thanks for all the great ideas.

 

Ok, I've had my Mini for about 3 weeks and it's my first new car, I'm 21. (LOVE it by the way!) I don't know if this is normal in other cars but what the heck is the little plastic thing that goes around the seatbelt. It can slide up and down between the male end and the top door part. I thought it was maybe to keep the seatbelt from pushing against you so it wouldn't wrinkle your shirt by putting it next to the male end so the seatbelt wouldn't move but it still slides. WHAT the heck is it!!

 

It's keeps the male end from sliding to the bottom of the belt when you take off the belt, so it's at a reasonable height when you reach back to grab the belt to put it on next time. I also push it up to the top on the passenger side to keep the passenger belt clip from rattling when I drive alone.
gl

 

That's a good one! I've never seen a MINI driver in anything other than a t-shirt, except at the Christmas party.

Welcome to the pack!

 

LOL, ya thanks. I didn't buy my Mini just for the car, but after reading thousands of NAM forums I found that I like the people too. Oh, and just the other day I got my first Mini to Mini...uuh high five I guess you could call it, when I passed another Mini who waved at me. (I was too slow to wave back). Anyways, hope other people found my question helpful.

 

I have the alarm system. Yes, I am aware that there is also a passive alarm on the car. Now that that is out of the way... My MA told me that the boot unlock button on the remote would no longer unlock the boot because with the alarm that button is now the 'panic' button. Well, if you depress it briefly, less than two seconds, it does indeed still unlock the boot. Longer than two seconds and it indeed sets off the panic noisemaker. If someone else has already revealed this little gem, sorry! Feel free to rake me over the coals now!

 

It's even worse when you tint the windows. Not only is there checkering but a rainbow effect as well.

 

That's because we MINI drivers are always trying to find the pot of gold...

 

Most put it in their "secret compartment"...so I've heard

 

Well, here's the thing--I didn't find any gold, and I don't do pot. Besides, my gun resides there.

Well, not really. I don't have a gun. I do have 4 cds residing there--two by Willie, one by Gordon Lightfoot, and one by Barry Manilow (Hubby's ). After 6 months of campaigning to get the thing retrofitted, that is really all that resides there. Oh, and some Kleenex, I think.

 

Well I didn't know THAT!! Guess I'll go out to the gaar-age & test it. Thanks.

You were soooooooooo right, just a quick press & the boot opens.

 

My P99 doesn't fit in there, I tried.

 

NJP - Your car looks like mine, or mine like yours... except for my driving lamps =)

 

