Happy Birthday rsinheimer! :D I wish you were able to get your MINI on your birthday, and sorry to hear it's taking long at the dealership. By any chance could you drive to your dealer and see if you can spy on your car?
Hokay, so I found what the hold up is -- MINI's out of armrests. I'll guess I've been caught up in the transition from last year's OEM armrest to this year's.

The dealer has his fingers crossed that he'll get it tomorrow, I've told him that if it doesn't get there in time, just ship it to me and I'll install the darned thing, it can't be all that hard (despite the reports that some people have made about dealers charging them 3 hours labor).

So, this weekend for sure!

:D

Hokay, so I found what the hold up is -- MINI's out of armrests. I'll guess I've been caught up in the transition from last year's OEM armrest to this year's.

The dealer has his fingers crossed that he'll get it tomorrow, I've told him that if it doesn't get there in time, just ship it to me and I'll install the darned thing, it can't be all that hard (despite the reports that some people have made about dealers charging them 3 hours labor).

So, this weekend for sure!

:D

Cool. Take pictures, since our MINIs are similiar (exterior color only :) ) Have fun motoring & hope the weather is nice. I was hesitant on ordering the armrest so I never did get it. In my opinion, it looks great but not worth my money lol

Given the hassle...do you LIKE having the Parcel Shelf? I have one in my house waiting for my MINI to arrive....I

I found the parcel shelf to be one of the more useful things I installed in our previous car. Interestingly, it wasn't much of a problem installing it in that car, but I haven't had time to put it in the new one. After reading of all the problems, I'm getting apprehensive. I have had time to install an additional power point and the aux audio adapter into the shelf though. It all goes into the car this weekend.

Thanks for the birthday wishes -- this is 50 for me. I was sure hoping to get the car today, but -- nope.

I could drive by the dealer, but with me in Petaluma (45 miles north of San Francisco for you non-Bay-Area folks) and him in Las Vegas, it'd be a long way to go just for drive by.

:D

-- Roger

Happy Birthday! Even if you're not getting your MINI today, it being your birthday would be a great excuse to go to Las Vegas! :D

dp

Well, as I said on Monday, I got THE CALL and picked my PW/B beauty around 8 o'clock that night...

drove it to work the next day (yesterday) and hit a huge hunk of semi-truck tire tread in the fast lane of the freeway... tore almost my entire bumper right off... :bad: :bad: :bad: :bad: :bad: :bad: :bad: :bad:

That's so horrible! I can't even imagine how devestated you must have been. I hope little Valentine gets fixed as good as new very soon.

Debbie

ryanelp80, I'm so very sorry to hear of Valentines misfortune!

But like they said on tv back in the 70's (or was it the 80's), "she can be rebuilt, better, stronger, faster than before!"

I've been seeing MINI coopers EVERYWHERE. They are haunting me. I saw 3 or 4 today. The Resolve lands in a few hours.....

Anybody think a Liquid Yellow MINI w/ black top, black mirrors, and black bonnet stripes would look funny with a chrome grille?

That's the way I originally submitted my order, but my MA e-mailed to confirm today before installing the chrome grille. He, along with a few other people I've talked to, say that they think the chrome grille looks out of place with my setup.

I've spent the last two hours looking at pictures, and I still like it with the chrome grille. I haven't been able to find a picture of an S with a chrome grille, but all of the LY/B coopers with black mirrors automatically come with the chrome grille, and I think they look cute.

So, what do you guys think? Anyone think that the chrome grille would not only look unique with my setup, but make it kind of cute too? And don't worry, you won't hurt my feelings either way. :) My husband says to order it the way that I really want it, which I probably will, but I'm still curious to hear what others think.

Thanks, Debbie

I personally like the chrome. I'm getting a "non S" cooper with the chrome line exterior package...

Anybody think a Liquid Yellow MINI w/ black top, black mirrors, and black bonnet stripes would look funny with a chrome grille?

That's the way I originally submitted my order, but my MA e-mailed to confirm today before installing the chrome grille. He, along with a few other people I've talked to, say that they think the chrome grille looks out of place with my setup.

I've spent the last two hours looking at pictures, and I still like it with the chrome grille. I haven't been able to find a picture of an S with a chrome grille, but all of the LY/B coopers with black mirrors automatically come with the chrome grille, and I think they look cute.

