Ah! That makes sense, RaceTripper. Hadn't thought of that. Thanks!

 

Makes sense, Phantom! Nice hearing from ya!

 

Okay, just to clarify, I've posted a pic. When the snow flake is off it's on manual - right?



What puzzles me is that the auto button it self doesn't seem to do anything but turn the snow flake on. But the snow flake button will turn on and off by itself when pressed. The "auto" button always has the light on and the word "auto" on the dail is static. The button below the "auto" button cycles through the modes and eventually you get to a state with no "car" symbol showing, which means the AC is off. Does that sound correct?

Here's another question - on the "sport mode". Does it make any difference if you turn the "sport mode" on before the engine is warm or after? Any difference in reaction, feel?

 

I read the first paragraph about a dozen times and I still don't understand it. :P

If you hit Auto and then hit the snowflake button, it should still function the same, just without the ability to control the humidity (or cooling, if it's hot) of the air coming out of the vents.

The button below Auto controls the recirculation thingy. Like, if you have a gross smelling truck in front of you, you can turn it on and it'll use the air that's in the car and filter it so you're not breathing in gross air.

When I hit Auto, it cranks up my fan speed until the temp gets closer to what I have it set to. If you're always in a place where it's, say, 75, and you have it set to 76, you won't notice it do much.

When you press the Sport button doesn't change anything with how the car functions. A cold car is going to drive a bit differently than a warm one.

 

No, when the snowflake is off the A/C compressor is off. Auto is still engaged in your picture.

Auto is also relevant for heating in winter, so you can be in Auto mode with no A/C running.

Sport mode just remaps the throttle and makes steering more direct. Nothing more than that. Always take it easy until the engine reaches operating temp, sport button or not.

 

Hi Tu13es! I'm wondering if the auto button is working okay. The light on the button never goes off and I don't know if the word "auto" is static or does it go on and off. Mine is always on including the little light on the "auto" button itself. Sorry for the confusing paragraph. I'm just trying to figure out if it's working as it should.

On the "sport" mode, I've noticed that my start in first gear is usually a bit smoother, if Hilla is warmed up prior to using it. Later in the day it doesn't seem to matter since the engine is already warm. There isn't much of a temperature difference to work with here, so I was wondering how it works in other climate areas?

 

So is the "auto" off when the word auto disappears? Mine doesn't do away.

 

If you are on Auto and turn off the snowflake, that should not affect auto. If you want to see Auto go off, adjust the temp dial (the one on the right with the red/blue marks), or hit the Max button, or hit all three of the silver buttons on the right.

 

Okay, I finally pushed some buttons and I think I got it.



I did get all the buttons to go off and the dial blank, too!

 

Thanks, it worked!

 

I've had it on auto all the time. I feel like such a dip not figuring it all out. I'm sure the MA told me all about it, but I must have forgotten!

 

Adjusting the temp won't turn Auto off. The others will, though.

 

I'm guessing it depends more on how warm the clutch/flywheel are than the engine itself. I noticed my starts are a bit rougher when it's really cold than when they've warmed up. Again, Sport mode will just make it so you don't have to push the gas pedal quite as far, so it'll seem like your starts are less sluggish. Really it's just that things haven't warmed up yet.

 

And just to add one more... if you push the button to defog/defrost the windshield (the button just to the right of the snowflake button), the system will go out of "auto" mode. It puts all the air on the windshield - and in my experience, will defog it in 10 seconds or less! I'm sure it would take a little longer to defrost it - but I've never had to do that... yet.

And if you turn the defog/defrost button off, the "auto" will come back on (assuming you had it one before pushing the defog/defrost button).

 

A first time for everything...

Yesterday I was driving to a tennis match, and looked in my rearview mirror and there was another MINI behind me. Turned out to be a blue/silver MC Clubman. We got to a place where the road turned into 2 lanes in our direction, the Clubman pulled up alongside me, and we exchanged waves. Pretty cool. First time I've been on the same road with another MINI, going the same direction.

Anyone else been there?

