I just picked up my new 09 MCS on Monday and noticed a few things that were different over my 08 MC. Perhaps these are mid-production changes/improvements?

1) The Fluid Silver pieces are completely different from the same found in my 08 MC. The "new" finish is entirely matte and not at all shiny, unlike the prior surfaces that were rather glossy.

2) The door grab handles/armrests are MUCH more solid. On my 08, I was afraid to grab the door handle as it felt very flimsy and creaked when pulled on. The 09 is rock solid.

3) The headrests DO indeed stick out further. Bummer.

Anybody notice these little changes?

 

boy if yrs is tight rock solid then Id hate to see how loose the 08 was, because mine (see sig) kinda describes yr 08. but I come from an R53 where all the construction materials were much more substantial, heavier feeling, inc the door pulls.

Ill have my dealer look into it. tks for the tip!

and the headrest assembly in general is funky; I just push it up a bit. But whatever you do dont buy the MINI (or A/M, which is a mini copy) seat belt holders. One of the worst designed engineered and executed MINI parts ever

 

I checked an 09 out at the dealer this morning, the headrests look really overstuffed. I guess it has about 20mm more padding than the 08, and then I notice the 08 has 20mm more padding than the 07. They're really beefing up the headrest.

 

1) The Fluid Silver pieces are completely different from the same found in my 08 MC. The "new" finish is entirely matte and not at all shiny, unlike the prior surfaces that were rather glossy.
- Probably just way to sell the $250 chrome package.

2) The door grab handles/armrests are MUCH more solid. On my 08, I was afraid to grab the door handle as it felt very flimsy and creaked when pulled on. The 09 is rock solid.
- My '09 door pulls are rock solid. I don't understand what this talk is about?

3) The headrests DO indeed stick out further. Bummer.
- Again, I don't get it? My head rests against the headrest just fine! I'm about 6'0", so maybe this is a "shorty" issue or something? I've read a million complaints for just about everything, but I'm just not seeing it!!!

 

Yeah, you think there's a huge difference between the 08 and 09. It's like a whole different universe from 03 to 09... .

The car is insanely solid. I mean I've had people that have never even ridden in a MINI before make unsolicited comments about the build quality and how feels so much more expensive than it is.

With the headrests... yeah... my fiancé complains about them all the time (especially when she's wearing a pony tail).

 

Having gone from a '08 MCSa to a '09 MCSa:

1. Yes the headrests do stick out a bit further most likely for better head protection but annoying nonetheless.Some have said they turned the headrests around but I got use to it.

2. Missing MINI badge on the engine valve cover unlike the previous year.

3. 10 mph more on the speedo that went from 150 mph to 160 mph in '09.

4. Factory installed heater core wrap on the '09's because the '08's had high heat in the driver footwell while driving and those affected had the new service bulletin issued done.(my '08 couldn't be fixed so a trade assist was done for a new '09)

5. They changed the twin tailpipes (shortened) on the '09 MCS from the '08's due to some people getting burned on them after driving and reaching inside the hatch area when parked.

Aside from those I haven't found anything else at this point.

 

Well that's good news, hopefully other quirks have been fixed as well.

Have the interior materials changed (other than finish) or just better put together?

 

Again, coming from an 05 to an 09: MINI's goal was to make the 2nd gen car lighter and cheaper to produce. as a result, the interior (and some exterior) materials dont feel as substantial as the previous gen cars, carpets, plastics, headliner, etc. time will only tell how these materials hold up. another example are the cloth/leather seats: in my 05 there was a lot more leather than cloth; now it's more cloth with leather accents.

Plus all the felt everywhere....

But cheaper materials dont neccessarily mean sketchy build quality, I mean look at Jaguar, Rover, etc. My 09 seems to be put together better than my 05. had lots of fit/finish issues with that car...

 

One more thing:
My armrest actually stays closed on this one! It securely locks closed with a nice click. On the 08, I would always catch it sliding open.

 

JCR1960,

I think we've had this discussion before, but my 2009 MCSa (I took delivery on September 30) does have the MINI logo on the valve cover. Didn't it have something to do with where the engine was manufactured or something (I don't recall the details)?

 

All the motors come from Hams Hall but they stopped the emblems in sept.'08 was my understanding.

 

well then my 9/25/08 build snuck under the wire, because the emblem is there.

 

Joshua went into production 10/26/08 week & have MINI emblem on the engine.

 

So from my understanding reading the above posts some '09's have the Mini emblem on the valve cover and some don't based on the production dates,right?

 

Ours was completed ~11/29/08 and it has no emblem on the Engine.

 

Wonder if the "emblem-less" cover is a new part to address excess carbon buildup. Found this on the Mini2 Forums:

http://www.mini2.com/forum/2nd-gen-f...ours-back.html

"Took it back in - been there about ten days now - & they have the head off. Found excessive carbon in the cylinders & intake ports due to what they say is a failure of the new engine's original design to properly filter out oil vapor. There's an updated valve cover assembly to fix this apparently."

The Carbon build up thread is here:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...in-engine.html

t

 

Cold start problem is still there with 09: brand new (11/08 built, less than 10 miles on clock) MCS loaner I got from the dealer still have the same nasty cold start problem at 24F Temp . Sounds like a lemon?

 

I don't think you need to slap on the lemon label on your MINI for the cold start death chatter issue alone. If you've perused the 2nd Gen Issues forum, you've seen that there have been a ton of reports of this issue (and NAM only represents one small slice of the MINI community--if you extrapolate the frequency of occurrence reported here on NAM to all MINIs sold, it's hard to say how many more people are experiencing it) but none known as of yet have linked the death chatter to any sort of catastrophic engine failure. Though, a reasonable person has to believe that this issue is indeed reducing the life of the affected engines over the long haul.

The sad news seems to be that MINI has either (1) not incorporated the replacement spring-operated chain tensioner at the factory in build dates as recent as yours; and/or (2) it's not a chain tensioner problem at all and the quality engineers at BMW MINI are still grasping at straws [most likely]. At one time I thought an ECU s/w update was part of the mitigating strategy but I've not heard much about it lately.

 

my JCW'd car is approaching 2100 miles (9/25/08 build), my 0530 mornings at 20 degrees F or lower--I even let it sit for 4 days while we had snow--and the car still starts like the day i bought it.

and one onther thing Ive noticed from 08 to 09: the 09 interior mood lighting is much more subdued than on the 08.

 

Probably doesn't make Nickmini feel any better, but glad you are trouble free.

Though, should point out that mere cold temps, long periods of inactivity, parking on a slope, etc. do not always lead to the cold start death rattle. Rather, it is often observed after a period of inactivity following a short period of engine operation when it has not been allowed to come up to full temperature. Many of the afflicted report it the morning after they've backed their MINI out of the garage for a wash. I think GeorgeM3768 encapsulated it well here:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post2624674

Back on topic, if MINIs with build dates as recent as two months ago are displaying this behavior, it's likely that BMW MINI hasn't figured it out yet. A sad state of affairs.

 

my build date is 28th nov 2008 and there is no mini emblem on the valve cover

 

ya know, that's one thing Ive noticed in the posts by folks who have the problem, say for example someone starting their car only to move it a couple of feet, then turning it off Could it be that this type of start-then-stop behaviour, w/o giving the engine a chance to warm up a bit, is fooling the "on-demand" oil system?

I asked both of my SA's here (on different occasions) and other than a 07 justacooper loaner, they've not had to service any cars for the cold start issue (the 07 they cannot fix btw). But then they tell customers to avoid starting their cars without letting them warm up a bit--even drive them around the block--before powering down.
Weird issue. And the carbon buildup??