On my 2010 MCS with Comfort Access ,,,if you do happen to close the hatch with your key/fob inside, the hatch will unlock itself.

 

Really great stuff here! So much to read and so much to absorb. Wow, y'all rock! We are in love with our new MC and really look forward to years of driving fun. This has to be the best car ever. I came here to find out how to level the headlights. I am so very glad to have found this place.

 

If you have Xenon headlights, they level themselves automatically.

 

^^^ X2 - when I first started driving mine I thought they were a little low, but then realized what they actually light up, I was good - I think it's the combination of the sharp top cut-off and the whiter color...

Enjoy!

 

Thanks Rennie!! The last two mornings, the weather has been cold here in Northern Indiana and, sure enough, when I got in to start the car, it flashed and chimed at me. I couldn't figure it out (read the manual, I couldn't find it referenced in there), so I called the MINI dealer. First they asked me if I had recently had an accident...??!!!??? When I said NO, they told me I'd have to bring the car in to have it checked out. I even asked them if it could possibly be due to the fact that it was very cold out. They said NO. LOL! I thought to myself, that's fine, but FIRST I'm gonna search the NAM forum for a clue. This site is the BEST!!

 

It chimes at 37 because there is a possibility that the ground T is lower (i.e, freezing) than the T at which the MINI's thermometer is at (a foot or so above the ground).

 

Also, to clarify what a gazilliion "BRIDGE FREEZES BEFORE ROAD" signs are trying to get across:

Bridges will freeze at temperatures above 32 degrees under certain fairly common conditions. Evaporative cooling will chill the bridge below ambient air temperature if there's any breeze and the bridge is wet and the air is not at 100% humidity.

HTH!

C ya,
Dutch

 

Somewhere I read that the freezing temp alarm chimes at 3 degrees Celcius.
Since the freezing point on this scale is zero, it gives a small notice before you have to be alert for the non MINI drivers spinning.

 

BMW has been chiming at 37 degrees since the 80's. At that temp, black ice is possible.

 

Oh, the dreaded ding. Winter is back.

 

I live in AZ. I hear no ding.

EDIT:
Of course, after stating this, we got a cold spell of nearly unprecedented proportions (it even got down to 29 degrees one morning over the weekend) and on the way back from Wallyworld, I got in the car, sparked it up, and almost immediately it blinks 37 degrees at me while dinging away....

 

Go to Flagstaff, plenty of dings there. (Still AZ)
Went to school at NAU, had over 100 inches of snow each of the years I went there.

 

Sillycon Valley . . . a few dings, but no snow!

 

My dad is in Phoenix. I seem to remember watching all the tail lights on Fridays as the population escaped to the cool of the north. Then the Sunday night trail of headlights coming back for work the next day.

I preferred Christmas in Orlando. No dings there either.

 

Outbackbob, I have a Clubman and tested your theory. I opened one barn door and locked the front doors. I put the keys in the house and closed the barn door. It locked! So Clubman owners, beware!

 

If you have comfort access and turn on the accessories by pushing the start button without engaging the brake or clutch, it will stay on until you turn it off or your battery goes dead.

At least that is what appeared to happen to me when I used the accessory outlet in the boot, then walked away without hitting the start button to cut power. Dead battery the next morning.

 

If you flick your high beams with the keys to the 1st position, your xenons come on (if equipped). I have an 04 MCS.

--- update ---

Actually, xenons or not, with keys in ignition or not, your low beams will stay on if you flick you high beam stalk.

 

I live in flagstaff, and every time i turn on the car I hear the ding.

 

When my Mini goes from daylight into a tunnel or under a bridge, the dashboard lights automatically increase in intensity. I don't have automatic headlights.
When beams of bright sunlight shine onto the tachometer from directly behind, the display appears to turn from emitted orange light to reflected silver allowing the characters to be easily read even in direct, intense sunlight.

 

If you leave someone in the car, and lock the doors with the key/fob, they CAN'T get out!!!! I thought my wife was kidding when she said she was angry because I locked her in....but I tried it and it was TRUE!!! Why is that??? Very dangerous!!

 

True, if you're not expecting it, it can be dangerous. But, if (heaven forbid ) you come out to your car at night, hit the unlock button as you are walking up, and the interior lights fade up and illuminate someone who doesn't belong in there, you can hit the lock button and lock 'em in until the fuzz arrives, or at least until you can get your .44 Magnum (for some things, bigger is better....) out and trained on the perp....

C ya,
Dutch

 

Now wait a minute. A double pull on the interior door handle should get them out. You're saying this is n't true?? I'm on my way to try it.

 

Double pull of the handle will let you out.

 

The middle switch on the panel will also unlock all the doors from the inside.