Thanks MotorMouth, that's what I've been trying to get done.

They originally diagnosed the noise as the waterpump, ordered the parts (a remanufactured waterpump no less), but only replaced the friction drive.

Now the noise is twice as loud, and because a regional technical engineer listened to the noise and deemed it "normal", they won't do anything else to fix it.

Hence, the letter to the VP. It's at the dealer now, having another engineer listen to it. (5th time in 2 months)

I'm beyond pissed off, and will be discussing with my MA and her manager tonight about buying the MINI back. I did not expect this kind of service from MINI.

Thanks for all your input, I appreciate your feedback!

 

Lolly (the yellow/black Clubman) has gone 12,000+ miles without any problems at all. 39 mpg typical

 

Sorry to hear about your problems Atomic, especially the way the dealer's acting :( I mean, it's a water pump not like a dispute over did you fry the clutch.

No problems here after 12000+ miles, other than the common "stupid melting hood scoop". Not getting anywhere near oldsbear's 39mpg tho My only complaint, really, is that I've got to back to the stock All Season's for the winter now that the temps are dipping into the 40s.

A recent fall shot when I went and visited my dad:

 

Nice pic! 8500 miles here and my service still shows as being 11000 away. No problems at all here other than some cosmo drip on the wheel arches that I can't get rid of, I'll just have the dealer replace them next time I'm there. I'm on the stock all-seasons still, need to get them rotated. Weather is getting cold, had a little snow but nothing major. I'm curious to see how well DSC works compared to the ASC I had in my 06.

 

Hi guys

All good here. I'm at about 9500km. Got my snow tires on order. Problem free. My milage could be better but I do pretty much all short trip city driving. But when I do a longer trip I am impressed with what I get.

My only complaint is the seats. I'd love some lumbar support. Sometimes after a cruise my back is killing me.

A few of the pics of the MINI's 50th party they had in Toronto I took ended up on the MINI.ca site. They did ask for permission first. Now if just the guy who put them up did it correctly. The window for the pics is 4:3 ratio, I shoot with a dlsr which is 2:3, so my pics look squished. At least I'm published, lol.

 

Spoke too soon about no problems : just did my last good wash/wax before winter (dawn, clay, mystique, epic, clarity) and found a raise spot on the roof that can only be RUST! Doesn't look like an impact mark so I'll be contacting the dealer tomorrow to figure out what to do :(

 

Checking in.
I have over 8000 miles and have supposedly 11000 more to go till maintenance time. Sorry about those with issues ...water pump, scoop, rust spot. So far, I have no issues but reading how three of you have got bit at least once, makes me feel just a wee bit uncomfortable that my number will be up soon.

 

Well, it has been a fairly long time for this to finally happen - I got my first scratch !!! It's not too bad. About 3-4" long a little bit behid the driver's door.

I stopped by the MINI dealer today to buy touch up paint. Perhaps, because Horizon Blue is a new color this year, they have to order it but they will have it in 2-3 days. It comes in 2 bottles - The paint and the clear coat. Guess how much ?? A whopping $43. !!!!

 

Holy crap that's some expensive touch up paint!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Well, got the winter tires on the factory (very heavy) challenge rims now. Car is handling great on the black ice and what not. Just ordered my summer rims today too, Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 in matte black. Plan is to put the factory summer tires on the new rims until they wear out at which point I'll get something much stickier for rubber.

 

Gotta love Canada Post. 2 out of 4 new rims arrived today. Showed up well packed and seems to have arrived from the factory in the UK with no issues. Why would you ship them separately though?!?!? Looks great though, can't wait to get them on the car.

 

Don't love 'em until the next two show up





How's everyone's MINIs doing? mileage report?

My JCW is doing great. about 10,500 miles on it now (fairly high for Hawaii)

 

My MCS is doing good here. Just a bit over 12,000km.

Got the winter tires on but it's been a very mild season so far here so I still have not had a chance to see how she handles the fluffy stuff.

I do love the heated windsheild. Had a tad bit of ice on it the other morning. After having it on just a short time, the wipers were able to take care of the cleaning.

I hate the ipod interface. I can search my phone's address book by letter why can't I search artists names by letter too? I have an almost filled 32gig ipod and I find myself listening to groups early in the alphabet, lol. I've learned that playlists are a must.

 

I'm over 14k miles now.

I had a flat with my runflats, it was good because I was able to get back home. I was also lucky because I had already purchased my winter wheels and tires. I just put them on and when on to work.

I got the Enkei Racing RS-M bright silver wheels. They look great on the car and are only about 15 lb. They really show off the brakes. I put Michelin Primacy Alpin PA3 on the wheels. They are really great in the snow. I was really surprised at how well the Mini works in snow and on ice.

