No doubt the manufacturer's watch the boards closely. On the Lightning boards people used to post their build number along with their list of mods. Low and behold when they went in for warranty work their warranties were voided for mods. According to the dealer they have many cars in the same situation as ours. Probably not too many with our color combo. Still BMW/Mini would not spend the money to fed-ex a form letter about a problem without difinative contact info. If they guess wrong then someone with no problems would get the letter. That wouldn't be smart. Plus the letter was very vague it did not identify what the problem was. Basically just the standard "sorry to hear you are not happy with your Mini" type of letter. Oh well, doesn't really matter. More of a heads up for the owners doing mods and expecting warranty coverage.

 

This is no conspiracy against you. All they have to do is call the dealer in Portland and confirm the ownership of the Purple MCSa who has recently started talking Lemon Law. They have all the ownership details of your car and everyone elses. You've posted enough details about your experience on this board that it wouldn't take much to put 2+2 together.

 

The reason they are being vague is because they do not know what the problem is, exactly. My '02 MCS was great, no cold start problems, no stumble, no problems at all until I responded to a recall letter that had something to do with emissions. They re-flashed the ECU and ever since I had problems similar to yours.

I kept checking with my dealer to see about newer versions of software that might correct what they screwed up but nothing ever came along.

From you descriptions I am sure that it is a software issue and nothing else.

I finally solved the problem by buying an '06 MCS. So far everything is great. No cold start issues, no flat spot, no stumble (knock on wood). You might inquire about the latest version of software that is being used on the '06s and this might help.

 

dude welcome to mini don't like the stall bye a non-s they all do it and if anyone on here says other wise they are lieing to u when they come in to my shop and i start them they all stall some have black smoke even this is all a normal part of the mini experience

 

Sorry but your experience does not reflect everyone's - our 05 MCSa does not stall and neither did the 03 MCS.

 

tht's teh biggst lode of crapp I've evar herd.

 

Wagnbat (quietly in your ear) -

Friend, you have almost 600 posts on this board. Surely you know what a troll is, don't you?

 

=0)whaaaatt ?!?!!?

 

Be really careful with this. I am pursuing the Lemon Law on my old car right now and it's killing me. I just want it over so I can have the car that I have wanted all along. I bought the MINI because I love it and can't think of anything else I could possibly want like I want this car. I did not choose for my car to break and I did nothing to cause it.

It's a painful process. I can't give any specifics or anything but just be persistant, be careful, do a LOT of reading and be prepared.

 

Jenn,
Thanks for the input. So far so good. We will have a difinitive solution by the end of next week. Good or bad I will post the results next week.

 

Wow, I wish they would have responded to me like that. Three months and a broken heart over here.

 

Any news?

I am pretty down about my case today actually... there are days when I get really upset about it, mainly the days my car payment clears my bank.

I really am hurt by this process, I'm a 28 year old girl that lives alone... I do not have another car, my MINI takes me to work. I live hundreds of miles from family and my S.O. so I have no one to rely on but myself. I've made four payments since the last time I drove my car and that hurts... bad. I love my car.. I did not chose for it to break, I did nothing to cause it and trust me, I would rather it have never happened. I'm not doing this just to get a new car... its far too much trouble and pain.

I'm a true car fanatic that loves to drive and wants to enjoy motoring but I have missed out on so much this year. I've ordered a new car... of course, I want a new one, this is the car I wanted so why wouldn't I... but I can't buy it yet. I had to go ahead and order because of how long it takes a MINI to be built and the fact that I can't go without transportation but now I have a completed MINI just sitting and waitng for me. I didn't ask for these problems... I just wanted a MINI.

I honestly, truly, 110% hope that your situtaion goes smoothly and is resolved without going through what I am.


And don't give up... MINIs are one of a kind. I loved every single day that I spent with my 04 and I will really miss her. I can't wait to be motoring again. I don't know why she had to mess up, but they are not all lemons.

 

hey jenn, dont let them get you down. why not get the car towed to the SA's house and drop it off on his lawn, then tell him youll move it when you can drive it away

 

My service advisor has been wonderfully nice to me... he seemed genuinely frustrated that they couldn't fix it. He would always call my and apologize about 100 times saying he wished they could figure it out and then list all the the parts they had replaced and how much work they were putting into it.

He said he'd never seen anything like it.

The dealership has been great... obviously.. I'm hoping to buy another car from them very soon. If they weren't nice, I wouldn't be giving them my business.

 

We purchased an '05 MCS in November '04 and never experienced this cold start/stumble/stall problem until the warmer weather arrived. When we broached the subject with our service manager he told us to use regular grade gas which I told him outright I was not going to do. Now that ambient tempertaures are starting to fall again, the problem is becoming less frequent.

From reading other posts on NAM it would seem that this is a fairly "common" problem with the the "S"......I wouldn't say your problems are unique, though they are certainly a royal pain in the **** .

 

yes... remember whatever sight you are on you are always being watched by MINIUSA. They are always trying to be involved... They know that this is the voice of the MINI community and their most important customers, enthusiast. Im sure they will do whatever they can to reserect the problem.


and yeah... its pretty easy to figure out who you are when you say what color your car is (pepper white is pretty rare at least in az) and its an automatic. Plus you labled your production month... so that narrows it down considerably. Then all they have to do is contact the dealer... find out if their is a guy who is experiancing x y and z problems and from what it sounds like the people at the dealer probably now who you are by the sound of your voice or by the way you drag your left foot when you walk (just kidding) so yeah its pretty easy... also i don't know what privacy notices are in place for this message board. When you signed on you may have given NAM the permission to give out your NAM registration info... maybe not... who knows...

 

Well my 03 MCS does not stall. Sometimes I have a "stumble" when taking off but that's me and the clutch. Not the fault of my MINI.

So they don't ALL do it.

Earl

 

call me a troll all u want but it is not uncommon like he said

 

ok majority