Firstly, I'm assuming the "gong" is used for a wide variety of trouble alerts and such, but I mainly hear it as the "key-in-ignition" tone. In any case, is the tuned-in radio station supposed to play -- at a relatively loud volume level -- over top of the the gong sound when you are in "adjustment" mode?

When I try to adjust the gong through the radio head, I hear whatever radio station I have tuned in at the moment (at fairly loud volume level) even if the volume was turn all the way down when I entered the settings adjustment "page" of the radio head. The gong volume seems to adjust properly (albeit without a really marked difference) when I go from "-5" to "+5" -- although it's admittedly difficult to get an accurate perception, given that the tuned radio station is trying to drown out the gong... Just wondering if all this is normal...?

 

That is a new one on me. I do not think the radio should be playing when you are in "Gong" adjustment mode. I know for a fact that my 08 does not do this, as I just went out and checked it.

 

Kind-of what I was afraid of; seemed odd to me as well.

Having the engine running or off doesn't make any difference; same behavior in both cases... And as soon as I leave the "gong adjustment" (i.e., make a setting selection), mine goes back to whatever volume level was set when the adjustment mode was entered... Wonder if I'm doing anything differently than you, or inadvertently reset some obscure setting (although I can't imagine what)...?

I haven't played with the "gong adjustment" much since I got the car; I maybe did when I made all my initial adjustments, and didn't recall noticing that volume "quirk" then. Ended up tinkering with the adjustment over the long weekend purely by chance, and found it was doing this "voice-over" thing... Can't imagine how it could have developed on its own...?

 

This may sound odd and you will have to reset a bunch of things in the car but disconnect the battery for 30+ minutes and then reconnect and see what happens. The head unit is also the OBC for the car so maybe it just needs hard resetting.

 

Thanks, I'll try that when I get a chance. I presume you mean I'll only have to reset minor (but time-consuming) things like the clock, audio and driver preferences, etc.? I routinely work with computers, and do find that (power-down "hard reset") is necessary from time to time. Just haven't found such a thing to be necessary on any other cars I've owned...

Is doing a "hard reset" a relatively routine thing on these MINI's...? And if so, what causes the sorts of power glitches that make the OBC go "temporarily stupid"...?

 

It is not highly common but and I have only had to do it once in the 45K+ mile I have on mine. Others have not had to do it at all an yet a few have had to do it a few times.

Exactly what causes it I am not sure. I know what caused mine was a battery drain that went below 10 volts and then a bad battery charger that went dead on attaching to the battery. Quick spike and alarms started going off all over the car.

 

Hey, "schatzy62"!

Before I go to the trouble of disconnecting the battery in an attempt to remedy one issue and potentially create another, fill me in on this entry I stumbled upon by chance in the owner's manual (p. 35 in the copy I'm looking at):

"After a power failure, there is a possibility that the glass sunroof can only be raised. In this case, have the system reinitialized. The manufacturer of you MINI recommends that you have this work done by your MINI Dealer."

1. What's that all about...? Just disconnecting/replacing the battery (which everyone will do eventually) will cause a power failure on the vehicle, so to speak.
2. How does one go about "reinitializing" the sunroof...? Is it really necessary to take it back to the dealer to do that...?

Thanks!

 

I really do not understand what they are talking about.

The normal first step of initialization on the sunroof and windows is to open fully and hold the button for 15 seconds then close fully and hold for 15 seconds. If that does not work then it is supposed to be done again and then a third time before they do any reprogramming of the car.

I also have not heard of any problems like they mention. Only not being able to open it due to heat and alignment problems.

And MY manual does not say anything about this, but mine is a 2008.

Yes the battery disconnection would be a power failure but my thinking is that as long as the sunroof is not being opened during the power failure there really should be no problem. Yet stranger things have happened.

BTW I have had no such problems as they mention and my battery has been disconnected at least 10 times. Of course that does not mean that you will be okay either.

So I guess it is up to you as to if you want to disconnect the battery or not.

 

OK. Thanks!

 

OK. Finally got the chance to disconnect the battery and let it sit a while (overnight, actually). No joy. Radio still plays (fairly loudly) over the gong sound when you enter "adjustment mode." Everything seems to work otherwise; just very strange behavior in this case...

 

sounds like a trip to the dealer is in order as if this is incorrect then what else may fail sometime down the road.

 

Yeah, not sure what else can be done at this stage except visit the dealer...

I'm concerned that the dealer will want to re-flash the computer as little more than a blind stab at solving the quirk with my "gong." And I'm more than a little bit apprehensive about permitting that, based on the ongoing discussion contained in another thread (https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...reprogram.html) about power losses associated with re-flashing the factory JCW vehicles with the latest software release (8C.50.00).

There hasn't been any definitive proof that there's a connection, but there is quite a bit of circumstantial evidence... And in fact, there's at least one owner who does have hard evidence (dyno runs before and after the re-flash), and the results do show a clear loss of power.

 

Had my vehicle in for servicing today, and asked them about this peculiarity. The SA and I walked out to another '09 vehicle they had in the shop (if it matters to anyone, it was a Cooper S Hardtop) and we tried this adjustment on that vehicle. Lo and behold, it did the same thing as mine did...! This is apparently a "feature" of the 2009 MY vehicles...! The technician and SA told me they would elevate this to MINI (read this as "MINI will be provided the information, and they may or may not act on it), then let me know if they hear anything back.

Oh, and in demonstrating it to the SA, I inadvertently discovered that you could actually use the volume control to reduce the audio source "overdub" while in the gong adjustment mode. This will actually allow you to hear the gong sound while adjusting it, and may all be by design -- but if so, I'm not a fan of it...

 

Just picked up my 2011 McS and it does exactly the same thing, startled the hell out of me. Too bad they haven't gotten around to fixing it yet.

 

Well, I guess I'm not surprised. But thanks for the report! Fortunately, the "gong" isn't something I have to adjust often, so I guess I can live with the "feature."