The antenna makes a nice papertowel holder when you are cleaning your windows.

 

Mine's too short. And, yes, this time I mean the antenna.

 

+1 again...my wife rolls her eyes at me now because I have to keep it so clean and I fuss over it constantly!

She wanted one for a bit but I think she may be getting "mini'd out" due to all the attention I give mine

 

yeah, I am having the same problem with my boyfriend - and he is the one who turned me onto MINIs! He can't stand how much I fuss over the new car and I think he has changed his mind about getting one (for various reasons though). If he did get one it would definitely be a used R53 though. One obvious perk to that would be not having to dread the first major door ding or scratch on brand new paint!

 

Hi all
I've read all 45 pages so far and no one has mentioned the auto lights...
If you turn on the headlights when the auto lights are on (I know - why would you! Doh!) and then turn the lights off and on again (very quickly, it was a VERY dark country lane) then the auto lights are off. To turn them back on again you have to turn on the headlights and them turn them off again! Took me a while to discover.
Further to the off messages - I adore my car. I have never felt like this about a car before. Before she was delivered (3 weeks early, lucky me) I told my husband that I was going to keep MY Mini clean - he laughed, told me I was delusional and sweet! I was right - I do keep her clean. 4 weeks, 4 washes and another one tomorrow. 4 weeks old today - it seems like forever and just yesterday that I met the love of my life.

 

I just discovered that the front OEM license plate holder is much bigger than the plate itself, even the frame I bought is smaller than the holder lengthwise. I'm wondering if they gave me a holder that's for a different country that uses larger plates.

 

+1


Yep same here. My girlfriend got me into liking the MINI, then I got really obsessed about the car, and now she doesnt want one anymore haha

 

My wife, who bought me the Mini, gave me the "I don't get it, I just need a car" routine. Until I pointed out that, if that was the case, why did she get a $50,000 vehicle with heated AND air conditioned seats, sunroof, electric folding seats, 300 watt stereo, etc??

 

Until this past weekend, I was not aware that you can view folders and long song names and folders for MP3 discs in the stereo by pressing the "list" button, then you can navigate the folders & songs.

 

HUH??? The "Auto Lights" switch, is the SAME switch used to turn the lights on and off manually. So if you turn ON or OFF the head lights, you are turning OFF the "Auto lights" at the same time.

The switch has 3 settings, Off, On, and Auto.

 

 

Thanks - I've found it in The Book now. And I thought I'd read it completely!

 

Not sure what you mean, but I will point out that if you have xenon headlights, turning them on and off quickly (like flashing another car) is the worst possible thing you can do to them! Wears out the igniters, and you DON'T want to know how much they are, at least after the warranty period is over...

 

Yeah, please don't turn your headlights on/off quickly if you have Xenons. You can flash if they are already on. The igniters are $400 each.

 

I'll add that the reason you can flash with no harm if they are already on is that the R56 xenons are bi-xenon, which uses a shutter over the brights. When you're flashing, the shutter merely opens and closes, with no particular wear.

On the "regular" xenons on the earlier models, and other cars not having bi-xenons, your brights are the regular headlights, so you're not affecting the xenons at all.

 

How much of an issue is this really? I mean if you occasionally flash your Xenons at someone when they are not on, is that going to create problems? Is the manual just saying, don't go nuts doing this otherwise you'll wear it out?

 

Well, I guess it depends on how often you do this. Face your car to a wall or garage door or something so you can see what they have to do when you turn them on. Then imagine what happens when you flash...

 

I think the R56 uses D1S bulbs which has built-in igniter, and in general, they cost about 30-50% more than the older style bulbs that use external igniters (aftermarket price).

 

Sorry Folks...I'm GLAD I didn't order Zenons. Geeeezzzz the $$$$$!!

 

That may be true, but you can't beat the light if you live in the country...

 

I live in the country, and I'd rather have halogens. Xenons give the illusion of better visibility because they brightly light up the are close to the car (where you don't really need to see). If you have to run with low beams, this is a problem. Your eyes adjust to the bright area so you can't see the deer lurking just beyond the very sharp cut off. Wish I'd known this ahead of time.

 

Please not another halogen vs. xenon debate! For the love of all that is good and decent in the world!!!!!

 

Amen. I still like my xenons, though.

 

Maybe I am missing something, but... With the comfort access feature (may be the same without it, but I don't know), with foot off the clutch, one push of the start/stop button puts the car in the equivalent of the "aux" position. With foot off thhe clutch, a second push puts it in the "on" position, that is, everything runs but the engine. (With clutch depressed, second push starts the car, but that's not of concern to this post). Conversely, with the car in "on" or with engine running, one push of the start/stop button turns off the engine (if on) and puts the car back into the "aux" position. A second push turns the car completely off. SO, here's the issue: If I am sitting in my parked car, engine off, aux on and then want to shut it down to leave it, it is necessary to push the button thrice; first it goes from "aux" to "on", second push, from "on" to "aux" and, finally, third push from "aux" to "off". I find this very annoying.

 

Woops I just realized this was a comfort access issue...i was gunna say pop the key out, but I dont think that would help when its in ur pocket
But I have a feeling you can just open ur door and either that will take it out of aux or u just get completely out and close the door...the later should probably be the one that does it all automatically because the whole reason for comfort access is to make it less work (I don't think it lessens the nerves tho I'd be scared my doors weren't locked or the battery was dying haha)