[billkrz]

Has anyone seen a Cooper in the US for sale with a cloth interior? My dealer said it has to be special ordered and not until June. Then, I have to wait until August for the car! Can anyone else verify? Thanks.

[tsipple]

That appears to be true, yes. If there are any all-cloth MINIs on U.S. shores, there aren't very many.

I prefer the all-cloth sport seats, but I'm ending up with the all-leather sport seats (profile leather) instead. That's a very close second choice for me. I found another option, though: get the leatherette seats and add MINI cloth seat covers (the official ones that preserve the airbag capabilities). The leatherette is surprising just about everyone for its quality. (Some people even say the seat fit installation is better than the leather.) It's getting much harder to tell the difference between that and real leather. That way you can go naked in spring and autumn and put on the covers in winter and summer.

Sport seats do seem to be fairly plentiful, but the leatherette is reasonably grippy. (The all-cloth seats really need the sport seats, I think. They seem pretty slick.) The U.K. accessories catalog has sport seats listed as a dealer-installed option, but the U.S. catalog that I saw doesn't yet. In theory, though, you should be able to fit sport seats later if you miss them.

[minirossa]

I saw the "panther black kaleido" cloth upholstery in a
Cooper that was here in San Francisco for the dealer training. Looked "cheesy" to me. Not cheap quality wise,
but not that appealing; at least to me.
4 of these cars had different upholstery. One had beige leather, another the profile (raised dot) leather, one was blue leather(?).
The profile looked good but I question what it feels like.
I was not allowed to sit in the cars.
After doing a test drive on Friday in a car with the leatherette; it gets my vote. Looks pretty good & should
wear well.