How about this one:

Did you know that on the convertible roof, there is a lip that stretches the length of the drivers and passengers window in order to prevent water that resides on a wet convertible roof from dripping on you and or on the seats.

I don't recall if the previous convertible had this, but it really does work. Today, it was raining pretty bad a times, and I was glad to see that the water on the convertible root didn't drop all over me and the seat when I got out of my Mini today.

 

I didn't know about that, but we were driving yesterday in a light rain and the water did come around the side of the windshield at the top and drip into the car...onto my left leg and my wife's right. Not bad but a few drops now and then. It still was cool riding around in the rain with the top down. Of course you have to plan your route so as not to stop.

 

Spotted this on another thread https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...or-2009-a.html

but wanted to post it here:

The old wind deflector fits the R57. It's been rated by one user as a good fit and works well. I'll be able to try this out after next week when I pick up our convertible.

If anyone else has been able to try this...please post and give opinions. Thanks!

 

The glove box lock is not as secure as you would believe. I was able to open an R57 glove box with an R53 key. The same does not seem to be true with the rear seats.

 

I always have DSC shut off to take advantage of LSD and hill assist still works.

 

How about one more:

If you have NAV, you'll notice that each time you zoom in and out, it actually really zoomes in, like how Google Earth, however once you zoom out to the maximum setting (which I think is like 500 miles), then each time you zoom it, it doesn't actualy zoom, but redraws the screen to that zoom amount. It's not that smooth zooming feature we're used to.

I came across this becuase I wanted to see how far I could zoom out, and then I noticed that the zoom-in was not the same.

 

I don't know if the R57 is the same as the R52 in this respect, but I just found out today that if you need to leave the tailgate down for an extended period of time and don't want the boot light and dome light to stay on, find the spring-loaded pin switch that controls the boot light and pull outward on it. This will turn off the lights and the "boot open" icon on the dash.

 

It's been a rather cool spring here in Chicago. Rainy about every other day or so. Still enough time to do some top down motoring

Having owned an early build 2007 R56 I have to say I'm surprised at what's changed.... good and bad.

transmission and clutch - smoother then my R56, requires very little peddle pressure the push the clutch. Probably requires a 1/3 of the pressure compared to my R56. I think I had a bad transmission in my R56. The R56 had a crunchy first and second too, I've read that probably meant bay syncros.

hand brake - chrome trim gone. Which is fine for me, I chipped the one on my old R56.

auto recirculated-air function - My R56 had an auto recirculate mode. Pressing the recirculate button a couple of times, lit up an 'A' next the MINI icon. Can't seem to get the 'A' to go on.

speakers - sound much better than my R56. Had/have the standard audio. I decided not to order the HiFi since this is a cabrio, thinking I'd do an speaker swap at some point. But the R57 sounds just fine for open top motoring.

interior color line trim - talk about cost cutting! The trim on the dash, they're now solid molded plastic. When was this changed? Seems kinda cheep now! The 07 R56 had padded vinyl trim, like the arm rests.

seats - I had cloth then and now. the seats seem firmer... maybe just new.
Fabric seems a little better.

 

Hmm, I have some chrome on my hand brake but I thought that's what you get with the Chrome line interior (option 345) included in the Premium Package (option ZPP).

When I use the recirculating air function, it lights up an icon on the little display in the center console, but then again I have Automatic Air Conditioning (option 534) which was also included in the Premium Package (option ZPP).

 

zanary, whoops sorry... I meant silver trim on the hand brake In any case, cost cutting I suppose as this lets them use the same part as those on non-s models.

For the auto-recirculate, does it light up an 'A' too? The recirculate function does work on mine. I need to try all possible use cases - top up, down, sun roof open. I might be smart enough not to enable it if the top is down.

 

Two other things... radio reception is much poorer than my old R56. And the key remote works probably 1/2 as far as my old R56. Not sure if this is the case for all 2009s.

 

I haven't had much problem with radio receiption, however occasionally I do get the famous echo when I tune into an HD Radio broadcast, but it's mostly over the 7 mile bridge I cross daily.

