My ’06 MCS is on-order with the Nav system and to my understanding, the integrated Bluetooth system is not yet avialable. Therefore, we have to get the dealer-installed non-integrated unit (separate controller and not the steering wheel controls) or order a different 3rd-party unit like the one from http://www.newministuff.com which is the one I’m leaning toward for about 1/2-price of the Mini dealer one.

I’m also planning on adding in integrated XM, too. woohoo!

-Scott

thanks,

K

Also, I really wanted navigation in the car but I was not willing to sacrifice the awesome large speedometer. Does anyone have the navigation here and what are your thoughts on it?

just some food for thought.

great site, great news, great job!!!

-jac

Complete engines are built by Tritec in Brazil and shipped to Oxford for assembly into the car. JCW parts, at least the heads, injectors and supercharger will have to be added after the fact. Unless MINI has made some arrangement for Tritec to add the JCW parts at the engine plant or to ship partially completed engines, they have to either contract with someone (JCW?) to remove parts from completed engines and add the JCW parts or add a facility at the Oxford plant to do it themselves. Either way it is an additional step in the build process and it adds labor cost to the process.

This is more efficient than dealer installs, but it isn’t as simple as just putting different parts on during assembly. Even if it is done at the Tritec plant, the JCW parts have to be shipped to Brazil.

Maybe there is some savings by making use of the parts taken off, but I’m not sure how these parts could be used or returned to the manufacturing process. The exhaust system is about the only piece of the package that can just be substituted on the manufactuing line in Oxford.

The whole package price of $6300, including brakes and LSD, is still about 10% less than some dealers are currently charging for the engine kit alone.

Just went down the delaware river with an MA who swore up and down that there would be no price increase whatsoever on the S

I’m guessing that this MA may change his mind tomorrow morning ;-)

Seriously though I’ve rarely been more sure of any info I’ve ever reported here on MotoringFile. All I can say is that what is written above will be happening for 2006.

Is it possible to get the checkmate package without the stripes/checkers I think I read somewhere else stripeless was going to be offered, but how about a checkerless checkmate)? I’m thinking about doing the SB/Silver (Black would probably be better, but that’s a no go on an MCS), putting on some aftermarket “traditional” silver bonnet stripes, but no way I’m getting this car with those damned checkers on the side (Unless they’re vinyl graphics, and can be easily removed).

And finally, to anyone who has seen Space Blue in the flesh…Is there a color that’s comparable to it on any other car? I’m going to have to see it in person at some point, but it looks significantly different from one picture to the next (as well as from one computer monitor to the next).

As for Gabe’s usually positive spin on the Mini–as it’s been pointed out, this is a mini enthusiast site; the overwhelming majority of people who frequent this site are mini enthusiasts–it’s not just Gabe who’s “tainted”, but virtually everyone else (including myself) who posts here frequently. That’s not to say that I haven’t read posts/stories that are critical here, but heck, almost everyone here is a mini fan/addict (and anyone who has this strange, incurable, obsession knows exactly what I’m talking about), so gratuitous mini bashing isn’t going to be the number one priority (There are other sites that do that quite well), and yes, things are going to be more toward the positive. That doesn’t make this site any less useful (at least for me); I have yet to find a site that posts the latest as quickly and succinctly as this one.

Clearly, it’s a cry for help. I’m deeply depressed and starved for human interaction of any kind.

I kid, of course. Seriously, though… I’m just trying to inject a minor amount of balance into the relentlessly “optimistic” flow of content on this site. I love the information you provide here, and I am completely fanatic about my Works S. I just dislike the pro-BMW spin you apply so liberally in every article. I’ve never been big on sugar-coated information or cereal. Guess that makes me un-American.

In the 2006 Options writeup, Gabe said that the MC will be available with the current 15″ Holey wheels, the 15″ 5-Star Rockets from the MC Convertible or the new 15″ Delta Spoke wheels shown on the MINI One Seven.

Do we know which will be the standard wheel and which will be optional? Will the optional wheels cost more or will the buyer be able to choose which they prefer, like on the current MC Convertible? Thanks