pic at last!

Ken, congratulations! One heck of a chair on wheels. We'll want stories, more pics, etc, but I know, you're motoring . . . :)

Hello everyone!

I thought I'd give an update... As some may remember, I picked up my MINI on the 11th and on the morning of the 12th ran over a huge chunk of semi truck tire tread in the fast lane on the freeway... well, still haven't gotten him back :( State Farm is totally jerking me around, the "estimator" made fraudulent notes in SF's computer system regarding my claim and why he had to go back out and do a second estimate... I mean, he out-and-out LIED... I have no clue why, unless they get paid by the miles they travel or the amount of appt.'s they see each day or something... So, it's been nearly two weeks, might be another week before I see my MINI again... At this rate, I'll be paying my first payment before I even put 50 miles on him... :mad:

Hi Ryane - I'm sorry to hear that you and Valentine aren't out motoring again. I know that has to be really hard. Insurance adjustors can be a pain sometimes! I hope you and Valentine are out motoring again soon though. That really sucks!

Ken - you MINI looks sweet. I'll be looking forward to seeing more pictures.

My MINI got his first real car wash yesterday. I found a little nick/scrape just above the black plastic in the back. It's hardly even noticeable (you can only see it if you are a few inches from the scrape), but it made me crazy. I inspected my pics from Sunday and it wasn't there, so it happened somewhere between Monday and Thursday. Probably at the stupid grocery store - the only place I've parked it. Looks like we're going to have to have a third crappy car for taking to the grocery store and other places that scrape-free MINIs wouldn't like.

dp

Hey, Ken! Fine-al-lee! Splendid motor, mate!

pic at last!


Ken,
I know it was a difficult wait, but worth every minute. Am I right? Enjoy!.


Tom

Pictures!!!

Pictures!!!

Hmmm, I see your other car is a Jeep too. ;)

I picked up my car Saturday morning. It was a little rainy and rather chilly but I did not mind, probably because that meant I got to try out the heated seats :D I went with my father and after, just as I predicted, my father found the BMW side of the dealership and decided he wanted to buy a 645i... crazy he is...

Anyway, MY car is wonderful. There is nothing on it I am displeased with. The quality of the material looks and feels better then the 03 demo i drove 8 weeks ago. Only thing I would have changed would be the auto climate. But that is not a big deal at all. I guess its just convince.

I am rather happy with the 16 inch wheels, I thought they might look small on the mini but they look just fine. Not small at all. I LOVE the green on white with the white roof. My father was questioning my choice when I told him I ordered the car but after he saw it he was really impressed and liked it a lot.

The handling in great, The HK radio is great although it has SO much bass, I currently have the bass turned all the way down and it still has a lot of it. The bass kinda reverberates the speaker housing so it is kind of annoying but not bad at all.

The 200 mile trip home went by smoothly with no problems. The cooper S is rather quite. only thing that is rather interesting is there is some wind noise coming from the front windshield but I am guessing this is due to the upright windshield.

The seats were comfortable, heated seats seemed not to get that hot. Others say they work, I was wearing a couple layers so that is probably why. Also I don't think they get as hot on the cloth seats for some reason.

The transmission is a dream. Wow. What an easy, fun clutch Lots of power, I wish actually though 1st and 2nd gear were just a tad bit farther apart, gearing wise. kept it under 4500 for almost all of the trip so far so that is good. I find myself using the digital speedo rather then the center one. Oh well.

For the amount of money I spent on this car I am amazed with everything it has. It is such a deal. Looking at other cars in this price range such as the base mustang, I know I made the right choice.

The night before we picked it up in the hotel was rough though. I could barely sleep but it was worth every minute of it to get my car. I hope nothing goes wrong with it and everyone treats it nicely at college :D If anybody has any questions feel free to ask me.

Hmmm, I see your other car is a Jeep too. ;)


Yes it is, unfortunately it is going to get sold now that I have my mini . tear :(


P.S. More pictures in my gallery!!!

P.P.S. How do I make my gallery button show up? I have pictures in there....

pic at last!

