Some of us have to drive for hours to get to the nearest MINI dealership. So much for the exciting 3 year free service. And god forbid something would happen to the car - then it has to be towed for hours to get fixed.

I suggest that we all put pressure on BMW to have MINIs serviced and repaired at all BMW dealerships ASAP! It certainly will help to sell the car to those of us who dread the inconvenience of long-distance dealings with the dealers. (I already have mine, but some of my friends are hesitating for this reason)

What do you all think? And does anyone know if and when it might happen

 

Very good point! And one that I'm right behind you on.
The closest dealer to me is over 150 miles away. It won't keep me from getting my MINI but It sure would be nice if I could get it serviced locally.
One thing we can do is email miniusa. Another would be to start a petition. Don't know that it would help much but it would be worth a shot.
SW

 

Has everyone been told by their dealer that they can only get authorized service from them ? I was kind of hoping that the BMW Dealerships could do the service. My local BMW Dealer happens to be the dealer that I bought my current car from and would be very convienent. :???:

 

Jimbo,
Welcome to the site.....

As of right now the only authorized mechanics are those at a MINI dealership.

SW

 

my dealer told me that for oil changes, you could get it done anywhere, as long as you used BMW long life oil, or Mobil Formula 1 synthetic... Hell, you could even do it yourself if you don't mind getting a little dirty... all other repairs however must be done by an authorised BMW Mini Dealership...

 

Greetings all. I'm new to the scene. Make a long story short, this topic subject has come up not only with myself, but others like friends, family and g/f. I live (Kelowna, BC)about 500km's from the nearest MINI dealer (Richmond,BC)or BMW dealer. I test drove the Cooper 'S' last weekend. Damn fine ride there. Goes like snot. Pretty fast snot, btw. Anywho, the only thing that is holding me back from ordering it, is due to the fact that the dealer is so far away when it comes to repairs/service/recall parts, etc. But they actually said that if the car is not driveable, they'd send for AND pay for a truck to tow it back to the dealer for repairs. But, I'd have to pick it up or pay to have it towed back. In a way that's cool, but then again, I'll be flying out and driving back more than I'd like to if something goes wrong.

So I guess after all of this, what I'm getting to, is asking how many problems are there with the new Cooper 'S'. Any major reports from other owners? Any list of TSB's, recalls, etc? I just want to know what I'm getting myself into. If the chances of problems are slim and/or few, I may just say the He!! with it, and get the MINI anyways.

I just sold my Lightning as said in my sig (if it works). Got into wayyyy too much trouble with that beast. A lot of tickets, points payouts, suspension of license, probation, etc. This Cooper 'S' is a border line trouble maker. Well, less than the Lightning anyways. So it should do the trick, in providing a stylish ride with a bit of fun mixed in, and not too much crazy power to tempt the devil inside.

Thanx all for you time. I'll have to keep on searching through this forum to get some more goodies on what this MINI is all about.

 

This is definately something to take into consideration if you're going to lease a mini. Considering your mileage allowance is so thin, you'd hate to eat up 300 miles on a roundtrip to the dealer...