At first they were pulling all the codes from the computer to see if it was an electrical thing or if one of the sensors was bad. That was on Friday. Then on Monday, they called MINIUSA to ask them what was going on because supposedly everything checked out as OK and working.

Yeah, that's what I said. Sounds like a load of BS to me but who knows.

Thanks. I will.

 

Well...picked the car up this morning. Drove about .5 miles up the road and the light came back on. Go figure. I turned around and took it back to the dealer. They gave me the same loaner car , so now I wait and see what they say this time. Starting to get a little frustrated so I'm hoping they figure it out before I blow a gasket

 

man that sucks

 

Frankly, I'm not surprised. When MINIUSA told them to reload all firmware, that told me they had no idea what the problem was. Typical practice in software support. Hopefully with that out of the way, the investigation will actually move forward.

 

Yeah, no kidding. I told them before it was either the module inside the car or the sensors in the wheels. Both my dad and my brother work at a dealership (not Mini). They do this stuff all the time. I know what I'm talking about
Anyway, I'll see what they say today before I start demanding stuff. My brother wants them to get all new wheels and tires from the factory and replace the ones on the car. That should go over real well.

 

Well it's Friday now and still no car The service advisor called me yesterday and said they have sent all the data to MINI and are waiting for a response. Jeez!, how long does it take!

Should I start talking to someone higher up? I mean I do have a loaner MCS so I'll just keep racking up the mileage on their car

 

I can't really say for the mini's, but I work on SAAB's all day and almost every part of the car has it's own controller, from the door/window switches to the instrument cluster, there's probably 30-40 control modules in total all running various software & hardware revisions. To perform an update you have to request the controller information, go to the company site/server, check for updates, download to your tech2, go back to the car & then upload the changes, re-add the module to the bus & configure it.
I worked as an IT guy for years, so I've got some idea of how quick & simple it could/should be, but it isn't.
If cars were as cutting edge as PC's, a usb port would've been standard back in '98 instead of a new rumored option for '08 (and you'd be able to check, download & install the updates yourself instead of going to the dealer)

I worked at VW for a bit & had plenty of 'fun' with the tpms on their touaregs, if there's any way to disable it on my mini when it arrives, I will !

 

UPDATE:

I just wanted to let everyone know that they finally found the problem. They were finally able to pull the error code. Supposedly, there is an antenna/receiver in the engine compartment that picks up the signal from the wheel sensors. That was broke. They have replaced it. So far, they said the light has not come on. I'm picking the car up tomorrow morning. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that's it's all fixed now. It's been 18 days since I last drove it I can't wait to finally be able to drive 'my' car again.

 

Its interesting that after replacing the sensors that their next move was not to look at the receiver.... I would think sensor and receiver would be 1 and 2 on the list of diagnoses.

 

They didn't have to replace the sensors in the wheels. It was the receiver all along. I'm glad, because I really didn't want them to have to break down the wheels. One scratch and I would have blown a gasket!

 

Glad it got resolved. Your lack of faith in them to even change a wheel without scratching it speaks volumes. FWIW, I agree with chaincoopers - swapping out the sensors and receiver would be the first step, I think. I wonder how long they take to fix something -really- serious.

 

That's not covered under warranty it it?

Glad to hear you're back in your machine.