Lovely car Ken,

I hope you like your cabrio as much as we like ours. I had to break out my winter coat, the better half will not let us drive it with the top up. :cool: ;)

Keep posting now, just because you got the car is not a reason to leave your online friends.

Congratulations, bt---awesome MINI. Enjoyed reading your detailed report on it. Also, always a good thing when a parent decides you were right about something. :)

CONGRATULATIONS! to Ken and btdoyle!!!

Very nice rides gentlemen...very nice indeed!

Ken, you only teased us with that one photo...we need moooooreee!

BT, wasn't Rachel great to work with? (sheesh, it helps that she is easy on the eyes too, huh?)

I'd say the March production (05) has done well overall, don't you guys (and gals)? Just a couple more MINIs to go and we'll all be good to go.
I hope everyone comes back and lets us all know what-if anything- they would do differently in ordering another MINI (given the chance to do it immediately) over what they now have. Personally, I see where I wish I would have ordered a larger wheel. The 15's look nice but there is a lot of wheel well that could be filled. But they would STILL be white! I (unlike some, I know) would have ordered the Chrome packages inside and out. (except the chrome mirrors. I like our white ones) Oh, and I would have ordered the arm rest. (will do that one day) My wife wishes we would have ordered the 2-tone seats where she could have red on them to match the car. See? Things do come to light after a while. Don't get me wrong...we love that lil' scooter but we do see where ordering a second time would achieve different results...albiet ever so slight.
Randy

Oh, and I would have ordered the arm rest. (will do that one day) Randy
A good topic - what would you have done differently if you had it to do over again?

First, a response to the armrest question -- you did yourself a favor by waiting. I was surprised and disappointed when I picked up Bruiser and saw that the armrest they'd installed was the style that is mounted in the rear cup holder -- but that's what's in MINI"s pipeline right now. At some future date you'll be able to get the armrest that's now available from the factory as a dealer-installed unit, that one won't take up the rear cup holder and it has storage inside the armrest. If I had it to do over again, I would have waited on the armrest.

Other than that, I too am slightly questioning the value of the auto HVAC. It makes odd choices sometimes, and the setting are 2° F apart. I have the auto HVAC on my Acura TSX, it's much better behaved and the settings are 1° F apart. With the MINI auto HVAC I find myself fiddling with the controls to get comfortable, with the Acura it's pretty much set and forget. With the MINI sometimes I have to turn off the Auto mode and set it myself, that seems silly, if I knew I was going to have to fiddle I would have bought the non-auto unit.

I'm frankly not that impressed with the H/K stereo. Frankly, I expected it to be able to be played louder. I'm not listening to hip-hop, but some of the classical stuff I listen to is pretty quiet, and as a former french horn player it seems like I can't get up to the volume level in the orchestra. First row yes, orchestra, no. Also, I expected the treble to be cleaner -- as others have said, the H/K has loud bass, I'm not sure that it's all that clean, but it is loud -- the treble seems like it's cut off at relatively low frequencies. I know, pick, pick, pick, but for $550 extra I expected this thing to be truly awesome, instead it's merely pretty good.

Other than those truly minor issues, Bruiser's a joy. Every time I go into the garage he grins at me, I grin at him, and off we go, two bad boys out on the town.

:D :D :D

-- Roger

A good topic - what would you have done differently if you had it to do over again?


I expected the treble to be cleaner -- as others have said, the H/K has loud bass, I'm not sure that it's all that clean, but it is loud -- the treble seems like it's cut off at relatively low frequencies.

