Hello all. I live in Panama and in February i went to the mini dealer here to order a Cabrio S. 3 Months later ( 2 days ago ) i received my car. To my surprise the dealer told me that he managed to get a 2012 version from the factory.

With my order i also included the JCW tuning kit and Aero Kit. None of them have arrived yet since when the order was made the parts where not available for this version. The dealer told me that i should expect the in about 1 month.

A couple of questions that i have are the following:

1 - No Opentometer ? ( i was in beleive that this was standard on the cabrio )
2 - No mini connected ? ( I ordered this and now the dealer told me that is a software upgrade that he needs to do ). Also i have read that there is a snap-in for the armrest to put an iphone 4. Mine does not have it. Is the important for mini connected?
3 - There is an option to watch videos, but the dealer says that only when parked? ( Can this be changed? What type of file would it play ? )
4 - The passenger windows does not seem to be automatic ( i have to keep pressing for it to go Up or Down )
5 - There is a cover on the top for what i would believe is a central light. Do you guys have it?
6 - Im trying to use the mini Link ios app and it requires a VIN number that is supposed to be in the left corner in a small plate. Well from the outside i can see where the plate was suppose to be, but theres no plate and no VIN number.


Im sorry for all the question but i believe that we all will learn something important out of this thread.

Thanks All

 

A lot of this is puzzling. I'll start with the obvious: I didn't think 2012's were even being built for another month or so.

 

5. If you're looking at the middle of the inside of the top, that cover contains a screw that you need to use if the top ever gets stuck in the open position and you need to close it manually.

1. As for the openometer, well....I have one and in my opinion and in the opinion of everyone who has ever asked me what that gauge does, it's the most useless thing I've ever seen on a car. I'd be happy to not have it. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they got rid of it for the 2012 model. You might want to scroll through the display options to see if maybe they included the digital openometer and just got rid of the standalone gauge.

3. I don't know what the laws are in Panama but in most of the US, you cannot watch videos in the front while the car is moving so in-dash DVD players have to be programmed to not allow it to play video while you're driving. I know in some cases there is a way to disable that but I'm not sure if that can be done in the Minis.

I don't have a clue about the other questions.

 

Derk: I dont believed myself also. Is there and know facts about 2012?

MiamiGuitarMan: It makes sense what you say about the cover, the shape was intriguing.
I dont think any country would let you watch movies wile driving but i know that range roves and lexus can have does desabled.

http://cl.ly/1J1x2g222B3A3p2q1K1l link you will see a picture of the car. I call it Clockwork Orange

 

Saw the pic. Man, that looks nice!!!!

 

Well, judging by the pic, at the very least you're looking at a 2011. I have yet to see any details on the '12s yet.

I find it very odd that there's no VIN plate. If you look under the hood, it should be stamped elsewhere. Do you have the sticker for the car? That would very clearly list the model year and the VIN.

 

Impressive 2011 Mini. I used to live in Panama as well. Nice place for a convertible. The whole notion that the dealer didn't get you MINI Connected is extremely suspect. You paid for that! I have been asking for an upgrade and was told it's not possible. So get your money back on the option.

However, "Dios Quiera que Si!" if you do get an upgrade, please share! Perhaps there is a way to do this and the MKIV Sat Nav crowd, like me, might be able to get this as well. It could happen...

 

The fact that the car doesn't have a VIN plate on it is very suspect. I don't think a car can legally be sold without a VIN plate unless it's a salvage or something like that. Might be different in Panama though.

You can usually find the VIN in other places on the car though. Might want to check the door sills and if it's there, give Mini a call with it and ask them for details about your car.

 

UPDATE: Just came back from the dealer. I went to buy some mats as with the emotion of the new car i did not notice i did not have them. To my surprise the were out of stock.

Then i asked about the software upgrade for what i called " Mini Disconnected " and now the say that the factory did not put the correct a required module for it and they ordered. Now i don't know if they forgot or indeed its a factory mistake.

About the VIN number they showed me that now is under the hood on the left side in a plate. I did not open the hood but they gave me the number so i tried to get the mini app working but it still says that its not a valid VIN number.

 

BTW im not asking for a refund if mini connected cannot be installed. Im returning the car!!!

 

Sounds like you may have gotten a MlNI instead of a MINI. Them counterfeits are everywhere.

http://wwwawards.cpbgroup.com/awards..._intinter.html

 

I would be very very cautious. I feel like that's a bad sign on top of a bunch of other sketchy stuff.

 

Just a little update after a week with the car. Yes the car in fact is 2012 as they gave me the original certificate for the year model.

On a side note i just realized that maybe my car does now have Harman/Kardon. Is this really possible.

I was listening music very load ( Gold version of Deff Leppard ) and the drum sounded very bad as it the speakers were very bad quality. Then i came to my office and looked up the specs in mini site for the cabrio and it shows 2 tweeters at the corners above the dash. My cars doesn't have this.

Yes i bought the premium and all other packages.

Am i missing something here?

 

None of this makes sense. The packages and options are not correct to what you ordered and they haven't even begun to make 2012 MY MINIs yet.

 

I thought I read somewhere that for 2012, the premium package no longer includes the HK stereo so that might make sense.

What doesn't make sense is that I have not heard or read anywhere that they are making 2012 models yet.

 

I don't buy any of this. Something is very wrong here. They haven't made 2012s yet. (People are still tracking the production of their 2011s!)

You're getting duped, plain and simple.

 

I would call MINI directly and talk to them about it. Give them the VIN, tell them your dealer claims it's a 2012, etc..etc... I'm sure they can investigate and find out what's what.

 

+1 Definitely call MINI.

 

You really need to call MINI Corporate and give them the VIN. Make sure it matches the VIN on other parts of the car as well.

Something just doesn't seem right.

 

Just went this morning to the dealer and in fact the car does not come with HK. They don't know yet if the problem was them ( the manager with is the one the prepares the initial order did a copy paste from a previous config of a car ) or the factory.

At the end he told me that for the mistake they will order a new car for me and i can use the one i have until then.

I know that the year model is difficult to digest but in all the legal documents required by the country the year is 2012. Are there any rumors on 2012 version to see if i have something different than 2011?

 

Wow, that's pretty cool of them to do that.



The only reason that I think a lot of us here are having a hard time believing it is because the factory hasn't started producing 2012s yet.

When a factory switches to the next year's model, don't they usually stop production for a few days and retool? I have not read anywhere that mini has done that yet.

Are model years somehow determined differently in Panama? Is it possible that what's considered a 2012 in Panama might be a late production 2011 elsewhere? I don't know...just throwing out wild guesses here.