Minimoto, nice letter. Have Mini replace your car with a new one.I'm sure you'll happy with an 04'.Good luck. Jaydawg.

 

>>it seems the people getting pissed and trading away there mini's are people with alot of money, and can afford swapping out cars here and there. and think that all things should be fixed right away... well wake up guys this is the real world... not everything fixes with a blink of an eye. I work in tech support, and i'm sure i talk to people like you all the time that think something should just work, they don't understand everything that goes on behind the scenes.

No affiliation,

I'm glad you took the time to read my initial post. I only have the MINI, no other car. My problem has, is, and remains the fact that MINI is not organized. You work in customer service - when your organization has a systemic problem, I'd be willing to bet that they let you know about it so that you can pass the company response on to your customers; MINI is not doing that. I also work in customer service, our philosphy has always been that when you get a customer complaint (in my case patient complaint), you take their issue and get them an answer - if it's not satisfactory, you get them someone that can address their issue - again, not something that I see MINI doing.
I'm glad that your efforts going up the chain have led to some form of resolution. I work 12-15 hours a day and do not have the tme to chase after MINI. I've noted my problems through my repeated dialogue with my dealership, via the 1-866-ASK-MINI, through written correspondence with the main office. I feel that 've done my part in this customer/seller relationship. I'm angry because I feel that MINI hasn't. How much farther should I have to go to get serious consideration?
So to your final comment, would you like to buy my low mileage MCS with all the problems I've listed, because I'd more than happy to sell you my problems so that you can enjoy the heck out of them.

 

the post was not aimed directly at you but people trading in mini's in general.

True they are not organized the way they should be, but when a computer program breaks, there isn't always an instant fix, it takes time and money to develop a fix.

you may respond by saying well 6 months is plenty of time to have a fix, and your right it is enough time. But when dealing with cars you have other factors to deal with the EPA is a big one, you don't pass inspection you don't drive your car.

 

The EPA is a good point.

My worry is that by not communicating - that BMW/MINI may have decided that they do not want to help all that are affected - just the most vocal of us.
My original reason for posting my letter was for fellow sufferers to ensure that they will be covered under their various states' lemon laws. I would hate to see a fellow owner sitting on a problem car that has passed the express warranty period of his/her state's lemon law - Cause if MINI is unwilling to help now (while we are protected), how little can they be forced to do when their only reward is a small bit of goodwill? :???:

 

Yes, MINI's communication sucks.......yes, cars with the stumble issue should never
have been released to buyers.....yes, there are some dealerships that have dealt poorly with their customers (mine has been absolutely terrific) and this should be reported to appropriate higher-ups.

But, hold your horses! There IS a fix......really! They have been hard at work on it
and didn't want to distribute the most recent one until certain it was the real thing. The suffering we have experienced in the face of such high expectations has magnified all the other little problems that we have noticed in the build quality. At this point it's DIFFICULT TO BE PATIENT, but try entertaining the notion that when v36 catches up to you and you're driving around stumble free, the other little quirks won't bother you so much any more and your attitude will take a sharp turn for the better.

It seems silly to me that someone would dump their Mini just when an apparent solution to the major problem is getting out there. Then again, there are some people who will never be satisfied.

As for me......my stumble is GONE and I'm loving the hell out of my '02 dark silver/white MCS like never before!

 

I'm the one that No_Affiliation was referring to. I've been dealing with the stumble and various issues since March 2003. I didn't want to give up my MINI either. But now my DME is being shipped to NJ, and I should have my car back this Saturday. (even though this is the same week that I picked up my MINI a year ago, what a way to celebrate her "welcome home" anniversary). I'm just hoping that this fix will make it possible for me to drive her everyday, not wishing I could drive her everyday. I feel that it is still going to take a little more time for the software to be sent to all of the dealerships, and to upload it to all of the cars. But I'm happy that they finally found a fix.

