R50/53 2002 complaints vs. 2003 complaints
3rd Gear
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 158
Likes: 0
From: Bay Area
Guster,
I'd like to point out one thing that this thread highlights. A good dealer which is easily to get to and work with is key when buying a new car. All cars have problems, even the more reliable Toyota Echo and the more expensive BMW 330. You will most likely get one that is overall pretty good, with a couple of minor warranty items. The difference between a good dealer and a bad one can make the minor warranty claims a small inconvenience or a frustrating, costly one.
Check your local forums and see what people are saying about dealers in your area!
FWIW, I'm here for the same reason you are. My fiance is saving for a new car and she wants a blue Mini. I'm a big fan of the reliability of Japanese cars and am curious to see how the new BMW Mini holds up and how our local dealer treats this boards members.
I'd like to point out one thing that this thread highlights. A good dealer which is easily to get to and work with is key when buying a new car. All cars have problems, even the more reliable Toyota Echo and the more expensive BMW 330. You will most likely get one that is overall pretty good, with a couple of minor warranty items. The difference between a good dealer and a bad one can make the minor warranty claims a small inconvenience or a frustrating, costly one.
Check your local forums and see what people are saying about dealers in your area!
FWIW, I'm here for the same reason you are. My fiance is saving for a new car and she wants a blue Mini. I'm a big fan of the reliability of Japanese cars and am curious to see how the new BMW Mini holds up and how our local dealer treats this boards members.
3rd Gear
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 179
Likes: 0
From: edmonton,alberta, cdn
hmm..interersting post....wakee wakee people..if you think buying a more exspensive car will get you less problems your wrong...and i strongly agree with the person saying it has to do with the dealer anad how they treat you....ibet your post for problems would be non-exsistant if you had a dealer that took care of you like they should when you buy any new car....big, small...expsensive or not. 
EVEry car at some point ,some how, is going to have it's share of deffiency's...and besides do you think if the seats where built more complexly that they would be more comfy..hmm..,maybe..bu then again maybe that would be just something more to crap out on ya...too much whine in this place...Would ya all likey some cheeze....
EVEry car at some point ,some how, is going to have it's share of deffiency's...and besides do you think if the seats where built more complexly that they would be more comfy..hmm..,maybe..bu then again maybe that would be just something more to crap out on ya...too much whine in this place...Would ya all likey some cheeze....
3rd Gear
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 257
Likes: 0
From: Columbus. Ohio
...mini definitely needs to address the seat issue which are not very well engineered, at least the 2002, maybe they have already improved them for 2003 because the tech at mini told me they were considering improving them...he even told me he hated his seats in his mini because they gave him back pains, not to refreshing coming from one of the techs...but any new car gets better after the initial release because of the bugs...I shouldn't say any because of the Ford Focus which seems to be a fiasco even into the following years...good luck with the 2003...
>>
>>The tech probably has hemorrhoids as well.... back pain more likely related to the run flat tires and the stiff suspension but from the seats? Unlikely.
Sorry you have had such a difficult experience with your mini. I agree with you about the seats-- in a way, i'm relieved not to be the only one. I don't think it has to do with the tires or suspension primarily, I think it is a poor design, especially with the standard seat, which has contours that, if you are over about 5'6'', don't fit your back and neck. I can be in for about an hour before I have to get out and stretch. I hope they do something to change it.
I did however, find that the sports seats are much more comfortable, and are much more ergonomically designed than the standard seats; I also have found the fabric seats much more comfortable than the leather or leatherette (the fabric have some give and cushion, and conform to your back and seat, the others feel very hard, and the lumbar digs in rather than gives in-- I can't relax into it).
I am planning to drive a mc with fabric sports seats tomorrow, and if it is comfortable rather than bearable, I plan to sell mine and either order another or see what I can work in a trade. I hope this will be a solution, because other than the seat, the car has been perfect-- >>
I'm sure you will enjoy your BMW. Happier motoring to you.
Steve
1st Gear
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 50
Likes: 0
From: Los Angeles
>>I HOPE YOU CAN ALL READ THIS!!!