-- Roger
Thanks for supporting what I thought to be the one thing that disappointed (only SLIGHTLY) me in our new toy. The high range was lacking in ours. We don't have the HK and thought that maybe we screwed up by NOT getting it. Now it sounds like it's just a flaw in the high end, either speakers or the crossover. (can't tell which). As you were a former french horn player (my oldest son did trombone-high school and military- and the youngest did sax), we too are used to hearing clearer fidelity in all ranges.
Also, thanks for the heads up about the arm rest. I feel better about waiting a little bit on that now.
As for the auto-AC, I too found it a little bit daunting to figure out so we have gone to manual and will save the auto feature for longer trips. For most of our intown stuff, we just kick it on and go for now.
Like you...I am not picking but these are just little idiosyncrasies of ours that we noticed. We still have to trade driving time for even the smallest of trips to the store, that's how much we love it. (you drive now and I'll drive home, ok?) I can't say as I've ever owned a car where we both enjoyed it so much and that's a lot of cars in almost 30 years. :D
Randy

Mighty fine motor, BT! I really like they way you specced the car; seems to emphasize the go-bits. Can't wait to hear what your buds an school think! I think you'll be doing a lot of "designating driving." :D

Motor Conscientiously!

Great photos Ken & Btdoyle. Ken, such a tease, with one photo. Happy motoring!

One other gripe -- does anyone else have a rear wiper washer with the sniffles? It seems like there's always a dribble of water coming out, and I'm back there wiping it off. If I don't, there's a dried streak running down the back down to the license plate. I've only used the rear wiper a couple of times -- I'm glad it's there, but this is a pain in the a**.

-- Roger

A good topic - what would you have done differently if you had it to do over again?


Since this is our second MINI, we were lucky enough to be able to do it over again. The two options that we didn't have the last time were as follows. 1. Heated seats - we live in a cold area and having them in the dead of winter will be a nice touch. 2. Sunroof - we originally thought long and hard about this when we got the first one, but ultimately decided against it. Even though there are nasty winters up here, the rest of the year (both months) can be very nice and having the sunroof will be appreciated.

Since we take the MINI on long trips we had missed having an armrest, and we ultimately installed one in the previous car. While it served the purpose, it was always a little wobbly. We actually delayed placing the order for our new one a couple of weeks to be sure the car would be manufactured after the factory armrest was in production. So far, no problems with the new armrest.

The original car had the lapis blue leather interior, while the current one has black leatherette. I'm pleasantly surprised that the leatherette seems quite nice. The leather looked great, but it always seemed a little thin and potentially vulnerable to damange. In fact, we had to have one of the seatbacks replaced as the leather wore through in a relatievly brief time. The leather on the new cars may be improved, but I felt the $ would be better spent on something else (see below). The leatherette seems thicker and more grippy when cornering.

Now, me being the world's oldest teenager, onto the extravagences on this car (which I never would have added to the old one). 1. JCW package and LSD: Is this needed? Certainly not, but it is (or will be, once broken in) fun. Retaining the factory warranty is a nice plus, although it does cost for that benefit. 2. Webspoke wheels - in the grand scheme of things, not that expensive an option. I really like the original S-lites, but I find the web spokes attractive.

So, with the benefit of hindsite and experience, the new car is configured exactly the way we wanted.

One other gripe -- does anyone else have a rear wiper washer with the sniffles? It seems like there's always a dribble of water coming out, and I'm back there wiping it off. If I don't, there's a dried streak running down the back down to the license plate. I've only used the rear wiper a couple of times -- I'm glad it's there, but this is a pain in the a**.

-- Roger

I haven't had this problem yet, but there is a thread on Roadfly about this. Apparently MINI is aware of this, but no fix is in the works. The recommendation is to complain to MINI. If enough complaints are received the hope is something will be done.

Hey everyone,

Sorry I've been so absent. I wish I could say I was out motoring...dealing with my friend with the sick cat, teaching a weekend workshop, interviewing candidates for dean, and working with the house renovation (My carpenter's truck got stolen!). It's been quiet a few days..I hardly have time to enjoy my car.

BUT..I do. Got stopped in the parking lot today...somone stopped right in front of where I parked and just looked at me..I thought.."oh...did I steal her parking place?" When I got out..she said...I'm sorry...I JUST LOVE YOUR CAR. I can't believe how often that's happend.

Even though there are nasty winters up here, the rest of the year (both months) can be very nice and having the sunroof will be appreciated.

