I recently had an alignment performed at the dealership. Today, during my 6 hours trip on the highway, I noticed that my car drifts to the right while the steering wheel ***** to the right as well. I spoke to the MA and was told that the alignment process is computerized and very accurate supposedly. What went wrong, I wonder?

I'm sure all the techs are "certified" by BMW to work on the MINI. Hence, I don't doubt their competency. However, I did noticed that the 2 MINI techs at my local dealership are relatively young. One is only 19 and the other in the early 20's. I know that age doesn't necessarily reflect knowledge or skill; but experience does count though.

I wonder if this differs from dealership to dealership. How do they train the techs? How are the techs at your dealership?



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BMW/MINI of Nashville: A+. It truly differs from dealership to dealership. From my experience, Braman MINI techs in FL don't have a clue, while in Nashville, I couldn't ask for any better.
I don't know how they trian them though, sorry.

 

Whenever I get dealer service, I always find something wrong. My last warranty work at the dealer to replace rear brake pads and rotors was fine, but I got home and went to change my wheels to discover that they had put my lugs on with an air wrench rather than with a torque wrench. That kind of stuff bugs the heck out of me that they would just slam my lugs on without much care at all. Of course, most car owners never remove a wheel themselves and would not care, but an enthusiast with 3 sets of wheels/tires notices such things. . . .

Truthfully, I prefer the vast experience and real world knowledge of my local independent BMW mechanic. I am taking my MINI to him on Wednesday to have him do a post-Dragon safety inspection and a brake fluid transfusion.

 

>>...they had put my lugs on with an air wrench rather than with a torque wrench. That kind of stuff bugs the heck out of me that they would just slam my lugs on without much care at all.

I know exactly how you feel. I had the same experience with Lexus as well. This happened when we were moving and had a flat tire on our SUV. In order to get to the spare, I had to remove all the stuff from the trunk and leave them by the roadside. When I tried to unbolt the lug nuts, the key broke because the lug nut was TOO TIGHT. When the roadside assistance driver came, he couldn't get it off either. This was the case for all four wheels!

 

>> {snip} I noticed that my car drifts to the right while the steering wheel ***** to the right as well. {snip} >>


davecsumini --

Just a thought here...

Have you checked the steering on a flat parking lot? I noticed the same thing on an old Spitfire I owned. It was given a dead-nuts front and rear alignment by a friend that owns a high-end auto restoration shop. The car became very sensitive to the "crowns" graded into most roads. In the right lane the car wanted to edge right; in the left lane, opposite was true. However, in a flat parking lot it was fine. None the less, I did bring it back to him to dial-out some of what he did.

Don't know if this is the case for you, though...

Theo

 

Three months ago there was a big MINIUSA tech competition, the lead tech at MINI of Sterling won the event. Which falls in line with everybody I know of who's car he has worked on. Great guy, does great work. As for the other two MINI techs over there... Well, I'm still comfortable with them working on my car, just not as comfortable...

 

A+ MINI Techs at Lauderdale MINI in Ft Lauderdale, FL. Very sharp and knowledgeable team.

 

A+ MINI tech at MINI Winnipeg,nice guy,knows my name,brings me to the shop to see what they are doing.
Same goes for the detailer there,shows me little detailing tips

 

>>Have you checked the steering on a flat parking lot?

Thanks for the info, Theo! I've tried on all different roads and the car definitely drifts. When I'm not holding the steering wheel while the car is in motion, the steering wheel ***** to the right as the same direction of the drift. I'm taking the car in today to see. :smile:

 

>>>>Have you checked the steering on a flat parking lot?
>>
>>Thanks for the info, Theo! I've tried on all different roads and the car definitely drifts. When I'm not holding the steering wheel while the car is in motion, the steering wheel ***** to the right as the same direction of the drift. I'm taking the car in today to see. :smile:
>>


Should be a simple Toe or Camber adjustment that the tech did not do correctly. The Aligment machine tells the tech the correct adjutment parameters depending on how mis aligned the suspension is, but it is still up to the tech to carry out the adjustment of those parameters properly.


