If you really don't want to use the belt just do what the cops do, buckle it behind the seat.

 

Again.....these sensors are mandated by the government...the oxygen sensor is the only one that "smells" the amount of emissions. It makes sure the air/fuel ratio is correct for the catalyst. There are other sensors, such as crankshaft position (this detects misfire and would probably the one that would set a check engine light if you stalled it while driving a stick). Trust me, MINI and other auto manufacturers don't put any more emissions detection equipment than the law requires.

If they let MINI owner's reset their check engine lights, then they would have to let every manufacturer do it. Actually, most of the fault codes only turn the check engine light on if they happen twice. A one-time occurance will not turn on the check engine light for most codes (misfire codes being the exception). If the check engine light comes on and then the engine doesn't detect the fault for the next 40 drive cycles the check engine light will go out.

 

My mistake, you are correct, but the senstivity is different. Even between the US and European vehicles. Why? Because the standard test the US uses corresponds to the fleshy part of the finger, not to the knuckle, as the Europeans use. They use a spring with a certain rate to simulate the finger. It can't compress the spring more than a certain amount before reversing direction.

 

Sorry to ask again, but has anybody been able to check the throttle shut off with brake application when at a stop? I want to see if you are able to do the manual anti-roll back or not. any help is appreciated.

 

iPod Adapter:
-Improve "Random"/shuffle logic -- Currently, the device will play multiple songs from a single artist before shuffling to another song. In many instances, will only shuffle single artist even though there are 1000's of different artist to shuffle through.
-Remember "Random"/Shuffle state even after restarting car. Currently, the shuffle feature has to be reset each time the car is started.
-If possible with software only modification, improve buffer size to allow for more than 255 folders. Most iPod users have many more artist (folders) than 255 and it is currently impossible to scroll through the alphabetic listing to find artists names that begin with M thru Z (due to the limitation of 255).

Sport Button:
-Allow sport button on/off to be programmed with the key fob -- This would allow someone to have one key default to sport mode and the second set default to "off" (this is good for letting other family members drive the car).

 

Is there a list of software updates that are actually available?
I've seen posts concerning a "cruise control engaged" indicator and sport-mode indicator. Are these software updates?

 

Ok, the random shuffle thing is nto real important, but I see your point. But, most multi CD players do the same thing. My Sony 400 CD multi unit plays 2 sometimes 3 songs randomly on a CD before switching to another CD. It's just to simply make it faster (instead of constantly swapping CD's).

Remembering states of things is a good one, think we have that on the list already. That includes Sport mode per Random/Shuffle....

As for the "folder buffer size" limitation of 255, don't think so. You should NOT be storing all your music simply dumped into folder by albuam title, or artist title. You should use Genre (Blues, Reggae, Rock, Dance, Hip Hop, Polka...) , THEN folders by artist within each genre. Most CD players have 255 as limit for folders. In fact, most PC software also has that limit.

 

I remeber seeing something about those. They were not software changes, but hardware changes. At least the Cruise control" one was. Mine indicates cruise control on a green iconm on the nav display, but I think I remember folks saying they did not have that early on??? Sport mode is indicated by the light on it's toggle switch.

 

HUH?? Wanna explain?

If you mean, can you use the hand brake slightly to keep from rolling back on an incline, then apply gas to overpower brake and move forward before realing the brake, then YES, you can do that. If you mean can you rev engine while foot is on the brake peddal, then yes, you can do it.

 

Mine also shows cruise control by a green icon, but I read about a separate display when it was "engaged". The green icon just shows if it has been "turned on".
The updated sport mode indicator actually shows the word "SPORT" on the tach - not just by lighting the button and changing the gear indicator to "DS". Both of these seem to be software changes, but I'm not sure where to find a list of changes available.

 

Here is a link to a photo of the "SPORT" mode display:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...postcount=1112

 

Actually, the new cruise control feature allows you to set the actual speed for your cruise and the MPH you've selected is displayed digitally in the OBC (on the tach) I believe. I've been meaning to test this out in our new MINI, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

Wrong.

