Ok so I've been saving up issues on my mini to make one trip to get them all fixed. Here is a list of my issues:

Rattles - rattling near the steering column not very annoying I wasn't even going to get it fixed. The rattling I hate comes from the center of my dashboard. I realized it is that round plastic cover right next to the air defrost vent. Anyone fix this? Any pointers on making this stop rattling? Well I call Mini of Mountain View. I tell them about the rattle. Unfortunately it only happens at night time when the ambient temperature is cold. The guy in service says I need to do a test drive with a tech. I said I understand, but what are we going to do since it only happens at night time or when it's really cold outside? They only work until 3:30 so the guy says I'm S.O.L. I said what do you do in these cases? how can I meet with a tech later at night? His answer was one of the most appalling answers I've ever had from a bmw dealership/ service. He said something like 'well you could take the tech out to dinner or buy him his favorite beverage'

I don't recall it stating in my warranty that I needed to bribe the tech to check my car for the rattle I hear every night. They can't just pay a guy an hour of overtime to come in and look at my car? That's just plain bad service. Either that or the dealer should pay for their favorite beverage or dinner. It shouldn't come out of my pocket. Part of the reason I bought this vehicle was because of the supposed great warranty. So if anyone has tips on defeating this annoying rattle please let me know.

Brake Squeak - So if I'm driving on some mountain roads for a while I'll notice a short and loud squeak right when I apply the brakes. It has happened since I got the car. It seems to come from the rear passenger side. I also just recently had an instance where the brake was stuck making that noise. I had just come home from commuting
, and pulling into my garage. Squeaaaaaaaaaaak... applied the brake, noise gone, applied the brake again, Squeaaaaaaak... applied the brake again, gone. Anyway I think there could be an issue with the passenger rear brake. I tell the guy on the phone his answer is 'Well sometimes brake dust builds up, you can go with a tech on a test drive.' I said what if it doesn't happen will you at least pull the wheel off and inspect the brake? I mean bad brakes is a safety hazard. Especially if I'm doing 70 mph on the freeway and one of the brakes decides to stick? I wonder what that would do? They should at least inspect it. Don't you think? especially since the warranty is touted as one of the best in the industry. So I guess I'll just be driving around with that brake not checked. I guess just like with the rest of this warranty I'll have to look at it myself to see if it looks messed up.

Oil Change at 20k miles or 1 year - Well I'm at 10k miles and my car says it's another 10k to get an oil change. Am I crazy for thinking this is weird? This doesn't bother me as much, but I still think it seems a bit nuts to not change the oil for that long. I think BMW is just trying to spend less money, that is why they do this.

Color line bubble - also lastly the color line on the passenger side has an air bubble that pops up when it's hot outside. To change this out they said a regional rep needs to look at it first. WTF is that? Obviously a manufacturing defect, just order a new color line. I'm sure they don't cost that much.

So basically if you're buying a mini and want to use mini of mountain view for service make sure you're prepared for the worst service you've ever experienced. It's so bad I'm considering taking the car to pleasanton for service. Thanks to my wonderful warranty.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience. That sounds like pretty bad service. I bought my car from them and had a great experience. However I haven't been in for any kind of service. Like yourself, I have a short list of things I've saved up to get done at one time. I have one mystery rattle but luckily the highway near the dealer is really bumpy so it won't be any trouble reproducing the sound.

For the rattle only when it's cold, doesn't the service department open at 7:30am? It's been fairly cold in the mornings lately, at least as cold as the evenings.

Many NAM members are changing our own oil before the car's service interval. There are some threads here about oil type. Easiest is to just buy the oil from the dealer (which isn't expensive).

The day I picked up my car from Mini of Mountain View, a rep from the factory was there. It is very odd they won't just order a new color line for you. At delivery, I had 2 minor scratches. One on the inside piano black ring on the door and one on the lower black plastic piece below the rear bumper. Both pieces are being replaced without any rep looking at them. They ordered the parts that day. The interior piano black scratch is nothing. 1/4" long at the most and only visible at a certain angle. If they had an issue with needing a rep to approve repairs, they would have said something about it to me. I didn't ask for them to replace the parts, they offered to.

The brake issue is something they should look at. Did they not say they'd check it out for you? I didn't see a mention of that in your post. My non-Mini daily driver has a similar squeak, just as you start to press the pedal. It's due to dust buildup. How many miles do you have on your Mini?

There are a couple things you can check for the rattle you hear near the steering column. Look at the dash panel below the steering column. Where it meets the color line, check if the 2 clips are holding. One of mine is not and at times makes a rattle. I can push the dash panel back in place. Sometimes it holds for 30 seconds, sometimes until I drive a bumpy road.

I've read in another thread here on NAM to tighten the screws on the back of the tach, just slightly. The person who posted said it was slightly loose and caused a rattle.

 

+1 for the three screws on the back of the tach. Open ended wrench on a phillips head screwdriver bit took care of that. Take it easy on the screws so as not to over-tighten.

 

If it makes you feel any better, a brake squeel is annoying, but it's not indicative of any safety issue.

The oil change issue is a recurring one here. Like many, I do a 'mid counter' change just to make myself feel better.
One member has 120K+ on his, and has only used the factory intervals, FWIW.

Sorry to hear about the other problems. Did you work with Jennifer or Peter? I've had nothing but positive interactions with Jennifer.