I have it on my Countryman and I love it. On the Countryman, the boot handle is the circle part of the MINI badge, and you open the boot by rotating it up. Mine didn't seem to work right at first, and I spoke to my Service Advisor about it. She told me that I should flip it up and hold it for a second, and that did the trick. Perhaps on your roadster, instead of squeezing harder, you may want to try squeezing longer. Give it a second or three and it should open.

 

Order!

 

I know this thread was started months ago, but I'd still figure I would chime in regarding the keyless remote entry.

I never had it and wasn't really considering it at all. It just seemed like money I would rather spend on other options. It just happened to come with the package I selected. I've found that it comes in very handy. I expect that, like all "new" options on cars, it will become pretty common on ALL cars very soon. I used to think that the BMW Idrive and MINI Connected screens were very innovative... Now, you can get a KIA or a Dodge with a Small screen to scroll through options. I used to think that the Bluetooth was cutting technology. No, it seems like there aren't many cars where Bluetooth isn't a standard option. Same with AUX in outlets, Auto climate control, Xenon lamps, etc... They used to be only available on high end luxury cars. Now you can get them on almost any car.

I've found that most options you can get on the MINI are pretty nice. Once you hvae them and get used to them, you find they're quite handy and worth the extra money. There are some that I don't really need. I don't need the universal garage remote as I live in an apartment right now and I don't have multiple garages to program in.... I have the tinted windows so I don't really need an auto dim rearview mirror... I don't think the rearview with compass would be necessary if you have Navigation... I guess it would be nice if you didn't have NAV though...

Just like anything else though, any options you get, I think you'll find they come in handy when you need them and if it's included in a package then it's even better.

 

Mr Bueno, not trying to knock or put down your post or anything but I thought I'd give my experience. When I was shopping around for cars, I found MINI had the highest prices for options across the board compared to GM and Nissan. The only reason they won me over was MINI of Dallas had great customer service. GM and Nissan were like nosy telemarketers who didn't know when to stop bugging the customer (and of course, the GM dealer went bankrupt!)! Although you wouldn't know from looking at it, I sacrificed quite a few options because if I hadn't, the price on my Clubman would have soared wayyyy past what I budgeted for. And the dealer prices on the options were ALWAYS higher than what the website claimed. I skipped the automatic tranny, tinted windows, aluminum wheels and heated headlamp washers. I forgot the other options that I sacrificed. If I plan to buy another MINI to replace my current car, I might have to go the same route again because the prices seem to have gone up again. I tried the car configurator and am glad I bought my car at that time instead of waiting a few years. It would have cost me a LOT more!! And I think I'll sacrifice comfort access next time UNLESS MINI finally uses a flip-out key like all the other brands. Both my parents have comfort access on their cars (all GM) and they have flip-out key fobs.

 

Not sure I understand this. I only need to use my key to lock the glovebox on the Roadster, and when I need it it's just a quick button push and it's there. Why is a flip-out key such a big deal when it's really only for emergency use?

 

It is a fun features we can get addicted so easily. Just opening and starting the car without dealing with the key is awesome many times. It get's a little funny some other-time with the electric timing out when you are doing something else which then creates confusion with the windows, etc... but overall I'd say do it! To me it is more worth it than a lot of the other gizmos.

One last thing, it does take away a certain connection between the driver and the car not having to put the key in. I'm sure it's just forces of habits but that's worth noting


oh and I totally agree with Spiney. There's no need for a flip out key in my opinion. Something to conciser with the MINI key is that you can take the locking key out while the rest of the key is still in the ignition. Hard to do with a flip out

 

I guess you don't have comfort access? Suppose you're late for work and you find the key but the round section somehow got separated from the key. You CANNOT start the car without it. And worse, the battery cover is very flimsy and both covers take some jiggling to make them fit. I've had a LOT of times where I spent 15 minutes rummaging through the house looking for the round section because that's what the ignition reads. I've also had issues where I had to mash the metal section inside the battery cover to make it contact the battery to start the car. Try it. Take the key out and leave the round section in the house. Get in the car and push the start button. Bet you it doesn't start. If you have only the metal section because you misplaced the round section, you can unlock the doors but you won't be able to start the engine.

 

That's true regardless of comfort access.

 

Sounds like you need to quit misplacing your key. I leave mine in a specific spot every day when I walk in the door, and I never separate the two. Why would you separate them? You have weird habits.

 

+1

Another way you should be looking at it is the round section IS your key
Now that's the nice thing about comfort access. You just put it in your pocket or your bag and you don't need to worry about making contacts or not as you can start the car.


