Hmm... That's too bad. I know that lots of folks were hoping that the ECU update would add those features for them.

Seems hard to imagine that they are hardware changes though. I wonder if MINI simply locked down the firmware to the car's build date and only allows updates to show that apply to the specific car and its date of manufacture??? Seems weird, but MINI is definitely a weird kind of company.

 

Another change I would like to see them make, but it's not a software change is:

Re-arrange the buttons for the front and rear Fog lights and the front and rear defoggers. Anyone else notice the front defogger button is above the rear fog light, and the rear defogger button is above the front fog light???

That drives me nuts, I can never find the right ones since the icons on them is so similar and small it's hard to make them out. The front defogger should be next to tthe front fog light, and rear next to rear.

 

This is how I prefer it too- although it's annoying if you're listening to an audiobook or a very long track like a podcast.

I just discovered a work around yesterday that you can trick the car into remembering your track position for longer: mute the audio by pressing in the volume control **** before you turn the accessories power off.

I haven't tested it in every possible way yet, but it worked for me last night with a Car Talk podcast. I had the car off over a two hour wait, and then again overnight.

 

Huh? Are you talking about something particular to Auto AC cars?
In mine (manual AC) the front fogs are on the left of the panel, rears on the right and the rear window defroster in a button on the right.
Placement of a button is irrelevant to me anyway as I just learn the positions and that is that.

 

Yep, this is the way it works in my car.

 

For me, by far the most serious problem with the R56 Nav is that street names are not drawn along the angle of the street, as was done in the 1st gen Nav. On the R56 Nav, street names are displayed only horizontally, which makes it difficult to tell which label belongs to which line on the map. In locations where streets are close together, interpreting the map becomes very difficult. The POI search issue has had a lot of discussion on NAM but I consider this to be far more fundamentally important.

Here is a photo of my R52 Nav, where it DOES show street names at angles. Just imagine how this map would look with all the names horizontal:

 

I don't have to imagine. I have one. It's a bit hard to use the maps without street names parallel. This would be a good feature to add to the list.

 

Yes, with Auto AC. Look at this picture, the FRONT defogger is just above the REAR fog light. And opposite on the other side. Just seems like they should be arranged together (fronts with fronts, rears with rears). In addition, the front defogger on the right side is on the outside (furthest to right) button and the rear button is on the inside button on the left. There just is no symmetry to it. The defogger buttons should be reversed, and on the right side the AC button should be swapped with the defogger button. This way the right side would be for the rear, the left side would be for the front.

No biggie, but I seem to never turn the correct thing on because of it. You don't realize it until the window isn't defogging...

Hmmmm..... I wonder how hard it would be to swap those top buttons myself??? Are they hard to get at?


EDIT: What is the empty button to the left of my rear defogger for anyway? I have pretty much every option possible (minus the JCW performance stuff). The optional rally lights maybe?

 

Just a guess--I think it might be for the heated front windscreen (unavailable in the US).

 

@rkw,
Yes, forgot that one, thanks. Added as #18.

@mauberley,
Yep, that's it, thanks. I posted this question in the main forum and somebody answered it. Too bad we can't get that option, I'd love a heated windshield.

 

Mine are this way also. I never noticed until your post about it. The one with the more angled picture is the front, angled edges like the windshield has. The more square picture is more like the rear window shape. I wouldn't mind if they lined up with the fog light switches but it doesn't bother me at their current location.

The empty button is for a heated windshield.

As far as button swap, since they are all the same, as long as they are individually wired I would imagine it would just be a process of swapping wires/plug harness on the two switches. However if the whole switch assembly has a circuit board on the back, then it might not be that easy, if possible at all.

For the rest of the list goes. Like always, just my opinions, obviously we disagree on some. Like many things, it's just a matter of learning how they work. This doesn't mean there isn't a different way to do the same thing, that boils down to personal preference.

I don't really care if they worked that way or not. The way they function now is fine for me.


I didn't know you could do that with the button. Good tip, thanks! With the keyfob would be nice as well.






I haven't had any false alarms. If it was falsing a lot that idea sounds good. However how would a person know it's not something not working right on the car without the service visit?

Since we know this is how it works, wouldn't it be just as easy to buckle the belt when you place something on the seat?

Is it safe to have things on the seat? I have never placed items on a seat with an airbag. Just seems like it would turn into a projectile if the bag deployed. Even without an airbag going off, braking or an emergency maneuver would send stuff flying. The way the Mini handles, it's easy to have things flying around in the car.