>>
>>I understand everybody's issue with the ECU problems and minor starting issues, but my car has been a disaster!!! EVEN WORSE was the service i received from my dealership. Two weeks ago, the black high gloss trim on the passenger side between the windsheild and the passenger window fell off!! Just fell off while driving about 65MPH on the freeway. Since it was at night, i couldn't see that it fell off, but a very loud whistling sound was heard everytime i passed 60MPH. I had them tow it the next morning(approx. 200 miles) to my dealership and they said they would order the part and fix it. I did not get my car back until 12 days later. ALMOST TWO WEEKS. Worst of all, they refused to give me a rental or loaner car. They said MINI had no ability to do that, so i had to rent a car for the time period and pay for it myself. About a week after it was in the shop, i got a call from them saying it was done. So the next morining i got ready to get my car and i got another call saying they read the paper work wrong and it would take at least another week, because the part was still on back order. Worst of all, my car is even harder to start now. It took me 7 tries to start my car yesterday on a 85degree day in sunny California. To me, this has been the worst service. I am now selling my 2002 MINI Cooper S and going with another type of car that has a semi-decent service department.
Hey Shnarfin,
Sorry to hear about all your troubles! What dealership is giving you all these problems? I am in Southern California and do NOT want to be dealing with them!
Hope things work out for you,
Craig
>>
>>
>>I understand everybody's issue with the ECU problems and minor starting issues, but my car has been a disaster!!! EVEN WORSE was the service i received from my dealership. Two weeks ago, the black high gloss trim on the passenger side between the windsheild and the passenger window fell off!! Just fell off while driving about 65MPH on the freeway. Since it was at night, i couldn't see that it fell off, but a very loud whistling sound was heard everytime i passed 60MPH. I had them tow it the next morning(approx. 200 miles) to my dealership and they said they would order the part and fix it. I did not get my car back until 12 days later. ALMOST TWO WEEKS. Worst of all, they refused to give me a rental or loaner car. They said MINI had no ability to do that, so i had to rent a car for the time period and pay for it myself. About a week after it was in the shop, i got a call from them saying it was done. So the next morining i got ready to get my car and i got another call saying they read the paper work wrong and it would take at least another week, because the part was still on back order. Worst of all, my car is even harder to start now. It took me 7 tries to start my car yesterday on a 85degree day in sunny California. To me, this has been the worst service. I am now selling my 2002 MINI Cooper S and going with another type of car that has a semi-decent service department.
Hey Shnarfin,
Sorry to hear about all your troubles! What dealership is giving you all these problems? I am in Southern California and do NOT want to be dealing with them!
Hope things work out for you,
Craig
>>
2nd Gear
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 91
Likes: 0
From: Redmond, WA
BillyG said:
>hmm..interersting post....wakee wakee people..if you think buying a
>more exspensive car will get you less problems your wrong...
No doubt. Here's a quick snippet from my epinions.com review of my 01' Mercedes C-240:
Full review at: Epinion's review
Expect problems in any new car design - it's just the more expensive the car the less tollerant you are of repeated failures of a component or shoddy service, etc. I expect problems in any car no matter the pricetag. Almost any Ferrari 456 you look at has a peeled center dash around the heating controls and leaks like a sieve from the driver window and rear window due to a design flaw in the seals... the 456 and the 550 run so hot they crack the collant hose in less than 15k miles because of a bad material choice... and those are $250k cars if you buy new.
-dq
>hmm..interersting post....wakee wakee people..if you think buying a
>more exspensive car will get you less problems your wrong...
No doubt. Here's a quick snippet from my epinions.com review of my 01' Mercedes C-240:
18 repairs in 18 months!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All covered under warranty, but it is outrageous to become a fixture in the Mercedes dealer's service area when spending this on a car.
We have decided to finally sever out love/hate relationship with the car and traded it in on a 2002 BMW 525i.
We loved the C240, it's features, it's integration, everything. We hated the reliability, the electronic glitches we encountered, etc.
We had intelli-aide replaced three times? Drivers seat motor, sunroof tracks, driver side controller for all electronics (door mirror, seat, etc.), babysmart sensor, radio problems, etc. Man, talk about a car that cost Mercedes more in warranty repairs than they got from us for purchase price.
