As most of you know I am ordering a new JCW with a small amount of help from MINI. My F56 MCS had so many problems they felt sorry for me. They are all fixed now and the car is perfect. In fact I sold it yesterday and the new owner could not be happier.
The reason I sold it was that the new car has arrived and I was promised it for Saturday afternoon pickup.....
Just received a call form my salesman. They can't get the car out of "Transport mode" and it will not allow them to upgrade to the full software. They do not know what is wrong but they will likely have to get a new display from Germany that will take over 2 weeks.
I was on the fence about buying another MINI - was considering a Golf R...now I don't know what to think. I can tell you one thing though. My bank draft and new car insurance and head are not happy campers...this is a 2015 model if I had ordered 2 weeks later it would have been a 2016....

 

Sorry to hear about this. Hopefully this is all that you deal with when you finally acquire it. It's never fun feeling like you always buy the Lemon. I have a friend that deals with the same thing unfortunately and that's even with going with different vehicle makes! Sending positive thoughts your way.

 

ARGH! That is frustrating to have it so close and then have an issue before you even get it!

I hope they sort it out quick so you can take it home and enjoy it!

 

Well at least it didn't get crushed! Pretty frustrating considering my experience from last year. I'm sure there are thousands made without any issues....unfortunately that has not been my experience.

 

What a bummer!! hopefully they figure something out quickly!

 

It's 3 weeks for parts from Germany. I asked and they have agreed to give me a loaner. I'm asked for MINI Canada to pay for express shipping (hopefully only a few days). I'm also asking for them to do something for me like ....driving lights. Hopefully they will agree to the rush ship and I won't have to wait 3 weeks!

 

Sheesh, that's a bummer.

Good luck! I'm surprised the dealer didn't remove the part from another car that's on the lot and get you on your way.

 

I think it is a VIN dependant part. They said they couldn't use another cars part. Drag.

 

The only explanation I can think of is the hardware is VIN coded in a one-write ROM.

MINIUSA should be flapping their arms at MINI corporate to get a new module ASAP. 3 weeks is lazy.

 

May the MINI Gods smile upon you...

 

3 weeks is extreme, whenever I ordered parts I was able to get them within 2 weeks from Germany (unless they were on back-order in Germany).

maybe you have a lazy dealer, or you are out of the way, shipping takes longer

 

I agree. Picked up the loaner car (Justa) my sales guy said that they told him 2 weeks but he told me 3 to be safe. My feeling is they should fly someone over to hand pickup the part. Back in a day and a half.


There is a clause in the contract that says that if the dealer can not deliver the car with in 90 days I can bail. It is probably getting close to this so they will have to come up with the "shorter travel time" for the part or risk me walking. I think overnight FedEx would work - honestly how much could it cost $150!


Also not sure how long it takes MINI Germany to do a one-write install and to ship? That is probably part of it.

 

*If* it's a ROM write sort of situation, the factory obviously has super easy and quick tools to do that. However, they cannot interrupt the line for warranty work, so it'll have to go like this:

*several chains of emails and/or phone calls to a variety of people
*Person A takes a module off the shelf and ships it to Person B
*Person B sifts through their emails to figure out what VIN to code, chooses wrong one
*Person B gives module to shipping department
*shipping department does FedEx Priority
*Package quickly shows up on desk of Person C in the USA
*Person C sifts through emails and finds dealership to send it to
*Dealership opens box, assumes it's for "that JCW that's been here for 3 weeks"
*Service tech tries to get car working, can't because of wrong VIN
*Dealership SM calls Person C and says "you sent me the wrong VIN code!"
*Person C emails a bunch of people, several bosses copied
*Email hellstorm breaks out, lots of virtual finger pointing
*Person A takes a module off the shelf and ships it to Person B
*Person B sifts through their emails to figure out what VIN to code, chooses correct one because he doesn't want to get fired
*Person B gives module to shipping department
*shipping department ships it FedEx Pony Express, because they couldn't be bothered to understand it should've shipped Priority
*Package eventually shows up on desk of Person C in the USA
*Person C sifts through emails and finds dealership to send it to
*Dealership opens box, assumes it's for "that JCW that's been here for 6 weeks"
*Service tech successfully gets car working
*GregoryK, rightly livid, uses escape clause to bail on purchase and go buy a Golf R
*Golf R immediately blows up HPFP, which of course isn't under warranty, because VW



Damn dude, this isn't going to work out well. IMO, might want to have a non-VW backup plan!

