Has anyone else had their Cooper ruined by the addition of a Dealer installed DPSM? Mine has spent over five weeks in the shop in the last year. It shorts when it rains heavy, will not turn off. What I mean is even if you turn the radio/stereo off, and turn the amp off it still screams static at up to 128dB. I will post a audio file later.

 

Well Edge's car has been in the shop for 9 months...

I'm not sure I want to hear a static file at 128dB. OUCH! Good luck getting that fixed. Sounds like a short.

 

Well its back home in time for the fall dragon run. But it is still not fixed, hope it does not rain this weekend. I take it back to the dealer on Nov. 15. It has spent six weeks in the shop for the same problem, since I bought it Oct. 24 2006.

 

Hmmm... my first suspicion, since it only acts up when it rains, is that you have a water leakage problem. I'd inspect the drainage tubes to ensure that they aren't clogged/blocked.

Also, you should know that the DPSM amp always stays on whenever the car is in any key position other than Off. Turning off the head unit when the car is running does not turn off the amp. This was verified only this past week by multiple DPSM owners, after I asked them that very question.

Sorry to hear of your DPSM woes - I'm still hoping to get my car back soon with mine installed! 7 months, 2 weeks... Aaaaah!

 

Hi Edge,

I do not have the sunroof, any other drain tubes that would affect this?
I have been turning off the head unit and the drivers side switch, below the steering wheel, with no effect on the short. My car is entering its seventh week in the shop since purchased on 10-25-06. It is at its second dealer right now. I have told them just to uninstall the system, the sticking point is that I want to be reinbursed the $2200, I paid to have the system installed.

 

I believe it has nothing to do with the sunroof - I'm pretty sure that all 1st Gen MINIs have drainage tubes at the corners of the roof, to properly remove excess water.

The other thing to consider is that you might have been stuck with amps from a bad batch. Fellow member 03ibmini has reported that his dealership discovered this to be a case, and it was a fresh amp from a brand new batch that solved his problems.

Check out my crazy conversion thread, although if you don't have time to read it all, just read the stuff in the last few pages (things within the last week or so). It includes 03ibmini's comments on his findings.

 

I am selling the book and movie rights to the epic saga called Edge's HK to DPSM conversion. :-)

 

The Digital Power Sound Modul amp on my car has already been replaced twice. I will ask about the drain tubes though. I will tell you that I am at the point of contacting the Lien holder BB&T, and the State Attorney Generals Office and having the car declared a Lemon.

 

Left a letter off but you get the idea.

 

Sounds like you have a case of the Lemons....

http://www.north-carolina-lemon-law.com/

Must be within 2 years or 24k miles. Must be out of service 20 days out of 12 months.

Wish we had that here, ours is only for 12 months. I had my truck go in the shop for 3 months straight and almost got a buyback until they figured out they had $7k in labor sunk into my truck. They ended up with $11k sunk into labor and parts before they figured out what was wrong.. (wind whistle at speed) Cause? Three holes in the firewall that one of the techs had removed bolts from... who fixed it? The oil change kid on a Saturday. Am I happy? Nope, still steaming after a year...but it's paid off, so I'm not selling it.

 

One thing I suspect is the connections from the wires in the doors coming from the car into the crossovers. When I installed my DPSM, I first forgot to use the red shields on the connections and every time I rolled down my windows, the + & - terminals would touch, shorting and causing the system to go out. If water is pooling in your doors or if the plastic isolator shields aren't there, rain could be coming in between the window and outer door skin and shorting out the system. If you have some torx drivers and feel like prying off your door panels, you could check that.

 

Water getting in the amp area, car is at the dealers again. Best guess right now is glass above that area, and how it is installed.

 

Car is back at the selling dealer. The dealer who was working on the car, said they could no longer work on the car under warranty; ie this isn't a MINI issue you need to have the dealer that messed up your car fix it. Whole host of wiring problems, badly kinked battery cable, crimped, damaged wires, and missing wiring guide. Once these guys fix the wiring, we can look into water intrusion issues. Battery is going dead, instrument cluster lights up like a christmas tree. SRS Airbag Lights come on if you move the radio wiring.

 

Car is still in the shop, no estimate on return.

 

Got the car back 12-17, What they said they fixed vs what they actually did is two different things. I took photos before taking it in. They basically rewired the system. Including replacing the battery box. Waiting for it to rain, so I can see if it still shorts out.

 

Latest update, car is still not fixed!!!!!!! Shorted-out today in the rain. Waiting to hear back from MINI USA.

 

I have to ask if the dealer you have sort-of referred to on the yellow door banner you posted earlier is the installer?

Only reason I ask is I had a great sales experience with them but from the install of my Sirius radio I would never let them do anything like that again. I found missing screws in the interior and a nut missing to mount the Sirius unit. I also found missing interior screws in the panel going across the rear of the boot and most of the clips were broken and not replaced. I was pretty upset and let the service dept have it.

They offered to resolve the issue but instead I ordered the few screws and clips from Classic then made then reimburse me for the parts.

I am glad that I keep hearing that a MINI dealer is on its way to the Triange and that it looks like they didn't get the rights to it.

Great sales experience but the service dept. isn't the best.

 

Yes Flow Mini did the install, I sent a email to MINI Cutomer Assistance, copy to Flow, and Hendricks Mini. I asked if they could tell me with a Straight Face, that Flow was capable of fixing my Car.

 

Thats horrible how you'd paid $2,200 to give yourself a huge headache! Hopefully things will look better after the contact with MINIUSA !

 

I wasn't asking yoiu to name the dealer straight up, just a simple yes or no, LOL. No biggie. Like I said I like the sales people there but not in love with the service dept. The part dept. is a little clueless too.

 

Just curious, at any time, was the rear window on the passenger side ever replaced?

I mentioned your problem to my tech when I last visited the dealership, he said it sounds like a simple matter of a water leakage, and the seal for that window would be the first place he'd check, especially if the window was ever replaced.

Another member with DPSM (Irishcow) apparently had the same problem with her DPSM that you did, and the closest dealership in Switzerland (where she moved to a year ago) fixed the problem... but she couldn't understand what the tech was saying because he speaks Italian, not English. Heh. My guess is that the DPSM amp is particularly sensitive to moisture, and somewhere along the line, a hole or other leak occurred... and this problem won't go away until it's found and plugged.

 

Hi Guys,

No the window is original, seems to work great, no whistles or drips. Trading the car is a possiblity, but I hate to stick another Mini owner with this car. They (Flow Mini) claim that there is not a water leakage problem, but they also claimed to have fixed my car. The car gets a spoiler upgrade on the 9th. Large Dragon decal for the roof from Asthetic Creations printed and in route as I type. Just got my M7 plates installed, and saving for a 19mm rear sway bar. I would rather have Hendricks Mini work with a BMW Regoinal Tech. and fix the car. Waiting to hear back from Jase Gammon at Mini Customer Assistance.

 

Man I hope that your headache gets sorted out. I hope you can at least enjoy the new year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

 

OK... but have you felt all around the amp when it's messing up to see if it is damp or wet? Just curious... is it still completely dry when it's messing up?

 

I do not want to sound rude, and I know many of you prefer OEM everything to after-market parts...
But, if I was you I would make them turn my car (audio) back to stock and get my money back. You can get the best speakers that you could imagine and replace the factory ones with them and install an amp and make it work inconjunction with the stock head unit. It is not that hard and you would save money and have a car that functions properly. Talk to PGT for audio advise on what to buy if you do this, he has an absurd amount of knowledge when it comes to audio.
Just an idea incase you want another route. Hope that this offends no one, I only mean it in a positive way.