I hate the inevitable fact that one day my P/S pump is going to DIE! It hasnt gone out in about 6 months, since my cross country florida to washington trip. It happened 4 times in 1 hour in TX, i'd just turn the car off and right back on and it would correct itself. Probably because of hot weather mixed with hot car. Im at 83K so lets see how long i can hold on. Yay for cold Washington weather!

 

its been available on seats with leather (including the cloth/leather one) since at least 07. Our 07 has lumbar adjustment (with cloth/leather seats) and its been available every year since.

 

Haha. Thats kinda funny, my 87 celica had adjustable lumbar, both back and side adjustments! It is kinda cheap that a mini with leather seats don't have that option. Again, this kinda supports my theory that they just don't make em like they use too! :/

 

there are no dealers within two hours of home, so dealer service wouldn't be an option. I've had all my work done at two different independent Mini shops ; Greasy's Garage in Worcester, MA and Zbylut Motor Works in Amherst. It's just that it's needed a lot of work. The list of things I've had to replace is quite long!

 

It doesn't have the option, because its standard on leather seats.

 

Check the cooling fan on your P/S pump!

 

Factory lumbar pieces cost about $70 per seat from Sewell. For the pax side, get the driver side & reverse the cable. I've done both.
OTOH, you may be more comfy DIYing a fixed or inflatable. OEM is a bit low for my back.

 

I hate
The Jumpy Throttle in the very beginning of the pedal throw
The idle dips below idle when coming to a quickish stop
The seats
The windshield is a magnet for getting sand blasted from road sand.
No Armrest (going to fix that quick)
The way the drive feels unstable when gasing it around a curve.
Most of these things feel fixed in the 2012 models though

 

The back hatch area is always going to be more dirty due to the areodynamics of the the car creating a low presuure area directly behind it.

(Stock car racing and other use this slip stream behind cars while they draft to conserve fuel, etc).

Due to this low pressure area, dust and surface water thrown by the rear tires travel up and over the hatchback.

I have a wash bucket in the garage where I just do a quick detail on the hatch area and call it good.

 

I hace only one year with mine and thse are the issues.

1. The local BMW/MINI Servicenter. They take foerver to fix the MINIs. Their appointment system is very bureaucratic. They have a "school type" service hours. Very limited courtesy shuttle service. Their attitude is to get more $$ from your pocket. their "One-time" warranty part replacement policy.

2. Some interior parts are wearing out really fast. The shiftstick **** ring peeled off for normal use. The A/C vents were loose and move by themselves. The mirror cover of the right sunshield broke (never used). The top console plate falls off. etc..The service center fixed them, but with the "one time" warranty replacement disclaimer.

My wife is so mad that she does want a MINI again.

 

I hate that my MINI has some damage on my drivers side door. Neighbor backed into me the other day. Shallow dents and some scratching.

Hopefully it's all good and fixed soon enough though.

 

Poorly designed lumbar.
Lighting and HVAC difficult to reach.
Poorly designed door detents.
Horn requiring too much force, if it works at all.
The Playskool speedometer - all that space, and no gauges.
And the inside mirror that blocks vew, especially in the corkscrews on my commute home.

Continued in post 1222 and especially 1227.

 

No.1 complaint:

The unrelenting refrain, .." it's cute"

Call it a Clown Car, the Italian Job car, Spam in a Can, ...anything but cute.
A black, murdered out MCS is not f..... cute,

 

no, a black, murdered out MCS looks like a 6 year old who puts on his dad's suit. try all you want, but your car is always going to be "cute". just deal with it.

 

Yeah, there's no doubt about it, MINIs are cute. There's not a darned thing you can do about it!

Heck, It's why I bought one!

Dave

 

Hate that I just lost my 4th side scuttle on unpaved roads. Still under waraty but I need to figure out how to make them stay on before it isn't.

 

I prefer "classy" over "cute"

 

Poorly designed lumbar. Haven't noticed this.
Lighting and HVAC difficult to reach. For me it's more the window switches.
Poorly designed door detents. True.
Horn requiring too much force, if it works at all. True.
The Playskool speedometer - all that space, and no gauges. Very true.
And the inside mirror that blocks vew, especially in the corkscrews on my commute home. Agree.

 

My most hated thing was the mechanical issues that kept seeming to pop up... But it is typical with cars reaching their mid-life crisis (100k). As of right now, all maintenance is done and issues have been resolved and I am enjoying driving the little bugger. If I HAD to find something else wrong, it'd have to be the trunk cover thing. It binds up and doesn't allow the trunk to close properly at times...

 

I'm tall enough (or long-torso'ed enough) that every car's rear-view mirror blocks part of my view. The MINI's is better than my old CRX's, for that matter.

 

Agree with Slave about the mirror. My '01 330i presents me with the same challenge.
I've been embarrassed at 4-way stops ( mirror blocking view of cars already stopped to my right )

 

For me, the lumbar is too low. My DIY version was better. See more in post #1227...
Yeah, I meant to include the window switches, but it was the third attempt on my iCan't...
(things I hate about my iPad thread...)

 

what i hate most is the stupid passenger side weight sensor, my 2006 had a problem with it and they replaced the whole seat cushin since thats the only way to fix it, and now its out of warranty and its screwing up again

 

You don't say what specifically is going on, but maybe a Chimex would help? I drive with stuff on the passenger seat a lot, and it has definitely preserved my sanity. http://www.outmotoring.com/mini-coop...top_chime.html

 

When i put items in my passenger seat only the passenger airbag comes on. No chiming. Maybe i'm lucky and a PO got thw chiming reprogramed.