Hi, 'new DC Metro club member here, I go by R50HyperBlue. I have a question about warranty service on my Cooper which I purchased from Mini of Sterling. Based on posts I have read here on NAM I want to install an AFE CIA in my '06 'Cooper. However, I have since learned that the installation of a CIA setup in my 'Cooper may raise a flag with the Cooper's warranty depending on the dealership. What has your experience been like with the garage at Mini of Sterling? If I should speak to a service rep there who would you recommend?
Thanks in advance!
R50HyperBlue

 

MoS advertises itself as the area's headquarters for many after-market products (see it's website). So, while I don't have direct info, it seems they are mod friendly.

 

CIA setups are highly classified an not cleared for use by the general public.

 

Cold Air Induction (it's what you meant ... right?) has never caused an issue or raised anything but a "nice CAI" comment from Mini of Sterling during my underwarranty work. No MoS did not install the CAI, though they did install the 15% when I got my supercharger replaced recently ... again, not a single hesistation on their part.

 

First of all, I have used all three main dc metro dealers for service and Sterling has blown me away every time with their attitude and service. In fact they have often found things wrong that I was unaware of and fixed them while I waited. Recently, I have found a more willing attitude at Tate also. Anyway not to compare people, I removed my CAI after reading about how many engines suck water and self-destruct if you drive through very deep puddles in a storm. This was confirmed by a service manager at Sterling who told me that the last time they had heavy flooding in the dc area they replaced 15 engines with CAI's. Just a heads up.

 

MoS has improved greatly in the past year, compared to previous years, (and Tate seems to have only occasional short spurts of improvement).

MoS has 7 BMW and 2 MINI tech crews on duty at night... so a lot of work gets done in the wee hours.

I recently had a windshield replaced, flushed coolent system, flushed brake system, and 50K service. I dropped 'Sparkle' off at 5pm and I got a call at 10 the next morning to tell me that my car was ready for pickup.

You'll probably talk to Michael or Joey. They were both very helpful and went out of their way to make me happy. [If you give MoS a rating other than a 5 at MiniUSA, Joey is the one they come down on... so he's especially attentive at trying to make you happy.]

-del

 

Joey told me he's the guy who does everything wrong at Sterling. So, seems logical the non-5ers come down on him.

 

Joey (Joseph Bonomolo) no longer works at MoS. They let him go... I don't know the details. Michael Creason is still there - he was out for 6 or 7 weeks due to spinal surgery, but he's back now.

 

Just had my MINI in there Yesterday. Dealt with Michael. I like him . They are VERY busy. Dropped my car off at 830am, he called me about noon and told me that the night crew was going to have to take care of it and I would be able to pick it up today. No problem really except my loaner was a Dodge Neon . Got a call this morning that it was done and went in to get it about noon. Everything was taken care of and the car was clean when I drove it home. If anything, they are just so damn busy. When I looked thru to the repair bays, every single one of them was full. Mostly BMW's that I saw. While waiting for them to bring my car up front, I dropped a few bucks in the accessories store. I got a glove box organizer Oh and they have a really pretty red checkmate parked in the showroom.