I just emailed my MA again about the insulation. I told him it seems to be a trend of those with striped 2014's to have the insulation. He said he went out to look at 2 2013's that came with stripes. One had the insulation and one didn't. They've already sold the 2014 they had on the lot so he couldn't check it. I told him I want insulation if mine doesn't come with it...I'm getting after market paint protection and stripes. He's going to check into it. I hope they have it for the Countryman. If the bonnet gets that hot without the insulation with a turbo, I don't want to take the chance. Plus, I have two small kids that will touch it sooner or later.

Still waiting on mine to leave the VDC. It's been there since October 3rd!!! At least it's been released though.

 

White bonnet stripes, roof and mirror caps. At this point it sat at the dock for two weeks, i'm glad it's finally on a ship.

 

Looks like Friday is the big day. Got an email from the Sales Manager (I'm no longer dealing with my MA, who is a nincompoop) that they should have my CM on Thursday, and that it would be ready for pickup on Friday. Hooray!

Another point (in addition to the heated seats debacle) that adds to the bittersweet nature of my purchase: when I ordered the car, my MA (again, a nincompoop) told me that the financing would be 0.9% for 36 months. Great! But, I talked to the finance guy this weekend, who informed that this was never an option for a 2014 CM. 1.9% for 60 months is the only option. Not a bad option, but yet again, my MA led me astray.

Needless to say, I wrote to my sales manager and the GM of the dealership to express my disappointment. Will be interesting to see what they attempt to get me to above average satisfaction (and I told them as such).

No tens on the satisfaction survey for them, that's for sure.

 

Great News!!!!
You can now become proficient at tracking ships across the Atlantic.
Keep us posted on the progress.
Wishing your MINI an smooth and safe voyage.

 

Keep us updated on how you make out with the Heat Insulation. My SA told me that the heat insulation is not a part for the 2014 cabrio. They could order me one for the R56 but if it did not fit I owned it. so far have not pulled the trigger.

I had a clear bra installed on the full hood and without the insulation concerned about impacts if any over time on the clear bra if excessive heating does occur.

Thinking about going to MINI USA since the dealership has not been very helpful to get a clear answer on why some are models are getting the insulation and some are not.

 

This is ridiculous. My company makes things. If there was a difference in spec from one unit to the next, there would be something to document that. An engineering change order from the product line, reliability mod from MFG or sustaining engineering; a waiver from Quality for deviating from the Bill of materials, a service implementation plan or service update plan......or something. The workers on the line are not making random decisions on this topic and a simple inquiry from the dealer to the product line or plant management should be enough to clear this up in very short order. For the MA to go check the cars on the lot is added ridiculousness. In the time it took for him to do that he could have sent an email inquiry and had a response with a clear explanation.

 

I had the 3M Xpel clear bra on my 2010 Cabrio for 4 years. The turbo heat warped the top of the hood scoop, but didn't do anything to my stripes..which is why it makes little sense to me for MINI to put the insulation only on cars with the stripes.

Fortunately, the turbo heat had no visible impact on the quality/look/life of the clear bra, and it looked as good when I sold it as the day it was put on.

 

Encouraging news about the clear bra. Discouraging about the inconsistent application of bonnet heat insulation. I will keep the thread updated if I make any progress with MINI USA.

 

I'm getting the Xpel Ultimate clear protection. When I first asked my MA about the turbo heat, he said that problem had been fixed. I hope all the 2014's have insulation, but didn't someone on here get one that didn't? Right now I'm just so frustrated that my car has been at the VDC for so long. Scheduling is getting a bit tricky in order to go pick it up.

 

Good news from the Sales Manager today: they put a rush on my car and it got on a truck last night. In theory, they will have her today and I'll be able to take delivery tomorrow or Thursday. Silver medal for effort on trying to earn higher satisfaction #s. Hopefully, they're shooting for gold.

 

Awesome. You certainly are having an adventure relative to your order. Sorry to hear about the financing stoof now.

Don't let all this grief spoil the ride.

Lyf

 

Doreen made it to the dealer yesterday. The heated seats are getting installed today. So, tomorrow's the big day. Guess I'm playing hooky tomorrow afternoon. Now to determine where I'll be driving to this weekend.

 

Wow, didn't yours come in on the same boat as mine on 2 Oct?

Sorry to hear of your delays. I'm sure they're doing everything they can cuz the urgency for them is making the sale and getting paid.