• when you enter and exit the car not only do courtesy lights come on in the driver and passenger footwells but there are also lights on the bottom of each door that illuminate the area around the car. also the lights don't instantly com on, they fade on and off for a cool effect.
• you can put stuff in the vertical boot storage nets. apparently the dealership didn't know this either as they attached one backward.
• i didn't know it had those mood lights inside the armrests.
• i didn't know the fm radio will list the song and artist information for some stations. i admit i wasn't up to date that many radios have done this for years.
• i had an incident today when apparently i accidentally hit the lock button at the same time as the unlock button. i was temporarily locked out--got in through the passenger side. here's the thing i learned: my service advisor says there's a "pause" built into the lock in case this happens. wait a few seconds and the system will reset itself.
• there is a small key inside the round r56 disk-key. it reseases with a little button. it seems it's not meant for a wallet but is made to remain part of the disk.
• if you leave the heated seats on when you turn the car off - when you return and restart the car, the rfid chip embedded in the will not only remember what setting you set it at but also if you prefer celcius or farenheit, or litres per 100 km consumption vs. mpg.
• and if your wife/significant other/kid/dog gets in and uses the other key, all the settings they had set will be retained.
• also, driving lights stay on regardless of high or low beams.
• when you are riding with your wipers on, and you come to a stop as at a traffic light, your wipers slow to intermittent automatically, then resume wiping once you start off again. thats what they did from the medium setting at least - i did not try the fast setting. and, no, i don't have rain-sensing wipers.
• the speed-sensitive volume adjustment on the radio (at least the hifi) is itself adjustable
• you can have different bass/treble/balance/fader settings for fm, am, cd, and aux. presumably the ipod adapter and cd changer would keep their own settings.
• you can access some obc settings from the radio (things like time, units of measure, read the fuel economy, etc.
• if you have the bluetooth option when someone in your phone's phonebook calls you thier name pops up on the radio screen.
• when you arrive at your destination and shut off your mini, when you get back in and start up again the cd player starts the last track at the beginning.
• i didn't know that (if programmed properly) a quick tap on the turn signal will flash the turn signal 3 times, then stop. great for lane changes, instead of holding it down. i love this!
• its snowing, i have the front wiper on, rear wiper off. i shift into reverse when i am parking, and the rear wiper comes on by itself and runs until i take the car out of reverse! handy!
• headlights adjust, and you can tell when you first turn them on if your looking at them form outside the car, my ma said they moved so they coudl adjust to the road.
• the mood lighting has 5 colors if you tap the switch. you can get in-between shades by holding the switch.
• if you lock the car with the lights on - the lights will shut off to conserve the battery (non-convenience pack cars, non-autoheadlights).
• you can retract the mirrors at speeds at up to 20 mph - however any speed above that does not allow you to retract them. however, if they are retracted, they can be extended at any speed!
• the cigarette lighter outlet shuts off when the key is out. handy if you run a radar detector--no problems if you forget to unplug it.
• when the sun shines directly on the tachometer digital display, the display changes from an led red to a liquid crystal grey. most displays wash out in direct sun .. this one becomes very crisp and clear.
• driving with the back seats down results in more road noise (a significant difference in my car).
• if you hold the unlock button on the remote down when approaching your car, the windows go down.
• when pushing the button to start the car, it's only necessary to hold it momentarily even though the starter continues 'til the engine starts.
• when your car is locked, pressing the lock button on the remote turns on the interior lights. i suppose this is to see if an intruder is inside your car or to just see inside while keeping the door locked. maybe this is pretty common but i never noticed it before.
• if you get out of the car and leave the door(s) open to hear the stereo you can turn off the domelight by holding the switch for 3-4 seconds. (and i like that there's no stupid warning noise when the doors are open and the key is on).
• push start/stop, let go and then push in the clutch and it starts. i haven't tested to see how long you can wait before pushing in the clutch and still have it start. i'm talking a lag of two or three seconds.
• press the lowercase m button on the radio, and it brings up a list of numbers. press the corresponding #'s for the station...very cool.
• there is an alternate setting for the rear seats that allows a little extra room in the boot and still lets passengers sit in the rear seat (maybe a little uncomfortably, but safely). fold the rear seat backrest forward, then pull up on the rear seat latch bar. the top part of this latch bar is where the seatback normally latches onto the rest of the car; you need to pull up on the bottom part of the bar, about 6 inches below the ordinary latch point. then latch the rear seat to the latch bar.
• you don't even have to hit the start button, just push the volume/power button and the radio fires up... along with some other lights and stuff.
• my ma told me that the boot unlock button on the remote would no longer unlock the boot because with the alarm that button is now the 'panic' button. well, if you depress it briefly, less than two seconds, it does indeed still unlock the boot. longer than two seconds and it indeed sets off the panic noisemaker
• the chrome gas door locks when the car is locked.

 

Wow that's awesome! Nice job compiling the list. I think this one might be wrong though.

• you can have different bass/treble/balance/fader settings for fm, am, cd, and aux. presumably the ipod adapter and cd changer would keep their own settings.

My car does not do this. It uses one audio setting for all of the audio functions, fm, am, cd, aux, sat.

What does your car do with this one?

 

i think this is only if you have upgraded audio and with navigation.

btw I just took delivery of my mellow yellow mcs last saturday

 

My hi-fi head unit has seperate bass/treble controls for each input. Early 07 build.

 

Definitely nice list! I think i've read about most of those so far so i dont think i learned anything new. :-P

I'm not sure about my model for the audio settings. I'll check and report back =)

 

that list really should be stickied. and possibly added to if something new comes along. but definitely should be stickied.

 

Things you didnt know...MINI's are aammaazziinngg on a go-kart track!

 

Nice color choice!

I have the hi-fi audio and the Nav. Aug 07 build.

 

I'm a big fan of yellow My other car is a Dakar Yellow M Coupe.

I'll have to check my car on the audio when I get back home (400miles away)

In the company car (audi a4) it does let you adjust the settings for each type of input so I made an assumption... I know, bad assumption.

 

After reading all the posts, the general consensus regarding the boot is that it is quirky, especially when it comes to opening it via the fob. I'm still getting used to the non-mechanical approach that it unlatches; my habit is to pull up the boot lid at the same time as I press the button in the handle--you have to wait a second after you press the button in the handle, then it will unlatch. As for the button on the fob, if you just tap it, it won't do anything, you have to really press it, release it, wait for one second, then the boot lid will unlatch. This somewhat long delay is to (I assume) allow the system to determine whether the operator's intention is to open the boot or activate the panic alarm.

While we're on the subject of the boot lid, if I try to use momentum to close the boot lid by grabbing the inside handle and pull down really fast, I always end up with the lid swinging back up and upper-cuts me in the chin. This is because the inside handle has a shallow depth and angle that won't allow you to hold on to the lid very well when closing. I think this is part of the safety design to make sure people won't smash their arms while trying to close the lid with just the inside handle.

 

I have to say that I'm glad you need to hold the button on the fob for it to open. On my last car, an RX-8, I can't tell you how many times I accidentally opened the trunk lid. It got to the point I would check it EVERY time I parked the car, since it didn't spring open and I'd opened it without knowing it before.

 

Sure we knew--that's why we autocross!