I've been driving a 2003 Mini Cooper S since May. I like to think of myself as being somewhat mechanically inclined, but I still have a terrible time finding the horn buttons, especially in a panic situation. It's even more difficult when the steering wheel is in any kind of turned position. Any tips from those who have been able to get used to it? I guess the previous owner had the same trouble, from the slight dent in the airbag cap in the wheel's hub.

 

Nothing you can really do.... I've wanted to hit my horn before, but didn't want to take my hands off of the steering wheel and try to hit it.

-Cody

 

Don't know where you live, but my suggestion is drive to NYC, drive around downtown about luchtime for a couple of hours. You'll have the horn thing down in less then a hour, no problem

 

For real, the last time I went home to the Midwest, my mother commented on my quick "horn trigger finger". I told her it was thanks to lots of practice, and almost like a reflex now!

 

Hilarious! So true!

 

Any chance if you get the newer steering wheel will the wiring allow the horn button to move?

 

*Sigh* This is one of my little pet peeves about the MINI.
I also always miss hitting the horn buttons in panic situations. I find that if you do a sideways karate chop at it, you can often hit it with the ridge of your hand. Give it a shot!!

 

Try to keep your hands in the 9 and 3 position (don't shuffle turn) and you should be able to hit the horn with your thumb or the palm of your hand with no problems. Took me a while to get the hang of it, but it is easy now.

 

mine is in the center haha. did the earlier models actually have a button?

 

The horn button(s) are the main reason that I was planning to order the 3 spoke wheel on my MINI, but they made the 3 spoke standard before I put my order in. The MINI 2 spoke wheel isn't the worst horn button out there...anyone remember when one of Ford's Better Ideas was to put the horn button on the end of the blinker stalk?? We had a 78 Ford Fiesta that was set up this way. Gradually, they phased it in across the whole line-up.

Rawhyde

 

That's the funniest mental image ever. I'm sure I would break the turn signal stalk clear off in no time!

 

I hit the raised ring around the emblem. A lot easier.

 

Yeah.... I loved my 78 Fiesta, Sport model....I gave it up at 130, 000 when the floor fell out....my wife offered that we could keep it as a planter in the backyard but I traded it in

 

Get an air horn/ truck horn and wire it up to a big red button. You can install that on the dash or shift **** for easy locating. Or if you have a spare slot in the toggle bank, put a momentary switch in there that you can easily tap when trouble presents itself. Then do the NY thig to reacclumate yourself to the new button and make sure everything works

 

I had a friend in the railroad that scavenged a set of locomotive horns, and mounted a big air tank in his pick-up truck bed, behind the cab.

People sh*t themselves when he blew that thing in traffic.

 

Actually, to blow the horn you mashed the stalk straight in. Like you would to collapse it if that was possible.

Rawhyde

 

Ford used that method in several cars: Granada, Monarch, T-Bird, Cougar, Lincoln MkVI, Lincoln Versailles etc, well into the early 80s. I think the idea was to use the tip of your finger to press it while holding the wheel. Not good for panic situations at all!

 

I had a TR-6 some years ago whose horn switch kept burning out so I got into the habit of yelling "beep-beep" when the top was down, which was pretty much all of the time. Received some odd looks but it actually became second nature. Presently, I'm just happy to have working horn buttons somewhere in the car.

 

I second this suggestion! Give the edge of the central bump a karate chop off-center and the edge of your hand will slide off right on to the horn button.

 

man someone cut right in front of me today on the way to school, guess the guy didnt see me, and I had to slam on the brakes... i never use my horn, it just never comes to my mind haha

 

that same thing happens to me all the time not only with my mini but with my other two cars I've had. When using the horn you need to be very agressive, don't be shy and hit the thing!!!

 

I confess this has never been an irritant because 1) it's better than the last two cars I'd driven and 2) I rarely have to use my horn at all.

 

oh that is so true

 

Since moving to texas I now drive most of the time with both of my thumbs on both of the horn buttons. Especially in traffic when there are cars on either side of me because I never know when the psychos are going to try to merge into me, without any signal. Its as if the yield signs don't mean yield here, they instead mean "speed up, get half-way in front of the the car in front of you and cut them off without using your signal." Yep, both thumbs on both horn buttons is really the way to go.

 

My first car was an 1987 Suzuki Samurai (hard top) whose horn died after about a month of owning it... granted it was about 13 years old when i got it... my second car was a 1994 Jeep Wrangler the horn never worked since the day i got it... so i had an air horn installed with a big red button right above my right knee... that was fun... i also had a PA system under the hood which came in handy when i really need to let the person infront of me know what was on my mind

now with my MCS... i'm just glad the horn works how it's SUPOSED to!