BTW, my 2014 Clubman S has no insulation...no stripes either. I've noticed the fan often keeps running when I turn off the motor. Wonder if that's helping cool off the turbo?

 

Heated seats at the dealer? I thought this was a factory installed option.

 

Well, they should have been. But this happened.

 

My MINI finally arrived at the dealership today!!!! My MA said the truck was in the lot when he arrived at work this morning. He just sent me some pictures. It has insulation!!! I didn't order factory stripes. We get it on Friday morning. I've already set the appointment for custom stripes, tint, and paint protection after that. That's the earliest we can make it to the dealership (about 3-4 hours away).

 

Yep, it has been at the VDC since then It had a scratch on the bumper so they ordered a completely new bumper. I don't know if those are shipped in or flown in. It would happen to mine though...I have that kind of luck. It just arrived at the dealership this morning. It better be perfect when I pick it up on Friday. MA said we would go over it "with a fine toothed comb". I can't believe it's finally there!

My husband used to have a different vehicle that had a turbo in it. The fan would continue to run after it was shut off. It was to cool off the turbo. Are you going to try to get insulation? I'm really surprised that mine has it. I wonder if that's a Countryman thing. I was fully prepared to demand it, or at least demand that I be able to order it.

 

For all of those who have been able to track their mini, grats you.

My attempt of keeping track of where it was has been pretty horrid.

09/16/13 Ordered
09/27/13 Scheduled for Production
10/06/13 Production Complete
10/08/13 Awaiting Transport
10/10/13 At Port Awaiting Shipping Vessel
10/16/13 En Route

Here's what I got from either the web page, or ASK-MINI. I asked my MA for an update when it looked like it might be on a ship. The response on the 14th was it was still waiting for one. That kind of matches the 10/10 date above followed by the 10/16 date saying it was on a ship. On the 21st, I asked for another update from my MA since it looked like it was on a ship and I was told it left the “In Transit to Final VPC” stage and is currently waiting to be checked into “At Final Processing Center.”

If it left on 10/11 the 21st would have been 10 days, but it's 14-18 days from Southampton to Brunswick, GA.

So I have no idea. I'm trying to not get my hopes up that it's at the VDC and just plan on Mid-November.

/sigh

Lyf

 

So our car arrived at the dealership on Monday and we took delivery yesterday. First Picture attached in my profile, more to follow. Initial impressions from the 60 mile drive home: 1) The car is pretty quick. I didn't rev it too high or put it in sport mode, but it seems to have all the usable power I might need. This was a slight concern since I have a 335xi with high 4 second 0-60 times and i thought the cooper S may feel slow based on specs but so far I am quite pleased with it. Also my previous convertible was a 330ZHP and our MINI felt quicker, both from a start and for highway passing. 2) Steering is sharp and feels very natural. Even without sport mode on, it doesn't feel electric. I'm sure it will feel even better once i turn sport mode in after the break-in. 3) The wind deflector is amazingly effective. I had left a piece of paper siting on the dash while leaving the dealership. Drive too down all the way home before noticing it was there - it hadn't moved at all!! This was just unbelievable!

 

Yikes. That's kind of ridiculous. It's almost as if they have a human making the changes to the OL and their online system. That should certainly be automated as the car makes its way through the process. Well, October is almost over, which means you're closer than further. Keep your chin up!

 

Thanks banderlin. My ordeal has been nothing compared to yours.

Lyf

 

Aah. Got it. I ordered mine 10 Aug before the website was updated so perhaps that's why I didn't have that issue.

 

In an earlier post, I compared some pictures of aftermarket heat shield vs. someone's factory installed. Yours is completely different from the other factory install. Looking at where the turbo is on the hardtop/clubman, the insulation you have would be out of place as well but IDK where your turbo is.

I don't think I'm going to worry about the insulation for now but I'll be checking that spot with my hand for a long time. If there is a noticeable difference, I'll get a temp probe and take readings all over the hood to substantiate a no-charge retrofit.

 

I am also not sure of the turbo location. I will check while at the dealership on Friday. If I find it to be a problem, I will look into a heat shield. I'm just glad it's finally at the dealership. The long wait at the VDC was the worst for me.
I hope all of us with a turbo never have a problem. Hopefully they have truly fixed the problem one way or another.

 

Lots of great looking Minis. My understanding is that BMW/Mini took some steps to alleviate the issue with excessive heat from the turbo unit. I also heard that, in addition, they are also incorporating some heat shielding around the turbo unit itself. Can any of the new owners confirm?