1- How long after you drive off does the ventilation system start blowing hot air?

2- For those with heated seats, how soon after you activate the seat heaters can you feel the seats warming up?

I'm hoping that both come on pretty quickly as in our BMWs, but not like in the Acura we used to have which after 10 minutes, the seats were still cold.

...and why doesn't the cold weather package come standard with a heating steering wheel? It wasn't available on my E92. The E90 has it as part of the ZCW and I never missed it on the E92 until we got the E90.
(this is a bonus question and no points will be deducted if you choose not to answer)

 

Seats heat up fairly quickly. Not sure about the heater. I did notice that my MCS takes about four miles at 50 mph to get the coolant up to operating temp. My 1990 Acura Integra takes about half that. This is in mild weather.

 

My seats heat up to over hot in about 30 seconds.

Now for the Heat. Last year it heated up in about 2-3 minutes even with outside temps of 0-10F. This year it is taking about 8 minutes for the heat to start up. I have taken it into the dealer and asked them to check it and they tell me the thermostat is is working fine. I am taking it to private mechanic next week to have it checked as i do not think it is correct.

I will post back after I have it check again.

EDIT: I do not beleive that you can get a heated sterering wheel on the MINI, or at least i have not heard of one.

 

1. Heat is warm after a couple of minutes. Blasting super hot after 5 min.

2. The seats heat up after 30 seconds. Best feature is the 3 level of settings. The seat and the lower back area heat up. Toasty hot!

3. No heated steering wheel but some models have heated windshields.

 

Of all the many vehicles I've owned over the years, this one heats up the quickest. Even in -30C weather here in Calgary, I can start the car, and within 5 minutes, the temp indicator has risen, and warmer air is coming out from the vents.

Seats take about 2-3 minutes to warm up as well, however, unless its a figment of my imagination, they tend to get hotter once you sit on them.

For reference, I have an '03 Cooper.

Cheers
Asif

 

1. Seats heat to scalding hot on the three-light setting in about 5 minutes...I have to back it down to two or one rather quickly (I have vinyl seats)
2. Heater takes a little longer. In weather below 20 degrees F, it sometimes seems like the car never really gets hot. Odd thing: I can feel cold air coming THROUGH MY RADIO CONTROLS!!!! The cold air comes in between the station selector buttons and other *****, mostly in the center stack. It's like someone forgot to install a piece of insulation somewhere between the firewall and the cockpit during assembly!
3. No heated steering wheel, but I do have a JCW leather wrapped "fatty" that I had installed after I took delivery on the car, and I love it. Feels great in the hands.

Other winter gripes:

1. I hear more rattles when hitting bumps, even after the interior has warmed. A little sub-par in the fit and finish department for the money that you pay IMO.
2. The power windows freeze shut VERY easily and take some time to thaw enough to open them. Hard to drive up and get your morning coffee with frozen-shut windows. I park my car outdoors, and if it snows the night before, they're almost guaranteed to be frozen. Instead of fixing the problem, BMW/MINI installed a warning light in the information center (on the tach) SHOWING A SYMBOL WITH THE WINDOW FROZEN SHUT when it won't go down!!!! I think that is the ultimate in ridiculous......

I love my car, but the quirks are getting annoying. 20K miles on it, still under warranty (obviously), and I take excellent care of it. What happens @ 80K?

 

Strange. Mine have never notified me.

 

It doesn't always come on. I've seen it maybe 5-7 times, but the windows have been frozen shut many more times than that!

 

My seats are fast and I would guess the 30 seconds is about right. The air vents start producing warm air in 4 to 5 minutes. Both systems get too hot within a short time and require turning down. The windshield defroster system works well.

 

I noticed that as a warning not to try to roll the window down when they are frozen. Neat, but annoying.

My seats take about 2 minutes to heat up.

Car heater takes about 4 minutes at -10 - 20° C.

Front windshield heaters takes about one minute to melt everything on the windshield. I wish ALL of my windows had embedded wires for heating.

 

my heated seats also seem to warm up more quickly when I am sitting in them. My car is garaged at night but before I drive my car I sit in it and let it idle for 3-5 minutes in my driveway before I start driving. Within 2-3 blocks my heater is turning up (I have it set at 68 with the auto air).

 

My last car (a SLK55) was strange because the fan would come on high when first stated (cold) and would stay this way until the car warmed up and the blower slowed. This was very uncomfortable. At lest MINI does it correctly (like other cars) and the blower starts slow until the air is warm and then increases speed.

I feel heat in the seats in about a minute or less. On high they are real back toasters.

Of course I don't live in the "real" cold (though it was below freezing last night and still below (26º F at 10 AM, burr)).

I'm guessing the heated steering wheel falls buy the way side with other options like power seats because of wight and complexity that go against the MINI tradition (and other cars in their class). You can't offer every option in such a compact light car.

 

The Window Warning message in the center has appeared for me not when the windows are frozen but when something was wrong with the window computer, shortly after they lost their programming. It came on when I was driving (not operating the windows). Very odd. And as a side note, that symbol is not defined in the owners manual at all!

 

Obviously, it depends on the temperature, but.......in really cold weather like we're having now those heated seats are wonderful - at least for a couple of minutes......

In my car ('09 Clubman S)the seats go from dead cold to way too hot in about 4 blocks, it doesn't seem to matter how many dots I have illuminated, they're still too hot for comfort. The dealer checked them for me and says they're working normally, but I'm not buying it. On my '03 I can use them comfortably on one dot.............

As to the heater, I find it makes a big difference where I'm driving, in town it seems to take forever for it to get really warm, but if I hit the hiway it warms up much more quickly.

 

30 secs for heated seat, ~5mins for hot air (<40F)

 

Something's wrong because on low (1 LED) mine are just barley warm which is best (to me) after the car has warmed up. Medium (2 LEDs) is will....medium and high (3 LEDs) is HIGHLY HOT.

 

Thanks for the good info. It seems the overall consensus is the seats heat up quickly which is very important for the short commute (6 miles). At least the body won't have to shiver all the way.

 

I wish the 09 minis had a temp indicator.....

 

Heated Windshields are NOT available in the USA. But are available in most other countries.

 

I have a short commute too. The car is barely warm by the time I arrive at work in about 10 minutes, but seats are what keep me comfortable. I got my car in August... and the day before I was to pick it up I threw out my back... the three hour drive to pick it up was agony! But the drive home was therapy for my back... ran it with the seat on high heat all the way home.

 

I think they may be available in Canada.

 

The seats seem to be programmed for maximum heat for a certain amount of time and then drop down to what is indicated by the lights. I think the idea is to thaw out your frozen backside and then maintain the level you set.

 

Me too!

 

Here's a question, mostly on the topic of cold-weather (since arguably it matters more?)

Why do minis NOT have a engine-temperature guage? I generally use that as an indicator of when you can stop babying the car on a cold morning. Is it the engine-size that means it doesn't matter? Is it so modern it regulates itself?

 

seats heat up very fast but im having problems with the heat after 20 min it will sometimes still be to cold for really cold days