Hello all,

In this post I wanna share some of my frustration about my MINI. It doesn't mean that I don't like driving it, but I wanna share it with you and know if others share same frustrations.

MODEL: MINI COOPER D MANUAL NOV 2011

1. This one is a real problem for me, I really dislike the gearbox (which I thought on the contrary would be one of the best features).

a. It has huge problems when switching to first, when downshifting and when switching to sixth gear.
If I stop for a while and put the gear to neutral, afterwards switching to first most likely won't be smooth, I can't explain the feeling, but it's like something is stuck in between neutral and the 1st gear and I need to apply force to make it go in. And yes, i'm sure I press clutch till the end.

b. Downshifting is often simply hell. If I am at 25kmh and need to switch from 3rd to 2nd it will be most likely hard, but if I am at 6kmh and need to switch to 1st gear, it will be simply ridiculously hard, I will need to force it really hard to go in.

c. 6th gear always goes in hardly.

I have tried to stand still and then switch to all gears, it works great and smooth as I would want it to be, but its very different while driving. I also tried another MINI, I didn't test that much, but most problems were there also. In the garage they told me it's normal, so I guess it's normal for MINI.

2. Very heavy doors. Seriously, small car with doors from a tank, with such heavy doors that can open only in two levels: half open and completely open. Half open is not enough to get out of the car normally and completely open requires you to push really hard and not always possible.
Also door handles from outside are a bit too "heavy" I would say.
I do feel that the doors are very quality though and won't break easily, unlike in some cheap car.

3. Rain sensors are a joke: when the rain is not so strong, it takes a very long time until it starts working, my window is already completely wet and I don't see anything and only then it cleans the window.. in strong rains it's ok.

4. Switching from RADIO to Bluetooth AUDIO or USB AUDIO requires a lot of actions in the menu.

5. No phone holder and standard one's don't fit.

6. No temperature meter, so I don't know when I can turn on the heating already.

That's it for now =)

 

Sounds like there's something wrong with your gearbox. I've never had a MINI which had any troubles like that with the gears, not even the Cooper-D we hired. Where are you located? the US doesn't get diesels.

Could you go to your dealer and try another one, see if its different?

Do you have Nav? Switching sources on the non Nav only needs one button pushed.

Every MINI I've ever driven had a thermometer, I'm surprised yours doesn't.

 

Sounds like your tranny synchros are bad. Very strange in a newer car. When downshifting, instead of just forcing the stick, try blipping the throttle then shifting. This will help match the engine speed to the transmission speed and make it easier to shift. IMO you really shouldn't be downshifting to first when you're moving, anyway. No real benefit to it.

 

You have the diesel, which would make the shifting experience completely different from a petrol car. There are less revs and the tranny probably won't let you downshift to save itself from revving up.

I also hate that MINIs don't have a coolant temp gauge. I night a Scangauge to read out my temps (coolant and air intake), as well as, my boost. I have a Cooper S.

I am just jealous you have the diesel model... Darn Europeans and your cooler MINIs....

 

Since you've tried two, perhaps the gearbox problems are unique to the Diesel... I've not encountered them on any MINI I've driven, but as noted we don't have the 'D' here.

I didn't get the rain sensors, can't comment there either.

I like the fact that the doors feel substantial. Most cars these days have cheap, flimsy feeling doors and I always feel like I'm going to break them.

Agreed that with Nav it is a bit cumbersome to switch radio sources. Personally not a huge deal for me as I don't change that frequently and I've pretty much got the motion down without looking, but I could see how this would be a complaint. It occurs to me I've not tried switching using voice commands - I wonder how well that might work as an alternative?

My phone stays in my pocket, so I don't really need a holder.

Additional instrumentation would be nice, or at least the ability to pull up standard data points on the nav screen (temp, oil pressure, etc.). With respect to heating, though, one feature I'd not be without is the auto climate control - you can just set the desired temperature and it ramps itself up as the car warms up.

My biggest annoyance personally is the cheapness of the leather. My 2011 has already had the outside driver's seat back bolster replaced once and is showing wear again already. If I had it to do over again I'd save my money on the leather and get cloth, then spend the cash on higher quality aftermarket leather.

 

Ooh yea, the auto wipers...

My current MINI only has the intermittent wipers, but my old one had the auto wipers. They worked pretty well. I just pressed the button on a rainy day and they did their job. It was nice. You can also adjust how sensitive they are in the On Board Computer. I had mine set on the middle setting

 

To the OP: The thing that annoys me about your MINI is that I can't get one here in the states! No diesels for us so far . . .

Most manual boxes seem reluctant to go into first while the car is still moving; I don't think that's solely a MINI thing either - my VW doesn't like it, nor did my Land Rover or my Chevy truck. That said, I'm wondering if a fluid change would help your gearbox. I know it's new enough that it shouldn't need it, but I'd be curious to see if it made a difference. As for sixth gear, I find that at least on my MINI, it's not quite a straight shot from 5th to 6th. Instead, it likes the lever to be nudged just a bit to the right as I enter the gate for sixth. Perhaps it's a linkage problem?

