Doubtful he did any damage. These cars have a rev limiter to protect the engine, so while it's not the best idea to drive around town in first gear with your foot on the floor, the occasional stint near or to redline won't kill anything.

That said, I'm essentially ignoring break-in guidelines. I'm not beating it to death, but I'm not babying it either and I'm making sure to let the engine warm up (while driving lightly, NOT idling) before getting on it.

 

Not a chance. I wouldn't even think twice about it, Tinker.

 

Okay Maersk Wind / west coast MINIs where's our updates?

 

Tinker your dad's shifts is not in the money shift catagory! You would have know right away.

 

It's not possible to overrev the engine by not up-shifting. MINIs and BMWs have rev limiters to prevent that. It is possible to overrev by missing a downshift (like 5 - 2 instead of 5 - 4) -- that is what's called a "money shift."

 

*Breathing sigh of relief* thanks everyone! Reading the manual again, and started to get pictures of my baby in the repair shop!

So, I revealed my joke to my husband last night.. he was SHOCKED!! Laughed, and told me how he has been telling people about this car and I have to be the only one to start it!!! The reason I told him.. is because HE was keeping a secret from me and I stumbled upon it!! He has on order a JCW 2009 Clubman!!! He was upset I found out, as he wanted to drive in a surprise me.. I felt the need to tell him how to 'start' the car so he didn't make a fool of himself when picking it his up (due in 4 weeks). Anyway - he is very different than we all are.... he doesn't know the production number (but has one) and would never call to ASK-MINI !! He will just patiently WAIT!!!! (but I want to know.. so I'll have to find this stuff all out!)

 

With the automatic trans.. this money shift is 'impossible' isn't it?

is this 'money shift' what they are referring to in the manual as a 'kick-down mode'?

 

Money shifts refer to manual transmissions only. They are called that because when you do one, it costs you lots of money (for an engine head rebuild).

With an Auto, the kickdown mode is just a way to downshift using the throttle. It's useful for passing when you need to accelerate quickly from a cruising speed.

 

So what's the verdict, any idea what the chatter was about?

 

I can't believe they want you to live with this for that long!! I can't imagine a high pitched squeal that would get better instead of worse or cause damage.

Was it the service dept that told you to wait and see or your MA?

Good luck!

 

Looks like our ship has come in and out minis are working off their sea legs. Most of us seem to be expecting to have ours by the end of the week or very early next week. We are all trying to be optiministic at this point

 

Ours took eight days from unloading/VDC to our dealer, I hope yours will be a bit faster! The last week of waiting went by in a flash, but it may have had something to do with stressing over a hurricane.
More info and pics please we want to read all about the new arrivals!!!

 

quick update - my MA left me an email Sunday which I was able to find in my SPAM folder! Says that he expects my mini to be in this week, so I've got my fingers and toes crossed. Now I need to really think about extended warranties, mud flaps, etc. My MA isn't back until tomorrow and since I believe the Maersk Wind mini's are all at the VDC aka. the black hole where no information gets out, I'll just twiddle my thumbs and pace like a caged animal until I get 'the call'. Will update here as soon as I get word. Anyone else have an update?

 

tinker thx for sharing. I was looking forward to hear how this would all turn out. your husband is a good sport. also I think that once you start feeding him status updates on his mini that he will be asking for a lot more info to satisfy his curiosity. thx again for sharing your story!

 

DELIVERED FROM PORT HUENEME, CA 09/09/2008 08:00 DISCHARGED PORT HUENEME, CA 09/09/2008 02:06 LOADED ON VESSEL SOUTHAMPTON 14/08/2008 12:03 RECEIVED AT TERMINAL SOUTHAMPTON 09/08/2008 16:21 BOOKED SOUTHAMPTON 31/07/2008 11:41
Well, at least it looks as though it's off the boat and into the VDC

 

Congrats and tell him he won't regret the JCW, it's a blast to drive, I haven't had this much fun in years. But you must guide him along the finer points of MINI ownership, it's okay if he doesn't go totally bonkers, but a little is good for the soul. What's his production week?

 

Hey, does anyone have the colorline seats (combo cloth/leather)? I am trying to figure out the best product to use to protect them. (I'm thinking scotchguard?) Seems like they pick up lint really easily, which is the only thing I don't like. I almost wish I'd ordered the punch black leather, but I do like the red/black combo. Kinda too late now anyway. Any ideas???

 

You will be so cute the both of you and your minis

 

Congratz on finally getting that Mini MrWickham!!! You've certainly been patient! Hopefully the newly burning something is just some fluids burning off? At any rate, congratz!!!

 

Try these threads:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=37303

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...h+leather+care

It may have some clues. I need to look into the fabric care myself, Hilla has only cloth seats, but there are still other materials on the inside. Then there is the engine compartment.......

 

Sorry for the delay. Late night setting up MINI . Here are a few images of day one. Second day of driving is even better - this is just so much fun.
Hope you enjoy - images are located in my gallery. I didn't know how to upload images into this area.

 

There's nothing prettier than a black car!!

Unfortunately I live out in the country with an opensided carport and so a black car would be constantly coated with dust and would look brown! Hence the laser blue choice.... I know that white or silver would have been even better at hiding the dust, but I wanted some extra zing. I realized after getting so into this crazy car that I may be having a female midlife crisis!!

Grace

 

UPDATE:

The service department of my dealership is holding the car overnight to replace the scuttles that were damaged during the final prep and to observe the engine squeal (which is worse in the morning for fifteen minutes after a cold start). So they gave me a Hyundai Sonata as a loaner car... It's new, and it's loaded, but it's a frickin' Hyundai. At least it has XM radio, which I've been having a little fun with, but it's not fun being away from my MINI.

 

I notice that a number of our Week 32 group - those who have their cars - have not posted any pictures in their gallery. Even if you've posted some pics in a specific message, putting them in your gallery makes them available for viewing from many places, not just a single message. I encourage everyone to post pics in their gallery.

I also notice that I've seen very few MINIs that are all one color, yet we have at least 3 in this week that are all one color. My Phantom is all PS, Sikimini has a beautiful all MY, and mrwickham has a beautiful all AB. Is it something about this week?

West coast Week 32ers - congratulations on having your babies on solid ground. We are all looking forward to the pictures, and to knowing that all of the Week 32ers have their MINIs.

 

Hi again!

Love the all black, mrwickham!

I thought I'd share a tip I figured out. Thought it might help some of y'all setting up your new minis with all the customizable features. These might have already been shared elsewhere, but it might take me all day to search...

When you set up your features, such as door locks auto-locking at 10 mph or higher, etc., we finally figured out that the settings are customized via each separate key fob. We apparently set all the settings to one, then I drive daily with the other key fob, and wondered why all those settings I so carefully set up were gone the next day! You might realize this if you've had a car with customizable features before, but we didn't.

Number two, the integrated universal garage door opener. The instructions in the Mini owner's manual are very poor, and technically, they are wrong. We tried over and over to get that thing to take the signal. Visit www.homelink.com for correct instructions. They worked great, just be sure when you search for the instructions for your specific vehicle, you pick "BMW." It will then come up with "Cooper" under that heading. The instructions you get from there for setting up your integrated universal garage door opener are correct, just follow them to the letter.