I agree about the door handles. Aside from being awkward to operate, they feel somewhat tinny in your hand. They feel like they could snap off if you pull too quickly. The outer door handles, by comparison, feel solid and substantial.

I opted to NOT get the premium package for the reason you stated; the sunscreen doesn't provide adequate blockage. But as a wise poster mentioned, you can always apply limo tint to the inside. Darn it! Wish I thought of that! At the time of my test drive, I felt like my brain was getting baked and that was with the screen pulled shut! As for the auto A/C, the problem you described with regulating fan speed reminds me of the setup in my Audi A4. It never seemed to find a happy medium; I would need to coax the "auto" A/C into doing what I wanted! (I know, I'm soo lazy. )

Aside from some body and finish issues I've had, I love the car. The little surprises in the car keep me smiling.

 

Add on one more thing about the MINI that I hope they change before I'm ready to buy another new one.

 

The reason there is an AC (snowflake) button is so you can turn off the compressor and just have cool outside air come in (set temp to LO). When the AC light is on all air is filtered before it comes in, then cooled or heated depending on the temp setting.
My sunroof makes no noise.
In AZ many tint the sunroof. Some place a total blocker between the glass and the shade (like the windshield blockers everybody in Phx uses in parking lots).
My wipers are fine at 17 months.
My door handles don't creak.
You can remove the rubber grabbers from the cupholders easily. I think they're in as good a place as they can be given the small console. Big cups can get in the way of the shifter sometimes.

 

Well, as for #2 - I'm sure you've seen some of the other threads (or you ought to)...you might want to look into heavier tinting for the sunroof. Many of the graphics (if you are so disposed) are both creative and effective for sunblock. The only drawback that has prevented me from doing it (although my heat isn't like AZ!) is the "life" term of the graphics -- they can range from only 3-8 yrs. But anyway...Tinting may help!

 

True... but if the life of the vinyl is important to you, stay away from the perforated vinyl and go with the full vinyl as it's life span is about twice as long.

 

Ok I'll make a comparison.
1995 Acura Integra GSR 1.8, 170 HP, 5 speed manual
Owned from 1998 to 2000

1). Sunroof was not that loud but entire car was loud at anything over 70 MPH. Engine turned 3500 rpm@70mph. Made a very loud tiring car on the highway.

2). Sunroof had a solid shade but never used it. I thought the whole idea of having a sunroof was so the sun could shine in. Current Mini does not have a sunroof.

3). Can't remember about the interior door handle but entire interior consisted of very cheap plastic. The interior was very bland, all black does not even compare to the Mini.

4). No auto AC and Mini doesn't have it either because I don't like auto AC.

5). As for windshield wipers? Could not even drive this car in anything over a mist unless I was wearing sandals as water leaked from the top of the cowl soaking my feet.

6). No boot sensor.

7). No cup holders.

8). No interior mood lighting. In fact very little interior lighting at all. Dome lamp and map lamps, no glove compartment lamp, no lamps under the dash, no lamps under the doors, no lamp in rear hatch.

9). No spectacular stereo in fact none in any car I've owned whether upgraded or not in anything stock.

10). No on board computer.

And FYI in 1998 I looked into buying this car new. The price was $25,000+, the Mini cost me $22,000 in 07.

 

Cybergypsy, everyone knows you hate the sunroof. Kudos to you for buying what you wanted. As a new MINI owner, I'm sure that you have more constructive things you could add to this thread. Maybe you could try talking about the options that you actually purchased?

 

I test drove several Mini's before buying one and I noticed the cheap feeling handles, the noisy sun roof and lack of a "real shade", crappy stereo, and smallish cup holders. But before I bought the car I decided what I could and could not live with and in the end the sun roof was my only big problem, so I didn't get that option. Nothing else bugs me anymore because I knew what I was getting before I got the car... Except maybe the crappy wipers that work better after using Rain X. So what I'm saying is, people need to go to a dealership and spend lots of time in a Mini before buying it. Play with everything, drive it and get a feel for it and decide if things like cheap feeling door handles are a deal breaker or not.

 

I wish I could set the display to show the MPH in the upper and the remaining range in the lower.

 

+1...so I have no real complaints.

 

Glad I didn't get the sunroof.
Haven't noticed that.

My take on the Auto AC: Mostly I leave it on auto at 72 and don't worry about it.

Sometimes, it is cool outside, but hot inside (from the sun) so I will turn the snowflake button off to save gas.

Sometimes I'll just turn up the temp when I want it a little warmer.

Sometimes I want to control it all myself so I turn the temp down below the outside temp (readout on tach), and adjust the fan setting on the left. This turns Auto off. I may then use on of the buttons on the right to direct all air at the dash vents.

You might consider one of the windshield treatments, such as RainX, and aftermarket wipers.

I suspect this can be adjusted. Talk to your SA about it. I know that the boot latch can be adjusted.

I don't drink and drive, but I can see how it would be tight with a large cup there. I prefer to use that spot for music.

I mostly ignore it.

I hear you. The stock speakers suck, and MINI did a few strange things such as filtering all the bass out of the rear speakers. Since the rears are the largest speakers, this is a very odd thing to have done.

I replaced all the speakers and have just ordered a Boss Bass600 sub to make up for the lost bass.

If you have the NAV or Bluetooth, there are voice commands for this.

I have the time and outside temp always displayed on the tach. I use a ScanGuageII to display coolant temp, mph, mpg, and boost (MAP). It has four readouts. You choose what it displays from the OBC. Some of the other choices are voltage, rpm, engine load, ignition timing, air intake temp...

