Sounds like first year teething.
F56 buyers knew that at the onset.
The MX5 is a reliable option
That is a very fun car.
However..
You want the Mini experience, you pay for it in more than one way.
Nothing quite like a MINI

 

Maybe rephrase that: YOUR car is/was almost junk. The car I bought was almost perfect. And could we lay off the "OMG no dipstick " comments? It's like "OMG no carbuerator".

 

Progress
Have you checked your glove-box?
Mine came with an inflatable Dollie.
Can't get it back in.
Do not pull the red tab.

 

Is that a standard item on a 2014 MCS or option you speical ordered?
If latter, you might have ordered one bigger than you really need.

 

I am a long time BMW owner, relatively new to MINI. You can certainly see the BMW influence on MINI. The challenge comes when you try to get away from it. There are few if any cars that deliver the same driving enjoyment. So you end up coming back. I know how irritating it can be to keep them on the road and some of their "policies" drive me crazy. But at the end of the day I wish I could afford the new hardtop.....you have to admit, it's not boring.

 

That reminds me, do you suppose that's a dipstick with the red top on it in the picture from the engine's news release? What would you need to do to add one?

 

"What would you heed to do to add one?"[/QUOTE]

With the oel level at full:
Drill a small hole in the oel filler cap and send a stainless worm
down the filler tube until it dead ends. Pull the worm , file a full mark
on the worm.
Drain 1 quart of oil.
Send the worm down the filler tube, pull it and mark it low 1 quart.
Gasket the filler cap aperture so there is no blow-by.

 

the lack of a dipstick doesn't bother me, since i've found on the onboard computer where to check to oil level easily.

what i really am uncomfortable with is the lack of a water temp guage. my last MINI got traded in after both the low speed engine fan and water pump went. if i'd not noticed the rising temp guage, and taken preventive action, i could have cracked the head gasket.

and as far as i can tell, i can't check water/engine temp anywhere on the onboard computer? which seems a big omission.

 

Sure. My car and thousands like it.

 

It really bothered me a lot in the beginning but I'm getting used to the electronic gauage now. Honestly it's quite neat because it tells you so precisely by % and much less hassle.

Come to think of it, many years ago, I wonder if the lack of a dipstick on gas tank bothered people when dash fuel gauge replaced it.


Good question. I'd like to know how...

 

The old VW didn't have a gas gauge.
They had a lever on the linkage tunnel.
When you ran out of gas underway , you threw the lever
and then had one more gallon/litres ?
Gas fill was under the hood.
You could open the cap and look in.
Use a dowel if need be.
15" wheels, big for that era, you could change a flat in 5 minutes.
They actually had real spares, jacks, and lug wrenches.
Mileage was around 30.
You could push them to start by yourself.
They went into the shop for........
an oil change.
If you were in college an oil change could be done
by you for $1.50 including tax.

 

As you might tell from my screen name, we're on our 2nd Miata...first a '99 soft top and now a '08 Power Retractable Hard Top; both manual transmissions. Only one issue between both cars....had to have my retractable hard top motors replaced. Continue to read about MINIS and discuss same with local MINI owners....following these F56 threads as I'd really like to consider a "change" to MINI in the future...perhaps before MTTS in 2016.....hopefully these are just simple new model teething issues...

Miatas are fun & reliable....my only concern with MINI is their reliability as I've driven several and KNOW they too are a lot of fun to drive with a great group of owners and related car events to participate in....

 

Engine temp is available from the on board computer. It will show 'OK' at first, then switch to a digital gauge. If you have Mini Connected, engine temp is available with an actual number on the sports gauge page. It seems to be pretty responsive as I've seen it change just a few degrees based on running conditions.

Still no match for my (no longer with me) '06 with analog gauge for engine temp, oil temp, AND oil pressure! I miss them so much.

 

Gwman - Can you be specific on each way to get the gaugeto display. Menu and submenu's you need to use to get there....Thanks.

 

I wonder if we have the same readout ... I don't have MINI connected. Mine's a pretty base Justa. When I click over to the "Car" portion, I see four options:

Tire Pressure Monitor
Engine Oil
Service Request
Check control.

none of these offers me the engine temp measurements.

 

Mine pretty loaded and I'm not seeing any of the digital gauges that gwman talks about? Anyone else found them in the menu structure? My MCS has a similar menu to greentea.....

 

My MCS is basic readout as well.
I have no XTRA electronics

 

Press the button on the left stalk on the steering column. That will toggle you through a series of different readouts on the "computer" at the bottom of the speedo. This is the same readout that in different iterations shows things like miles to empty, current mpg, average speed, etc. There will be one that shows an engine with OK on it (when the engine is at operating temp). If you leave it on that setting, after a few seconds it will then change to a digital "bar graph" that shows the engine temp. If you turn it to that readout at startup, you will see LOW overlaid on the engine icon. As the engine warms up, LOW will change to OK. It will also display a bar graph with a relative temp (blue to the left side and red to the right side) just below the engine icon.

I have the basic radio setup. No navigation or connected.

 

Hilarious.

 

Thanks Mate.

 

The display for the onboard computer in this case in the speedometer.

From page 72 of the manual:

 

That's just groovy until the oil level sensor craps out and it's $400 plus cost of an oil change to replace. (NEVER forget that this is BMW who's famous for crapping-out sensors of all kinds.) And naturally, when an oil-level sensor dies, it's usually die just *after* you do an oil change.

OTOH, I've never once heard of a dipstick crapping out, but in the unlikely event of a dipstick failure, you could probably score a replacement from Autohaus for $12 and replace it yourself in, oh, 27 seconds.

So once again, we have a textbook example of unwarranted complexity and the promise of expensive failures.

 

I'm gonna start looking for a 67 VW bug

 

Same here. the drivetrain message came up and went away, no change in performance at first. 2 months later, message came back and never went away. now im starting to have clunky starts after long periods of the car siting (8 hours) and so far twice it has started and cut off by itself. I;m at 39,000 miles, had it scanned twice, no solution yet.

 

Same error message too, "Drive train" car lost power and couldn't move. Called my mechanic and it generated further errors when he put a diagnosis machine to say "wastegate problems" awaiting a solution.