Another suggestion: You can request a printout report of the aligment measuraments before and after the procedure for you to keep in your service records.
_________________
'02 Cooper CVT PW/B, MFSW, CD Boost, 15" 8-Spoke silver wheels.
'04 MCS CR/W, UJ Roof Flag, Aux Input, HK, Sport MFSW, Rain sensing, Auto dim mirror, 16" silver V-spoke wheels, Chrome grille, Chrome mirrors, OBC, front fogs.

 

I have brought my car back to the dealer for only general and scheduled maintenance. I did have to have the expansion tank replaced at about 4,000 miles. The work that was done was always done very well in the time they said they it would take, they have even installed aftermarket items for me that I purchased from other sources. I have been very pleased with the service tech's at New Country Motors in Hartford, I cannot same the same thing for the sales staff though.

 

>>Another suggestion: You can request a printout report of the aligment measuraments before and after the procedure for you to keep in your service records.

Thanks for the suggestion! :smile: After last alignment, the dealer did enclosed a copy of before and after numbers, which looked fine. However, when the teck re-aligned the car today, he noticed that the numbers are off. After correcting that, the car is now perfectly stright. I hope this time, the alignment will last a bit longer than a wek.

 

>>>>Another suggestion: You can request a printout report of the aligment measuraments before and after the procedure for you to keep in your service records.
>>
>>Thanks for the suggestion! :smile: After last alignment, the dealer did enclosed a copy of before and after numbers, which looked fine. However, when the teck re-aligned the car today, he noticed that the numbers are off. After correcting that, the car is now perfectly stright. I hope this time, the alignment will last a bit longer than a wek.
>>
>>
Dave, keep an eye on the aligment during the next few days to make sure that the pulling to the right does not re-appear again. If it does (Hope not) it means that you have a problem or issue within the suspension that needs to be checked at the dealer. If it doesn't well it means the tech didn't do it correctly the first time.


Glad to hear your car is sorted!

_________________
'02 Cooper CVT PW/B, MFSW, CD Boost, 15" 8-Spoke silver wheels.
'04 MCS CR/W, UJ Roof Flag, Aux Input, HK, Sport MFSW, Rain sensing, Auto dim mirror, 16" silver V-spoke wheels, Chrome grille, Chrome mirrors, OBC, front fogs.

 

>>A+ MINI Techs at Lauderdale MINI in Ft Lauderdale, FL. Very sharp and knowledgeable team.

I have a very different experience with Lauderdale - I dealt with them many times from the time I bought the car - mainly for "software" issues - I couldn't care less about a rattle in a car that drive as fun as this.

From the manager down to the techs they were willing to lie about many things relative to these software problems on behalf of BMW, and at the request of BMW - On one occasion they told me they were phoning "Atlanta" to see what they were allowed to write on the service reports - not what they had actually experienced during test drives.



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'03 S DS

 

>>>>A+ MINI Techs at Lauderdale MINI in Ft Lauderdale, FL. Very sharp and knowledgeable team.
>>
>>I have a very different experience with Lauderdale - I dealt with them many times from the time I bought the car - mainly for "software" issues - I couldn't care less about a rattle in a car that drive as fun as this.
>>
>>From the manager down to the techs they were willing to lie about many things realative to these software problems on behalf of BMW, and at the request of BMW - On one occasion they told me they were phoning "Atlanta" to see what they were allowed to write on the service reports - not what they had actually experienced during test drives.
>>
>>


Sorry Tokio. My experience with them has been 360 degrees opposite to yours. In 2 years I have been treated very well by the service staff at Lauderdale and I am very well acquinted with their MINI master tech. He is a brilliant and very knowledgeable individual..in fact he is the only person that touches my cars and if someone else works on them, he closely supervises their every move.

Not a single problem to date and I am happy to report that their quality of service and repairs have been top notch.

 

D for Niello MINI. Too many times have I gotten back the car with plastic parts not even snapped in place or damage to the car.