Turns out the runflat flat was caused by a razor blade and was not repairable (inch and a half slit in the tread). The replacement cost so much that I can get two of the snow tires for one runflat. I'll be selling the three I have left (about 6k miles on them) as well as the web-spoke wheels that came on the car. I'll be getting another set of the Enkeis for my summer tires, which will be some performance Michelins.

 

I'm just about to hit 10k kms now. Not our daily driver though, mostly road trips and fun driving. The other 2 rims showed up today! Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 in matte black (sorry for the crappy pics, bad camera). Can't wait to mount and balance these and prep them for use as my summer wheels...

 

Those should look great on your Mini and will really show off the brakes.

 

Tonight my MINI sleeps at the dealer.

It appears I've developed the water pump whine. After she warms up there is an audible squeal comming from the passenger side of the engine. I first noticed this on Saturday with just over 14,000km on the odometer. It seems to appear at idle and goes away as soon as you touch the gas.

I took it in today, they gave me a call in under an hour saying the found the problem and have to replace the water pump and some sort of tensioner. I should be able to get her back tomorrow.

 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed. No issue yet, mine is just over 15K. Hope you get your baby back quickly and in better shape than she was yesterday.

 

Steveski, GOOD LUCK.

I had the same issue (I think I posted about it earlier in this thread) - dealer couldn't fix it, consulted a regional engineer who said the noise was normal, and after numerous calls to MINI USA and a letter to VP Jim McDowell, I was told there was nothing wrong with my car and nothing else would be done about this issue. Regardless of all the other owners with the same problem who got their waterpumps replaced.

Dealer then put a shim in the tensioner, and it alleviated the noise a little (it had gotten even louder after they replaced the tensioner, but they never replaced the waterpump). Then they said that they've gone above and beyond to try and help me! Car still has the noise, gets louder every 1K or so..it's only got 7200 on it now.

So in a few weeks I'll be trading my MINI in on a 2010 Honda Fit - not as fun to drive, but good mileage, and (hopefully) more reliable. I'll keep you guys posted...

 

@ Atomic17 -- You're getting rid of your MINI because of a noise? You have a LOT of warranty left. If it breaks, they will fix it.

My Lolly has gone over 15,000 miles so far, and has been great: zero problems. We moved, so we are on city-only driving now @ 29 mpg on the last fill. Very happy with that

Good luck and happy motoring to all in the group!

 

Well I just got her back and so far so good. I didn't hear the squeal on the way home.

Water pump and frictional wheel were replaced. Car is washed(they even cleaned my floor mats and pedals!), fluids topped up, locks and hinges lubed and a turn around time of about 24 hours. So far I'm impressed with Budd's serivce, let's hope they keep it up.

@Atomic17 if you want any more info on my repair details shoot me a pm.

 

Thanks Steveski, I'll let you know...

Oldsbear - yes, when it comes down to it, I'm getting rid of the MINI because of a noise. But the bigger issue is the service, or lack thereof, that I received during all this noise drama.

Plain and simple, car developed the noise, dealer diagnosed the noise as the waterpump, dealer ordered parts (waterpump and friction drive), then only replaced the friction drive, and when the noise didn't go away (and actually got louder), the dealer consulted a regional engineer who said "that's normal", so they turned their story around and said nothing else would be done. After numerous calls to MINI USA and a letter to the VP of the company, again, I'm told "nothing wrong with the car, we're not doing anything more to it".

So how am I supposed to have any confidence in the dealership or the company if anything else goes wrong with the car? I've lost all faith in the MINI brand, and won't be a repeat customer.

I wish you all the best with your cars, I hope none of you have to go through what I've been through.

 

Well, it's sad that Atomic's dealership/MINI rep is giving him the runaround. I had a similar experience with Ford, but it was my dealership it was just Ford themselves. Because of that I have sworn off any Ford product and have actuall talked a few coworkers out of them as well.

After driving around for a bit, all is still good. It seems like they actually fixed the problem. I do hope this pump lasts longer than the first one.

 

New mileage update: 12,000kms and Winter Pretty Much Over

MINIs still doing really good, have been lucky that I haven't had any issues. Winter tires really helped this year, she performed beautifully in the snow and ice. Getting close to time to mount those summer rims and swap them now. I've definitely noticed that the car has gotten louder as the miles have added up. I've got zero mods and at highway speeds now the exhaust is loud enough that sometimes I can't here the person on the bluetooth speakerphone despite having it cranked. A face to face conversation in the car is still doable though. The only realy annoyance has been the amount of squeal from the JCW brakes. When these pads are done, I'm going to the aftermarket ones that don't squeal as much. Stopping power still amazes me though, the big brake kit bites like you would not believe.

 

17000 miles and close to putting the summer shoes back on. Just cleaned them, in fact.

My MINI did develop the cold start rattle, took it into the dealer and two weeks ago and they replaced the tensioner. Rattle gone for now, hopefully it'll stay that way.

The only real mod I've done so far is the noisemaker delete, but I've got suspension plans for the summer.