When our usual go-to dealer, Long Beach BMW/Mini, didn't have one in stock, we tracked one down at South Bay BMW/Mini...
Being as I live close to the dealer, I stopped by on my way to work to pick up the new wheel. After a call from us the night before, the parts guys had the wheel set aside and ready to go. The parts department was friendly and the transaction was prompt.
Before I go on, I must comment on the parts department. As someone who has frequented many parts departments, most are simply extensions of the service bays; catering more to parts runners and shadetree mechanics than to the manicured masses. This place was completely different. They had clothes. Nice clothes. All BMW based of course, but some really stylish Formula One gear along with watches, utility tools, exquisite models (Didier Pironi's M1 ProCar, for example) and whatever else I didn't manage to see. Nicely lit with attractive wood floors, I felt like I should be ordering a gin and tonic rather than a Mini wheel.
So what was the total for one Mini Cooper S wheel? A credit card melting $550.45.
Kurt Niebuhr, Photo Editor @ 11,030 miles
Before I go on, I must comment on the parts department. As someone who has frequented many parts departments, most are simply extensions of the service bays; catering more to parts runners and shadetree mechanics than to the manicured masses. This place was completely different. They had clothes. Nice clothes. All BMW based of course, but some really stylish Formula One gear along with watches, utility tools, exquisite models (Didier Pironi's M1 ProCar, for example) and whatever else I didn't manage to see. Nicely lit with attractive wood floors, I felt like I should be ordering a gin and tonic rather than a Mini wheel.
So what was the total for one Mini Cooper S wheel? A credit card melting $550.45.
Kurt Niebuhr, Photo Editor @ 11,030 miles
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