 

i would have to grade MINI of Hawaii a "D" as well -- way too many problems, mistakes, and damages from the service techs here. i could go on and on but i won't...just look over at the hawaii section and you'll find plenty of details

 

>>
>>Sorry Tokio. My experience with them has been 360 degrees opposite to yours. In 2 years I have been treated very well by the service staff at Lauderdale and I am very well acquinted with their MINI master tech. He is a brilliant and very knowledgeable individual..in fact he is the only person that touches my cars and if someone else works on them, he closely supervises their every move.
>>
>>Not a single problem to date and I am happy to report that their quality of service and repairs have been top notch.

C4,

I don't doubt that they are knowledgeable - but they won't hesitate to feed you a bunch of BS if they are told to by BMW. I know this for a fact. I just about had to play sharades with them every time I took the car in to get a service report - and even then they faulsified documentation and made bogus reports. I have it in black and white. Florida Lemon Law also saw past the BS BMW made the dealer feed me for the past year and deemed the car a LEMON.

I do feel sorry for the idividual dealers that have been lumped with the many minis that have (surposed) software problems that to date have not been totally addressed. I still have dificulty understanding why some cars do and some don't yoyo, hiccup and stumble and it's a software problem???

If your car doesn't yoyo - neither should mine - .

You have been fortunate enough not to have purchased minis with these unwanted driveability issues that can't be fixed. There are many others out here that do have these issues and BMW have been very deceptive in the way they deal with these "customers".

I didn't imagine that the service agent wrote on the service report that the yoyo is a "characteristic of the car" - after first driving the car and telling me "that's not normal and we better book it in for diagnosis".

In all fairness he was just writing what the BMW area technical rep (Joe Garcia) told him to write - because BMW don't have a fix for it. But he did write it, and that's just one of a myriad of outright lies I have been dealt by Lauderdale BMW and BMW/NA.

Why did they lie? Quite simply to avoid giving me back my money, and or prevent me from returning the car as a LEMON.

There are 2 sides to the Lauderdale BMW coin and I have seen both - Unfortunately more of their tails than their heads.
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'03 S DS

 

tokio - I hear ya! I too, have no idea why some cars are trouble free while others are riddled with problems. However, I do believe lots of problems are software related or computer related. Why can a newer version of a software improve driveability after it is uploaded? Why is it that sometimes the upload works and sometimes it doesn't? Is the DME faulty from the factory? There are a lot of inconsistencies with these cars that MINI will play off as a characteristic of the car.

For instance, the MINI CVT is jerky at 10 mph in stop and go traffic and will push you at 9 mph when braking. According to MINI, this is a characteristic of the CVT transmission because it has no torque converter. MINI USA reps even have dealer SAs write this on the Repair Order to cover their *****. So, MINI USA, why is it that the Audi, Honda and Nissan CVTs do not elicit these characteristics?

Many have endured the BS from BMW/MINI and some have taken action. One website, http://www.mini-pooper.com, chronicles an owners problems with her MINI. Can you believe the Service Manager of the dealership had the gall to "EDIT" the vehicle summary that demonstrated 50+ days out of service to less than 20 days? Then I believe a MINI USA rep came to Hawaii to speak with the owner and backed the dealers' actions. This must have been a big thing for MINI USA as they paid for a plane ticket to Hawaii to speak to this owner and reassure her the nothing was wrong with her car. And of course the offer of a MINI gift certificate for accessories! What a slap in the face. Fotunately, the owner was smarter than this and fought back.

To all of you with problem free MINIs, you are very lucky! For those of you with problems, fight! Stand your ground! Band together as there is strength in numbers.

