[Jon Robson]

Hi All, just thought I'd introduce myself, been considering used Cooper for a while now, however the introduction of the new Dooper prompted me to visit the local emporium, and I have done some sums based on the low depreciation and have decided this will almost certainly be my first ever new vehicle purchase! I do around 20,000 miles a year, mainly A and B roads, currently driving a Berlingo Van as I needed the space but circumstances have changed and no longer need the cargo carrying capacity so have decided to sell it and my elderly Range Rover Classic and go for the Dooper!

I am trying to find my ideal spec, and have decided on Lightning Blue with Black roof mirrors and bonnet stripes, Chilli pack, Cloth/Leather Ray Pacific interior with Piano Black trim. Anyone got a good photo of such an beast in the wild, and any comments about the future desirability of such a colour combo and spec come trade in time? Other Lightning Blues I have seen have had white stripes/roof, I have only seen black on the configurator so I'm still not sure. Any other options I should be looking at that won't break the bank? Is the visibility pack worth the £220, or will the heated front screen merely block the signal from my TomTom? I would like things like the centre armrest but realise these can be added at a later date, its really things that are built into the car at build that are most important.

Thanks for listening, look forward to your answers and looking forward even more to my new Mini and making new friends on here!

Jon.

[Triffid]

Hi Jon and welcome to Mini2

I have a Lightning Blue Dooper with a black roof and Pacific blue interior and personally I wouldn't swap it for any of the other colours..(I'm sure most owners feel the same about their colour though!). The only thing I forgot to include was the stripes, but I can get them done locally for about the same price as the original spec so heres a pic.

Theres another pic on the Cooper D speccing thread.. For some reason it won't let me upload the same pic twice if i've posted it elsewhere!

[R99]

Hi and welcome to the site. I have a ONE D and have test driven a Dooper, your right it is a great car....

With regards to your spec, it sounds like you have picked the right options, to enable a good furture trade in price, the most important one being the Chilli Pack.

The black roof / mirror combo I cant offer any suggestion to, but hopefully someone will post a pic and you can make a decsion. Either way, black or white will look great.

Other options wise...

Xenon lights would be a must for me, this is the ONLY other option I wish my car had, and they are astronomically expensive to have retro-fitted to the car...

The arm rest, as far as I know this also includes BlueTooth, so allthough you may be able to have the arm rest fitted later, if you had it factory fitted you would also get the BlueTooth system inc in the price of the arm rest.

I would also add a mult-function steering wheel into the mix, which would be very usefull.

More non-essential luxury items would include the HiFi system, as unfortunatley it seems to be a common conclusion that the standard R56 system is pretty poor. I have the Harmon/Kardon upgrade in my diesel and it is fantastic.

What alloys are you going for, in my opinion the R56 really needs 17" rims to fill out its arches.

Regards,

James.

[Jon Robson]

Thanks for the replies so far guys, like the look of your interior Triffid, the blues of the body and trim work well together, nice to see what mine would actually look like in the flesh!

As far as alloys go, I was going to stick with the 16's and standard suspension, as a high mileage driver the cost saving on 16 inch rubber is important and I think my back will appreciate the extra compliance. I must admit I am not a huge fan of the standard Blaster wheels, might upgrade to the Bridge Spokes and runflats.. will have to investigate the extra cost...

[rentagas]

The new bluetooth kit comes with armrest, MFSW and a USB socket for an MP3 player and is cheaper than before

[Harpo]

Click on my Mini profile to check mine out.

There is nothing that I have omitted that I really wish I had ordered - except 17" wheels.

Equally, everything that I had ordered, I have been really delighted with, and would spec the same again - every time.

[pantheon]

I really like the Dooper too and was thinking of
Pepper pack
+ New Blue Tooth and Usb Audio
+ Heated Seats
+ Heated Mirrors
+ Visibility Pack
+ First Aid Kit and triangle

I am not sure whether to
+ upgrade the wheels to 16"
+ Get the interior chrome
+ upgrade to Chilli Pack
+ Get the Sports Button

Also my main hesitation is whether I should wait a few months and get the Dooper Clubman as the 5 seats and extra storage would be very useful as long as it is still fun to drive and still has good fuel economy and low CO2 emissions.

Any thoughts /recomendations would be gratfully received!

[Hat]

i have visibility pack on my current cooper & would definately spec it again. the front screen elements don't bother the tomtom one bit

[Triffid]

Hi Pantheon

I would definitely get the Sport button as it really does make a difference.. It makes the car a lot more responsive and because the torque is peaking at low revs it really does come into its own..

Regarding the interior chrome, I havent had any problems with reflections yet and would definitely spec it again like the sport button..

Incidentally regarding xenons, I didnt spec them because I always intended upgrading the lights.. I'm really happy with my new Philips x-treme power H4's (which won AutoExpress accessory of the year..)

Jon regarding Bridge spokes, I just went out and took a pic 20 mins ago...

[R99]

Quote: Originally Posted by Triffid (original)

Incidentally regarding xenons, I didnt spec them because I always intended upgrading the lights.. I'm really happy with my new Philips x-treme power H4's (which won AutoExpress accessory of the year..)

Good advice,

If you dont go for the Xenons, then definatley upgrade the hallogen bulbs. A good thing about the R56 is that you will only need two bulbs in total, unline the R53/R50 which needed four (two per headlamp unit)

I've upgraded the bulbs in both my main and dipped beams, and the difference was very noticeable.