I'm sure there are several that I wont remember until after I submit this reply.
11) I wish the car were quieter. I don't mean engine noise. It is the tire noise that annoys me.

12) I wish the steering wheel spokes were more favorable to a 9:00/3:00 position, instead of forcing the mid-20th Century 10:00/2:00 position.

13) I wish iPod Integration (secret compartment) was a factory installed option. Having to pay a dealer over $600 for it is a bit much.

14) I wish the rearview mirror did not block the view so much. I'm also not that enamored with the oval shape.

 

Yeah! That bothered me a lot too. As a tall guy, 6' 8", I'd go so far as to say the rear view mirror created a blind spot!

I haven't bought mine yet, so I can't really comment any further.

 

No. And it stinks that Mini won't make it available on the Clubman either. My last car had battery problems. The one before that had water temperature issues. I can't believe they don't find it important information. I find it important. Quick question to ask yourself: do you want to find out early that you might have engine problems or wait until that dreaded light comes on and have to hit the dealer repair garage in, oh, 24 hours or you'll really be in the gutter?

 

I just realized, that cupholders are seriously being discussed as a problem with a car...

 

Cupholders topped the list on the JD Powers Survey complaint list

All I did was to move one of the front 'rubber holder & retainer ring's>> to the rear cup holder and they are perfect now

 

Here's my complaints on a 2005 Audi A8L:

1) The front passenger door makes a sort of creeking noise opening and closing.

2) The power door close assist does not always work, which sounds like a lame complaint...but either work or don't work...I can't stand something that works only sometimes!

3) The remote range is terrible. When I try to open the trunk it does not work until I am about 5 feet from the car. Then I have to stand there and wait for the trunk to motor all the way open (about 10 seconds or more). This is with a brand new remote with a new battery.

4) The "smart key" does not always work when i press the button on the door handle to lock the car. Sometimes I have to go back and press it again, and if that doesnt work then I have to take the key out of my pocket and press the lock button. Again, this sounds silly, but it is really annoying.

5) The radar cruise control apparently sees a "ghost" about once a month and slams on the brakes accompanied by a loud warning beeper for about 2 seconds, then goes back to normal. This is perhaps the most annoying thing and would definitely be number one if it happened more often.

6) A simple oil/filter change costs $165.

7) The driver info display has a mind of its own...sometimes it shows trip computer, sometimes the radar cruise display, and sometimes the radio station list. This isn't supposed to happen unless I am toggling through the screens with a button press.

8) The radio preset system in the MMI is simply horrible. So horrible that I never use them. To switch XM stations, I simply turn the **** a certain number of times to get to the next desired station.

9) Cupholders are horrid. They are very small and shallow for the front seats, and located directly behind the switch controls for the MMI system. If you spill a drink on these you would not even be able to start the car. This has made me enforce a "no drinks" rule which gets me really strange looks from first time passengers.

10) Electronic parking brake is really cool, but about once a month it goes through some kind of auto-adjust routine. This means that when you exit the car it starts making some crazy mechanical noise from the rear brakes. Gets you some funny looks if anyone is around to witness this.

11) Power trunk open and close is nice, except you have to remember to warn anyone and everyone about it. If the hotel valet tries to slam your trunk closed then it will probably break and send you to the dealer for yet another fix.

12) Rear seats don't fold down because they have power lumbar adjust. Sounds cool for passengers, but really limits your cargo carrying capacity. I'll be able to fit more in the MINI when the need arises.

 

Most Auto A/C systems have this, you just may not know it. In other german cars, there is an ECON button that turns the compressor off. IMO, the compressor should always be on, even in the winter time because it dehumidifies the air, when necessary.

So in the MINI just set the temp, make sure the snowflake is on, and go motoring. The car will use the compressor when necessary to make sure the inside air is at the correct tempurature and humidity.

 

So, for Auto AC mode, even when the snowflake light is on the compressor may not be running? Interesting, and if true then I would feel a lot better just setting it and forgetting it.

 

Yes, with the snowflake on the compressor can run (or not, depending on the temp setting/outside temp, etc). The way the manual explains it is that with it on the incoming air is filtered all the time. With it off the compressor is, of course, not running. I do that when it's, say, 60 degrees outside and warmer inside (sun) and set the temp to LO to have cooler air flow at me and not run the compressor to save gas.

 

Gotcha, thanks . The Auto AC just became a heck of a lot more useful now that I know how it works.

 

I have to agree with the creaks and rattling

Some other stuff I don't like:

- auto headlight sometimes doesn't remember to shut off after getting out of tunnels
- comfort access is iffy

- dents (not a fault of MINI but of stupid people who don't car about other people's cars)
- curbs (due to my stupidity)

 

I have a few examples of my own but I'll ask you another question as well; what are you comparing the Mini to when you say that the car is expensive? A Kia or Hyundai? I've looked at multiple brands and Mini's are in no way "so expensive". Even a Toyota Camry starts above 20k. Let's not even compare it to Audi's and Saabs.

 

My problem is I get a chubby everytime I go for a drive hell who needs viagra. I feel like I'm 18 all over again :-) and it's really embarrassing Sunday morning going to church with my wife and kids.
Anyhoo yes I get the boot not being shut and the occasional window going down when I'm trying to close it. I have the stock stereo and love it and have heard other people saying that they have found that they actually prefer the stock cause it has better sound.

 

I haven't heard that one!