 

>>tokio - I hear ya! I too, have no idea why some cars are trouble free while others are riddled with problems. However, I do believe lots of problems are software related or computer related. Why can a newer version of a software improve driveability after it is uploaded? Why is it that sometimes the upload works and sometimes it doesn't? Is the DME faulty from the factory? There are a lot of inconsistencies with these cars that MINI will play off as a characteristic of the car.
>>
>>For instance, the MINI CVT is jerky at 10 mph in stop and go traffic and will push you at 9 mph when braking. According to MINI, this is a characteristic of the CVT transmission because it has no torque converter. MINI USA reps even have dealer SAs write this on the Repair Order to cover their *****. So, MINI USA, why is it that the Audi, Honda and Nissan CVTs do not elicit these characteristics?
>>
>>Many have endured the BS from BMW/MINI and some have taken action. One website, http://www.mini-pooper.com, chronicles an owners problems with her MINI. Can you believe the Service Manager of the dealership had the gall to "EDIT" the vehicle summary that demonstrated 50+ days out of service to less than 20 days? Then I believe a MINI USA rep came to Hawaii to speak with the owner and backed the dealers' actions. This must have been a big thing for MINI USA as they paid for a plane ticket to Hawaii to speak to this owner and reassure her the nothing was wrong with her car. And of course the offer of a MINI gift certificate for accessories! What a slap in the face. Fotunately, the owner was smarter than this and fought back.
>>
>>To all of you with problem free MINIs, you are very lucky! For those of you with problems, fight! Stand your ground! Band together as there is strength in numbers.




Whomever wrote that website needs to go back to school and take some basic English grammar lessons...I see tons of run on sentences, comma splices, punctuation errors and the total and utter lack of Upper case letters at the beginning of each sentence.


Really if you want anyone to take that website seriously, I would suggest to get someone that knows grammar and can make basic corrections to the texts published there. As is now, it looks like a mess.

 

Oh and another taught....."minipooper.com" should be renamed "MINI of Haiwaii is a Pooper.com". It seems to me that the bulk of complaints posted there are derived from what appears to be a very lousy dealer that is uncapable to service thier customers and the product they sell.


Don't go around knocking and faulting the car...name the REAL culprits of your problems...THE SELLING DEALER!.

 

>>It seems to me that the bulk of complaints posted there are derived from what appears to be a very lousy dealer that is uncapable to service thier customers and the product they sell.
>>
>>
Same as what I found with Lauderdale BMW - but then it would be the same with any dealership as there is no difinitive fix (yet) for these software issues.

Hope I put all my commas in the right place.

 

>>For instance, the MINI CVT is jerky at 10 mph in stop and go traffic and will push you at 9 mph when braking. According to MINI, this is a characteristic of the CVT transmission because it has no torque converter. MINI USA reps even have dealer SAs write this on the Repair Order to cover their *****. So, MINI USA, why is it that the Audi, Honda and Nissan CVTs do not elicit these characteristics?
>>

As much as I hate BMW/MINI's attitude, I do agree with them somewhat on this issue.
Audi and MINI CVTs are connected to the engine with clutches, so they may behave like a poorly driven manual. Car and Driver noted the same characteristics in their long-term Audi A4.

Nissan Murano's CVTs are equipped with torque converters, so they feel smooth just like an automatic.

CVT is not the issue here; it is clutch vs. torque converter.

 

If the jerkiness is a characteristic of the CVT tranny, why did MINI of Hawaii try to upload v36 6 times on a customer's car to smooth out the tranny? Apparently, there is some correlation between software and smoothness of the CVT. The 6th upload finally worked and the transmission did run much smoother. So, if software can smooth out a transmission, is jerkiness a characteristic of the CVT, or is it just lack of writing proper code?

 

>>If the jerkiness is a characteristic of the CVT tranny, why did MINI of Hawaii try to upload v36 6 times on a customer's car to smooth out the tranny? Apparently, there is some correlation between software and smoothness of the CVT. The 6th upload finally worked and the transmission did run much smoother. So, if software can smooth out a transmission, is jerkiness a characteristic of the CVT, or is it just lack of writing proper code?


Interesting to note that the 0-10MPH "jerkiness" of the CVT transmission has completely dissapeared from our '02 Cooper CVT with 23K miles. It currently has V36 onboard.