I laughed my *ss off when I read that. A whole two months of good warm weather, huh? TOO funny! :D :D :D

I figured a few of you people who had previous MINIs would have some added insight to this thought. You, Aprilwhine and dpacker all have had previous experience at ordering earlier MINIs and I was curious as to whether you guys made many changes or not. Thanks for your insight!
Randy

Thanks Randy, here's my write up of changes:

My 2002 was fairly well loaded: leather seats, all packages, PDC and CVT. It was a discontinued color with a discontinued interior. :( Silk green with Emerald green leather interior. I bought the MC instead of the MCS because I liked the color. Yes, I have always been a girl. :D

My 2005 is an MCSCa, still very loaded. Changes from the 2002: I went from a MC-CVT to an MCS automatic. The difference in power is amazing! I added the convenience package, which wasn't available on my 2002, but dropped the premium package. I found the climate control to be annoying, and prefer the manual air controls. I dropped the leather seats because I thought the convertible would lead to sun damaged seats. :D This one has space cloth seats. Cold weather package in both, heated seats change from a luxury to a necessity very quickly. :D I added Nav, just because I like to play with gadgets. Still has PDC because it's standard on the cabrio, but I would have ordered it if not. Very handy in parking lots.

If I were ordering it again today, I might add the HK, but then again, maybe not. :rolleyes:

Thanks Randy, here's my write up of changes:

My 2002 was fairly well loaded: leather seats, all packages, PDC and CVT. It was a discontinued color with a discontinued interior. :( Silk green with Emerald green leather interior. I bought the MC instead of the MCS because I liked the color. Yes, I have always been a girl. :D

My 2005 is an MCSCa, still very loaded. Changes from the 2002: I went from a MC-CVT to an MCS automatic. The difference in power is amazing! I added the convenience package, which wasn't available on my 2002, but dropped the premium package. I found the climate control to be annoying, and prefer the manual air controls. I dropped the leather seats because I thought the convertible would lead to sun damaged seats. :D This one has space cloth seats. Cold weather package in both, heated seats change from a luxury to a necessity very quickly. :D I added Nav, just because I like to play with gadgets. Still has PDC because it's standard on the cabrio, but I would have ordered it if not. Very handy in parking lots.

If I were ordering it again today, I might add the HK, but then again, maybe not. :rolleyes:\

Thank YOU, April, for your input. I appreciate it!
Actually, I did fail to mention that if there was any way to do it, my wife would have loved to have gotten either of 2 colors-neither of which she could do with what she bought. First was the orange that is available only on the convertable, and the other color was your silk green which sadly was discontinued. She fell in love with that color the first time we started eyeing cars on eBay. (that was only available in 02-03, right?)
I'm seeing more people opt for the manual air. Interesting. Hindsight tells me that if I could have gotten everything else but left the auto-air out, I would have but it was part of a package that made the Auto air part of the bargain. So far we have had a few cold mornings to where my wife has made use of the heated seats and she goes nuts over it. (that woman can stay cold until JUNE I swear!) If we had more money than sense, we might have gotten the PDC too but this time around budget stopped us from a few things. If we still think it possible, she may want to trade this in a couple of years down the road for one that would be better suited for her. And by then..who knows what colors would be available by then?
Oh, one thing we will be watching out for as of now...we hope someone will come up with an aftermarket item that mimics what you can get with the "S" model now...the color matching dash pieces. I see where you can buy carbon fiber addons, but none of the matching color schemes of MINIs. I think there would be a fairly good sized market for those. We hope to get some Chili Red covers if someone will bring them out. One could probably buy the carbon fiber ones and have them custom painted with factory CR paint but that sure sounds like a long process. (as well as cashy that way).
Randy

Pictures!!!

Hey! I like it - I like it a lot! I think that's the combo that my husband probably would have had...had he not been impatient. I like those wheels too - sweet! Hope you have a blast! I drove mine to the beach today...got to have a little fun with it. Still under 500 miles...have a little bit further to go.