The first year of the C redesign has been seen for what it is - an electronic gremlin - the techs working on the car confirmed our suspicions and told us that we were NOT the only 2001 C with these problems.... so if you see our old one on the used lot... don't walk away, run.
We have been told that the '02 is much better reliability wise on the electronic front, and there will be additional changes for the '03.
We have decided to finally sever out love/hate relationship with the car and traded it in on a 2002 BMW 525i.
We loved the C240, it's features, it's integration, everything. We hated the reliability, the electronic glitches we encountered, etc.
We had intelli-aide replaced three times? Drivers seat motor, sunroof tracks, driver side controller for all electronics (door mirror, seat, etc.), babysmart sensor, radio problems, etc. Man, talk about a car that cost Mercedes more in warranty repairs than they got from us for purchase price.
The first year of the C redesign has been seen for what it is - an electronic gremlin - the techs working on the car confirmed our suspicions and told us that we were NOT the only 2001 C with these problems.... so if you see our old one on the used lot... don't walk away, run.
We have been told that the '02 is much better reliability wise on the electronic front, and there will be additional changes for the '03.
Expect problems in any new car design - it's just the more expensive the car the less tollerant you are of repeated failures of a component or shoddy service, etc. I expect problems in any car no matter the pricetag. Almost any Ferrari 456 you look at has a peeled center dash around the heating controls and leaks like a sieve from the driver window and rear window due to a design flaw in the seals... the 456 and the 550 run so hot they crack the collant hose in less than 15k miles because of a bad material choice... and those are $250k cars if you buy new.
-dq
4th Gear
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 434
Likes: 0
I am planning to drive a mc with fabric sports seats tomorrow, and if it is comfortable rather than bearable, I plan to sell mine and either order another or see what I can work in a trade. I hope this will be a solution, because other than the seat, the car has been perfect-- >>
Hey Doc....before you go that route and get your clock cleaned on a trade to another mini, check your local custom car shop that does conversions, etc. I took mine in and got estimates on switching to recaro or sparco seats which are a very easy switch by any professional conversion dealer.....cost from $500 to $1000 for 2 front seats...the recaro seats I sat in were awesome....I'm 6'1" with long legs and they fit terrific, especially with the slide out ham support from the seat....almost the exact seats that the loaner bimmer had.....can't imagine why mini chose the seats they did...the new focus RS has sparco seats....the additional cost per car has to be less than a $100 for mini to use better seats...I think they were very short sided and short legged (sorry, couldn't resist) here....anyway, if I do keep my mini, I will definitely switch the seats because I realize I'm going to get killed more than 1k on any trade...lol!
Also regarding just because a car is more expensive it is not prone to less problems...no, that was not what I was referring to regarding the bimmer 330....the mini is a first year car and any first year car will have bugs and I was prepared for that going in, mine just has more than average...the 3 series has been around forever, so even though it could still have problems, I don't think it will be in basic stuff like the seats, sunroofs, rattles, etc....
Hey Doc....before you go that route and get your clock cleaned on a trade to another mini, check your local custom car shop that does conversions, etc. I took mine in and got estimates on switching to recaro or sparco seats which are a very easy switch by any professional conversion dealer.....cost from $500 to $1000 for 2 front seats...the recaro seats I sat in were awesome....I'm 6'1" with long legs and they fit terrific, especially with the slide out ham support from the seat....almost the exact seats that the loaner bimmer had.....can't imagine why mini chose the seats they did...the new focus RS has sparco seats....the additional cost per car has to be less than a $100 for mini to use better seats...I think they were very short sided and short legged (sorry, couldn't resist) here....anyway, if I do keep my mini, I will definitely switch the seats because I realize I'm going to get killed more than 1k on any trade...lol!
Also regarding just because a car is more expensive it is not prone to less problems...no, that was not what I was referring to regarding the bimmer 330....the mini is a first year car and any first year car will have bugs and I was prepared for that going in, mine just has more than average...the 3 series has been around forever, so even though it could still have problems, I don't think it will be in basic stuff like the seats, sunroofs, rattles, etc....