So, what do you guys think? Anyone think that the chrome grille would not only look unique with my setup, but make it kind of cute too? And don't worry, you won't hurt my feelings either way. :) My husband says to order it the way that I really want it, which I probably will, but I'm still curious to hear what others think.

Thanks, Debbie

Picked it up tonight!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/AprilWhine/th_houseandcar051.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/AprilWhine/houseandcar051.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/AprilWhine/th_houseandcar055.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/AprilWhine/houseandcar055.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/AprilWhine/th_houseandcar048.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/AprilWhine/houseandcar048.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/AprilWhine/th_houseandcar047.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/AprilWhine/houseandcar047.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/AprilWhine/th_houseandcar044.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/AprilWhine/houseandcar044.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/AprilWhine/th_houseandcar042.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/AprilWhine/houseandcar042.jpg)

Congrats Sherry!!! :D

Looks brill :D :cool: :D

All minis from the Andes Highway are on solid ground as of 4:40 central time I am happy to report! One step closer to my ownership commencing.... :rolleyes:

Congrats!!!

Picked it up tonight!

April! It's adorable, absolutely adorable! I hope you have a great time with it this week.

My MA sent me a picture of my wheels and the front of mine today after he confirmed that it had indeed arrived. You know, I've been so worried about chrome grille or not chrome grille that I forgot to post my message about getting notification that my MINI had arrived.

Your little MINI really is adorable. You will look very cute cruising around the coast in it. Have a great time!

Debbie

Usually one of two different tires are used for the Performance option - Dunlop SP9000 or Pirelli Euforias. The Dunlops are reportedly being used on the new webspoke wheels.

I've definitely seen the Dunlops on recent convertibles with the 17" Bullet 5-spoke rims.


April, your yellow convertible is sweet! Congrats! What's the sticker below the cooper S logo on the back?


_Dave_

Thanks Scotty and my March buddies. :)

I actually drove it home with the top down. Temp was in the upper forties, but I had my heater, bun warmer seats, and wind deflector. :D

Wow, AprilWhine, it's gorgeous!

I love the last shot--your MINI looks so ready to take on the world!

Anybody think a Liquid Yellow MINI w/ black top, black mirrors, and black bonnet stripes would look funny with a chrome grille?

So, what do you guys think?
Thanks, Debbie

I'm not a fan of chrome and think that there's too much on the MINI, adding more is something that I wouldn't do. I'm not a fan of the chrome grille in the least.

But, this is your car and if you want that grille what does it matter what anyone else thinks? You're going to be living with this car for a while and If you ended up not getting something you like and want everytime you look at the car for as long as you own it you'll see the yellow grille and regret that you didn't get the chrome. Don't be silly - get it.

I'm not a fan of chrome and think that there's too much on the MINI, adding more is something that I wouldn't do. I'm not a fan of the chrome grille in the least.

But, this is your car and if you want that grille what does it matter what anyone else thinks? You're going to be living with this car for a while and If you ended up not getting something you like and want everytime you look at the car for as long as you own it you'll see the yellow grille and regret that you didn't get the chrome. Don't be silly - get it.

Thank you. You're right. That's exactly what I needed to hear. When I picture my little MINI in my head (as I've been doing while waiting for him to arrive), the little chrome grille is the first thing I visualize. And when I saw the picture today without it, I didn't think it was my MINI. I guess that should have been enough for me, but sometimes I allow others to influence my decisions...even though I shouldn't. I have a picture of my web spokes and another of the spokes and the front of my MINI, but since he's not quite finished yet, I think I will wait until he's done to post his pictures. My MA did say that I could have the yellow grille and its parts. I figure that's probably a good idea. If I sell it several years from now, the new owner will probably prefer the yellow like everyone else.

Thanks again, Pamlico. Sometimes I just need someone to set me straight. That's pretty much what my husband said too. He has the chrome on his, but said mine would look better without it, but he only owned up to that because I forced it out of him. Then he said it didn't matter what he thought - just like you said! I suppose I will have to tell him that he's right, and then he will have to say that he told me so. :p See, this really is turning into a support group.

Have a great night! By the way, I will get to see my new MINI (w/ his little chrome grille) in about 59.5 hours. That doesn't sound like a long time, but I bet it will be!

