Okay so I have a 2007 MINI Cooper S and I have some buttons on the steering wheel, tachometer, and center console are that are a mystery to me. I have tried just pressing the buttons and nothing happens. If someone on here could explain what all these buttons are called and do, it would be greatly appreciated.

I don't know what any of these buttons do other than the "+" and "-" buttons, which lowers and raises the volume.



Same goes here. I have no clue what any of these buttons do. I hit the "l/0" button while driving at 50MPH and a green light came on in the speedometer line of lights, but not much else happened. The timer or stopwatch looking button is also on the left side of my tachometer and that's basically what made me start this thread. If you can answer anything, PLEASE tell me what this does.



Here the phone and clock-looking button apply. Neither of them seem to do anything when I press them.



A bad example picture, but the left button on the tachometer as I stated before that looks like a stopwatch or timer?



Also, if there's a way to make the A/C blow through both the top and bottom vents, that would be good information to know too. This is what my A/C control panel looks like.



This is a bad picture, but on the speedometer button cluster, opposite from the phone button is a button that has an "m" on it. I'm clueless as to what this does.



Thanks for the help and sorry I'm so clueless about my own car.
If you need any more information, just ask. I really would like to know what all these buttons do. Maybe one will give me 600MPG and 700HP.
But anyways thanks for already being a 10x better community than the Japanese car community.

 

Here is a copy of the manual and the MINI connected manual to help you understand all things about your MINI.

http://www.mini.com/connectivity/min...andbook_EN.pdf

 

Thank you so much! I couldn't find it anywhere.

 

All the buttons on the right side of the steering wheel control your cruise control and on the left they control your stereo and phone. But go thru the manual as you will learn a lot. Good luck

 

Your post makes me wonder: did your car come with an owner's manual? You might be able to ask MINI or your dealer to send you one. There's a LOT of stuff in there that might surprise you.

 

No, it did not. I have always had an owner's manual in my vehicles until now. Apparently it was lost before the previous owner traded the car into a Subaru dealership in Concord, NC. I asked if they would provide a new one and they said no. So basically I was figuring out how the turn signals and wipers work on my 45 minute drive home in the rain... It was definitely an experience.

 

Wow... There's so much in this manual I didn't know about and I'm only on page 20.

 

As mentioned, they're all in the manual, or should be. Some of the online manuals only show the Nav version, you have the non nav version. The manuals are available in the owner's lounge at https://ol.miniusa.com

The left steering wheel ones are forwards and backwards (iPod track, or radio tuning), voice command and phone.

The right ones are cruise control. (I/O: on/off. speed up and down, resume).

On the radio, the phone button doesn't do anything unless you have bluetooth. The clock button turns the radio display to the clock. Turn on the radio and try it.

The other button in the tach is the display dimmer (I think).

You have the auto A/C, it usually does a good job if you let it do its thing.

The m button is one of the controls for the radio settings. You may need to hold it down for a while to do something.

 

Yep it's a dimmer, just saw that in the manual.

I'm having trouble finding how to use the phone/iPod functions through my iPhone 5 though. Ive tried searching for the car through Bluetooth before, but it never found the car. I guess I didn't know what all the radio settings do because I never use it due to not knowing how to connect my phone to it wirelessly.

The voice commands button doesn't seem to do anything though. I hold it down but nothing beeps at me or says anything. I do have two mics in the car, I already checked for that.

The auto AC is pretty good. Just curious to see if it was possible.

Something that would be really awesome would be if I could close my windows with the fob instead of putting the key in and holding it.

 

You are welcome. You did see I gave you both manuals?

 

I do now. I'm setting up MINI Connected with my phone now. I'd never figure this out without the manual.

 

Good luck. Have fun and motor on.

 

The first question is do you have BlueTooth? Early 07s didn't have the option, our 07 doesn't and still has the buttons. If you hit the menu button, one option will be BT.You'd have to pair the phone first.Have you tried pushing both the buttons? I'm not sure if its exclusive, or additive.There never has been an option for that that I'm aware of. At least you have the key to use, new MINI don't even have that without the alarm option.

 

I don't think I have BlueTooth... That's a bummer. Waste of buttons.

How do I pair the phone? I downloaded the MINI Connected app but I think I need to connect to via a USB chord, but mine doesn't have a USB input, only AUX.

 

See if this will answer some of your questions
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...cted-faqs.html

 

Can I even use MINI Connected on a non-nav MINI? I'd just like to play music and talk hands free or voice commands, etc. I don't really care about all the apps.

 

Damn. I don't have visual boost nor do I have navigation. I can't use it.

 

Well this sucks, I have a bunch of buttons that don't do anything. I don't have a phone option in the menu, therefore there is no reason to have the phone or voice command buttons. I don't understand why MINI would put all of these extras in the car without giving you BlueTooth with it? It seems like a waste of money to the company on all the extra microphones that will never be used.

 

This might help
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...connected.html

 

I'm definitely considering doing this.

I had no idea MINIs were so 'customizable' I guess you could say. I just went through and turned off the DRL and made it so I can unlock both doors with one click or the fob or handle just through the tach. My last car it took a whole day of rewiring to turn off the DRLs.

I know what all the buttons do and learned more than I expected and walked away with two digital manuals. Thanks a lot to all of you.

 

Sounds like you are now off to a good start. Now just wait to the mod bug bites you

 

So how is the reading going? I too was disappointed when my first MINI ('09 R56) did not have BT, but the controls were there for it. They build all of the steering wheels the same if they get the MFSW (multi-funtion steering wheel). You can add an aftermarket unit to tie into the stock system with parts from a company called parrot. There is even a guy in the UK that has a plug and play kit to tie into the factory harness and make all the stock buttons work.

Plus the factory BT kind of sucks, so you aren't missing out on much. You can play music through the AUX port, but there is no control for the device through the car's controls.

Also, if you set all of your settings in the car (radio presets, last temp you left the car on, blinker setting: 1 vs 3 flashes, etc.) These are all retained on the key you do them with. If you got 2 keys and you go to use the "other" key it may not all be set and don't freak out. It will mess you up the first time it happens, but once they are set to your liking or you and your significant other's setting all is good in the world.

Sounds like you also need to read the thread about all the things you didn't know about your R56.

Congrats on the purchase and good luck. We are here to help you figure everything out if you need us.

 

I figured everything out. I went through the settings and made everything to my liking.

I only have one key so I can't have separate settings. - Something else that was left out of my car when I bought it. I should probably get another one for emergency.

I'm definitely looking into getting an aftermarket BT setup, as long as it seems like it came from the factory, I will be happy. Honestly I probably won't use it, but just having three buttons that don't do anything will bother me to no end.

Where is the thread located?

 

Lots of reading.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-r56-mini.html

 

This is one of the reasons I worry that technology is going a little bit too far. One day, our cars will be so complicated that our brains will seize up as we try to find out how to turn on the windshield wipers! What next? We have to take classes on how to use our cars? The last time I took my car to MINI for maintenance, they wouldn't even say "Pop the hood." The MINI technician got in the car and plugged in a code scanner under the steering wheel. Then he said "Um, code XXXX popped up. We'll have to keep your car overnight to scan the computer and find out what went wrong. That's why your turn signals aren't working properly." Cars are definitely getting too complicated.