My 2004 MINI Cooper and its proud master, Bitsy the Samoyed. I'm holding the camera, of course.



I'm in Phoenix, AZ and just got this last Friday. I've been monkeying with cars my whole life and will likely be doing a few mods to this in the (near) future. I'm not sure what the plan is yet - we're still getting to know each other.

Is the ~1s lag from a dead stop with the automatic CVT normal? I have a 3000 mile / 3 month warranty and want to make sure the transmission gets covered if it is going to be an issue. As soon as that's over, I'm replacing all the fluids, of course. Perhaps if somebody else in Phoenix reads this we can hook up so I can listen to another one for comparison. (edit) The dealer I bought it from supposedly had the transmission checked out by the local BMW dealership's service department after I asked about a noise I noticed during the test drive. They repaired a loose exhaust shroud and that sound is gone. I'm so used to manuals and torque converter transmissions as to make this feel wrong now that I've been driving it a bit.

Anyways, loving it,
-Al

 

Congratulations on your new MINI. Don't know about the delay on 1st gear on the CVT transmission it might be a good idea to have it checked out, could be a problem.

 

Welcome to NAM!

Congrats on your new MINI!

 

You will get more info on your problem if you post in the right forum. Go to the first gen Cooper one here https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...lems-issues-9/

 

Indeed, thanks. I only mentioned it here in case it's a newbie question and will post over there if it continues to bug me.

 

All CVT will have a lag on starting out, it is normal and don't get excited about all the negative comments on the CVT -- mine is a 2004 with 94,000 miles and it runs like the day it was new. The CVT fluid needs to be changed every 28,000 - 30,000 miles.