I have a 20-25 minute trip to work each day on city streets and with the temps in the low 40's the last week I have been freezing in my Mini! It takes that long just to build up a trickle of heat. Yeah, yeah, I live in sunny Arizona and 40 degrees ain't nothing to some of you people, but I switched from a Range Rover to the Mini and I am feeling the cold. That RR had the heated seats and a PROG button that would dry your eyeballs out with the heat in about 5 minutes from startup.

As a question about the controls, I set the temp on HI, A/C button off, Auto off and the Recirculate ON, with the bottom floor vents chosen and on a low fan at first. As some pathetic amount of heat becomes available I increase the fan speed and choose the upper front windshield vent in addition to the floor.

Are these settings the best one can do? I honestly have no reason to expect that there is something wrong with the heater core although I am sure it has rarely been used with the previous owner. 2008 Justa.

 

It takes my MINI 10 minutes to be comfortably toasty when I'm driving from a cold start.

 

Butt warmers, ya gotta have those.

 

If you have a way to keep an eye on the coolant temp, you can try covering the radiator or the front grille with something. That should help keep cold air out of the engine bay a bit better, helping to shorten the warm-up time.

Be prepared to remove the cover if the coolant temp gets too high, or when the weather turns warm.

It's not an optimal suggestion by any means, but it may be enough to get you by for now.

Oh--and leave the heat off at first. Running it is taking heat out of the coolant. That makes it take longer to warm the coolant up to temperature.

 

Check your coolant level. I let mine warm up for a couple of minutes, then by the time I drive a mile and a half to the highway it's blowing warm air. I leave mine on auto all the time.

 

1. Leave it on auto
2. Recirc only when necessary. Smelly truck, an old Merc , water treatment plant...

It should be heating within 5 mins. By the time I get to the end of my 1/4 mile driveway, the coolant temp is already 100f

 

Your heater core may be plugged or the blend doors may not be operating properly. My '03S had a plugged core two years ago and the symptoms were similar. Good luck...

 

Good advice has already been given. There is no reason not to keep it on Auto. It doesn't blow cold air, it keeps the fan speed slow until the coolant temp goes up. If you are low on coolant, there could be a leak somewhere. It is also possible that your thermostat is not working properly.

It should only take a few minutes to get heat from 40 degrees.

Have fun,
Mike

 

My heater rattles when starting for about 5 seconds when under freezing. So,I just keep it off until the engine runs for a few secs then fine. Heat runs great after a just few minutes even at 0. Heated seats, great! The defroster actually works too well when we got freezing rain a week ago. cracked the windshield! Shoot! I had it cranked up too far.

 

Low coolant or possibly a thermostat stuck open.

 

It's been -45 with windchill up here and it takes about 10 or so minutes for the EOT/ENG temp to get to about 150 and about 3-4 minutes of driving to start blowing warm air.

 

Well, thanks for the info, the coolant expansion tank was wet but empty. After pouring some in there it did seem to make the heater work faster. I tried the Auto button and deselected the A/C button, and let it figure out when to turn the fans higher.

Wonder where the coolant went? It was above the mark 6 weeks ago,....

 

1) trudge outside and start car
2) go back inside and finish breakfast
3) go back outside to nice warm car
4) motor on.

 

You may want to check for a leaky water pump. Any loss of coolant is abnormal, and could lead to dire consequences.

Spridget

 

Yes, I will lift it this weekend and go looking for signs. Heat works much better now tho.

 

Just keep an eye on the coolant level. It seems that there are 3 main leaks: Thermostat, water pump, and cracked coolant tank. If thermostat leaks, there will be a puddle of coolant on top of the transmission (look on the right side of the engine under the air intake tube). Water pump is located on the rear passenger side of the engine. Next time the coolant tank is low (and cold), remove the screw that holds it to the radiator support and look at the bottom for a crack.

Have fun,
Mike

 

One more time putting fluid in to the mark yesterday seems to have done it. I will still put it up to look for the leaks in the areas mentioned, but in the only two places I park I have never seen any fluid. Engine runs fine, exhaust is clean, and barely any vapor on a cold start morning.

 

Found this thread from the same symptoms and my coolant was also low.

 

I live in Colorado and I was having the same issue. Turned out to be a stuck open thermostat and some wiring issue as well :/ it was a $460 fix but no matter how long I drove it was a slight luke warm air blowing out. Now in -2 degrees it only takes about 10 min of driving the have the car all warm and toasty with the ac on and set to hi!!

 

It has gone down again, amazing how just a little more than a cup of water seems to make the heat work. There must be a leak, hope I can find it today, thanks for the tips.

 

Some of the early R56's had heater problems due to the under dash duct controls. Our '07 had the problem with the heater doors sometimes sticking open and roasting the occupants. Your problem may be related to the doors sticking closed. There was a TSB issued, I believe.

 

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Blue Meanie just got an oil change on the 30th. This morning, it was a nasty -2. She fired up just fine. Of course, I have to get her friendly with a bit of rpms when starting and let her warm up for a minute at 2,000 rpms. Then, she's fine. Not looking forward to this Sunday night. -13 is what they say. Sucks! 3 minutes warm up. I know the "book" sez, just start and drive. They don't know what they're talking about in the upper mid-west! Ugh!