Yep. Same key, all the time. One has the silver "ring" around the fob broken off and I don't like using it cause its not as pretty, so I always use the same key. Since I have comfort access I hardly ever take the key out of my pocket so its always being used the same way.

Yeah I just can't figure out exactly why. I see your point about it being more "square" but it seems if you do that it makes the back seats pretty non-functional so you might as well put the things flat down instead of messing with that little lever jigger. Weirdness.

 

I frequently buy wine by the case and that feature is extremely handy. You can stack cases two-high with the seat backs in the upright position and still use the back seat. It would be a real "pain in the back" to try to lift a case of wine from the folded seatback, plus they'd be sliding around when you accelerated or stopped.

 

I don't know if this was mentioned before. The auto transmission in the just-a-cooper will downshift and hold the lower gear if decending a hill at some specific angle and you tap the brakes a couple of times. If you hit the gas pedal a little it will up shift and resume full coast. First time it happened I was surprised but I can't find anything in the manual about this.

 

The back seats are pretty unusable in that configuration, but the cargo is still covered, and contained by the back seat. I've found that configuration useful occasionally.

 

Hill assist. I throw the steptronic into manual and shift into 6th so that I can ride the brakes down the hill. Might as well kill the brakes instead of the tranny since I got the maintenance for another 85k

 

Using lower gear engine 'brake' down hills will never harm engine or transmission or shorten lifetime.

Using brakes on long downhill will overheat and can cause loss of brake effectiveness as well as shortening lifetime.

 

Further to mordecai and btwyx:

I also find the upright rear seat useful for square boxes and other loads I want to keep covered. Also, with one seat flat and the other in the upright position I can squeeze in a set of golf clubs without them sliding all around the car. Finally, if something's just a bit too large for the normal trunk, it's easier to retrieve the seat-back from the vertical position that from lying flat.

Re the radio: I don't have the CD stacker, but if I remove a CD at the end of a drive, it will default to the radio when next I start the car - but always to the first of the 2 banks of 6 radio stations. Are you using the first or second group of stations? I'm thinking that if you normally have the radio on a station in the second bank, it would seem like it changed stations on you. I don't know how the CD stacker would affect all this.

The phone button is for the optional integrated phone thing, and the button on the wheel would be ideal - if you had that option. I agree it's weird to have the button when you don't have that option. But I've noticed the lower spec cars in Europe come with a different wheel without audio and cruise controls, so I'm guessing they just make two types of wheel: a basic one with no buttons, and the fancier one with all the buttons which just happens to include the phone button. Saves them the cost of making a 3rd type of wheel just for the phone option.

And I think everyone finds the lock/unlock stuff weird.

 

On the extensions for the rear seat, we've used them as well when we had to load up for a soccer tournament. Helped fit in the squarish cooler we were taking along with all the other stuff. My girls, 9 years old, road in the back seats like that. They didn't complain.

 

Do you have an 07? There was a glitch in the ECU program that could cause that. If that is the problem teh dealer can re-flash your ECU and fix it. Keep in mind that if you plan on tuning your car for more power, you don't want the flash. I lost lots of power (had the unichip) when I got my ECU flashed for that reason.

 

Yeah I have an 07, so you mean that after they flashed it from stock flash to stock flash you lost power? Or you had the ECU modded before they flashed it and it broke your mods?

 

I was using the unchip and probably pushing 20-21 lbs boost. after the flas, boost was stuck down much lower. the power of the chip had been castrated compared to what it had been like. I pulled 237lbs torque pre-dealership flash and 212 after.

 

Thank you for the info on the random radio glitch. This is something that has been puzzling me for some time. I even posted a thread on this, but got no responses making me think I was crazy. Would this be related to the push button computer on the end of the turn signal stalk? Sometimes it seems that the computer decides to randomly switch modes (like from displaying speed to the next display). I swear I haven't accidentally hit the little button.

 

I haven't had that problem so I don't know. I pretty much live mine on average MPG and it doesn't ever change unless my wife gets in. She hates the speedo being in the middle so she leaves that there to irritate me.

 

yeah when i put one on it only got up to 17 or so lbs.... we need some older software

 

Where do you guys go to get your car chipped or do you do it yourself? I assume that voids the warranty?

 

I've never had the problem in my '07; I always use it as the speedometer.

Are you and your wife both having the problem? If not, you might want to try each key. I don't recall seeing that it's one of the options, but it's a possibility that one key has a glitch.

 

I leave mine set on time and outside temp. Never seen it change on its own. I did have a software update done in late 2007 to fix a problem with voice activation. So, I am using updated software.

For mpg, boost, mph, and coolant temp I use a ScanGaugeII. It displays your choice of any four readouts from the OBDII port. I like it.

 

Do you mean it changes just while you're going along? (It shouldn't). Or is it when you stop, or when you start the car up?

 

Well, first of all, I am the wife . And, yes, my dear husband also has the problem when he's lucky enough for me to allow him to drive my precious Johnny Max.

This seems to happen while we are driving most of the time. That's why I mentioned that I swear I haven't pushed the button.

 

I think he got you and me confused; I was talking about my wife earlier. Either way it shouldn't do that, you might want to take it in and have them look at it.

 

Anyone notice if you leave your lights on the car doesn't "ding" at you? Instead, they turn off with the car, and come back on as soon as you start it again.

I, for some reason, left my lights on a couple times in the beginning and was happy this happened.... otherwise, I would have come out to a dead battery.

 

You ought to hear the nasty tones you get if you forget to turn off the lights in big brother BMW. No gentle chimes, and no mistaking that you forgot something.

One thing I really like is that the radar detector shuts off when the engine is cut. I was constantly forgetting to pull the plug in my Bimmer, and because I don't drive every day, I was sometimes faced with a dead dodo. It can be a problem with the GPS, though, because it won't recharge the battery. Still, if I had a choice, I'd definitely pick the MINI way.

 

The only time the MINI dings with the lights on is when the light switch is in the middle, running lights, position. When the lights are full on, they all turn off with the key. But when the switch is in the middle, running lights only on, position, the car bings until you turn the switch all the way on or off.

I'm getting spoiled by this car, if I ever go back to an older car I fully expect to run down the battery every time I turn the lights on.

 

Yeah, I just leave the lights on all the time - I figure a dark green MINI is easier to see that way, even in the sunshine.

 

You know, I've had a long list of cars over the years (unfortunately too many years!), but I really want to stay with the MINI. It doesn't work for every mission, but there's always the Barge (530i). I've wanted a red MINI ever since there were red Minis, and now that I have one, that's it for me. A succession...

I do tend to keep cars a long time. My 325i was 14 years old when I sold it to get the MINI. I still see it periodically, still running...

I do, too. I've found a definite reduction in the number of cars pulling out from side roads and highways. I live out in the country, and it's apparently hard for people to judge distance with an approaching MINI, even red ones. The xenons seem to give it a little "authority." It's pretty common for someone to start to pull out, then stop. Before lights, they'd keep going. Unfortunately, every other vehicle around here is a pickup; the rest are Stupid Useless Vehicles. MINIs just don't compute.