Here is a fun story to illustrate the beauty of comfort access:
This morning I go to to work and I get a call from my wife all panicky because she can't find her key to go to an appointment.
So naturally I think I might have inadvertently took it with me when taking the cars out of the garage in the morning. Feeling guilty I rush to my car to check if I have it and call her back to let her know I cannot find it. When I call her she's in the MINI and said that she doesn't know where it is but was able to get the car started and is on her way. Ta Da!!! I tell her you have it with you somewhere or you could not have started it . . . later she found it in a pocket deep in her bag

 

That's how I understood it from day one. The laser-cut, metal door key is merely emergency access in case of a breakdown or power failure, or any situation that disabled the power locks.

 

I don't understand this misplacing the main fob/having the key either. Why separate them? In 2+ years mine has been separated from the fob twice - once when the MA showed it to me when I took delivery of the car, and once last weekend when I was at the dealer and my keychain was too heavy for the fob to stay in the reader. I noticed because I thought, "hey, forgot about that little bugger in there!"

I bought my Mini off the lot and CA wasn't something I would have config'd for myself (#1 I'm cheap, and #2 it's not like using a key has historically been a burden to me), but now that I have it I really appreciate it when my hands are full, or like TG's wife, when the fob is buried somewhere at the bottom of my bag. (Anyone else have that moment when you're rarin' to go and assume it's buried in the bag... but get the no key warning instead? Wah wah wahhhhh. )

 

Here's a reason NOT to get it - I was going small boat sailing where I was sure to get wet, and there was a significant probability of going swimming in salt water. I used the metal key to lock the key fob, wallet, cellphone, etc. in the car, and zipped the metal key into a pocket. Managed to avoid swimming but it was a close call, got plenty wet though, and didn't have to worry about trashing the keyfob. Don't think I could have locked the fob in the car with comfort access.

Personally, I'm a minimalist, I don't need all the options like built in bluetooth, auto climate control, comfort access, auto-this-and-that. It's just stuff that will break one day. My cellphone has GPS, maps, and I have a bluetooth headset, why pay to duplicate that in the car? Honestly, how hard is it to pull the keyfob out of your pocket and stick it in the dash? Save the $ for options that make a difference - like the S badge.

 

Get it. One of my fav options. Hate futzing with keys with other cars now!

 

You can do that with comfort access as well.

Why get the S? The turbo is just something that will break one day.

 

We had it on our 335xi and one of the reasons we custom ordered our Mini was there were no cars available in our favorite color, with comfort access.

 

Well if you take that approach, never mind the car, horse and buggy, etc because they are all going to break one day, just rewind through a few centuries of technology and go back to walking. Oh sorry, you might wear out your shoes...

Gizmos like comfort access or the BMW that will read emails and text messages are just technology for the sake of technology. Turbos are technology for the sake of performance, economy, and fun.

But whatever floats your boats - seems like I'm in the minority in this thread. As I said in a post somewhere else - buy what makes you happy.

 

Yes, that was exactly my point. New technology does bring about new failure mechanisms, but it also introduces new methods of enjoyment (that you may or may not want). Skipping new features because they don't appeal to you is fine, but avoiding new tech because it may fail one day is a very defeatist way to live.

 

Quote:
Personally, I'm a minimalist, I don't need all the options like built in bluetooth, auto climate control, comfort access, auto-this-and-that. It's just stuff that will break one day. My cellphone has GPS, maps, and I have a bluetooth headset, why pay to duplicate that in the car? Honestly, how hard is it to pull the keyfob out of your pocket and stick it in the dash? Save the $ for options that make a difference - like the S badge.
__________________

^ Who talked you into a cell phone with all those breakable options? :-)

 

I would agree with you on many other electronics . . . But that's exactly the point of Keyless. You don't have to think about the key. You stuff it where you will always have it on you and you can simply step in the car, start it, and go. No nothing . . . it is a good feature to have and everyone should at least try it once.

 

It's great, especially when you drive someone somewhere and they drop you off and take your car for the day. You get out of the car and they speed off. Oh, wait, you still have the fob with you and neither of you realize it. PITA, I'm just saying.

 

Sure . . . one can always worry about everything that can go wrong

 

The last time someone dropped me off and drove away in my car was...

...Nope, never happened. Maybe if I were going to prison? Carjacked?

Lots of things to remember in life. I have driven away from the house then went back cuz I thought I left the stove on...or backdoor open....but I didn't blame the appliance or lock and wouldn't order a house without them.

 

Someone I worked with had to be driven to work because of a medication that wouldn't allow her to drive. Her son drove her 35 miles to work and dropped her off and the daughter was picking her up from work later that day. The son drove back home and stopped at the grocery store and shut the car off. He shopped and then got back into the car, and of course, couldn't start it because his mother still had the fob in her purse 35 miles away.

When I ordered my Roadster, I said no to Comfort Access.

 

If I was told what was awaiting me in life I would have stayed in the womb.