1,2,3 have nothing to do with law suits. 4 does.

 

That MP3 player is probably the only thing
I am not happy about with my new mini.

Every morning I have to FF on it to (hopefully/kinda)
figure out where I left off the day before.
While I drive mind you which I don't like to do at all.

And with each track being 40-70 minutes long, it is
just a really royal PITA doing this EVERY day.

 

sorry to get back so late. Got my car today. Have driven manual transmission about 6 times before, all trips under 20 minutes. Drove the 1 hour ride home, stalled once in a non-critical position. I found that you can rev the engine while braking, but still trying to get used to everything before doing anything too fancy. As for preventing rollback, is one of the two above mentioned procedures considered less harmful for the car?

 

I will followup on these to see what is happening....

 

Aaron, I orinally thought this thread was software changes that we're going to occur from MINI. Good thing there are folks out there trying to solve these issues. Thanks

 

Well, MINI SHOULD fix these issues, but if somebody else can GREAT. But the nav software changes will need to come from SiemensVDO / MINI.

 

It's kind of a bummer in that on the 1st gen MINIs, you could easily update the firmware in the nav system using an update CD that was released by BMW. It was nice in that BMW was updating the nav firmware on a regular basis (correcting bugs mostly, but occasionally new features such as perspective 3D view were also added, etc.).

This also allowed the system to be fully updatable by the user/owner as they could just get a hold of the update CD and flash the system their selves. Apparently BMW/MINI didn't like that (Germans to tend to have a power trip ) and so now with the new CCC-DVD system in the 2nd gen MINIs, the only way to update the nav's firmware is via a trip to the dealer.

That's too bad as it's like pulling teeth to get the dealer to figure out what the newest/latest software release is, and I'm more than sure they will charge big $$$ for performing the updates. Thus, in the long run, we probably won't see many (if any) firmware updates for the nav system. It's too bad really.

Right now, I'd really like to see a software update that corrects the silly RDS info problem on the nav system's integrated radio, and I'd like to see the iPod adapter be able to have it's firmware updated via a flash as well (which I'm not even sure is possible).

I know that BMW/MINI makes updates/changes to their Bluetooth module on a regular basis, but the problem is that they didn't make it flashable (AFAIK). Instead, you have to buy a whole new module (very expensive!) in order to benefit. It's a shame really as it should be 100% updatable using a simple firmware flash.

Basically, this leaves the cars stagnant in that you get only what you drive off the lot with (bugs and all). The newer cars will get the hardware fixes (which really should only require a simple firmware update) and the owners of older MINIs (i.e. the ones BMW/MINI doesn't care about because they already took our money) get left in the dust. Kinda sucks!

 

What Birdman describes for the hand brake is pretty much standard technique for using manual shift on hills. It is simply going to be a matter of practice and experience until it becomes natural and instinctive. When I was learning, I found it helped to get a feel for it by trying it once in a while when you come to a stop during regular driving (even on level ground). Pull the handbrake while stopped, feel the engine pull against it when you start to go forward, and release the handbrake to go. Once you have the hang of doing this technique on level ground, it is not much different on a hill.

However, this is rather off topic and you should really start a separate thread.

 

1 touch up on the windows is going to be on the '08 R55/ R56.

 

Yes, but it will likely be a hardware change not something that can be accomplished through software update

 

And only on the driver's side. The poor passenger still has to sit there w/ their finger on the switch.

 

Has anyone added the following for ECU updates for MCS's ?:

Eliminate 235F bonnet temps after parking by:

• Increasing water pump run time
• Increaseing coolant fan run time
• Lowering the temperature setting for activating the water pump and cooling fan.

Temps are being measured with an IR thermometer.
I have also started monitoring just inside the scoop.
Last night hit an all time high of 137C which translates to 278.6F .

 

Had our 1st week in March build R56 in for service the last 3 days. In addition to the problems we were fixing, I had the dealer update the software. Neither the Sport indicator or Cruise Control Speed Indicator changed in the upgrade. This makes me believe they are hardware changes and not software. The software upgrade was ECU programming.