Me? When?

 

Well I will deal with my frustration for an acceptable period of time as usual and then start shaking the tree again.

Thanks guys & gals!

 

"hanging on in quiet desparation is the English way..."

 

Just so happens i am English so queuing and waiting patiently are par for the course!

Ahh well pub time!

 

At least you no longer need a decoder to figure out when the freakin pubs are open.....

 

Mine was also built in April. I have the NAV. I insisted on checking for VR at pickup. My MA didn't know it was supposed to have it. His tech did seem to know about the upgrade, however. Seems it requires a special code at the end of the download.

There have been reports here (possibly earlier in this thread) about the download taking six hours and failing because the dealer didn't know about, or have, the required code.

I've been waiting until the dealer has it all sorted out before I get them to do the upgrade.

 

Still waiting here in Orlando. Been a month now and the software update hasn't come in yet.

 

I was just kiddng, referring to you "backtalking" the mini's VR!!

 

Ohhhh... but I was saying "who me" in that innocent guilty guy way...

 

I think the problem here is trained Technicians, I think that Mini US has a limited number of computer techs that are certified to do the updates, hence, they have traveling techs that do an area at a time. So stand in line.

 

HEY!! I said NO BACKTALK fella!!!

 

Lou Tate

 

I went on vacation for a week and before I did, I arranged for my Mini to be dropped off and worked on while I was out of the country. Came back on Sunday and they fixed my Voice recognition. Yeah! Happy happy dancy dancy clappy clappy happy happy...

They even detailed my car for me. (Very happy about that service).

If it interests anyone apparently there is a "bulletin" about it. Here's what was written on my invoice if it helps anyone:

Customer States voice command button is inop
Software error
Attempted to program vehicle per SIM 840507. Programming failed/ attempted again-no change. Submitted puma case
Uploaded new vehicle order and encoded - no change.
Uploaded a second vehicle order and encoded. Then deleted energy save mode and reseted. OK. Paired Bluetooth phone and tested ok.

Anyway, after 5000 miles and three trips to two different service centers, it finally got done and I'm so happy.

 

BludyL was this the Voice recognition for the Bluetooth? Or the Voice Recognition for the NAV??

Thanks!

 

Just had my VC software downloaded and working for the 1st time since new (May). I'm told that they have to order the software download like a part so 2 day stay normally. Again, I am the 1st to get this done at Mountain view mini. I will say it's pretty neat the 1 time I tried it.

 

Thanks for being the guinea-pig at MINI of Mountian View. I've been putting it off...

Mine was also delivered in May. Any other improvements with the new software? Did it include any of the new 2008 enhancements?

 

Robin,

Please step up and get your's worked on since mine just stopped functioning/understanding properly. Voice works for the 1st time but only controls the radio but the nav fails to understand comands. Getting worn out here.

 

My schedule probably wont allow it until mid-Oct.

Have you checked the location of the microphone in your MINI. Many of them were installed on the passenger side and work better on the driver side (if the driver is the one speaking). See this thread:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=102877

 

Every time I read a post about Nav/VR problems my opinion of Mini of the Main Line in PA increases. I picked my car up in March. It was the first car they sold with the nav system a/o iPod adapter. It worked when I drove off the lot and has ever since. The iPod adapter was installed to connect in the secret compartment where it belongs and the only issues have been due to operator stupidity/ignorance.

I've been to the dealer twice. Once to order the car and once to pick it up. My next trip down will be to pick up a jack and lug wrench that MINI so foolishly decided not to include with some cars, and to test drive the JCW Stage I and suspension kits.

Thank you Spencer.

 

Does your voice recognition work?

It may be that yours arrived with a different version of the software than ours. Mine was picked up in early May. It as either a late March or early April build (I forget). Voice Recognition didn't work on any of the MINIs with NAVs that arrived with mine. It was a software problem.

I thought mine was in the first batch to arrive with NAVs, but yours seems to have arrived before (or while) mine was being built.

 

Yessir. I don't know my production week but I ordered it in February and believe it was built sometime in mid March. Delivered at the end of the month so they could squeeze me into their March sales numbers.

I believe they went through the software load twice, and that the first try didn't take. They also wanted about a day to play with it so they could show me how it worked.

There are somethings I only know how to do via VR and others that I only know how to do with the joystick. But I'm learning more as time goes on.

I push the button on the steering wheel, it beeps and I say

"CD Changer" to start the iPod
"Perspective" to bring up the nav map
""Onboard Info" for the nav data screen
"Trip computer" for the obvious reason

Most else I use the joystick to do. One thing I don't like is that everything is lumped into nav or radio function so when I use the page button it will switch between entertainment or nav functions but nothing else. It would be nice to be able to switch between navigation and trip computer without having to do so through commands (i.e. push the page button and iPod comes up, push again for maps and guidence, push again for data or trip computer) I guess if I had bluetooth, that would add a third page to the cycle, but I was scared off due to the incredibly short list of 'approved' phones. So I just use a $30 BT headset.

 

It sounds like your dealer did the software upgrade before you picked it up. That is way ahead of my dealer. My MA didn't even know the NAV was supposed to have voice recognition.

 

My MA didn't seem to know much either, even though she has a Mini and a MINI herself and reads MotoringFile regularly.

It was when she told me that the iPod adapter was several hundred dollars more than I was quoted that I made a stink, and the sales manager took over. He made sure that everything was right. They are even going to give me the toolkit that MINI USA was absolutely NO help at all in providing. I still can't believe that you can buy a car for 30 grand and it doesn't have a jack. MINI USA's answer was I didn't need it because I had 'roadside assistance'. I wonder if I call roadside assistance if they'll come swap out my summer wheels for winter ones?

It definitely pays to ask questions when ordereing / picking up your car. There's lots of good MAs, but in the end, they're still salespeople, and if you act like a sucker, you're going to be treated like one (not referring to anyone here).

 

I spent some of my pick-up time educating my MA. My MCS was the first R56 with a NAV that he had had an opportunity to play with. He was quite savvy on removing the shift ****, and did that for me. He had previously requested NAV training from MINI/BMW, but none had been provided.

 

Can anybody please name a dealer in the US who positively solved the voice recognition issue for the nav system? Also, is there a number known for the service bulletin supposedly our for this issue? My dealer here in upstate NY is telling me-similar to some of the above posts-that this function is only for bluetooth,that they do not know about any service bulletin, that they cannot do anything about the problem, that it is not really a problem, and.....

BTW my '07 Cooper S is in the shop right now because it lost power in a sudden jerk under acceleration @4000RPM (2500miles). At low revs it seems still fine, but above 3000RPM it goes to sleep. I would like the voice recognition fixed at the same time (dealer is just 2hrs away ...).

Thanks,
Uli Neukirch, NY, '07 MCS, sport, cold weather, Nav, pepper white