 

Funny. Hope they get it right first time.
Thanks for the advice. Might just give up and get an electric car! :-)

 

I just saw a pack of pre-production no-camo 2nd gen Volt's out for a drive today. They actually look great on the road. I'm not a fan of the 1st gen, styling or driving, but this new one at least looks good. Might be worth a drive when they arrive.

Have you driven the BMW i3? Awesome construction and drivetrain [made Ward's 10 Best engine list], I just struggle with the aesthetics and the non BMW handling. Getting used to 1-foot accel/braking takes a moment to recalibrate your head for how much regen happens.


Back in ICE land, I saw that the ECU tunes for the Golf R are out. Damn, 400 HP with a downpipe and flash?! That thing is legit quick. You'd need a Stingray to go a little bit quicker.

 

Get one of those new BMW electric cars. 0-60 in 4 seconds!

 

LMAO, I see this happen all the time from my cubefarm location..

..best of luck to the OP, sincerely!

 

Update. Spoke to parts. Received the wrong part and sent it back. They said it was the tach. That however would not be Vin dependant. Arrrrr.
I'll give them till Friday to sort it out. Unfortunately at that point I'll have to ask for my deposit back....I just can't handle this any more. It just seems like more of the same as last year with the MCS when the wrong shocks and seat cover showed up 4 times in a row!

 

Welp, sorry to hear my story is coming true. I was hoping that if I just put it out there it wouldn't actually happen.

 

Apparently it is the non JCW Speedo tach combo. They can put this part in service but can't change it. I would think because it stores the mileage etc.
I'm asking if they can change the car to a 2016 model. Certainly they can give me a set of driving lights...Ryephile you may know on the vin...whether it is locked to the year our it can be changed?

 

AFAIK, once the VIN leaves the factory doors then it can't legally be transferred to another shell.

I see you with 3 basic options:
*wait for the 2015 to be fixed
*put your foot down and politely demand a fresh 2016 build, given the limited allocations, probably wait until December to take delivery.
*walk away from it all

The first one seems the most plausible, assuming you still want a JCW.

 

I'm not in your shoes, of course, but if it were me I'd demand a new start with the 2016. Just build you another car like, or different from what you ordered, with of course a few expensive options thrown in. Maybe pick some of the JCW Pro options. You should have a leverage here, and they should NOT want to lose a sale. Even starting from scratch, again, you'd still have the car by the beginning of September. You'd think that someone, somewhere would work with you on this.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. This is already (in MINI's and the dealers eyes) a discounted deal. So it is hard for them to add more in to a pretty loaded car.
Ryephile - Think you are right #1 - if they agree to add the driving lights - which I think is likely. I'll give them a limited time though to sort this out.
The big problem is the level of mistakes that don't seem to have improved since last years issues with the MCS. This was meant to be me giving MINI a chance to correct my previous experience.
Yes - I still don't see another car I would like to drive more so I will give them one more chance. If they can't sort it out I'll have to order the Golf R and rent a car for the 6 weeks it will take to get it here from Germany!

 

I recently took a spirited drive in a nearly loaded 2015 Golf GTI with paddles and although it's no Golf R it's a fantastic car. Have you even test driven a new F56 to make a sound decision to buy? If not then you should drive both and I'd bet you'd be wondering why you wasted your time with Mini's issues.

 

While you are txt driving, why not a real car, the BMW 2 series. This is my second choice, actually I'm trying to decide between the 228i M sport or the JCW. I'm not a fan of VW products as r their device sucks big time. And, if you think MINI has problems, just listen to the VW guys!