I just picked up J'Mini Cricket (Chili Red) and am smitten. The best car I've ever driven. However, i am noticing some very annoying problems:

1) No intermittent wiper blade speed. On Sunday it was mild drizzle and I found the blades to only have 2 speeds. I could only manually press down to wipe away the mist. It's very tediously to do so. The manual makes it seem as thought here's 3 speeds. ?

2) Also, someone please tell me that the newfangled turn signal will eventually be second nature. I'm not loving it.

3) Serious regret with not ordering the premium sound package. THis one blows, as it's speakers are positioned by your kneecaps, not your ears. My 1998 Civic had a better stock system than this one. Can I get the HK system installed aftermarket?

Any advice out there.

 

Another issue, too:
- Cannot open boot while car is on without turning car off.

 

1) Try tapping the little button on the tip of the wiper stalk; that should activate the intermittent function. Pretty cool as it's speed sensitive on MINI's without the rain sensor.

2) Definitely will be. I had some trouble with it at first as well. And it only annoyed me more so that my MA swore I'd come to love it. However, I truly have. The 'tap to signal' feature especially is such a convenience.

3) Well the one good thing I can say about the base system is that you can upgrade it without having to worry too much. With the HiFi upgrade, messing with the amp can actually end up damaging the entire electrical system and voiding your warranty.

4) That's strange, I certainly can. Just unlock the doors, which will simultaneously unlock the boot, and you press the button under the handle to open it. If you mean that you can't 'pop' the boot while the car is on, IMO following the above method is just as easy.

Congrats!!! Even with the slight annoyances I'm glad to hear your enjoying it. I say it gives the MINI character.

 

The HIFI upgrade just adds an amp and some tweeters. The HIFI speakers are in the same location as standard and are not very good. With the HIFI you still need to swap out all the speakers to make it decent.

So, you have $500 to put towards an audio upgrade. Be sure to go with a place that has an good reputation and stands behind their work. If they don't know what they are doing they can cause serious damage to the computer system.

 

i have the auto wipers so cant help you with number one

YOU WILL LIKE THE TURN STALK!! just give it a couple weeks of driving... once you get the hang of it... other cars will seem dumb and odd to you

i have the stock system as well, from what ive heard, the HiFi aint much better... think of it this way, you saved money toward a real sound system (after market is the way to go here)

that i cant help you with as i dont have that problem.. maybe the doors are locked?

 

My R56 MC doesn't have auto sensing wipers, and also doesn't have the little button on the end.

From off:The one thing I don't care for is the rear intermittent. Too frequent. But I have noticed if the rear wiper is "on" it switches from intermittent to full time if you put the car in reverse, and, in like manner, if the front wipers are on full time they switch to intermittent if your speed drops to 0 mph.

 

I have the HI FI stereo and am actually pretty happy with it.

I had a Dodge Cummins Turbo Diesel that had a 1200 watt system that was built/installed by the same guy that did Leanne Rhymes (sp?) Porsche and Land Rover systems in L.A. - and spared no expense. This certainly does not compare to that, but for such a small car - and the fact that I prefer to keep the interior clean and stock looking, it produces a decent sound. Furthermore, the road-noise that these cars have inherently built in to them would really negate a true audiophile's attempt at getting "perfect" sound. One would need to gut the interior and laydown some serious Dynomat Extreme to get the benefit of an expensive stereo upgrade. JMHO, YMMV.

 

You'll get used to it and like the features.

 

If you unlock the doors the boot should open by depressing the button underneath the center of the boot handle.

 

Thanks guys. I stupidly didn't know there was a boot button.

I will need to see if I can get the wipers to work better.

The turn signal is just weird... I think the hardest thing to get used to is that one needs to turn it back the opposite way to deactivate it.

I think the stereo's biggest flaw is that the speakers in the front are not positioned towards your head. The other little qualm is that my little iPod shuffle through the AUX input sounds really muddy and low.. even with the volume on the iPod turned up. That was a disappointment. The CD and Radio have much more kick.

That being said... I LOVE THE MINI. Most friends just think it's cute, and silly. I can;t seem to convey just how powerful the MC5 is. You know what? who cares??? We all know the power of the Cooper.

I really love the MC support community, too. It's really great. Thank you.

I need to post pictures of delivery day.

 

I have the HI-FI and this is my son's complaint. I myself am still happy with my CD collection. When my son co-pilots I let him have go at it with his tunes. He enjoys being able to use is iPod in the Mini. Even when he uses the volume from the iPod itself, it's lacking the kick for sure. Wait until you unplug it without turning down the core system. Instant hair raiser!!!

 

Actually you don't have to push the turn stalk the opposite, but it works as well. You can push the stalk the same direction until the first bump and the signal will stop as well.

 

Try using a cord like this that goes from your iPod docking plug to the AUX instead of using the headphone jack. This makes a big difference in sound quality.

http://www.provantage.com/cables-go-35508~7CBTY00H.htm

 

About the Aux and the Ipods, the sound is always going to be a bit lower when connecting an item through an aux jack. I have an Ipod Nano, and it sounds ok. But I recently bought a Creative Zen player and the sound is much, much better on it. Even with the headphones compared to the Nano. I really don't think the issue is so much with the Mini's aux jack as it is with Apple's tech.

 

I agree the iPod is lower in volume, but this cord makes the actual sound a bit clearer. Which does have the effect of seemingly better volume. Kinda.

 

Oh, I think you're right. Headphone jacks generally don't offer the clearest connection.

 

mines kinda off to the right... and it's really hard to hit the button... i have one of those customizable lisence plate frames and it's kinda think so it's hard to get to the button... i've decided i'm going to install a pull handle thingy (kinda like the pull to inflate handle on parachutes) on the manual pull undeath the back seats... that way it sticks out and is easy to get to...

 

While ive only had my mini for about a month ive got to say that if you're ever clicking the turn signal in the opposite direction you're doing something wrong.

A soft tap to the directional will get it to blink 3 times then turn off automatically. For use when changing lanes.

A hard (normal) tap of the directional will get it to function like any other unit. It blinks until you make a turn which will automatically shut it off.

If anyone has been giving it a "normal" tap to just change lanes I can imagine how you would hate the system.

 

You may be able to raise the volume on the Ipod. If you have it plugged in thru the AUX port, that is. Hit the music note on the radio controls and scroll all the way to the right. You can adjust the volume output up pretty good.

 

Yes the aux volume you mention does seem to make a difference.

 

dont worry about the turn signals. you will get use to it. took me about a month before i could figure it out, but now its second nature

 

MINI's are awesome driving machines...

 

100% satisfied customer right here.

 

It took me some time to get use to the Mini way too. It's true that other car's controls will seem silly once you get use to the Mini.

 

not a Mini or Ipod problem, cd's ripped with iTunes generally don't sound too good regardless of the bitrate (although higher 192+ rates are better then the default 128). If you want to get the most out of your ipod, try an alternative ripper like LAME. You can get an iTunes plugin encoder at www.blacktree.com

Some good quality speakers can make all the difference regardless of where they're pointed. I have a very similar setup to the stock Mini in my little Suzuki Swift, with some premium MA speakers, amps under the seats, & a pair of 10's in a fiberglass spare tire enclosure I built... It might not win any serious competitions, but even the most serious audiophiles give it a thumbs up.
I 've seen a number of similarly designed sub-boxes for the R56 already kicking around modifications-interior section.