You saved that for #13? That's what started this thread.

On that idea for sure. Search a POI by name. No category or city. Don't need a city if you are using the xx miles from current location function anyway.

We wouldn't need that if we had #13, the search without category feature.

That makes sense. I don't have a problem now but my state isn't very far down the list. I can see where scrolling to NY would be a pain.



for those folks who use books on CD. I like the way it currently works for music. Maybe a software toggle to tell it you are using a book on CD?



How about a user selectable theme for the Nav screen? One for daytime with a white background and night time theme with a black background. This would be user controllable. Set it for the way it is now, or an auto setting that switches it at sundown/sunrise. Or a third setting to pick which one you want, black background or white background. They wouldn't have to go crazy with a ton of themes, just those two would be nice.

 

I haven't had many alarms either(I think just once?), but when we started this thread back in the July/Aug, there were alot of complaints about this. But I don't see a reset as a problem, reset it once, reset it twice, if it goes of a 3rd time, then a service visit would be advised as something is probably wrong.

The problem is it's very difficult to reach the seatbelt from the drivers side. And, mine goes off when I run up to the deli and place a bag with a drink and sandwich on the seat. I should not have to belt in or worry about my 6" tuna Sub.

As for the customizing the Nav screens. I agree with all that, but we can't even upgrade the thing, change the voice..... forget getting into that stuff. Don't even get me started!!

 

Although I haven't read this thread in its entirety, a quick scan didn't reveal a suggested fix to one of my pet peeves.

As far as I can tell, all menus on the MINI, navigation, phone, or entertainment, are uni-directional. They start at "A" and end at "Z". So if I want to select the album "We shall overcome...", I have to scroll through practically the entire alphabet, perhaps a couple hundred albums. If the menus would wrap-around at both ends, I could go backwards from "A" to get to "W" in short order.

Further, it would be useful, I think, if when I went up a level in the menu hierarchy, it would return to the spot from which I went down, instead of starting over at the beginning with "A".

Both suggestions would make it quicker to navigate menus, I believe. I thought perhaps the first, at least, was an option, but haven't been able to find it anywhere.

 

Colea,
I have also noticed the menu's don't "wrap-around". Particularly the horizontal (left to right) menu's. When you get to the rightmost end, the white dot get highlighted (as well as the last item), and you can't go any further. it should wrap around and go back to beginning. It's especially difficult to see you are at the end of those menu's if the last item is not currently selectable (aka grayed out). In those cases, the ending "dot" gets highlighted and the un-selectable item gets kinda gray and the font turns to italics.

Just INVERSE the selection please!!! Quit trying to be "cute" with it. If the item is not selectable, then simply beep if I try to hit enter on it. You know, like the way every menu on the planet works.

Will add wrap around menu's to list.

 

That's would be nice, but no beeping, or at least user configurable if it did. I can't stand how most electronic stuff beeps when you use it (cell phones, watches, etc). I'd pass on that one. At least with cell phones you can shut that off. There's a long time employee at my local super market who actually has some kind of disorder due to the scanner beeping constantly. I never really thought about it but I couldn't work there with all constant sound as items are rung up.

 

The iPod adapter is supposed to handle up to 255 playlists, but the number can be much lower (as low as 20 playlists reported in this thread). The real limit seems to be 5000 total tracks, and the adapter simply stops cataloging beyond that.

The adapter should have no limitations at all! The adapter already costs almost as much as the most expensive iPod. Including dealer installation, the adapter ends up being several times more expensive than most iPods!

 

What's an Ipod?

 

Seriously?

 

Door locks: You should be able to program the doors to auto-unlock when the ignition is switched off as you could in the R53. This eliminates the "double pull" action to open the doors.

(yes i know you can set the doors not to auto-lock when the car starts moving, but with children and bad neighborhoods this is a must.)

 

No, no. I was just kidding, I know an Ipod is one of those moving/storage containers you can have delivered to your house nowadays.

 

Added #20 and #21. 20 especially!! Both talked about in other threads.

Mini, any update on the software changes and when they will be released???

 

Add the ability to store HD2 radio stations. See this thread.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=125432

 

It would be cool if you could set the sport button to automatically come on when you start the car.

 

Added as #22.

 

That falls under keeping all the settings in memory....