Ordered the New MINI Cooper

[ehyouwhat]

Hi all

Well I finally got round to ordering the new MINI for my girlfriend today. Won't be delivered until the end of May/beginning of June for to a number of reasons, but I've placed a deposit anyway.

So, the spec I've gone for (and pricing):

BMW MINI Cooper in Chilli Red with white roof, alloy wheels and mirrors - £12,995
Automatic 6-speed Gearbox with Steptronic and s/wheel paddles - £1,060
Chili Pack (includes lighting package, carbon black half-leather sports seats, trip computer, manual air-con, 16" 5-Star alloys, chrome line exterior, etc) - £1,875
Upgrade Auto Air-Con (from manual) - £230
Chrome Line Interior - £100
Visibility Pack (heated front screen, auto-dipping rear-view mirror, auto lights and auto wipers) - £220
Electric Panoramic Glass Sunroof - £670
Storage Pack - £90
Front Arm Rest - £110
Tinted Rear Windows - £120
Exterior Mirror Pack - £160
Keyless Entry (free upgrade)
Multifunction Steering Wheel (free upgrade)
TLC Package - £150

Total cost = £17,780

Whilst this is quite a large amount for a small car, I do feel that some of the options offer reasonable value for money. I'm actually looking forward to her having it.

[jolly]

Sounds very nice! Did you have to negociate hard for the free upgrades?

[Byff]

I love the glass sunroof on mine, will be even better in the summer.

[ehyouwhat]

jolly said:

Sounds very nice! Did you have to negociate hard for the free upgrades?

I didn't have to negotiate too hard. The dealer in question has had a fair amount of business from us over the years; a few years ago I bought my Cooper S JCW there, and a while later I bought a used E36 BMW M3 there too. Then my Dad bought (but only briefly kept) a BMW M6 as well as a MINI Cooper Convertible for my sister. So they do tend to keep us quite sweet now.

Byff said:

I love the glass sunroof on mine, will be even better in the summer.

Yeah I had a glass sunroof on my old MCS JCW. The new one is so much better though, with improved wind-deflection, and the new twin-electric tilt function is fantastic.

Initially I was torn between choosing air-con OR the sunroof but, as I was always going to go for the chili pack, and as upgrade to auto air-con was only a little extra, I decided to go for both.

There are a few further options which I'm considering adding to the order early next year, those being iPod control, Bi-Xenon headlamps and washers, and upgraded 230W 10-speaker Hi-Fi, though these would push the price to £19k so I'm not really sure whether to add them or not. I had also considered sat-nav/tv and bluetooth prep with voice control, but at £2,220 and £1,010 respectively I thought these were far too pricey to justify.

I'm trying to balance overall cost with residual value, and I'm aware that choosing a load of options is not always the most financially-astute thing to do, but at the end of the day we (my girlfriend) will be keeping and living with the car for three or four years so I want it to be 'right'.

[jolly]

I have heard numerous reports that the BOOST system in the new shape MINI is worse than the WAVE system in the previous one, so it may be worth going for the uprated hifi system! The spec does sound very nice though and if you plan to keep the car for a while then it may be worth going all out and get everything you want for the car!