We just got our Countryman PHEV... seems to be a pretty rare car. I do my own vehicle maintenance and I’m looking for any procedures or know-how.

The Dealer told me the engine and hybrid system are the same 3-cylinder turbo used in the BMW i8. Fancy!!! But this also means that every maintenance procedure is going to be custom. There will be no YouTube videos of spark plug changes, oil changes, coolant flush... unless we create them.

 

Hello fellow S E owner! We have owned our F60 for over a year now and I still have yet to see another one in the wild, so definitely rare.

I also do all my own maintenance however our F60 is still under the factory maintenance warranty so I have not had to do anything yet, except for tire rotations. I am hoping by the time my warranty expires there will be YouTube videos available.

Since we are so rare, any pics to share?

 

Hello, my wife and I just bought a 2019 Countryman S E All4 and I noticed on the window sticker it has a 500 charge for "TurboCord Charger"... is this an upgraded charger? I would have thought you would get a charger with the car and not have to pay an additional amount. What did you cars come with?

thanks,

Jim

 

Ours came with a portable charger and a wall charger, but we purchased it barely used off the lot for a deep discount! From what I remember, our salesman said the portable charger was included originally and the wall charger was an add-on purchased by the first owner.

 

Thanks for the reply... I guess I will have to look and see if there are both as you have mentioned when we pick it up this week... would make sense the "TurboCord Charger" on the window sticker would be wall charger (hopefully the dual voltage for faster charging).

Jim

 

I just got home and checked both of mine. Neither one says “TurboCord Charger” but the portable charger does have a mini logo on it and is labeled “MINI Portable EV Charger” and does support dual voltage.

 

My wife and I have owned a PHEV Countryman for almost 2 years now... they are definitely rare, but we did see 1 other in the wild the other day. It's the wife's daily driver and she loves it!

In terms of the charging - the charger that comes with the car is a "level 1" charger. The item you're talking about is the upgraded "level 2" charger. Just as an FYI, I think there are more cost effective options out there if you were going to get a level 2 charger. We actually don't have one in our home (for her car) since the level 1 charger does the job just fine. The main advantage is that the charging time is cut from 8 hrs or so to 2.5 hrs. Of note, you will likely have to get a new compatible outlet installed near your parking space in order to use it.

The reason why I say there are other cost effective options is to "future proof" your level 2 charger that you decide to purchase. Our PHEV doesn't have a high acceptance rate in terms of charging, so almost any level 2 charger will cut the charging time down... however if you ever own another PHEV or EV, it may make a difference; therefore you may want to get a higher amp charger that will charge your car faster AND any other future PHEV/EVs that you may own. My daily driver is a Tesla , so if we were to get a level 2 charger i'd spring for one that is at least 40-50 amps.. since it will provide faster charging for mine as well.

 

thank you for the reply... good insight to the charging question i had... i think i will have them remove that $500 lvl 2 charger from the invoice, we aren't ever in that much of a hurry that we would need to charge in 2.5hrs, it will be overnight stuff....

 

We're also Tesla owners and considering making this MINI our second EV! It would be our fifth MINI that we've owned. The other car we're considering is a Model 3, but a second Tesla really isn't in the budget right now...

Can you use an adapter to charge this MINI using your Tesla wall plug? I have the Tesla Level 2 charger I would like to use.

We're just now starting our research into these MINI's. This MINI counts towards the EV incentives where we live (Hawaii) which is a huge selling point for us.

What kind of EV only range can you get on this car's battery? Any maintenance issues so far?

 

I cannot speak to the Tesla wall plug, but I can offer my experiences with range and maintenance (or lack thereof). On a really hot summer day (or the inverse frankly) you can only expect 12-14 miles of all electric range with the AC/heat blasting. On pleasant days when you can cruise with the windows down or even shut, I have gotten as much as 20-21 miles all electric.

I find the short range electric to be very useful for quick, close errands to stores within 5-7 miles of my house where I can usually go round trip all electric.

 

Oh and maintenance, I have had zero issues thus far and I am at 17k miles. The only thing I have done is drive it to MINI for oil changes

 

quick update on my charging cord fiasco... turns out that the dealer was confused and thought the OUC was the turbocord so was basically putting the $500 accessory on the bill of sale but only giving them the OUC that comes standard with the vehicle... they owe a lot of S E owners a charger! just a reminder to do your homework when buying a car and trust your gut if something seems "out of whack"

cheers!!

Jimbo

 

Awesome! I believe we got a total of $5,500 back in federal tax credit/state rebates. It brought the car's price to at or below a gas powered Countryman S's price.

No, you cannot use the Tesla wall charger with this car. As far as I know, there are no adapters. But like previously mentioned, you can charge with a standard wall outlet and it'll take 8 hours or so.

I think we have a great vehicle set up since having a "backup" gas powered vehicle is ideal for longer trips. Even though it doesn't have great range (see below), it's still an option... except we don't have as much cargo space as a real SUV...

No major maintenance issues so far at 24k miles

I agree.. short trips are ideal for this car. Our experience so far has been:

- Long trips (fully charged prior to a road trip): ~28-30 mpg at worst.
- Mixed driving, mostly hwy (50 mile round trip commute to work, fully charged prior to leaving daily): 34-38 mpg
- Mostly local driving, fully charged before every trip: 50-55 mpg, but can be as low as 45 mpg. Range for us is about 14 miles

Is the range far shorter than it should be? Yes. But when compared to the Countryman S (gas powered), it does get around the same mpg, if not better when doing shorter trips around town, is a bit faster in 0-60, and around the same price or less after credits. These are the things that brought us to the PHEV. The major downfall is its overall range before refueling (280-300 miles for my wife's normal driving), especially since the longer-ish commute. If she were to be able to charge at work, it would probably be a bit better (along with better mpg).