Anyone with a Countryman or have one in the works given thoughts to
a remote starter? I had one installed in my 07 MCS. Took a while to find a reputable installer that wanted to work on a cooper, I guess they are pretty involved.
Not to mention it was a manual vs. automatic. Even though CM will be housed in a garage, its still a pretty cold start here in the N.E.

 

I also thought of it as I have to be up super early in the AM, and don't have a ton of time to heat up/defrost windows and defog before rolling. Do any MINI dealers install them?

 

I would love one (I don't have a CM yet). A bunch of people at work have them and I'm so jealous. My garage stays fairly warm for being detached (built partway into a hill) but it would be great at work.

 

I have not found any. Some say it could void the warranty. Most new vehicles have the option to order them or have them installed after delivery. I did on my leased Infinity. Something about Mini.

 

That was the first thing I ask my MA when he told me the car was here. He told me no such thing due to push to start. ( hold down the brake while pushing the button for 3 sec)

 

Yeah same thing here. But I just returned a leased vehicle infinity G35 with push button start...foot on the brake...no key just fob in pocket or car...and had a remote start installed through the dealer..third party did it for them so all was under warranty and all that. Bit pricey $500. but worked like a charm even locked all doors, popped the trunk. They are around, its just getting Mini to be ok with them.

 

Remote starters aren't legal in Europe, so typically only American and Japanese cars have them as OEM options. My wife basically comandeers our Wrangler in the winter for the remote start, so she would LOVE one on the Countryman that she is thinking of ordering. We have actually been test driving other cars/SUVs/CUVs that offer remote start because it is that important to her.

 

It would be very easy to add remote start to a CM, especially if it's an auto. Push-button start or not, it's not a hard thing to do.

 

I know Quality...Just seems that Mini feelings are indifferent.
Of course my CM is a manual to make things even tougher.
I know it can be done by a reputable installer..but Mini wording seems to state it could void the warranty.

 

Ahhh, I hear ya. Technically, anything you add to your car can cause you problems. While, technically you warranty woudln't be voided, they Mini could deny warranty work for anything related to the alarm/remote starter.

I think part of it is, remote start units on manual transmissions can be difficult to implement inexpensively. With what appears to be a majority of Mini owners choosing 6MTs it's not really in their best interest financially to look into it.

 

Interesting thought...my garage has two of our cars and a future CM would be outside and it would be my work/winter vehicle of choice. One thing that appealed to me was the electrically defrostable (is that a word) front windshield. But, if you think about it....when you jump in your car in the morning and want to start driving right away, the electric defrost is still not going to be fast enough. So, though I do not like to put a car starter in cars, I think that to take complete advantage of this option you would need to consider getting one that could also activate the front electric defrost so the vehicle could have a couple of minutes to make it work.

 

Think about how fast the rear defroster works. I can't imagine the windshield woudl be much, if any, slower.

To be able to control the front defroster, or anything on the car really, you'd need a latched output and an auxiliary channel on the alarm and you'd have to tap into the defroster wiring.

It's definitely doable, but it won't be automatic. You'd have to start the car and then press a button to turn on the defroster. You need to make sure you find a GOOD shop to do this, however.

 

I just got all the parts collected for coding the car, I'm using the V41 datens, which are the latest I believe...
I noticed in the SPREG trace file there are several entries for remote start that are set as not active.
I'm just getting my feet wet on the coding, maybe a more seasoned person might have some insight on this.....

 

Since i use my vehicles for work I have had remote starts in all my non-mini vehicles for many years.
I have found the best use is to warm up or cool down depending on the season. In my vehicles I leave the defroster on with fan on high, in the auto temp heaters I leave the set temperature.
The big issue is how the remote starts interface with existing vehicle electronics. Some manufacturers are easy and some very difficult. I do not have my new Mini yet but I have been told that the new Countryman are tough. Its great when you can carry only 1 remote that will start the car and do all the features you want...unlock doors, trunk, put windows down, etc....made by the remote start manufacturer. On vehicles that do not interface well you may need to carry the car remote and then the remote start manufacturer remote, kind of takes convenience out of it. I have never had a warranty voided....as long as the installer is not a hack and does not do anything stupid...such as cut the main wiring harness....like my cell phone mount installer did.
I would do some research and find out who your local dealers have install their aftermarket remotes. Most dealers sub out the work....and usually these good shops have lots of experience. The final result is only as good as the installer.

 

I was told by an installer that an after market remote start couldn't be used since the car communicates with the key fob..
There are entries in the cars computer code that indicate there is at least provision for remote start, even if I can turn the code on I don't know if the current key fob has the capability to activate a start....

 

Mjgood...I agree the remote is the problem. May be ways to overide it if you know the code....but with Countryman still so new it may be a bit before the secrets are known....

 

Just wondering if anyone has had any luck with getting remote start? I live in New England and have it on my current SUV. It is an absolute on those cold, snowy winter mornings. A plus would be to use the MINI key fob...

 

Everyone I have spoken to says it is a no go......Too bad......

 

Only additional things I've heard is that it could be part of a available option down the road. Not to promising though. To bad because it's almost due able on most vehicles to day!

 

I am interested in this thread.

Thanks

 

I'm expecting my new CM in a week or so.. and asked specifically about this. Got the "no way" from the dealership. Was kind of surprised as it is a very important feature here in the northeast (New Hampshire). Not sure it has anything to do with it being a "German" car as my wife bought a VW Tiguan a few months ago and the dealer installed a remote start. The only "issue" is having an extra key fob that can be buried in the car to accommodate the security signal.

 

The reason I've gotten as to why most BMW vehicles don't have remote start is twofold.

1) There are apparently security features built into the key fobs themselves for theft that become defeated if you use one to allow remote starting to work (such as an engine cut off)

2) Supposedly, BMW doesn't recommend idling their engines for long periods in circumstances such as the bitter cold. Something about allowing oil to flow.

I will say that my BMWs I've driven (so I don't know if this applies to all BMWs and or MINIs) have compensated by having their heating/cooling systems work much faster than the Japanese/American cars I've driven. Never had heated seats work so well! I mean within 10 seconds of moving! Prior cars seem to take longer to get up/down to comfortable temperatures.

I do admit, I'd rather have the remote start as an option, but I've dealt with it best I could.

 

Came across this just now doing a google search:
http://garagedooropenerkit.com/mini-...r-p-35898.html

Seems to good to be true though. Last week I took my countryman by a local shop for a quote on sub installation and asked about remote start. He said he would look into it, I will have to follow up and see if he found anything out.

I do remember reading in the Manual about not letting it idle for long periods of time and like WongWay mentioned, the Heated Seats and Hot air come much faster than my pervious two cars.

 

Hmm..... somehow I don't trust that product. In all honesty, if MINI doesn't support it, it's pretty close to hacking your car to get it to work accordingly. Although I'm sure there are reputable shops out there that claim they can do it, they might be working on your CM as their first guinea pig considering that it's not a popular car to have Remote Starters installed.

I am really iffy too. Glad the seat warmers are keeping my buns toasty.

 

I live in NE and called 2 independent companies who put remote starters in for all cars. One said they did a BMW and would get back to me, but they didn't and when I called back they said they didn't want to tackle the job. The other said they wouldn't do it. I was looking at the Viper or really anything. The first guy told me that it would cost almost 1K if they were to do it, one reason is that they said they needed a key fob to rip apart. I gave up looking!! But sooo want one!!