Hi folks,

Long time reader due to my wife owning mini's, but now I have a question for the collective mind.

My wife's 2016 hatchback starting idling high (1800?) with a CEL and shows a misfire, per the dealer. Local dealer feedback was pretty incoherent, as they seem hard pressed to type or speak in complete sentences, but they are indicating "procedure is software update". They will charge $450 for it (out of warranty) and won't say it will solve the problem, but "think it could". Is this likely to actually fix the issue and is the price reasonable or should I be looking for another shop? Also, a quick search indicates I may be able to perform this software update myself. Or is there some special equipment they will be using to update, in their words, "all of the computers"?


For my own edification - I asked why a software update would be required for a car to run and was told, just like old cars needed their carb adjusted and distributor position tweaked, new cars need new software as they get older. This sounds like a pile to me, so I asked why no other car I have owned, or any my friends have owned, has needed this, to which the answer was "apples and oranges". So I asked if honda can make cars that don't need a software update every few years and mini can't - he eventually said, yes, that is the case. I can understand safety issues and minor tweaks to HVAC and bluetooth etc, but is this really where we are that you need to update the software on your car every few years so it will run properly? I would think they could build in the adjustments to normal wear and tear into the program and I have both slightly older (2014) and slightly newer (2017) honda's that have not needed such updates.

Thanks for any feedback!

 

The dealer is not wrong about the software update. The reason is that as software improves, it can pinpoint problems better. So I agree with the update. Try another Mini dealer and get their input.

 

My MINI was shifting at odd points (such as going into a higher gear after slowing for a corner, rather than downshifting), hesitating on take off, and intermittently running rough. It was diagnosed with a bad fuel tank breather valve. After getting it back from the dealer, it wasn’t performing well, so I took it back. The dealer updated the ECU software from it’s 2016 build version to the latest version, and that changed the performance of the car dramatically. Some other things got updated as well - the tire pressure monitoring system shows immediate pressures, rather than needing to drive for a minute or so before displaying, and my power fold mirrors don’t activate from the key fob as they did before.

I wouldn’t rule out a mechanical issue and agree you should get a second opinion. You may also want to get an OBD code reader to see what pops up (Veepeak has one for about $35 that works with free apps and BimmerCode/BimmerLink). I found my car was throwing codes for the EVAP system, a misfire in cylinder 1, and performance reductions in the AC system (low power from a slowly dying battery). I used these codes to investigate on this and other forums, and was able to pinpoint the issue and share with my mechanic when I brought the car in.

I believe that since the ECU learns and adapts it’s performance over time, mine had compensated for a bad part for so long that it required a fresh reset, rather than time to readapt.

It does take a few hours to reflash the software.