What would I change about my MINI? Not too much. I, like others, am unimpressed with the HK stereo system. Like someone else said, for the extra money, I expected a lot more. I drove my other car yesterday with its Bose system in it, and it's just so much different. I'm wondering if there are some better speakers for the front doors...or is that not the problem? I may have to do a little investigating.

Other than that, the only thing I would change is that I wouldn't have driven it to the grocery store this week. I'm still upset over that little nick even though you can't see it. :(

Oh...where the heck is the release button to pop the hatch while the car is turned on? My current car has a little button in the driver door that you push...I will miss that!

I warming up to the cupholder. For an ugly afterthought, I suppose it's quite functional.

Anyone been playing with the fuel consumption stuff? I just finished my first tank of gas today. I think my husband got about 425 with his, and mine was a little over 400. Just curious...anyone else know what they got with their first tank? Mine would have been really bad had we not taken that road trip today. All that zooming around town was working on the gas mileage! :D

dp

Hey! I like it - I like it a lot! I think that's the combo that my husband probably would have had...had he not been impatient. I like those wheels too - sweet! Hope you have a blast! I drove mine to the beach today...got to have a little fun with it. Still under 500 miles...have a little bit further to go.

What would I change about my MINI? Not too much. I, like others, am unimpressed with the HK stereo system. Like someone else said, for the extra money, I expected a lot more. I drove my other car yesterday with its Bose system in it, and it's just so much different. I'm wondering if there are some better speakers for the front doors...or is that not the problem? I may have to do a little investigating.

Other than that, the only thing I would change is that I wouldn't have driven it to the grocery store this week. I'm still upset over that little nick even though you can't see it. :(

Oh...where the heck is the release button to pop the hatch while the car is turned on? My current car has a little button in the driver door that you push...I will miss that!

I warming up to the cupholder. For an ugly afterthought, I suppose it's quite functional.

Anyone been playing with the fuel consumption stuff? I just finished my first tank of gas today. I think my husband got about 425 with his, and mine was a little over 400. Just curious...anyone else know what they got with their first tank? Mine would have been really bad had we not taken that road trip today. All that zooming around town was working on the gas mileage! :D

dp
Hey Deb,
I thought I would try to investigate the idea of different speakers for the front tweeters. (the ones by the door handle). I think these are the weakest link in the chain from what I can tell. I don't know if I will have any luck but it won't be from not trying!
I have to agree with you about that cupholder thing. It is butt-ugly but handy as heck considering that the ones down lower in front of the shifter are totally worthless for drinks. (good change holders though!)
I figured out my gas mileage the old fashioned way by using a calculator and came up with 31.1 MPG for the first tank. It had a combination of a 3.5 hour trip mixed with a lot of in-town driving on that tank. So far with this tank we have all in-town driving on it. I can't wait to see how they compare. I really look forward to a long trip where we can check the highway miles exclusively.
Randy

These are two topics I'm very interesting in.

First, regrets on my MINI. Just two: Rain Sensor Wipers (RSW) and day running lights. I thought I had done my homework prior to the purchase, but upon reading the on-line manual (after I ordered) I realized the RSW was a feature I liked. I also have two friends with RSW and both sing its praises (again, after I ordered). As for the day running lights, I've liked several of the pictures I've seen on the forum. It is a dealer installed option -- so I can correct that if so desired.

Second, the good selections: At first, I wanted the arm rest. However, seeing several of the aftermarket items, I'm convinced that waiting was the right choice. Then there's the sun-roof. Perfect in Florida. Finally, Gray leatherette -- goes well with the BRG.

As for consumption: I have filled twice. 325 miles on the first and 290 on the second. The first tank included three long trips (100 miles, 150 miles, 50 miles). The second was mostly city driving. Today while I was driving I-95 I notice that the engine has a sweet-spot for gas mileage. I was getting better mileage (measured on the computer) when the engine was running around 3000 (about 70).



What would I change about my MINI? .........

