I spent much of today at MINI of Peabody, getting both MINIs “tech inspected”, chatting with MINI friends, etc. And the sun even shone for a while – although regular snow meant that MoP’s car stock had to be brushed clear (again and again, I imagine!):
The “tech day” was a personalized, one-on-one, inspection of your MINI and a chance to ask questions and discuss concerns; each car was given half an hour which allowed a good check of all the basics … I’m pleased to say both my MINIs passed (report cards for GBMINI#6 and GPMINI):
Oh – and my MINIs were not the only ones there 😉
Gary also very kindly offered to have my AUX input cable installation checked out – it turned out that the head unit was simply not recognizing the cable (I hadn’t got it wrong!), and happily MINI of Peabody had a spare so were able to repair it right then (and clean the car for me – many thanks!)
M&I / GBMINI 
Ian,
How do you find the body shake on the drop-top vs the GP? When I drove the convertible last year, it seemed a bit “loose”, which you would expect as the only thing holding the front to the rear is the floor pan. I’m waiting to drive the new 2009 model convertible before springing for one next year. Perhaps they will offer a hadr-top option like the larger BMW model along with a soft top.
Cheers,
Dave
The convertible reads quite differently to the GP in all conditions, so it’s hard to distinguish what is due to the missing roof, and what is simply due to the different suspension etc.
But I find the convertible ride perfectly acceptable – though I don’t like hitting bumps/potholes with either car!
Now that’s what a tech day should be. The tech days at the dealers in my area are just social events with food and a casual Q&A sessions with the techs.
This was a really well-done event. It would have been nice to socialize with more folks there, but I don’t think they could have had too many more people in there without overwhelming the garage and the showroom. It was nice meeting some of the techs, which doesn’t really happen that often. And good seeing you, Ian, as usual!