[kevpem]

Hi all,

I've just ordered a Cooper in VO/Black roof/black victory wheels with Chili pack, media pack, HUD, heated seats and LED Headlights. I have a couple of questions on the standard spec:

1) Lumbar support on the Pearl Black seats, is this standard? My BMW's haven't had it on the last two F-series cars I've had.

2) Mirrors - I've got standard mirrors, are they heated? Is it worth upgrading to the folding or dimming mirrors?

Last question - any other options that are essential? The only other I'm umming and arring over is adding the cornering lights to the LEDs for an extra £85.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Crimguy]

Really excellent questions, as I've never seen answers on either.

As for #1 , at least in the United States, there has been virtually no rhyme or reason as to which seats have lumbar adjustment. Some ppl have gotten it some haven't. Seems they've gone through a number of revisions regarding the seats.

#2 - i have no idea. I have standard mirrors, but we are currently at the lowest possible temperature in Arizona right now - a brisk low of 30 degrees fahrenheit. So any heating would go unnoticed.

 

[Mindo]

The standard mirrors are heated. Nice to have folding mirrors at the push of a button as specced with previous cars but they are quite easy to fold manually. Not got the dimming mirrors but they cause me no issues with glare whilst driving at night.

 

[Sunster]

Cornering lights for an extra £85 on top of the LED price of course is pretty good value for money. They do work, and apparently having the option also adds a bit more tech when you're driving in a straight line (something to do with light distance versus speed, but someone needs to qualify this for me). The other added extra depending on your point of view is that the cornering lights option houses the light cluster in anthracite black as opposed to the silver of the non cornering options.

PS - i wasn't considering LED lights at all, but I bought a demonstrator and they had the led corning option configured. There's no way I would leave them off the options list now - they're excellent in every way.

I had my car in the garage for a day and they loaned me a similar car without LED lights. What they're not very good at telling you is that the standard lights option also changes the fog lights, rear lights and daytime lights - they just don't looks nearly as good and when you factor all this in, the LED option begins to look like good value for money.

 

[DigitalChilly]

PS - i wasn't considering LED lights at all, but I bought a demonstrator and they had the led corning option configured. There's no way I would leave them off the options list now - they're excellent in every way.

As Sunster already mentioned the cornering lights are, as the kids say, the 'Shizz Nizzle' ;-)

I love them every time I turn a corner :nerd:

 

[kevpem]

Thanks chaps, I've just emailed the dealer to add the cornering option to my LED lights. Only ordered a few days ago so I suspect the change won't be a problem, hopefully....

 

[MintMark]

For your questions...

I think all the sports seats have lumbar support, so you get that with the chilli pack. I have the pearl seats and they have the adjustment.

The folding mirrors turn your car into a mini transformer And would also give you the "kerb view" feature when reversing... but it's actually not that useful.

Other essentials... heated windscreen is a good one. Also, everyone likes the JCW steering wheel, but I didn't get that. Driving assistant would give you adaptive cruise control, speed limit display, collision avoidance and auto full beam, but it's pricey. All the parking aids are nice, but probably not essential.

If you want more luggage space or bikes then roof rails or bike rack preparation would be essential...

 

[kevpem]

Thanks Mark, how are you finding the Pearl Black seats? I'm worried the recycled material may be too hot. I know he leatherette is vinyl but I'm not sure what the cloth is made of.

 

[MintMark]

I like them... I preferred fabric over leather and the recycled nature of them appealed as well. The fabric is quite a coarse texture, so cleaning them might be a factor if spills are likely.

Did you try normal seats versus sports seats? I was in and out of two cars for ages before I made up my mind The seats made me get the chilli pack and everything else fell into place around that.

 

[kevpem]

I did try the normal seats, however I've had two BMWs with sports seats and much prefer them. The seats in the Bimmers were leather and the seat bolsters in both were wearing through within 6000 miles. I'm hoping the leatherette may be a little more hard wearing!

 

[siriuszero]

The nice thing about leatherette is it's much more durable and require less maintenance than leather. I have leatherette on my 4 year old Countryman and they still look like they did when I got them.

To chime in on your original questions:
1) All 2015 sport seats should have lumbar support, but as mentioned, there have been a few out there that don't have it for whatever reason...

2) heated mirrors are standard and are activated automatically. The powerfold is a nice option if you park in the city and they also give you the "automatic curb monitor" which automatically angles the passenger side mirror down when you shift into reverse so you can see the curb (or parking space lines) when parallel parking.