HOWEVER, these will still not be as good as the Xenon lights, the Xenons light up the road so much more, and make the standard lights look pretty shoking. Plus the Xenons have the added effect of looking very

Dont get me wrong I'm not slating the standard lights, but its just a fact that the Xenons will be much brighter, I'd even go as far as saying safer for night driving. Especially when you are needing the dipped beam on the motorway and A roads etc.

Regards,

James.

[Jon Robson]

The Xenons sound tempting, however the cost is a bit much, I am also a fan of the Philips bulbs which I have on both my current vehicles, as you say a big improvement.

The Bridge Spokes defiitely look better than the Blasters, will check how much extra thaey will add to the cost. Good to know the visibility pack doesn't affect the TomTom, on my Rangie it does.

All good advice so far, keep it coming! Think I will be spending some money this week!

[Triffid]

Quote:

The Bridge Spokes defiitely look better than the Blasters, will check how much extra thaey will add to the cost.

The Bridge spoke alloys were £70 extra when you have the chili pack.
I think that alloys are a personal thing, and different alloys will most likely go best with different colours.. i.e pepper white and flame spoke alloys..

I chose the Bridge spoke alloys mainly cos I once had a 205GTI in Miami blue metallic and followed some of its design cues. I think that the Mini has copied the black vinyl trim around the wheel arches as the original minis only had flared metal...

I was tempted to go down the route of just choosing bits and bobs without a pack, but have been told by everyone that people will basically expect a chili or salt pack on a 2nd hand Mini even if virtually all of the options are selected. This will be reflected in its resale value and its desirability to buyers.

R99, yes I totally agree with the Xenon's comment, but like most things: what you don't know about you don't miss and as long as you feel happy with your current setup (I do now I've changed my bulbs...ignorance is bliss)..

Incidentally does anyone know why BMW Mini have decided to use old H4 bulbs, instead of H7 bulbs which are newer technology... Maybe they are to encourage people to get Xenon's?!

[twentysecondstogo]

Hi there
I have a dooper in chili red with black roof, mirrors and bonet stripes. These are much better than white trim, look more classy i think as there are not as many around. Have you specced spot lights? Well if you have there is a problem!! I have had my dooper for over 2 months and am still waiting to get the spot lights fitted due to the fact that clever clogs BMW did not realise it needed a different grille! I am now really fed up with waiting as they cannot get their act together! Get the paint protector too, its superb! Oh and check the car over as i did, or er well i thought i had! The front plate was way out of square! I think a blind man would have made a better job so i will be bending the salesmans ear about that when i eventually get the lights fitted!

[Jon Robson]

Thanks guys, respect due to you all for your help and advice. Bit the bullet this evening, and have just placed an order for a Dooper in Lightning Blue, black roof, mirrors and bonnet stripes, 16" Bridge Spokes, chilli pack, cloth/leather pacific blue interior, piano black interior trim, smoker pack and heated mirrors/washer jets.

Been told it will be ready for mid September so I'm well chuffed! It will be an August build so will have the new economy widgets - hoping to hit the magic 72.4mpg!

[Harpo]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jon Robson (original)

...hoping to hit the magic 72.4mpg!

So you'll be driving slowly then.

[twentysecondstogo]

sounds very nice! can't believe bmw are bringing out a modified version of the dooper, that really is soooo annoying! 72 mpg? you will have to drive at 56mph in perfect conditions to get that believe me, my dooper is getting 54 mpg so thats 10 less than what mini claim and i drive carlisle to knaresborough every week and it never changes! still 54 is pretty good! did you spec spot lights? i have been kept waiting 2 months for a new grille as they cannot fit the lights until the grille was re designed! fed up with waiting now!

[Jon Robson]

Well I will believe the MPG when I see it, still should be pretty good though. I haven't specced the spotlights, but will probably get them as an accessory along with many other bits once it arrives and I haved saved a few more pennies!

[Triffid]

As for the first 1250 miles you are supposed to drive conservatively, I did and got about 61.4 mpg from the 1st tank and just over 60 for the 2nd including a few overtaking manoeuvres!..

Incidentally I have a 70 mile daily commute and Id say I go about 75mph on the motorway that takes up 60% of the journey.

The cruise control drops mpg by about 4 I've found.

Since I passed 1250 I haven't bothered looking at the mpg and have driven it in a different way i.e using the low down torque with the gearbox... I was followed by an R56 Cooper S the other day pulling onto the A1.. Good chance to see the difference. I floored it, selecting the gear to keep me at 1750-2000 rpm, but as expected the Cooper S fairly easily went past.. but not as quick as to be embarrassed.. But hey 108bhp vs 173bhp (Not PS) it was going to happen!.

Congrats at choosing Lightning Blue Jon.. You will not regret it.

Dunno why (BMW) Mini sometimes call it Lightening Blue (Lost in Translation perhaps?!)

[Jon Robson]

Guess what, phoned the dealer yesterday and it's arrived! Can't wait to pick it up in Sept as it's on a 57 plate, had to take a couple of pics to share with you, glad I went for the Lightning Blue in the end. I am pleased with how the Pacific Blue colour line works as well. I will be wishing the next 2 weeks away now...

[Hat]

great colour combo - works really well i reckon