[rnelsonee]

Well, I've had my MINI a week and a half now, and have almost 1,000 miles. And since this site has helped me so much with all the information available, I figure I'd write up how I felt about my MINI's options to help people who are about to order theirs...

First off, I have a '03 MCS (May build), with a lot of stuff. All the packages offered to U.S. customers, plus the H/K stereo and the Nav System. So I'll write about my experiences with those, and explain why I didn't get Park Distance Control (PDC) or leather.

Premium Package

Cruise Control - A common option on cars now, so most of you already know if you'll use it or not. It's nice to see it works with a manual transmission though

Multi-Function Steering Wheel (MFSW) - Oh man, this is one of the may features that looks like it's frivolous, and may not be worth it -- but I love controlling the radio with those cool paddles on the back of the wheel. Very cool, because it's not only easier, but you can keep your eye on the road. It's a safety feature!

Sunroof - It's huge. I love it, and wouldn't have even considered a MINI if the sunroof wasn't an option. But that's just me -- I like a lot of sun, and I'm 6'2", so the car would seem cramped if there was no sunroof.

Auto A/C - I really didn't think I needed this. And to be honest, I still don't, but it's worth it since it's part of the package. It's nice to never have to touch your A/C controls - just set it and forget it. It works really well.

Computer - Since I have the Nav System, my computer gets displayed on that nice screen, which I think makes it more useful. And I use the feature that shows how far you can go with your remaining gas, because my fuel gauge is just 8 LEDs (because of the Sat), and I don't get gas until the last minute, so I need the 'Range' function. So it's nice to have, but not a necessity. It'd probably be the first feature to go if I had to give something up...

Sport Package

DSC - I'm big on safety for some reason. Well, I drive like a bat out of hell, so it's probably good I like safe cars. Given my bad driving habits, the DSC was a no-brainer. It's basically a $500 insurance policy. Oh, and yes, it works well from what I can tell. I only had it go on once when I flew around a corner in the rain (I did it on purpose). The car handled much better than any other one I've done that too - hardly any fishtailing.

Xenon - I almost didn't get these. They're up there on the cool factor (the lens cleaners are sooo fun to use), and it looks better than normal headlights. I'd still get them again if I had to redo it all, but if I had to cut money, I'd probably get rid of these.

17" wheels - I haven't driven anything but 17s. I have no complaints with the 17s... especially with the softer suspension in MINIs, it's certainly not a harsh ride.

Cold Weather

I haven't used this much since it's still the summer. I figured $300 to help get out of the parking lot on cold mornings was worth it. Seated heats are always fun, too And my lord, do they work. Two levels of heat are available -- the 2nd level almost too hot, and it gets warm pretty quickly.

Auto Mirror / Auto Wipers

I orginally was planning on skipping these because I have an issue with control -- I like to assume that my brain knows more about what I want than a computer/program does (like how fast I want the wipers to go). So I told my dealer I'd try this option, even though I didn't "trust" them completely. Well, the MINI does a great job with the wipers -- you just turn them on intermittent, and they go. I haven't had to touch the wipers once once I turn them on (and it's been raining almost every day here). I'm really surprised how well they work. It could be a light rain, and they'll come on once in a while. But once you get behind another car, or go through a puddle, and all of sudden they'll go as fast as they need to. Very cool. The mirror does okay as well. I certainly haven't had it "too bright" yet. I wouldn't mind if the mirror still had a switch on it to make it as dark as possible though...

Harmon-Kardon Stereo

I like to listen to music loud once in a while. And my presets have everything from Classical to Rap, so I wanted a stereo that was clear (for those quiet rides), and one that could handle it when I had it turned up with sunroof open and everyting, and not have to worry about blowing the speakers. The H/K does all that. My friend (who used to compete in car audio contests) said for $550, you couldn't build a better unit. So, I got it. This is easy to test at the MINI dealership though. If you don't listen to loud music, the other stereo should be fine. If I had to save money, I would just get the standard stereo, and maybe replace the front speakers. Also, I don't think the speed-sensitive volume feature works well. It get's marginally louder at really high speeds, but it's not that noticable...

