Nice letter from MINI today. I had originally ordered my car with sports wood steering wheel and shift **** but the car came without these. At the time MINI told us that the pre-upgrade wood steering wheel didn't fare well in a crash test thus it was left off.

This letter informed me that I could come in and have the new mod steering wheel and shift **** installed at no cost to me. It also said that, if the dealer had provided a refund, the change-out could be done at a reduced cost.

While I'm there I'll ask that they enable my little glove box. These early secret compartments had been locked shut because they created rattling problems. That upgrade is also available now.

Anyhow, it's nice to know that MINI hasn't forgotten about us, and that they're going out of their way to take care of these early production situations.

 

Now that's GOOD NEWS!

 

It is great to see Mini is taking care of you.

 

I got the same letter,but I am undecided as I have gotten used to the feel and looks of the leather one. Has anyone got any regrets/ issues about the wooden wheel.?? I would like to see a picture.

 

Man, I wish they had sent me a letter about my MFSW. Either way I was taken care of and I'm satisfied now.

 

Anyone know if you can install the wood trim, OTHER than the steering wheel? And if yes, is it a big job or do those pieces just pop off...?

 

Does the wood trim match the English Oak? If so I might change my order but if not two different woods would look extremely wonky.

 

There was a thread around here somewhere that described how to remove the two dash panels. I wish I had bookmarked it. I want to investigate the possibility of replacing them with real wood. Rosewood, or cocobolo would look nice. If you find the instructions, please let me know.

IIRC, the left panel (behind the steering wheel) pops off, and the secret compartment has screws, but don't trust my memory.

 

Wowza!! Good for you...glad to see that MINI is going to take care of you...

Donna

 

I had ordered the wood wheel, and didn't get it. I also have not gotten a letter from miniusa indicating they would replace it. I also had the first order delivered without mfsw and reordered. Throughout this process I thought miniusa customer service was abysmal. The dealer was great however, Mini of Nashville. Miniusa offered me a $50 certificate, which offended me so, I told them what to do with it.

In retrospect, I like the feel of my leather wheel, and if they do send me a letter, I'll just pass and keep my leather wheel. Doing the shift **** though would be kinda cool...

 

Check out my web site.

 

You can see a (not terribly great) picture of the wood steering wheel in my gallery. I'm happy with it. It goes well with the rest of my wood trim. It was a little weird, at first, to have such a "hard" steering wheel but I got used to it. I was worried about gripping it but that's not a problem. Either way I don't think it's that big of a deal -- it'll look good either way -- but I do prefer the wood.

 

I also got this letter in the mail. However, I called my dealer and they said they still can't order a wood steering wheel. So now I'm stuck in between what MINI says and what the dealer says. Anyone else call their dealer about this?

 

I guess I should partially retract my whining. I got my letter from miniusa yesterday. I don't know what I'll do, I really like the fit and feel of my leather wheel and will probably just keep it. One thing that bums me somewhat is that when I finally recieved my car with the leather wheel, the price had dropped to $300, but the dealer wouldn't lower the cost of my sticker even though the sticker price was based on the more expensive wood wheel. I'm going to try to ask for a refund of the price differential and just keep the leather wheel.

 

I love my wood steering wheel it feels really nice and matches the english oak, BTW the wood shift **** is part of the package and matches perfectly as well, I got a couple of pics in my gallery. Get the wood...

 

You should get a license plate that says: SPORTS WD


maybe not...

 

The wood shifter comes with the automatic also? Sweeeet!

 

So this shift ****...it's obviously an OEM item. Any thoughts on where it may be found??

It is ironic sort of justice, isn't it...you all had to wait and wait for an oak steering wheel and wind up w/ a matching gearshift ****, where those of us who got the steering wheel don't have it. Trust me...I'm not complaining, but it is nice and I'd love to buy one.

 

When I placed my order on 2/14, I too chose the wood wheel as part of the premium package. I have not gotten the letter mentioned in this thread. When I called MiniUSA today about the letter, they acknowledged that a letter had gone out to a small list of owners but said that it offered replacement at a reduced cost. They said that, since I wasn't on the list, I would have have to pay to have the wood wheel retrofitted. Does anyone know the circumstances by which people were selected to receive the letter? Immediately after delivery, I called asking about the replacing the wheel so I doubt it would be becuase I hadn't expressed interest in the change over. Unfortunately, I don't have much confidence in going to my Motoring Assistant given my purchasing experience. Does anyone have a copy of the letter that they could scan and e-mail to me (brian.fitzgerald1@ey.com) or fax to me (866-829-3340). I would like to have some proof that the letter did indeed say that Mini would relace it at no cost to the owner in case I need to push the issue farther up the chain at Mini.