 

As RaceTripper pointed out adjusting the fan speed to 0 will turn everything off. There seems to be a couple of options with the defrost, the MAX and so on. Most cases I'll use the auto air since my wife has MS, she is very heat sensitive. But sometimes, I like to roll down the windows and let the breeze in since our temps are now in the 60's and 70's. I new I wasn't doing something right, that's why I asked the 32 crew!

That's always fun to get a wave! I wonder if they would move our thread to the OT section to keep it alive. We're getting close to 3000!

 

Anyone go on any fun drives lately? Who's active in their local MINI/Mini club?

 

Hey, EVERY drive in a MINI is fun drive! Even back and forth to work is nice. I just used my CD player this past week for the first time. Works fine, and is easy to use. Coming up on 4000 miles on Phantom. I'm sure most of you have many more miles than that, but it's just daily driver for me for now.

 

Well, it's been about 6 months since we Week 32ers took delivery of our MINIs. I was wondering what we like, dislike, etc. So, here's a little survey, with my answers. What about you?

What option has pleasantly surprised you the most? For me, the seat heaters. Only got them because my MA recommended them. Now I don't know how I'd live without them!

What option do you have that you'd not get if you could do it over? I don't know that I have one. I agonized over my order for so long, and went through so many iterations before ordering, that I think I got it right (at least as far as what I got). Which leads to...

What option did you NOT get that you now wished you had gotten? For me, the auto-dimming rearview mirror. My wife's Camry has it, and I didn't realize how much I loved it.

Anyone with a MC now wish they had a MCS (or vice versa)? Me, I have an MC, and would not trade for a MCS ever.

What's the most annoying thing about your MINI? A minor annoyance, but I wish there was a way to turn off the auto climate control other than to hit the fan speed button repeatedly. There should be an OFF button or the AUTO button should be a toggle. A close second is the "sticky" sunroof when its really hot out. But, it's just an annoyance.

What about your MINI works or performs better than you expected? This is a tough one for me, but I think I'll have to say the handling is even better than I expected. I like the firm feel. I also like the sport seats - fit me perfectly (and I have some lower back problems, but not in the sport seats).

That's it. I hope others will chime in with their answers! Happy motoring!

 

Here are a some pics of our Bluebonnet Drive 2009! I think we had about 32 MINIs.





Good idea on the survey. I'll write down my thoughts tomorrow!

 

Oh almost forgot, here's the Bluebonnet!

 

We're at 5509 miles as of this morning!

What option has pleasantly surprised you the most? I would have to say it's more than one. The heated seats and the comfort option as a whole. Also I love the navigation system and the parking distance option! So far no sticky sunroof issue on ours.

What option do you have that you'd not get if you could do it over? I like them all, very happy with my selection.

What option did you NOT get that you now wished you had gotten? I wonder about the stereo and driving light option, and the CD changer might have been nice - but then I would have lost a storage space. Since my hearing isn't getting any better, I'm okay with my selection. There are a couple of blank buttons which disturb me. One is the windshield heater, not a very big item in Texas – I have the rain sensing and heated mirrors – probably would have made sense to get the heated windshield as well. Then there is the middle button next to the sport button, I'm not sure what would have gone there.

Anyone with a MC now wish they had a MCS (or vice versa)? Got the one I wanted – a JCW. I started out thinking about an S, but with all the performance and handling options I selected it worked out cheaper with the JCW and she's all factory.

What's the most annoying thing about your MINI? Took me a while, but with the help of the 32 crew I can disable the AutoAC! I agree that it would have been nice if a more straight forward single button solution would have worked, I do have a couple of spare buttons, but over all a minor annoyance.

What about your MINI works or performs better than you expected? Very firm ride and sensitive steering. She sticks to the road like glue and eats corners for breakfast!

Overall she is exactly what I ordered, couple of items could have been added, but probably would have been wasted on me!
Motor on 32ers!

 

Well, that makes 2 of us that are pretty well satisfied with our MINIs. Hope to hear from more of our group.

 

Overall I'm very happy with my MCS.
The only option I wish I'd got is the IPod doc. Mainly because I didnt have one at the time. It does have an AUX jack for it which is sufficient for my needs.
Always fun to drive!!

 

I'm mostly satisfied and happy with my JCW, but miss my M3, which I would rather have.