I don't have too many gripes about the CM ... mostly the kind of things many others have said ...

• The seat heater and window controls that are blocked by the cup holders. Solution:
  • Make a touchscreen standard in the speedo.
  • Move the A/C controls to the touchscreen.
  • Move the seat and window controls up.
  • Expand the lower cubby and make it more useful.
• No auto-unlock for the doors when you remove the key (unless you D-CAN code your car).
  • This wouldn't be so bad if the unlock toggle was easier to get to or if it always worked consistently.
• The button indicators ... some have a light on the button and some have an indicator way up in the speedo. They should all light up when activated.
• The mesh sunroof shields should have been solid. I'm going to have to get some window tint up there.

Overall, these gripes are really minor. I'm going to fix the auto-unlock and sunroof issues, and I can live with the others. Overall, I'm really happy with my CMA4.

 

Yeah, anyone know why they use mesh sunroof shields rather than solid ones? Our R53 also had mesh ones. I assume it's not to save weight. The mesh ones don't seem to be any lighter.

 

Nice to see another Subie owner. Our past 6 cars were turbo Subies and the one I sold for my CM was also a 350+whp '04 FXTi. I miss it sometimes, but where I live now there isn't really a place to use all of it except the occasional on ramp. My CMs All4 does seem a little underpowered compared to the Forester, but I actually had an '11 CM first, so the power the CMs has seems nice now.

 

Not Countryman specific, but I hate the fade-in at the beginning of every song when playing off a thumb drive (haven't noticed if it does it anywhere else). Rule 1 in stereo design should be accurate playback and not doing anything that alters the song. Our 2010 R55 doesn't do this, but my CM does.

 

1) Dip-Stick; Hard to read; What happens when the tip eventually breaks off in the crank case?

2) Lugs and nuts instead of bolts on wheels

3) Wiper delay. Driver needs to be able to control the speed. Complaint of mine since owning MINIs.

 

My R56 didn't do this, neither does my current R60, and I play the USB drive every day. Strange.

 

Good luck with that - every European car I have worked on from the 1980's to present has used bolts for the road wheels (BMW, MINI, Porsche, VW, Audi, Volvo).

 

Or for $100 you can convert it to studs and nuts.

 

My R60 only does this when I first turn on the car. From track to track the volume is normal.

 

Sorry, just realized I posted in wrong forum.

 

The front seat seat belt sensor is much too sensitive. My 20 lb dog or even a loaded brief case cause the seat belly warning to come on

 

Agree.
Even placing iPad on passenger seat triggers alarm.

 

Only complaint and my biggest is...when listening to music off a flash drive the radio decides to do a "reset" whenever it feels like it. Then I'm without music, bluetooth and radio for about 1 minute until it resets itself.

 

I listen to flash drive music pretty frequently. several hours a week. since spring. this has never happened.

I'd talk to your dealer.

 

Chime-Defeat-Adapter

This works pretty well IMO

 

I hate the huge hand brake. The rail becomes useless for the phone holder . They should have place them on the left side of the driver seat.

 

urs is not sensitive at all....i put my cell phone on the pass seat and the seat belt warning will keep beep beep......... thats is too sensitive

 

The clock doesn't auto adjust

 

Things I dont like about the car:

1. Suspension, even before I put the NM springs on, it was stiff. I think I put the NM springs on hoping it would soften it out. Guess that didnt work

2. The plastic fantastic interior. Most of the interior is hard plastic, in a day were even basic honda civics have nicely appointed soft touch interiors.

3. The speedo is too giant and kind of ugly, I wish I opted for the mini connected, its much more understated.

But my biggest gripe:

THE TINY GAS TANK! How could a car bigger than a regular cooper have a gas tank that old less fuel?

 

My gripes are pretty small, and some have been said, but here they are in order.
#1 - The door locks. First that they don't unlock when the car is turned off. Second, that MINI compounded this issue by the way the toggle switch works. Up should be unlock and down should be lock. Seems like every time I go to unlock a door for someone it locks the unlocked door someone else just got out of or vise versa.
#2 - Having to press sport button every time I drive the car
#3 - Lack of power seats
#4 - No channel info for radio without selecting it
#5 - Lack of one touch for sunroof
#6 - No indicator light on fog button so I accidentally blink at others from time to time
#7 - Seatbelt sensor as others mentioned. It seems almost like there is an electro-sensor on it as well because when I put something that weighs as much as my phone it doesn't beep, but when my phone touches the seat it beeps right away.
#8 - A power tailgate would be nice
All in all that's not that bad, especially since the list is nit-picky, and the fact that the car is a new design. I just can't wait to code the door unlock, because with a family and needing the child locks in the back I have to dig in my pockets for the keys or lean all the way in the car to reach the door lock toggle in the center of the car at least 4 times a day.

 

Oh yah forgot 2 more:
#9 - The gas warning notification. It comes on and blanks out both clocks as well as navigation. But the worst part is you hit the "reset" button only to have it come back on 3 seconds later. When you hit the reset button, it shouldn't come back on until you restart the car. Wish one of the clocks was always on.
#10 - The cup holders. I don't necessarily think they are too small, but the three "claws" in them are either not sloped enough or the spring is too heavy. I then have to force or wiggle my drink in and hope to do it without spilling. The cup holders are small enough to not even need these "claws", unless someone is driving with a shot glass.

 

Wow, is there anything you like about it?

 

Ha, yes...everything else. This list is all encompassing and, as mentioned, very nit-picky. Also, half of this list is mine, and half is the wife's. It's actually impressive to me that nearly everything on this list is pretty trivial, and there is not one thing I consider a major flaw. (Especially since I can code the locks).

 

I hate all the different warning gongs and symbols that show up on the little computer. I know it may sound silly but I'll be driving along and it gongs either for low gas, low temp, or this hazard/warning thing shows up if I don't buckle up. The thing is they always startle me and for a hot second I think something really bad is wrong. I actually called the dealer because I thought something was wrong with the car because of that nondescript warning symbol and the book didn't clarify it's purpose.

 

The problem with the three prongs is that they're hinged at the bottom rather than the top, so it's really hard to get a cup in. I don't know who let that design go through. That's a basic engineering flaw.