So, the car has approx 56k miles on it, and a bearing was whining pretty bad. I bought it with a 3/36 warranty that covers almost everything, so the dealer I bought it from found a tranny with 4k miles on it and had it swapped. (after six thousand phone calls)

Tranny works great! Other things don't work so great now. The cabin heat never gets hot, just warm and only under throttle. If I coast, it goes cold. The fan blows just fine, but not hot, even when set to MAX.

I got a coolant temp warning on the freeway at cruising speed, which may very well be related to the lack of heat. Is is possible that the installers crossed coolant lines, or did not properly bleed the system?

Also, I could swear the turn signals used to have a quick flick for 3 blinks, like most german cars. It doesn't do that now, is there someting to reset or synchronize?

cheers

 

Sounds like a simple thermostat issue and if you are only getting 1 blink you need to reset it to 3 under options.

 

Yep, its a change lane setting you set with the computer through the turnsignal button. Its in the manual. You can set it to blink x1 or x3 when you push up to the stop; go past the stop and you've engaged the turn signal.

 

My guess is there is air in the coolant system from re-filling the without loosening the bleeder valve behind the vacuum pump. Since there are no manuals for reference on these 2nd Gen MINI's the work is best done by a BMW shop or dealer who knows procedures regarding maintenance.