Debbie

Given the hassle...do you LIKE having the Parcel Shelf? I have one in my house waiting for my MINI to arrive....I

It's a nice addition and certainly worth installing. Honestly, I think I just got a bum shelf that was formed badly at the factory - there's no way the installation hassle I ran into was normal or intentional. Once it's in, it's really convenient and i'm glad I did the modification! :)

Ryan, I feel so bad for you! I know the sickening feeling when you hit something - man, when I drove over that possum, I was SURE I'd done something horrible to my new MINI. Thankfully, mine made it out OK, but that was pure luck. Crap happens on the road... isn't it the MINI manual tat says that scars are just a side effect of motoring and should be worn proudly? :) Hope your MINI gets well soon!

And Debbie, as for the chrome grille - I am still seriously considering the chrome grille on my Cooper S, but much less than I initially was. The red grill does look much better in person than i thought it would, so the urgency to replace it is gone - you might want to have the dealer hold the grille until you see the car in person and then you can make the decision. I really don't think it's that difficult to install yourself...

Ben

Sorry for the lateness of this reply.........

Amazing thing happened Saturday, I got a call from my MA. It appears the MINI arrived Thursday. So, we went to pick it up.

Its about a 2 hour drive home, lots of time to "get used to it". Very hard to keep it below 70. Guess I was so busy driving it I forgot to take pictures. ;)

Anyway, my daughter took care of that for me. So, here's a picture in the showroom. I'll take more this weekend.

It's a nice addition and certainly worth installing. Honestly, I think I just got a bum shelf that was formed badly at the factory - there's no way the installation hassle I ran into was normal or intentional. Once it's in, it's really convenient and i'm glad I did the modification! :)

Ryan, I feel so bad for you! I know the sickening feeling when you hit something - man, when I drove over that possum, I was SURE I'd done something horrible to my new MINI. Thankfully, mine made it out OK, but that was pure luck. Crap happens on the road... isn't it the MINI manual tat says that scars are just a side effect of motoring and should be worn proudly? :) Hope your MINI gets well soon!

And Debbie, as for the chrome grille - I am still seriously considering the chrome grille on my Cooper S, but much less than I initially was. The red grill does look much better in person than i thought it would, so the urgency to replace it is gone - you might want to have the dealer hold the grille until you see the car in person and then you can make the decision. I really don't think it's that difficult to install yourself...

Ben

Do you have any pictures of this parcel shelf that everyone has been talking about? I have no clue what it is, or where it goes. But with all of the talk about it, I'm sure that I need one too! :p And speaking of pictures, notice that April posted a picture of herself with her MINI. Where exactly is the picture of you with your MINI? ;)

I suppose it's better that it was a possum than a deer. That's the one thing I don't miss about living in that area. It was funny to read your comment about Christiansburg Mountain. When I had my ZR2 Blazer, it wasn't a big deal because it was automatic and zoomed right up the mountain, but before that I had a Saturn and I always had to shift from 5th to 4th going up that mountain...unless I was really flying before I got there. And we won't even talk about the crappy little Chevette that I had about 6 cars ago when I first went off to college. Not good...not good at all.

After reading Pamlico's post, I immediately went and e-mailed my MA and told him that I wanted the chrome grille. He's giving me the other one though so that it can be switched out later if needed. For me, it will be better this way because my husband would be very frustrated with me there in the parking lot holding the chrome one up to the yellow one and stopping people as they pass by to ask them which one they like best. I had considered that earlier, but I figure it best not to upset the husband since he's my ride to pick up my MINI. Mike - if you are reading this, you know that's true just as well as it would be true that I would be asking everyone their opinion. :)

And, I'm starting to see a pattern here with our group finding things to hit with their new MINIs. I will be on the lookout for logs, racoons, and other items that could mess up my bumper...or my new chrome grille!

FENTON - nice MINI! Green seems to be popular in our group. Like those wheels too. They go very nice with the BRG. And no apologies. New MINI owners should be out driving their MINIs!

Have a great night everyone!

Debbie

Congrats to all the recent owners, All of them look great. Have some fun out there, I will be picking mine up tomorrow.

