Greetings all... I'm a new Mini owner of a used 2003 MCS. I love it, but it is not without its odd little quirks. Nothing, however, that I can't live with.

Here's my situation... I live in southeast Alaska -- 900+ miles from the nearest dealership. To make matters more... interesting... there are no roads that lead out of my area. I am not kidding. Consequently, it will cost at least $1000 to ship my car to the dealer and back.

Here's my question... There are a few programming changed I would like (Auto unlocks, etc.). Taking it to the dealer is pretty much out of the question. Are there any other options?

 

Unfortunately short of buying the several thousand dollar computer that the dealers use (which probably isn't even available to the general public) there really aren't any options for DIY programming. There isn't any way for owners to program the convienence features, which of course doesn't always make them very conveinent.

 

Are there any other dealers in your area? They might be able to use their machines. It's worth a try, you never know.

Where in AK are you? I just went in May and love the whole state!

Ken

 

Hi Kentiki...

I live in Juneau... the third largest city with a wopping 30,000 people and about 3 Minis. I love it, but it does make Mini ownership complicated.

By other dealers, do you mean other manufacturers (Subaru, etc.)? We do, but I would be somewhat skeptical. From what I've been reading online, it doesn't sound like all Mini dealers know how to reprogram all the features.

 

It's going to be BMW if anybody... And I don't recall a BMW dealership in Juneau anytime I was there. But maybe there's a BMW dealership in Anchorage, it's gotta be cheaper to take the ferry there than down to Bellingham...

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again. There are more than enough *****, switches, and displays in the MINI for this to be "owner configurable". We ought to get up a petition for MINI to address this. All it'd need is a software change. There's plenty enough hardware already onboard.

Rawhyde

 

True! The ferry to Haines would only cost me $100 and the trek to Anchorage is "only" another 700 miles. Motor on!

Soo... I called the one and only BMW dealer in Alaska (up in Anchorage) and asked if they had the capability to program a Mini. The fellows response was, "uh. I dunno. We can program a BMW, but I don't know if our system will work with a Mini"

"Can you find out?" I asked.

"Not really... you will need to bring your car in and let us test it out."

So... The fine folks would like me to ship my car on the ferry and then drive close to 1500 miles (round trip) so they can "find out" if they can be of any help. I think I'll pass.

So it goes... such is life in the great white north. I spent the day washing and driving my car and I'm a happy guy.

 

I wounder if bim com will be able to address those things? And be a diy programming tool?

 

bim com? Wassat?