Hi,

I just bought a 2007 Mini Cooper - in Lightning Blue with white roof and stripes, and with 26000 Km on the odometer when I drove it off the lot. I picked it up from a BMW dealer near Montreal.

Now, I have a couple of questions which, as a Mini newbie, I hope you'll forgive me for asking if these are common knowledge.

1) How do I know if my car has the on-board computer? I don't think it does, since there seems to be no way to see my distance to empty or instantaneous mileage on either the tach or speedo displays, but it'd be nice to be sure.

2) Do the 2007 Canadian Mini Coopers have a 50 litre tank, or 40? I have seen the talk about how many miles/Km each "kernel" means, but that's all down to how big the tank is. My manual says 40, but mini.ca says 50! If it's true, I might be able to get 900 Km highway on a tank; if not, I'd look pretty stupid stuck on the 401, out of gas because I didn't realize my tank was 40L.

3) Is it SUPPOSED to be this fun to drive? Just kidding of course, but this is the first car I've actually enjoyed driving in a LONG time!

Finally, just a note about squeaky windows, since I have also seen discussions about that: My driver-side window squeaked like a ... squeaky window (biting my tongue), so I applied some Jig-a-Loo on a cloth to the silicone... and the squeak is gone.

 

Have you tried the obvious and pushed the button on the end of the left stalk? The computer was standard in the US, don't know about Canada.

There was the same confusion in the US, the manual says 40, but we got a 50. It shouldn't really matter if you take note of the fuel guage, its even less of a problem if you can find the range meter. Just run it down to 1 red petal left or 10 km left and see how much you can put in. A 50l tank will take anything up to 53l.

 

My 2007 Canadian Mini Cooper has a 50-litre tank.

 

It's standard up here too. Button on the end of the left (indicator) stalk will cycle through the different OBC displays when the ignition is on.

 

Don't know if the OBC was standard w/'07 MINI of Canada, but can tell you that the OBC lacks accuracy and will leave you dry if you depend on it for a long trip leg.

A far more useful and reliable tool would be a ScanGauge II along with many other uses, it has an accurate Fuel Program that does MPG, IMPG and Fuel Used.

Best way to look at your fuel gauge is as a Clock Face.

3 O'Clock = Full
12 O'Clock = Half Tank
9 O'Clock = Quarter Tank
6 O'Clock = Empty

So the first three 'carrots' are aproximately equal to the last six.

Have only heard squeaky windows when they are damp or wet.

 

Thanks to all for the quick replies. I guess I should have mentioned the signal stalk does have the letters "BC" on the tip, but pushing it gives me the choice of Set/Info and speed/temperature. No worries then; I think I can figure out my own mileage without the car telling me.

As for the gas gauge, all I can say is "D'Oh!" Of course, I should just let it go down and then see how much it takes to fill. And 50L makes sense since I'm at 2 kernels gone already and have travelled about 250-260 Km in city driving.

I think I'm going to like this car.

 

Sounds like you don't have a trip computer. As a cheapskate who wouldn't pay for it over here in Britain, I'll tell you that even without a TC, you'll get a km/miles-to-empty warning when you reach two and then one kernels or if you start the car at two kernels or less.

Which just proves that the trip computer is actually there but you have to pay BMW money or they will prevent it from showing. It's that sort of option pricing policy that made me avoid as many options as I could.

Andrew

 

The other way to find some of the on board computer stuff is hit the menu button on the centre console and select BC. Does that do anything for you?

 

Yeah--does it show up in the stereo head unit? If I select computer I get temperature, range, fuel economy, etc.

If not, then... wow. I had no idea there were two different trip computers--how money gouging of BMW to charge for the fuel economy/km-to-empty computer. It's probably just a couple lines of code commented out. I guess it's a bit like Microsoft charging more for different Windows versions when all the features are there, just crippled.

 

Welcome to NAM!

Congrats on your new MINI!

 

Pressing the Menu button on the centre stack doesn't seem to show a "BC" option, so I guess I'm out of luck. No worries.

One more question: This evening, typical Montreal weather has begun (cold, icy roads, show etc). I have xenon headlights, and when I used the front washers on the highway, only the windshield was squirted, not the headlights. Yet, the H/L jets worked pulling out of the parking lot and when slowing down into the city. Is there a speed limit for the headlight washers, or could the arms freeze shut? I don't want THAT to happen.

 

The headlight washers do not happen everytime you wash the windshield. They will happen the first time as long as the lights are on. I am not sure how many times you have to use the washers after that to get the headlights a second time.