Finally, four convertible MINIs arrived at MINI Peabody today! Hot Orange, Cool Blue, British Racing Green and Dark Silver – the last is already sold! Loads of pictures, including the trunk, the tiny rear view, and also pics of Hot Orange and Cool Blue interiors:
Here is sequences photos of the roof opening and closing – and a picture showing that there is just about enough rear leg room for me:
As ever, thanks to MINI Peabody for allowing me access – even for calling to tell me the cars had arrived! Thanks also to Michael who was a willing model for the opening roof pictures (hope driving GBMINI did not corrupt you too much!)
Also, hello to Al from Cape Cod, who picked up his (hard top) MINI today:
M&I / GBMINI 
I was going to say it looks like the radio changed a whole lot in that pic with Al from the Cape…but it is just the cup holder in the way.
I actually don’t like that side visor either. The sun is still going to be annoying in the corner more near the A pillar. It bothers me most when it’s there, not on the side of me.
Ian,
Thanks for taking the picture and I enjoyed meeting you.
Al, back on Cape Cod with Le Mini.
Mini of Fairfield County just got their convertibles also. I love the cool blue color.
Hey Al,
Congrats on your new MINI!!
If you check back here please contact me. The Cape Cod MINIs are having a get together and cook out on Sunday 9/19.
-Steve “Cape Cod MINI”
sbarnatt@comcast.net
Congrats Al.
My wife drove my ’02 MCS for 3 days while her 320i was being fixed. She loved it so much last Sunday we went and she test drove a ’05 MCS. WOW what a dif a few years can make. The overall car is so much better. Don’t like the tail lights at all but must say the rest is a huge improvement.
A few questions that our sales rep had no answers or wrong answers.
1. What is the little hole on the back, right side, from drivers position, of the mirror for? Maybe auto diming headlight sensor?
2. I thought the Coopers had spares, or at least the availabity of a spare, and the MCS didn’t. The salesman said that all MINI’s don’t have spares? Is that true?
Nice pics Ian… still love’n the auto up and if the wife gets the ’05 we’ll be buying another. She is going to test drive a new 320i and the Audi A4t Quatro later this week. I was hoping for either theTT or the MINI, I think the new 320 is boring..RB
RB, Answers, to the best of my knowledge:
My MINI has the auto-dimming rearview mirror and it has a small “eye” on the interior, facing the rear window. It has another “eye” in a hole facing forward – the dimming occurs when the forward eye sees less light than the rear eye (you can test this by covering the forward eye and you see the glass go dim).
I believe all MCs have a skinny spare, even if they have been upgraded to 16″ or 17″ runflats. My original ’02 MC still had its spare.
I have not heard that MINI omit the spare on runflat equipped MCs …
And I must say that when I followed an ’05 MINI recently, the rear lights looked very good when lit – but I still prefer the “English” yellow indicators …
Ian,
I checked on the salesman who told me that and he’s gone, I guess back to Buick.
I wonder if the “english” tailights are available for the ’05?
IMHO the new lights are too vanilla. But then I like eggs!…RB
RB,
I “felt underneath” the back of a (Purple Haze) ’05 MC and the spare tire was there – even though the car was upgraded to 16″ runflats. So I remain convinced that all MCs have a spare.
In GB, The MCS does not come with a spare, it comes with tyre fill (a pressurised can of foam) which sets quickly within your tyre… not the best of inventions, but it stops the hassle of pumping it back up at the roadside.
My 2006 MC has a “donut” spare. But I carry a hole plug kit and “Fix-a-Flat” anyway. BTW – “Fix-a-Flat” will not work under 50 degrees F, so if you need to use it in winter, it needs to be warmed up first. Don’t warm it too fast as the solid is the problem, not the inert gas. I find that a hour or so inside your jacket while sipping a hot coffee works. If you can do that inside a coffee house, more the better. If I owned a MCS, I would buy a “donut” spare. What do you do when the run-flat tire shreds itself on some scrap metal and you are in the middle of nowhere? I like a backup plan.