Well, it was designed by a German company and built in Britain. You can't really expect people from these desert climates to understand rain and snow.



Or, perhaps they are just trying to keep up with the heritage of British automobile engineering. Some examples that come to mind are the Austin America my brother had in the 1970s. The distributor was immediately behind the radiator, and not sealed against moisture. So, whenever it rained, the car died. The Austin Healy 3000 came with a jack that was too tall to fit under the car when the tire was flat...

 

lol...well yeah, I'm chalking up a lot of the Mini's idiosyncrasies to British engineering quirks. This is my first non-Japanese car and I was warned to watch out for the German & British electrical gremlins! Nothing so far is a deal-breaker, just unexpected or new to me.

 

Yes, this is odd. Is there an indicator that pops on when the temp goes too high? (Probably too late....)

It really bugs me that there is no compass. I guess they want you to buy Nav. I am not good with directions here in the flatlands and my other (crappy) car came with a rather nice compass function.

 

Apparently the first gen car didn't have a real gauge either...it looked like one but didn't function like one. Some folks were caught out by it. The current indicator goes yellow at some point and red at another...haven't looked at the manual lately to see what the thresholds represent. In any case, it turns out it really isn't all that different from what we had before. Some owners are plugging in aftermarket displays that read almost everything you could want...seems a good solution and more accurate, too.

 

The entire MCS exhaust system is 12' 7'' long & weighs 38.2 lbs. The wife stub her toe on it today in the garage.

 

Better that, than to burn one of those wonderful rings on her leg...

 

Good thing I have flowers / chocolate / dinner reservations for tomorrow!

 

Do I get an award for this?- I just now read all 31 pages of this thread in one sitting. Whew!

I can't believe that in 31 pages of this fantastic thread no one has said...

I didn't know I would love this car so much.

Yes, I am still in Honeymoon phase of the relationship. But, really I love my car more than I ever thought I would. Which is a good thing b/c my husband did not agree with my decision and now that he sees how happy I am he has changed his mind.

Other things I did not know, which may or may not have been mentioned previously- I did not know gas mileage would be this good, that I would be able to lock and unlock the car using the little button on the handle, that the color of the display would change from orange to grey/blue in the sun, that the rear window would also have a spray, that a lot of the features, according to my BMW-driving dad, would be just like a BMW, that the HVAC controls and display are shaped like the MINI logo (any other hidden MINIs??), that I would get addicted to following NAM and the MINI ON, and that I would hear so many people tell me, "that is the perfect car for you."

And did I mention I had no idea how much I would love this car? My husband is getting jealous of my trysts with Max.

 

Yes, I am able to open the "secret door" also. Just push in & it pops open. Dec 2007 new. njp

 

[QUOTE] I didn't know I would love this car so much.

Yes, I am still in Honeymoon phase of the relationship. But, really I love my car more than I ever thought I would. Which is a good thing b/c my husband did not agree with my decision and now that he sees how happy I am he has changed his mind.[QUOTE]

Right on! 7200 miles and the honeymoon is still on!

 

I'll roll with this! I'm just out of break-in mileage and cannot believe how this car has changed my attitude towards my daily commute!

I bought the MINI for what I thought it was and I love it more for what it actually is!

 

same here of course! I've had it for just about 2 weeks now and have over 800 miles...can't wait to be done with the break-in period. Commuting anywhere (any day of the week) around the DC Metro area is a pain in the ****. But I now actually look forward to driving considerably more. Still frustrating when all I want to do is cruise and I'm stuck in congestion and stop and go traffic. sigh.

I also didn't expect that this car would be so 'different' than my mazda3. Maybe that doesn't make that much sense to others but the mazda was a great car and fun in her own right. I guess my Dad summed it up pretty well when he sat in little Ambrosia and said "this car is something else!" (and he meant it in a good way).

 

oh yeah....I didn't know the basic sound system would be so...disappointing i got a chance to compare it to the HiFi sound system at the dealer and knew right away it wouldn't be as good but I am still surprised by it.

 

That's one of those slave signs, isn't it. The "I am owned by a Mini" mark.

 

I also have a Mazda 3 (wife's). As you said they are very different cars. Haven't driven the Mazdaspeed 3 but I doubt if even that'll beat the MCS.

 

It get's worse, I'm afraid.

 

Very true for the owner--not so happily borne by significant others...

 

This has been said by others, but I still need to say it again. I have 17,000 miles on my 8 month old car and I still love it. My last tank of gas got 36 mpg @ 49.6 mph, the ride is great, the torque is suprising and it is way too easy to speed. The only thing I am disappointed with is the lack of a cruise control and I intend on taking care of that soon.

 

This thread is great. I learned a couple of new things. If I figure out anything I will contribute.

 

i had an 07 MCS (R.I.P.) that one time i had locked the front doors, then opened the boot....put the keys down.....closed the boot....and the boot kept on popping up.....it wouldn't lock...it knew the keys were in the boot....i tried to close it 3 times...and it popped open 3 times..... and yes...you have to have the comfort access pkg or whatever its called...

i also tried this again with the front doors UNlocked and then put the keys in the boot and tried to close it...and it closed....so not only did it know that the keys were in the boot....but it knew that the front doors were either locked or unlock....

i haven't tried this on my replacement 2008 MCS....but i am sure it would act the same way....one would think.....

my little disclaimer....if you are not smart enough to try this without having the comfort package...or a spare key for that matter....bla bla bla..you know the rest..

adam

 

Sometimes there is a significant lag between the time I press the hatch release button and the time it actually opens (with comfort access, at least). Quite annoying, actually.

 

I noticed that too, sometimes I push the button and nothing happens, other times it's a delayed reaction as you mentioned, but most of the time it works like it's supposed to.

 

07 MCS. If you un-buckle you seat belt when you are stopped and not moving the chime doesn't sound.

 

I second this. I've had Nigel for 6 months and it seems like every time I drive, I just want to giggle with joy. I see other people looking at the car, some smile, and I know they're looking because it's such a cool car, and they don't even know the half of it.
It's so much fun!
Things I love: how fast I can take off from a stop, how much gas I save, how fun turns are (driving through mountain passes is so much more fun now), being able to parallel park in a small spot quickly, never having to worry about blending in.
I love having the screen back on the sunroof and feeling the (albeit weak) sunlight on me while I drive. I think it's cool that the windshield wipers slow down when I come to a stop and the stereo volume goes up when I accelerate. The push-button start/stop is something I'm so used to now that I've blanked on how to start other vehicles a couple of times.
If I was a poet, I'd probably write something. But I'm sure people are rolling their eyes by now, so I'll zip it.

 

Yeah, I noticed this too and was annoyed. I thought the delay was because it was 20 degrees outside and the button was frozen!

I'm still trying to figure out all the little rules of opening the boot. Like the other day I had my bag in the boot and started driving out of the parking lot and decided I wanted something out of my bag so I put it in park and tried to open the boot, but it wouldn't open. I finally cursed at it and gave up. I guess you can't open the boot while the engine is running. Then, on another occassion, I tried unlocking the doors with the little switch on the console and then I could get the boot open with the engine running. (I do have my door locks set to lock automatically at whatever mph's.)