the first thing they notice (in a positive way) is the 'bling'.

For me, individuality was and is, my first thought... subtle differences which show my character!

 

Tracey--why don't you tell them about your roof?

 

At first, it was the color --- laser or lightning blue? Then I saw both in person. Laser looked too "smurfy" for me. The next, albeit a minor thing, was the color line. Pics on the MINI site suggested the pacific blue color line was a slightly different color than the pacific blue on the cloth/leahter seats, but ended up going that way after all.

 

I am soooo struggling on things right now. I have until 3/10 to get my order figured out as that is when I have to give it to the dealer so it can be included in his next allotment order.

I want the "Nightfire Red" bad, but I can only have a leather or leatherette interior. Bummer. I prefer cloth, only because the only light colored leather is the Tuscan, and you have to get the piano black trim with that and I am not crazy about that.

In Texas, black leather is like sitting on an anvil that has been in the sun all day long and you are wearing shorts.

But I want the "Nightfire Red" bad. OY!

So I am all torn up about the interior color selection, feeling like I ma going to have to 'settle' for something I really do not care for so I can get the exterior color I really like the best.

I am even considering ordering the cheapest interior I can get and then have it rebuilt by some coachwork place, so I can get what I really want.


Or I can select another exterior color which will look good, but not put that 'wowzer' gleam in my eye when I behold her. Damn. Damn. Damn.

 

Skuzzy, I wouldn't worry too much about a black leather interior. I'm in Houston and that's been what all of my cars have had. No particular problems. For Zippeee! I went with the leatherette, though, partly because of cost and partly because it looked so good. I used the savings to get LSD and the Fluid Silver color line.

 

Exterior Colors were definately my toughest choice.

 

Exterior color. And I felt DUMB not being able to just make up my mind.

 

Yeah, but daffledildeb, it does not get to 120F in Houston. You guys just have humidity worries (I grew up in Corpus Christi, so I do know all about that).

A friend of mine has a BMW with black leather and it is absolutely horrible to get into during the peak summer times around here. You feel like you need a transfusion of liquids after you peel yourself out of the car. Leather + sweat + more heat = a concotion too vile to mention in public.

Ok, I may be exagerrating a bit. And I may be a wuss when it comes to heat as well. I get cranky when I get stuck to the seat of a car and lose 5 layers of skin trying to get out of it. It just makes a mess of my day.

I love my Wife too much to put her through that kind of torture. I am talking about my bitching. She is ok with hot weather.

 

Skuzzy, Maybe you should consider seat covers? I've read posts where people have raved about the neoprene. From what I've seen in pictures, they look great and are wonderful in weather extremes.