2nd Gear
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 60
Likes: 0
From: Parker,Co
>>Good you are getting the 2003, my 2002 has been a disaster and getting worse with each additional 1K miles I add....now about 8K miles...love the looks and fun drive quotient, but getting hard to live with the quality issues....BMW has been great and they keep giving me a 3 series to drive during the fixes, but the last loaner I had was a 330 and damn, that is one hell of a car and now leaning hard to trade...realize it is a different car and better engineered with a much higher price, but the comfort of the seats alone are almost worth it...mini definitely needs to address the seat issue which are not very well engineered, at least the 2002, maybe they have already improved them for 2003 because the tech at mini told me they were considering improving them...he even told me he hated his seats in his mini because they gave him back pains, not to refreshing coming from one of the techs...but any new car gets better after the initial release because of the bugs...I shouldn't say any because of the Ford Focus which seems to be a fiasco even into the following years...good luck with the 2003...
I thought the back pain thing was just me getting older and fatter. Thats why we named our 2002 S---(Buster)--(short for gutbuster} Otherwise love it and haven't grinned so much in 15 years sense last older MINI ownership.
I thought the back pain thing was just me getting older and fatter. Thats why we named our 2002 S---(Buster)--(short for gutbuster} Otherwise love it and haven't grinned so much in 15 years sense last older MINI ownership.
6th Gear
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 3,359
Likes: 1
From: New Jersey
>>August 2002 build (Last of the 2002's) nearing 800 Miles and no complaints!. >>This car gets better and better as it nears the tail end of the 1,250 mile break in threshold. Can't wait to get to use the Steptronic and Sport Modes in a permanent basis.
>>
>>
How could you have the car a month and only put on 800 miles??? I put on 700 in under a week and I'm doing everything I can NOT to drive it!!!
Tell me your secret!!!
>>
>>
How could you have the car a month and only put on 800 miles??? I put on 700 in under a week and I'm doing everything I can NOT to drive it!!!
Tell me your secret!!!
6th Gear
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 3,359
Likes: 1
From: New Jersey
>>>> but the comfort of the seats alone are almost worth it...mini definitely needs to address the seat issue which are not very well engineered, at least the 2002, maybe they have already improved them for 2003 because the tech at mini told me they were considering improving them...he even told me he hated his seats in his mini because they gave him back pains>>>>
Is this from Nolan??? Are the seats bad, in your opinion, in the MINI? You must have the leatherette b/c the leather seats are unbelieveably comfortable. I could sit in them all day (and I practically have!). These leather sports seats are the most comfortable seats I've ever sat in and that includes 3 series BMWs! To each his/her own, I guess...
Is this from Nolan??? Are the seats bad, in your opinion, in the MINI? You must have the leatherette b/c the leather seats are unbelieveably comfortable. I could sit in them all day (and I practically have!). These leather sports seats are the most comfortable seats I've ever sat in and that includes 3 series BMWs! To each his/her own, I guess...
6th Gear
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 3,359
Likes: 1
From: New Jersey
>>Also forgot which was pretty cool...the conversion place also told me they could easily convert the mesh screen under the sunroofs to ones that were solid...another short sided design feature by mini IMO....>>>
AM I the ONLY one that likes the screen on the sunroof??? I like that my car is very bright inside. I ALWAYS have the sunroof open (w/o the screen) if it is not pouring - even in drizzles. But the screen is PERFECT for drive-in movies which my wife and I enjoy! THis way you get fresh air and a bit of a breeze w/o the bugs!
I love it and wouldn't trade it! Plus wouldn't a solid screen on a roll (which would have to be the case b/c of the dual pane sunroof) look and feel pretty cheezy? I mean wouldn't it tend to flap around in the wind????
AM I the ONLY one that likes the screen on the sunroof??? I like that my car is very bright inside. I ALWAYS have the sunroof open (w/o the screen) if it is not pouring - even in drizzles. But the screen is PERFECT for drive-in movies which my wife and I enjoy! THis way you get fresh air and a bit of a breeze w/o the bugs!
I love it and wouldn't trade it! Plus wouldn't a solid screen on a roll (which would have to be the case b/c of the dual pane sunroof) look and feel pretty cheezy? I mean wouldn't it tend to flap around in the wind????
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