Anyone been playing with the fuel consumption stuff? ......

dp

I picked up Wensleydale S. Cooper (Wendsley for short) on Friday noon in Chicago. Patrick Motors was great - easily the best new car buying experience I've had. If you've not ordered one yet, you would do yourself a favor to call Chuck Amenta at Patrick.

My 14 year old son flew out that afternoon and we started our road trip. Down Illinois to Springfield, then the next day across Missouri and Kansas on US-36 - a very pleasant drive. Today we hit Colorado and tried to drive up Pikes Peak - but 3/4 the way up the ranger closed the road due to zero visibility - still a neat drive.

1250 miles now, so time to wind her up. We're paused in Denver, and will head back to Northern California on Tuesday, so hopefully we'll have clear sailing over the Loveland pass and then across Utah and Nevada on US-50.

I've posted a couple of pics in the gallery. Having a great father-son road trip and enjoying getting to know the car. Initial impressions: Very fun and responsive - in a different way than my 911 - like chocolate and vanilla, but both ice cream - yummy!

I'll update this after we get back home.

Okay...some people were intersted in the music my friend put together for my MINI...here's my MINI's soundtrack revealed...a little something for everyone

Autobahn-Kraftwerk
I Feel Love- Donna Summer
Such Great Heights-Postal Service
Homeless Club Kids-My Favorite
Enjoy the Silence- Depeche Mode
Teen Angst-M83
So Here We Are-Bloc Party
Say Something New-The Concretes
Be My Baby-The Ronnettes
Dirty Eyes-The Raveonettes
Mongoloid-Devo
Pulsatron-Siobhan Fahey
This is not a love song- Princess Julia
Cities in the dust- Siouxsie and the Banshees
Rebellion(Lies)-Arcade Fire
Sunce U Been Gone- Kelly Clarkson
Celebrity Skin-Hole
The End Has No End-The Strokes

These are two topics I'm very interesting in.

First, regrets on my MINI. Just two: Rain Sensor Wipers (RSW) and day running lights. I thought I had done my homework prior to the purchase, but upon reading the on-line manual (after I ordered) I realized the RSW was a feature I liked. I also have two friends with RSW and both sing its praises (again, after I ordered). As for the day running lights, I've liked several of the pictures I've seen on the forum. It is a dealer installed option -- so I can correct that if so desired.

Second, the good selections: At first, I wanted the arm rest. However, seeing several of the aftermarket items, I'm convinced that waiting was the right choice. Then there's the sun-roof. Perfect in Florida. Finally, Gray leatherette -- goes well with the BRG.

As for consumption: I have filled twice. 325 miles on the first and 290 on the second. The first tank included three long trips (100 miles, 150 miles, 50 miles). The second was mostly city driving. Today while I was driving I-95 I notice that the engine has a sweet-spot for gas mileage. I was getting better mileage (measured on the computer) when the engine was running around 3000 (about 70).


DLR is a program option, turned on with software. Your dealer can do this in five minutes. :)

I picked up Wensleydale S. Cooper (Wendsley for short) on Friday noon in Chicago. Patrick Motors was great - easily the best new car buying experience I've had. If you've not ordered one yet, you would do yourself a favor to call Chuck Amenta at Patrick.

My 14 year old son flew out that afternoon and we started our road trip. Down Illinois to Springfield, then the next day across Missouri and Kansas on US-36 - a very pleasant drive. Today we hit Colorado and tried to drive up Pikes Peak - but 3/4 the way up the ranger closed the road due to zero visibility - still a neat drive.

1250 miles now, so time to wind her up. We're paused in Denver, and will head back to Northern California on Tuesday, so hopefully we'll have clear sailing over the Loveland pass and then across Utah and Nevada on US-50.

I've posted a couple of pics in the gallery. Having a great father-son road trip and enjoying getting to know the car. Initial impressions: Very fun and responsive - in a different way than my 911 - like chocolate and vanilla, but both ice cream - yummy!

I'll update this after we get back home.


Don,
I hope you're using this opportunity to get your son used to driving the 6 speed. It's never too early to learn. Car looks great. Enjoy the trip. Kids have a nasty habit of growing up:)


Tom