Taz must be having too much fun, have not seen his post yet

Do you have any pictures of this parcel shelf that everyone has been talking about? I have no clue what it is, or where it goes. But with all of the talk about it, I'm sure that I need one too! :p And speaking of pictures, notice that April posted a picture of herself with her MINI. Where exactly is the picture of you with your MINI? ;)

The picture of me with my MINI will come when I actually get to drive the thing! :) I think my van knows about the MINI, it's been extra cranky getting going in the mornings lately :mad: I'll have a photo taken with me in the MINI next time I go home.

Speaking of photos, I really should take a good photo of the parcel shelf too. I didn't want it for the longest time because I didn't realize how big a change it really was - I thought it added a tiny bit of storage, but it really takes over the entire knee bolster area and goes all the way across the driver compartment. http://homepage.mac.com/rv6a/MiniParcelShelf.html is a good set of instructions for installation... great pictures except there aren't any good shots of the finished install, in large part because it's hard to get a good angle on it.

For what it's worth, it looks like the install problem I ran into may be a universal 05 problem. Check out this thread: http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/showthread.php?p=518979#post518979

Ben

There's not much to it...just a little ledge where you can tuck things... (this is my first pic upload...so I have no idea how it will turn out)..oh...and this, as you know, is NOT my MINI :(

oh..and it's rubberized..so that things won't slip and slide. Has a few little dimpled compartments..seems like it would be a great place for a cell phone..I pod..stuff like that.

There's not much to it...just a little ledge where you can tuck things... (this is my first pic upload...so I have no idea how it will turn out)..oh...and this, as you know, is NOT my MINI :(

And Ken to the rescue with a great pic! Thanks! :D

Picked it up tonight!

Congrats! Love the color !! :p :p :cool:

I feel like im going to be the last one of this group to get their mini, my mini just hit dry ground this morning due to the andes highway being slow as poo. This last week is killing me....

from Naperville and it is one longggg a$$ed drive, no matter what car you have.
Before I go into any detail with the trip, I need to cover some posts in one post here to reduce those numbers April says I have :D .

April...no fair with those numbers. I bet you WANTED to post more but held off to skew the numbers ;) .
Second note to April: GORGEOUS looking car!! Mannnn, that looks better than I thought it was going to! I see some real fun driving that one, huh?

rsinheimer: Happy half-century day! (I just turned *that* number last month) Congrats fella!!

dpacker- chrome-and the bling that goes with it- are highly personal. You know you liked the idea to begin with so go for it. I really don't think you'll regret it for a moment.

FentonMcD, EXCELLENT looking car!!! Enjoy the livin bezeejus out of it!

Hype...I was gonna post pics but I didn't like the ones we took at the dealership so we'll post some tomorrow. (compared to many of the S's and others with bonnet stripes, it is almost plain looking but my wife is estatic about it and that's all that counts :D )

Now, as for my first impressions. I think the first impressions were tainted by the fact that we drove over 3 1/2 hours on little side state highways...and we couldn't use cruise yet. Sooooo, it was almost tiring to drive. Now granted, it was still a fun car to drive but it is 180 degree change from a huge Dodge Intrepid! It handled like I thought it would. (ok, better) Nimble as all get-out and quicker than anything I've driven since my teen years with my 69 Roadrunner. :D :D The legroom was phenominal for my 6'4" fatboy build. LOVED the sunroof...and the lighting of the instrument panel. The stereo worked well and we had a ball playing with the controls on the steering wheel..BUT...I was less than pleased with the sound quality of those speakers. No highs compared to my car. Plenty of bass and midrange but those tweeters must be for show because I brought music I am familiar with and it disappointed me. (but hey..I'm not the main driver. The wife is and she loved it..so that takes care of that!)
I can't wait to help her wax that car and go over it with a fine tooth comb to make her sparkle for some pics.
Thanks for listening to my rants. Ladies and germs who are still waiting...yea..it's worth the wait. :D
Randy

AprilWhine - the car looks great! Do you like the automatic on the MCS? The colored dashboard looks great, really stands out. I peronsally was not attracted to LY but after seeing your car, I would not mind having a LY MINI :cool:

Hey btdoyle I really think I will be the last march build delivery, since I won't get it until the first or second weekend in May. But I agree with Taz and everyone else who got their car already, that it is worth the wait. The best part to waiting is knowing you are getting exactly what you ordered, ordered to perfection.