Just had my 15k service done and the service writer told me there will be an ECU update very soon which will allow the manual spoiler toggle to work as most of us thought it should... When you raise it, and surpass the 51mph and then fall below 38mph, the spoiler will still remain raised until you manually lower it.

Evidently a couple of dealerships on the East Coast have the update and have been testing it with positive results.

 

Finally! My service mgmt. knew nothing about this when I mentioned it a month ago after some folks here had had it done. I go in next week for 1st service so I'm hoping I can add that to the task.

 

My August-2012-build Roadster already works this way - if you manually put the spoiler up, it only comes down with the switch.

As I do regularly drive roads where there is a continuous cycle of accelerating to over 50mph on the straights and braking to below 37mph for corners, so the spoiler goes up and down many times per mile, I probably should use the manual switch to stop this behaviour.

But then, on this sort of road, I'm having too much fun driving and so looking ahead to do more than occasionally check the rearview mirror for unmarked police cars, so I don't notice the spoiler bunny-hopping.....

 

For the northern MINI owners, what happens to the spoiler and mechanism if the back end of the coupe or roadster has snow/ice buildup and it tries to open/close ?

 

So far, mine has worked flawlessly here in Canada. I've had Broadspeed covered completely with snow and ice, but if I swipe off all the excess snow and gently press down on the spoiler while it's retracted, it's enough to crack the little bit of ice build-up and free it up. I still deploy it manually before I set off, just to make sure it's working, and every time it's gone up like it's summertime!

BMW sure did their research with this one, or so it seems!

But the manual control sounds absolutely awesome! It'll make for a much better motoring experience, for my spoiler does it's up-down dance several times on the way to work. Always up would be nice to have!

 

I had the JCW tuning kit installed a few weeks ago in my '12 coupe S. Today while washing the car, I realized that the spoiler stayed up on the way home no matter what speed I was at. The green LED would illuminate below 51, then go out until I slowed enough that the spoiler would normally retract.

So my guess is when they did the ECU update, they first had to bring the car up to the newest "regular" version - then pop the JCW software in. So the latest software enables the manual spoiler deployment!

JCW installed at MINI of Bedford, NH. Great dealership, great people!!

 

I have a 2013 Roadster (born in October). THe switch will not retract the spoiler when the car speed has been over 51 MPH, the ONLY WAY TO RETRACT IS to drop vehicle speed below 37MPH. A FLASH UP GRADE WILL BE NICE!!

 

Unless I misunderstood you... the update is not to allow the spoiler to retract above 51mph, it is to allow it to stay deployed at all times.

 

How do we talk with Mini USA other than ASK MINI?

 

I have a 2013 Coupe and it can be deployed anytime and will stay up until you restart the car and drive off. I leave it up almost all the time when driving through perfectly spaced stop lights to avoid the up and down.

 

http://www.miniusa.com/footer-contac...tFaq/contact-s

Yes, this is still (kinda?) ASK MINI, but it's email through their own form. I've used it and gotten responses. Your dealership should be able to contact someone appropriate, maybe?

Sorry if I've stated anything obvious, just trying to find answers for you

 

I need to see if my dealer will install update. It drives me crazy that I can't leave it deployed all the time. Since it got pretty cold here in NJ the spoiler is making a louder thump when it closes. I don't know if something is wrong with it or its just because it got cold out.