I had my MCS back at the dealer yesterday, and arranged to meet the regional customer service BMW/MINI guy there to discuss several problems that haven't been fixed. Main complaints... duuuh... were the stumble and the yo-yo in second and third gears. Here's the official "from the horse's mouth" word from BMW:

The fix for the stumble exists! It's already being tested on a number of company cars and seems to totally eliminate the stumble. The same software fix helps, but doesn't eliminate, the yo-yo. They're still trying to tweak software to eliminate the yo-yo, and that's why the total software fix won't be at dealers until December at the earliest.

At least we know something is on the way... Although I've been fed that line for 14 months now.

Here's the most interesting thing I heard from Mr. BMW yesterday, though: He said I was only the SECOND owner of an MCS to officially complain to his dealer about the yo-yo! Come on, guys... how gullible am I supposed to be? How many of you have complained to your dealer? How many have complained directly to BMW/MINI. Make some noise...they're listening. But the comment about only 2 people complaining sounds like a corporate line of bullsnot to me.

 

I must be the other one who complained!

The activity today makes it sounds like this fix is for real, if delayed. The sooner the better...I'm losing patience.

Thanks for the update...

 

The problem is that we complain to the dealer they have heard it before and give the ( yes this problem is being addressed in CD blah, blah) I've griped for 6 months now and it is always the same response.. And ASK MINI always says have you seen your dealer??? I think what is so upsetting is never in 6 months has the dealer or MINI checked in with me... The stumble at times is downright dangerous when merging with fast moving traffic ... Thou I prefer the stumble on my S over my cooper that shook and stalled in 1st .

 

I wouldn't necessarily doubt that number. Really: how many people who own MINIs are active on MCO, MINI2, or Roadfly? 20%? 30%? Probably not much more than that. Even being active on here doesn't mean you necessarily know about the Stumble. Every day that goes by we are seeing people pop up on the Stumble thread all glassy eyed that "Huh? I guess I must have this here Stumble thing!"

I had been actively reading on these threads before I got my MCS, yet I didn't realize that I had the stumble for at least a month...

Just my two cents.

 

Was that regional rep, E.L., by chance? Just curious.

As for only having two official complaints of the yo-yo, I have already asked for a fix twice from my dealer. When I mentioned "yo-yo", I didn't get asked what I was talking about, so I assume they are familiar with it, since yo-yo certainly isn't a normal referrence to how a car runs. The yo-yo is an extremely old issue. You can find posts regarding it, also sometimes referred to as surging, in the older threads back in 2002. Only two? Yeah, right.

One thing I have noticed is that sometimes the service writers dont write down all of the issues, even though we state them and sometimes give them in writing. We'll say, I have stumble, bogging down, and yo-yo, and they'll write something like "Stumble in first. Software Issue - Upgrade".

See ya,
JS

 

>>Was that regional rep, E.L., by chance? Just curious.

Yep... my second face-to-face with E.L. He seems genuinely committed to helping resolve issues, although I'm sure he gets hamstrung by people higher up the food chain.

I just want the damned yo-yo fixed (aka "surging", "lurching" in 2nd and 3rd gears). The stumble pretty much went away in my MCS after getting the pulley and Powerchips ECU from Randy. The yo-yo makes me crazy, though.

Cheers!

 

Can someone please suggest how to to replicate the Yo-yo/surging effect? I am interested to know if there is a way to demonstrate it every time?

 

>>Can someone please suggest how to to replicate the Yo-yo/surging effect? I am interested to know if there is a way to demonstrate it every time?
>>

I had a helluva time replicating it for the service mgr. at my dealership. It seems to be inconsistent. Sometimes it's while the car is still warming up in the morning...other times it's when the car is running in hot weather. No rhyme or reason to it. But whenever it happens it's between 2000 and 3800 rpm in 2nd and 3rd gears. It's a severe lurching thing. The regional BMW guy said it's present in ALL MCS cars, but it's more noticeable in some. Every time it happens when I have someone in the car, I have to explain that I really do know how to drive...the lurching is the car, not me! :evil:

I can hardly wait for the fix!!

 

Not trying to hijack, js.

The yo-yo should be easy to demonstrate by staying in second gear and accelerating until the tach is reading over 3000 rpm. Then just take your foot off the accelerator and let your car decelerate (you can brake if you have to, but the forces felt by braking may negate some yo-yo-ing). For me, when the tach reads between 2000 and 1800 on a decel, the yo-yo is very easy to feel. Works every time!