Now that I got my Internet connection back I was finaly able to check this post. Lots of wonderful comments and some good posts! I can certainly say there are a lot of great suggestions! And it is nice to see others have similar complaints so I know I am not crazy.

I keep my dashboard lights low so I will try to brighten those and see how it affects the mood lighting. Never thought of that!

Going to Limo Tint the sunroof, get new wiper blades, and try adjusting the bumpers on the boot. Will talk to my MA about the noise from the roof though. That does bother the crap out of me.

Dont get me wrong, a couple of people seemed pissy about my complaint list but as I tried to say in the begining, they are just things I have noticed. I am not upset about any of these items really. Just things I would change if I could.

I honestly love this car! I can't wait to drive it to work and home everyday! I love the feel of it on the road, I do love the mood lighting! I love the way I feel when I sink into the sport seats. It turns on a dime almost as if it is anticipating my turn for me. I love the roof open, windows down, and some great tunes blaring from the stereo. I will certainly buy another when this one is paid off :-)

 

I am finalizing my order right now and I went into the dealer to "test drive" the stock and upgraded hi-fi system. I must say that in IMHO I preferred the sound of the stock system (which doesn't mean it doesn't have room for improvement). Specifically, the upgraded system sounded overly processed to me. Kind of like hitting "boost" on a cheap boombox. The quality of the midrange also deteriorated. FYI - I listened to the radios on an FM station, but it was a pretty clear/strong broadcast.

I am a musician and have a passion for music gear. My home setup includes Denon, Vienna Acoustics, and Rotel gear....

With that said, music sound is a very personal thing...that's why they make a bass and treble dial

Just my 2 cents...

 

You cannot be serious? The Auto A/C in the Mini works just like it does in my Lexus, only better! It also automatically switches to the charcoal air filter when needed to filter out unwanted odors from outside (you have to enable this feature as it is off by default)..

It is fully automatic just like every other automatic A/C system I have ever seen. It has controls to allow you to run it manually as well, if you so chose. It also has a button to allow you to disable the A/C compressor and still leave it in auto mode when the A/C compressor is not really needed, helping boost gas mileage.

No other car turns off the A/C compressor when heat is on, for example, or when the ambient air really dictates the compressor is not needed.

 

I solved my sun roof heat and too much light issues on two minis that I have owned. On the first Mini I went down to the fabric shop and purchased a yard of movie screen material, cut it the size of the sliding shade and inserted it shinny side up above the shade. I just removed it whenever I wanted to use the sun roof. On my 2008 S I had the darkest ceramic window tint installed in the sun roof. It works great, blocks the bright sun and reduces the amount of heat entering the cabin. Pinnacle brand tint is what I used.

 

Had my car just 2 weeks now and haven't noticed any noise from the sunroof while it's closed. Now when it's open, that's another thing entirely.

I do sort of agree with you that the inside door handles feel a bit "creaky" and that the cup holders/toggle location is a bit awkward if you have anything in the cup holders and want window access.

But I didn't realize how much I'd totally fallen in love with this car until I had to drive my 99 VW to get smog-checked today for its sale on Saturday (yay), first time in almost 2 weeks, and boy does that thing feel flabby! Auto tranny? Bo-ring! Handling? Yawn. It even smelled weird - like it wasn't my car anymore.

 

After three weeks, I'm loving Minnie more than I did when I picked her up at the dealer. I have only one complaint - the cupholders. So ... how do you remove the rubber grabbers?

No sunroof - had one in my last car and regretted it everyday.

 

Acura Automatic Climate control is true automatic climate control system. It turns on the AC when needed. Of course you can turn it off. But when it is hot the car will turn it on unlike in a BMW/MINI where you have to push the A/C on. Otherwise, BMW/MINI will blow hot air into the cabin full blast!

 

How does one enable that feature?

personally I hate the Auto AC but it came w/ my package...I usually set it myself b/c if I set it to auto it's always too hot or too cool anyway and I'm adjusting the temperature....same thing right?

 

I believe Skuzzy is talking about the button directly underneath the Auto switch (the one with the car symbol). The button has two modes, one that recirculates the cabin air only and one that uses a combination of fresh air and recirculated air (denoted by the "A" over the symbol of the car).