Nav System

At $1,700, this was a tough decision to make... especially since I never get lost. But I got the Nav because 1) I'm a geek who loves gadgets, and 2) I didn't like the speedo in the center. I know, I know, the speedo is what "makes" the MINI, but I really thought it was oversized. But anywho, this feature is the definite show-stealer for my car. Everyone loves it. The voice-integrated feature is cool, since the system will come over your speakers. And it's much more accurate than I had imagined -- it knows my apartment complex parking lot's turns! This thing will get you within 10 yards of your destination, which is very accurate. Just type in the address of your destination, and you can go several ways, depending on if you want the fastest route, or shortest, or "avoid highways". Today I set it to avoid highways, and found a new way home! A whole new road I had no idea existed. Plus, there's an address book built in, so you can find everything you'd need. Gas stations, hotels, just about every restaurant in your area, parking garages, tourist attractions, bars/lounges, colleges. Even marinas. Who needs to find marinas on a whim? Honestly, this will have a ton of stuff for you to find if you ever forget an address, or if you're just in need of a place to eat. And it'll even display your search results on the map (like little gas pumps show up on the map if that's what you searched for). Truly amazing. I don't think it has a lot of commercial businesses built in, though. But I have yet to play with this, because I'm usually driving when I'm looking up new features

Stuff I didn't get
Park Distance Control - Well, I hardly ever have to parallel park. And the few times I do a year, I can't imagine I'll need the PDC. This car can fit anywhere, so I just don't ever expect parking troubles.

Leather - I figured with all the other crap I got, I had to be good and cut out one option. Although the leater looks great, I'm still happy with my leatherette (nylon) decision, because now I don't have to worry about my MINI's interior so much. The nylon really is great -- a lot of people really think it's leather. It's just a very modern material that's easy to maintain. I plan on having a dog at some point, and I won't have to worry about the dog punching holes in expensive leather. Plus, I left my window cracked open last week and got water all over the seat. A few wipes with a towel, and it was all gone. Just go to the dealer and check it out before you make your decision. I've also heard reports about leather getting worn/stretchy after a while. Another thing I didn't want to worry about.

Final thoughts

I'm very happy with all the options I got. The MINI feels very classy, so the Premium Packages fits in very well. And if you're already putting up money for the supercharger if you get the MCS, the sport seats and DSC makes it a very sporty car that you can have fun with. The big surpise is the auto-wipers, as they work much better than I had thought (although I heard the MINI comes with 'speed-sensitive' wipers standard anyway, so I don't know just how much intelligence this feature adds). The H/K stereo is nice for those who just like to listen to music loud, or find the factory unit lacking, but it's not a 'must-have'. The Nav impresses everyone, myself included. I'd get it again despite the heavy price tag. I mean, if we wanted to be cheap, we probably wouldn't be getting a MINI, right?

[brave1]

Thanks for the write up, it helped me confirm what I thought I already knew I wanted in my indi blue mini! I go order mine this week, I too am skipping the leather and parking control feature, and because I live in a dang desert in California, I won't really need the 3rd premium package. I have not decided on the audio system yet until I hear a comparison. I wanted to go standard to cut a little cost, but I sure do like to listen to my stereo loud..hmmm Did you go with the white roof and mirrors, how bout the bonnet stripes?

[rocketsredglare]

I agree with the MFSW, I as so glad I got it. All coopers should have it.

[rnelsonee]

Lookwise, I got the Indi Blue with body-colored roof. I couldn't be happier with the IB/IB - the metallic paint sparkles in the sunlight. I wanted white bonnet strips, but I couldn't get them factory installed since I had the body-color roof. I not only had to pay $80 for the vinyl stripes (they're not painted on), but also $120 for labor! So I just ordered some stripes for $10 off the net, and I'll pay a local tint shop $40 or so to put them on for me. But yeah, the IB is wonderful looking. Not that the other colors are bad -- the dark silver looks very elegant, and the all black MINIs I see look really cool.

[AidenL]

Yeah, good review there.........

[xplode]

thanks for the writeup, excellent job! very useful. i've always hated the nav system and happily said so on these very forums, but your description of it makes it sound kinda fun - still, i just wish it wasn't so ugly, expensive, and also that it wouldn't move the speedo. those are still killers for me.

anyhow, thanks! and hey, all we need now are pictures! don't see too many ib/ibs, i'm sure it looks spiffing.