I figured an introduction was in order. And it gives me a chance to ask some n00b questions.

I'm coming from a 00 Golf TDI (diesel), so I wanted something that had a spooled up turbo and some economy. While the Mini gives up some practicality, I like the styling and feel of the car.

I bought a used 09 MCS last week, 4k miles.

I was wanting:
Pure Silver, roof in body color, no sunroof
Cloth seats
Xenons
Cold weather package
MFSW + BT/iPod interface

I wound up finding the above with also:
High end Nav
Convenience package
LSD

For about the same price had I ordered a 2010 MCS with what I was wanting (sans silver of course). ::dancing nanner

My story is that I found the car via one of those cars.com/autotrader searches, flew 4 hours to buy it the next business day, drove home thru 3 metropolitan area traffic jams in the rain (nearly wrecked once due to not used to mirrors/blindspots). I'll spare the details but I had a 23 hour day from when I woke up to fly out to get the Mini until I made it back home.

I'm still getting used to the car, particularly what mpgs I can expect on a trip and between tanks. I like the power and responsiveness of the turbo, which don't help the above.

Odd things that I haven't sorted out (putting on the n00b hat):

1) I seem to notice that there is slightly more resistance in the steering with left steering inputs than with right. Right inputs seem quicker overall. Just small angles, like for a lane change. I thought the steering was electrically assisted. Not certain if I need to consider an alignment (the previous owner was in Ithaca NY, and the car was bought in Philly).

2) I get a slight wiggle in corners sometimes. But it doesn't feel like torque steer as I'm not goosing the throttle. It can happen at low speed, constant throttle. It feels like its coming from the rear wheels. My initial reaction was a slipping rear sway bar, but I didn't see one when I glanced underneath. It kind of feels like running an overinflated tire with ridges over grooved pavement, but just one slight twitch.

3) I'm not certain if my Navigation joystick is defective. When pressing down to make a selection, it has to go thru two detents: 2mm distance from the rotary tip to the joystick, and then a small compression distance as you press the whole joystick down. Confirmation selections feel really awkward as sometimes I don't press down hard enough to move the joystick. Other times it feels like I'm pressing too hard and the stick moves N.S.E.W.

4) Disregard, fixed by UA777222's post #7. The other odd thing is I haven't figured out a graceful way to turn the car off. Seriously. With the inconvenience package, the key is in my pocket. I would expect if I press the off button, the lights, Navi display, entertainment audio, and windshield wipers would just shut off... but they keep going with the engine off. Only when I lock the doors does everything shut down. I know I could turn everything "off" prior to pressing the off button, but I wish everything would stop then as opposed to my passengers asking why is everything still running with the engine off.

Odd things I have sorted out (that may help other n00b's):

A random clunk in the rear turned out to be a back seat that wasn't fully folded upright.

The seatbelt clasp was frequently preventing the driver door from shutting because it was wedging between the seat and door. A slider located on the seatbelt can help keep the clasp high enough on the belt to avoid this.

I had to study the manual to figure out how to turn on shuffle mode with a connected iPod. With the Navi I have to select the song currently playing, then scroll to the random toggle option located off screen. Not intuitive but it works.

Anyhow, glad to officially be on board.

Cheers,

JnC (aka Jared in Charlotte)

 

Congrats and welcome to the family! Post some pics!!

 

BTW I just checked the lug bolts. All of them needed to be brought up to 103 ft-lbs. I didn't attempt to measure what they were set at, but the amount of deflection on the wrench was about 20-30 degrees for most of them. Perhaps this explains/fixes the random twitch when setting the car into an apex.

 

Hadn't had a chance to take many lately due to travel/weather, but here it was at delivery... apologies for strange angles but I ran out of working distance.

 

With only 4k miles on it you should take it to your local dealer and have them check out the whole car.

 

Point taken, I was hoping this wouldn't be necessary as I bought it from a Mini dealer. It was part of the BMW-Mini executive fleet. But then again the lug bolts were under torqued...

 

In regards to inquiry number 4:

I don't have the convenience package myself but I do have it on a 750Li and I would think that they are near the same. If you want to turn off your car, just hold down the button when you turn the car off. If your car doesn't shut down entirely after that, then press start/stop once then hold it down again.

Let me know how that goes.

Thanks.

 

Brilliant! That worked perfectly. I was reluctant to hold down the button prior to now, as I mistakenly thought it might rebounce and restart the car again.

Thanks!

 

I checked tire pressures and found the rear corner was at 28 psi, not completely cold. The highest pressure was 31 psi. I inflated all to 35 and went out for a quick spin and didn't notice any random wiggle. Perhaps the low corner was stressing the runflat sidewall in turns when loaded/unloaded? I'm completely new to runflats but will ditch them for normal tires after pothole season ends.

 

Sounds identical to my 2007 MCS.

Congrats.

Best not to go too close to empty. Some MINIs are not accurate in miles remaining, nor the candy corn fuel gauge. Running it dry may damage the fuel pump.

May have been due to the low tire pressure. You might also want to check alignement. Does it go straight on a flat road?

That doesn't sound right. I'd have it checked.

Besides holding the button down, you can just press it again if the clutch pedal is not currently being pressed. Or, kill the engine with one press of the button, get out of the car, and lock the doors. That shuts everything down.[/QUOTE]

 

Doesn't sound like any of your problems are anything to worry about. Heck of an effort to get the car. I was going to drive to Denver to pick mine up but the dealer found a transporter for $300 buck saved me a similar trip to yours.

 

Congrats on your new MINI!

 

*tilts head* LOOKS GOOD TO ME!

 

 

After balancing pressures it seems to be running straighter than before. Kind of surprised the balance of this car would be that sensitive.

 

Fixed another infrequent but annoying clunk by wrapping some electrical tape about the rear hatch latch. The solution was originally described here.

Incidentally, after nearly wrecking the car due to poor visibility from the mirrors, I vowed that my first mod would be to fix the view and remove blindspots as much as possible. I've got Multiplex mirrors on my other car and I like them, but I'm not certain how well they would conduct heat from the Mini's heated mirror. So I'm considering ordering a left hand side euro mirror.

 

go carts usually are!!!!!

 

looks great! paint those bridgespokes black!

thats what id like to do to mine.

 

I've got black wheels on my other go kart. See attached. Certainly does help hide the brake dust. Robin's Rota Slipstreams seem like they'd be easy to clean.

 

wow you have a thing for cars that handle well and are fun to drive! more pics of the elise!

i have always wanted one, but i cant afford to have two cars right now. i want one in brg, like this sweet exige.

yeah black wheels will hide the dust, which i find the mini has a lot of. slipstreams are nice, and pretty darn light. id like to pick up a set of all black slips and ditch the bridgespokes altogether.

 

btw, is the elise supercharged?

 

It's not OEM supercharged or it would have a sticker above the side light.

 

Julien is spot on. The Lotus is normally aspirated. 190hp in a 1900+ lb car. 0-60 in ~5 seconds is good enough for me. But Lotus' forte is really the handling.