According to the manual, in A or Auto mode "a sensor detects pollutants in the outside air. If necessary, the system blocks the supply of outside air and recirculates the inside air. As soon as the concentration of pollutants in the outside air has decreased sufficiently, the system automatically switches back to outside air supply."

Having this Auto Mode is the best thing about the Auto AC, you can just set it and forget it, basically and have fresh air come in without worrying about the possibility of stinky outdoor air coming in (and let me tell ya Jersey has its fair share of it).

 

Yep DrewN, that is it. A very cool feature. Just note the charcoal filter lasts only about a year, it seems.

 

Really? Mine works perfectly and I have only changed the temp once so far. I have not had my car that long, but I have been in many different ambient conditions. If yours really isn't keeping the same interior temps then I would have it checked by your service guys.

 

The four cup grabbers are part of a rubber ring.

Atop this rubber ring is another plastic retainer ring which has four tabs that line up below the grabber semi-circles
and insert about 1mm into matching slots in the outer portion of the cup holder.

I slipped one of those out from one of the front two cup holders and put in in the rear cupholder to hold the ashtray/coin holder.
Rear cupholder does not contain the 'slots' but push it down evenly and it fits fine.

Charcoal for the 'Auto-Air' and a regular filter on Manual-Air.

They look the same size, so should be interchangable, would expect filter to be used for recirculated as well as fresh air.

BTW 'recirculate' had been limited (by mandate) to maximum cooling only, due to risk from contaminated
(like CO or passed wind) air within the vehicle.

Common sense should tell you that having several people breath the same air in as confined space as a MINI
will deplete the Oxygen content over time.

 

Thanks Pilotart! I'll try it as soon as I get home.

Excellent! It worked - it's perfect! Who said no car was perfect?

 

Hey Bohica,

If you grocery shop at Fry's they have some great coffee mugs that fit the holders perfectly. They are 16 oz.- blue ones with a small base and larger upper section. The base is snug and the top stays out of the switch panel. I bought several.

As for the sunroof, I experience some wind noise as well at highway speed but it's not enough to bother me. If I barely crack the roof open on tilt it resolves the noise. As for the shade- being a thinning hair Phoenician myself, I usually wear a hat when I drive.

Robin C.- That's a very righteous iPod holder!

 

I would not know as I never force recirculate. The auto A/C will do it only when the internal ambient is a certain degrees apart from the external ambient.

The charcoal filter is not used in recirculation. It is only used for fresh air and only if you turn it on or set the system to automatically use it as needed.

It is a pretty well thought out system.

 

I don't think my AC doesn't work or hold a temp, I just am not a fan of the auto AC - if I set 71 i'm too warm - 70 too cold etc...kinda like that.

At least I know what the A means now. I knew the snowflake was AC -

 

How do you tell when it needs replacing. Mine hasn't been replaced and is one year four months old. Perhaps you have more dust than I do?

 

The seat belt gets caught between the door & the seat, very annoying... but I just learned to live with it. I now buckle up first while the door is still open.

 

Check this out from another thread. Credit goes to richs10

 

You are right, that seat belt thing is really annoying...

I first used that plastic slide and it works generally better. I had to buy the Mini belt holder. It is a cheap piece of plastic but if you are careful, it works quite well. I have CG-Locks which are heavy and gets stuck.

 

You think that's bad? My 2000 Intrepid has front pillars so thick that they can conceal a Mini if it's about 75 feet away. NOT good at all. I have to always look around it at intersections to make sure it's not blocking my view of any cars.
And the interior? The plastic is soooo crummy and cheap that I've had to replace the liners at a cost of $350!
And the BACK of the instrument panel fogs up in cold weather making it hard to read!
The center armrest can move left or right two inches because it's made from flimsy materials
The lighting on the left side of the instrument panel burned out prematurely so I can't see the fuel gauge or tachometer at night! I'll have to crack it open and replace it! THAT should never happen but then, no wonder Daimler-Chrysler is losing money faster than the national budget deficit!

 

[[/quote]

Thanks DrewN, I'll give that a try next time.

 

Started to get tale-tale signs of odors from outside getting into Romi after about a year. Diesel fumes are really starting to get bad lately. I am going to check into it at her next visit to the dealer.

 

Not a good idea for cold climates incase you forget about it come winter!!

 

The distilled water trick is an oldie but goodie used that in a couple of other cars but as licoopr says dont forget about winter, did that too and had to replace a cracked plastic tank......