As for the fob distance. I'm kinda glad the distance is short. What I've noticed (when compared to my Infiniti FX FOB), is that the Mini buttons are raised, so I have a feeling that the buttons would get pushed when the fob is in my pockets. I don't have this problem with my Infiniti FX since the buttons are flush with the fob. I've had the Mini fob unlock the car accidently while I was working in my garage, but I was only about 5 feet away. Luckly I had set the Mini to auto lock if the doors haven't opened, so that saved me, but the day that the sunroof opens or the top goes down and it's raining outside, I will be a very unhappy man...

 

One more thing.

Until I re-read the manual, I didn't know that to reset the MPG value and/or the average speed value, you have to hold in the BC for two seconds when you are displaying that value. The trip reset button doesn't do anything for those two values.

I guess Mini really would like you to not reset those values and use them for the lifetime of the vehicles.

 

How about one more thing.

Did you know the white plastic emergency release in the boot area is glow in the dark plastic. I guess they want you to find it quickly if you ever get thrown in the boot. Better find it quickly, as the glow in the dark doesn't last long from what I recall today.

 

I personally wish the fob had greater distance. I find that it makes the remote useless for opening the top remotely -- by the time I'm within range and the top will open, I'm waiting at my car's side for it to finish.

As for being thrown in the boot: well, you'd better be pretty small. I can't imagine a full sized adult being able to fit in the boot!

 

Anyone notice that when the Openometer hits 6 hours, 59 minutes, the 6 bars flash several times just before it resets? How many times I don't know as I was too busy driving to count.

 

It might flash 7 times so let you know that you've entered on the 7th hour. I have come close 6 hrs 24 min, but haven't yet passed the 7 hours on a tank of gas yet.

 

Speedometer seems wrong..I have had the convert S about a month. It seemed like I was going to slow for what was posted.. Yesterday I came upon a radar speed check sign . Thought I was going about 53 but the sign should 45.. Why would they have not checked that before releasing the car to me..What can be done to adjust the speedometer..
Has anyone else noticed this with their mini?
Now I have to say that when I went to pick up the car that they had the wrong rims on it. They traded with another mini that had the rims that I requested.. The rims were the same size . Just the other standard choice,but not the one I chose. So they made the swap. Do you think the is the problem not showing the right speed..? Tire size is 195-55-16.

 

No, in Europe car manufacturers can get hefty fines if their car's speedos show less then actual speed. So they tend to adjust high. The 1st gen MINIs showed speeds about 4MPH higher then actual just to have the wiggle room. I think the gap you posted was a bit high, I'd get a GPS (or just borrow one for an hour) and see the difference in the readouts between the receiver and your speedo.

 

Judging from what is posted on NAM, all MINIs seem to have speedometers that read unusually fast.

Mine is consistantly 6% fast, so 53 = 50 etc. I have added ScanGauge to supplement missing info and it reads an accurate speed right from the MINI computer's OBD port.

It would seem a simple calibration, but have never heard of it being done. Even the cheapest GPS will give very accurate speed at a steady state.

Law enforcement vehicles must have their speedometers adjusted (if necessary) calibrated and certified and you could find your local shop that does that job.

 

Just picked up my Horizon Blue 09. Speedo error is alot better than the 08 I traded in. By the GPS when it is indicated 73 I'm doing 70. Also had to endure a wheel and tire swap but tires on the 16" wheels seemed to be all the same size. What a difference between the 08!!!! Also learned that when the top goes down you have to wait for it to latch. I didn't have that "feature" on the 08.
Milton Mini

 

Another thing you have to wait for when lowering the top remotely is that you have to keep the doors closed until it's finished. My daughter wants to open the side door after she sees the side bars lift up. That stops the open roof action. Then I tried having her close the door to see if I could continue with the remote. (not practical, just testing the system) Well it didn't seem to work. So we got in, roof midway to open and I finished opening the roof from inside using the toggle switch. Anyone else figure out the whole remote vs toggle switch roof opening?

 

I noticed that too. I havent been able to tell a difference but i would sure like to open the doors while the roof is retracting. I understand how the windows being up would be a problem, but if theyre already down i dont see the issue. The inside switch knows the difference, why doesnt the remote?

 

The windows going down with the remote of the R50/53 is the same thing. If you open a door they stop moving.

 

There is a lot of good info in here.

I have a question, does anyone know if R56 Cooper S exhaust will fit our R57s? I can't imagine that much would change in the convertible configuration to make different exhaust hangers or other mounting points necessary. Thanks for your help.