Other possibility is that your clutch is not right. Again, not likely on a nearly-new car, but not impossible either.

As for the heavy doors, my gripe is that they don't like to stay open.

 

Wow, thanks for the replies =)
I will try to reply to all of them together:

Btwyx,
I also thought something is wrong my gearbox, however in the garage they say it's fine, they checked it twice and they said that they're not gonna check it again. I tried another one, felt the same more or less.
I have Nav.
New Minis don't have thermometers.

Eric_Rowland,
"instead of just forcing the stick, try blipping the throttle then shifting"
Sorry, I'm not so good with all these terms.. can you explain what is blipping the throttle?
About first gear, it's when I'm on a parking for example. So now, I have to stop the car completely, switch to 1st gear and then maneuver (like if I need to drive at 5-10kmh), instead of just slowing down and switching to 1st.

grueinthebox,
Voice commands is something I forgot about it's existence =) What would I have to say then? for Radio I know, but for Bluetooth AUDIO?

I actually have no problems with the leather.

Laardilla21,
Oh, I didn't know you can do that! I will check it out then. Thanks.

Charlie Victor,
What's a linkage problem?
Yes, indeed about the doors.

Regarding the comments about the diesel model in US. Well, guys, your petrol is twice cheaper than our diesel, so there's no reason for you to want it that much =)

 

Greetings fellow ATCer!!! Happy furloughs!!

My experience with the Dread Pirate is just the opposite. I find that I can downshift at a far higher speed than I ever could in any of the 10-12 straight drive cars I've owned.

 

My 08 base is very easy to shift into first while moving at a pretty good clip. Drove a loaner 2012 MCS today while my wife's 07 Cabrio was having a few leaks fixed. The clutch on these newer models absolutely sucks! It doesn't "catch" until about an inch from full release. I simply could not believe MINI thinks this is normal. I've read a few posts on here about how difficult starting from a dead stop is and I found out. When my knee joint is flexed I have less strength plus throttle lag was horrible. I've been driving mt for 45 years and and I felt like it was my first time! Wife asked what the H was wrong? I was afraid to let her drive it. Drove around for 5-6 hours and never got used to it. I think this is NOTNORMAL!

 

I have only been alive for 49 but I love the 2011 MCS clutch. My gf (a VW fan) hates it for the same reasons you do.

 

Tell her I'm glad I'm not alone.

 

Blipping = tapping

Just give it a little gas, er, diesel, reving it to 2K RPM or so.

 

Mechanically, the syncros inthe tranny FORCES the motor to a higher speed so the engine/tranny speed matches, so a shift can be done smoothly....by blipping the throttle...tapping it,
You are preventing wear on these parts, but generally if you are having to blip too much, or hear the otor rev too much from the syncro on the downshift, you are downshifting too early....
A diesel engine is so revlimited,but typically tourqe happy, the transmissions have closely spaced gears,bit to compensate for the narrow tourqe band, often need MORE GEARS to keep the car moving....

 

Sorry for the late reply (loong holiday =) ).
I've tried to do the following: Press the clutch, switch to neutral, then press lightly on the gas while neutral is pressed and then downshift.
Is that blipping the throttle?

I am a noob in cars, so please use as simple terms as possible :D

 

<---- Another one here.
Yep, that's it.

 

Ok, it didn't help.
Moreover, I even have a problem with the 1st gear when not downshifting (as described in the OP).

One detail I forgot though: I often switch to neutral and then stay on neutral for a while and after a while go into a gear, if that matters.

 

U238... April 25th... Sigh.

 

I had the same issue with shifting into first (not while moving.) where it wouldn't want to go into gear. Of course mine is a 2006 gasoline model, but I understand what you're saying.

After multiple complaints (the tech could not reproduce the problem.) they flushed the transmission fluid. They didn't find any metal shavings from a ground up synchro in there, and it seemed to be better. For me it was a "once in a blue moon" problem.

Every few months or so it'll still feel "stuck" on me.

 

In my case it happens all the time. In your case it used to happen rarely, that's why they couldn't reproduce it?

 

That's correct. For me it was once every week or two so it was just bad luck it didn't act up when the tech was driving it. If it happens all the time I'm surprised they can't identify it as a problem... then again, the gearbox in the Diesel models must be a totally different animal, so I can't say what's "normal."

 

I have an 02 MCS now. Used to have an 01 GTI VR6. The VW clutch was much smoother and shifting in general was smoother. Also a quirk on it was that if I was in slow moving traffic I could just get it going a little bit 3-5mph and let it ride in first no clutch. I went almost 2 miles like that up by Niagra Falls one summer til I got to an incline. People told me it meant my clutch was going but I put another 85k miles on it with no slip issues before I sold it. And I pounded that clutch and car.

Comparing the two, handling is much better in the MCS. GTI had more comfort and everything seemed to be intuitively set up right down to the slight angle toward the driver of the stereo mounting. However, the MCS is 100x easier to work on and aftermarket mods are much more available and affordable.