whoa creepy... I am checking mine in for the same issues. minus the interior lights....

 

there's apparently a fix for the cold start chatter now. I'll be mentioning it to them and showing them the video i took of it. Hopefully they'll fix it for me on Monday.

Gotta get my windows fixed too.

And i've been having the glazed-clutch issue too. They say it's from "not driving hard enough", but come on, I live in the city, it's 95% stop and go, there's no way around it.

 

glazed clutch???

 

yea, it's a howling/squeeling sound when letting out the clutch in 1st and 2nd gears... downshifting usually does it...

it comes and goes, it really all depends on the type of driving i've done that day.

 

So tonight hubby took his son and my nugget to pick up the pizza for dinner...
My step son has never been in the MINI, as he says he is too tall (6'7") but hubby said "come on we are taking the MINI"
they got in and off they went, when they returned my step son had a big smile on his face and was saying how amazing the car was and how surprised he was. He mentioned he was able to adjust the seat lower and that was one of his major problems with cars.
After he left I said to hubby, "well he seemed like he liked it" and hubby said "do you know what he said"? when they slowed down, son was really smiling and looked at dad and said "it sounded like the car was smiling"!
what a great description, sounded like the car was smiling. I love that coming from a grown man!!! Made my evening and just wanted to share that with the folk that
know what it is all about!

 

thats a nice way to describe the car...

so I am thinking about buying an alta cat back from a friend.... he is selling his car. He will need to have my stock exhaust... how much should I pay him for it? any thoughts.

 

well, 800 new, and you'd be providing him with a pretty expensive factory part, so i dunno, $200. That seems pretty fair to me. Your stock exhaust probably costs more then the alta system, but the demand for a stock exhaust isn't quite there.


Dropped my car off this morning. The glazed clutch issue is just a function of the composite clutch material and the material used in the dual mass flywheel. I live in an extremely hilly area, so I'm pretty prone to it, it's impossible not to be forced to get the clutch spinning. They can't do anything about it aside from de-glaze it(which I told them not to bother i can do it myself with driving techniques), but off the record, i was recommended to get an aftermarket clutch + flywheel replacement.

Cold start chatter: They're going to check the timing chain for me today, they think the chain is probably the right length, so upgrading the tensioner and a few other parts should fix it.

windows, a 4 hour reprogramming.


got an MCSa as a loaner, man am I glad I didn't get an auto. It definitely takes away from some of the fun of the mini.

 

Yeah I have been toying around with the $200 price. He is a pretty cool guy, and admits that he isn't out to make a profit. If he sells the car as is, he won't make any additional for the aftermarket exhaust, so anything he can get is a plus. I figured the Alta is $750 brand new, i could sell my stock exhaust for $200 or so, then price in the fact that his exhaust is used, $200-300 seemed a fair price.

The windows usually only take an hour.... it is a quick fix.

driving techniques?????

 

yea, that's definitely a fair price.

I was told it would be 4 hours for my car because they needed to do a full re-programming, i dunno, doesn't matter to me, i've got a loaner.

Yea, they said that it's just from letting the clutch slip too long while engaging... I'm going to report a complaint. with other cars, even if you ride the clutch, it's tough to glaze a clutch, you'll just wear it out quickly.

I'm not too concerned about it, by the time i'm replacing the clutch in this car, there should be some nice aftermarket clutch and flywheel options, I just want to make sure it's not something else.

 

Yea yea yea, you clearly just don't have an appreciation for lazy driving

And by lazy driving, I mean stop-go-stop-stop-stop-stop-go-stop-go New Jersey traffic.

My MCSa is going to take the high road and ignore your comment so that we can remain civil around here.

 

hahahaha..

it's all preference... if i drove one every day, i'd be used to driving it and it would be just as fun... I was just in a situation where I needed to change lanes, and needed power quick. In a manual, I'd have downshifted and been ready to go. In the MCSa, it took a few seconds for the car to downshift, which meant I needed to hit the gas even harder... using the paddles would have solved the problem.

The brakes are more sensitive though, I wonder what that's all about?

 

They must have no idea about the traffic over here!

 

i grew up in philly, lived there till just a few months ago... i understand east coast traffic. it's actually a little better then Seattle traffic. It takes me roughly 25 mins to travel 2 miles to the highway. That's up and down some insanely steep hills too...

once you get on the highway, from 7 to 10 and from 1 to 5 it's stop and go, 6 lanes.

you can't get anywhere in this city in a hurry.

 

made worse by the fact that you can't turn left in New Jersey..... Delaware driver here hahaha

 

all fixed up.

got the windows reprogrammed

got the new "updated" timing chain tensioner installed....

fingers crossed that I don't have the noise tomorrow.

 

let me know how that goes for you

 

will do.

my parking spot is on a bit of a slope... when i backed in (nose down) I would get the noise every morning. When I just pulled in, no noise.

It's not supposed to get too cold tonight, but i've still had the noise even when it wasn't cold.

 

i get the noise regardless of if I park on a slope or on the flat, but it does sound worse when it is on a slope... interesting

 

so far so good. nothing this morning.

 

great to hear, i've been getting the noise in the mornings now and there's some throttle hesitation for a few minutes. I've been idling in the driveway for about 5 minutes before i head off.

So i'm not due for an oil change. i'm dumb and misinterpreted the "countdown". LOL
On a positive note, springs go in tomorrow morning and I think i'll take the ultra long way home since i have the day off.

 

i forget what the mini oil change count down is.... I know they say get it changed at 15K, but is there a clause about if you get to the 1 year old point before that?

 

Funny you should ask! My service papers came in the mail today, allow me to quote them:

Labor: J#1 LOW MILEAGE OIL

Annual Low Mileage Oil Service is Needed
The Vehicle has not reached over 12,500 miles within one year, or the service indicator has not expired.
Performed a Low Mileage Oil Change Covered by the BMW MAINTENANCE PROGRAM. Service Lights were not reset because a full service was not performed at this time. Checked and adjusted the tire pressures as needed.

They replaced the Oil, Filter, and Windshield Washer fluids for a cost of WARRANTY.

Now, one might think to oneself, this is a Week 23 2008 thread, how is the time frame above possible? Then one might say, Zonedguy said he has way more miles than that, doubly so, how is this possible? Then just know Morristown MINI is awesome

 

I just got my oil changed 2 weeks ago. My mileage was 9800 and the service guy said he could change it within 2000 miles so mine was covered.
Not sure if it is different with convertibles (R52).

 

Mine says 6/2010 or 8000 miles to go. For some reason, i thought it was change @ 8000miles.

 

yeah I have the luck of living 15 minutes from work, so i am still below the 5K point....