 

>>it seems the people getting pissed and trading away there mini's are people with alot of money, and can afford swapping out cars here and there. and think that all things should be fixed right away... well wake up guys this is the real world... not everything fixes with a blink of an eye. I work in tech support, and i'm sure i talk to people like you all the time that think something should just work, they don't understand everything that goes on behind the scenes.
>>
>>you may think i don't have a clue what i'm talking about. My gf has a mini and it has the stumble/bad idle etc... it's a show car, and a daily driver, we have complained to the stealership, and we got similar responses, that it didn't exsist etc... so we went higher, and higher till you talk to somebody that knows what's going on. Now she is working with a person from the NJ facility, that has taken care of it, the chip has been sent to be reprogrammed, and we are awaiting it's return.
>>
>>bottom line... get rid of your mini, you can't appreciate the simple things in life. or even better give it to somebody who can appreciate the car.
>>
>>

Now I think I’ve seen everything. I’m to wake up and join the real world and not expect to get my car repaired on the first or second or third dealer visit? I don’t expect things to get fixed with a blink of an eye, but I do expect things to eventually get fixed. It ain’t happening with my MCS. I still have unresolved electrical problems from early August that have already taken three dealer visits including one tow and a total of 14 days of my car sitting at the dealer waiting for parts. You can excuse that kind of service but I won’t.

You are correct on one issue. I can afford to just get rid of my MCS and buy another car and let the next guy get the MCS sorted out. Maybe he will appreciate the car. My M3 arrived at the dealer today. I did the paper work and all I have to do tomorrow when the car is ready is to hand them a check for the difference and the title to the MCS and drive off in my new ride.

To say I am expecting too much in wanting problems resolved in a timely manner, expect things to just work and don’t appreciate the simple things in life because I am unwilling to accept poor service and quality from a car is over the top and asinine for you to say. Either my standards are too high or yours are too low.

 

No kidding, why should anyone expect their car to be fixed right the first time.What an absurd thought! I really don't have a good perspective on my dealer yet.I live 2 hours away and have only talked to them.And that wasn't a pleasant experience. They apparently think these cars are perfect, and acted as though all the "normal" problems people all over the web are experiencing were new news to them. I hate the thought of anyone else working on my cars, which is another reason why mine hasn't gone in yet. I have done all my own work on every vehicle I have owned with the exception of once.When one of the two tacoma pickups we bought new in 98 had a faulty dome light switch, I brought it in to have it replaced.And the only reason I did was because the switch was 10 dollars, and it was covered under warranty only if they changed it.That is the only time I have ever had any warranty work done.But I can't stand the problems with the mini.Rattles I can fix no problem, but I'm not paying to replace all my faulty front suspension parts,and I can't do software upgrades at home.When the snow begins to fly (it was snowing this morning) i'll drop it off at peabody and let them have it until everything is resolved.

 

>>
>>It seems silly to me that someone would dump their Mini just when an apparent solution to the major problem is getting out there. Then again, there are some people who will never be satisfied.
>>

Herby,

Glad that MINI Fixed your MCS. But, as you said it's an apparent solution. What happens if it comes back in a year. Will MINI be willing to help then? A documenttion trail helps.
I've chosen to go the route I have because I wish to ensure that they will eventually fix mine. By putting my complaints in writing and starting a lemon law filing, I am now protected until such a time as MINI FULLY repairs my car or decides to buy it back. Their lack of communication has forced me to this point - 8 months of their "run-around" has forced me to this point.
As I've said numerous times in this thread, I'd love to work with MINI to fix these issues, but I'll be damned if I'm going to passively sit on the sidelines any longer and let MINI make up something new everytime I call. It seems as though almost evry person that has had a serious problem on MCO has had to fight hard with MINI to get something done. Well, this is the first charge of the subcompact (light) brigade and I hope that the other 600 will ride into the breach as I have - because this may be the only way to get MINI to publicly admit they have issues and help protect our fellow owners.
"Lets be the squeaky wheel that get greased!!!"
We may only be MINI owners, but we deserve better treatment than this. :evil: :evil: :evil:

Todd

 

Minimoto.......I completely agree with your position. I have four documented efforts
at trying to have the stumble fixed and will not be withdrawing my Lemon Law action any time soon. Instead, I plan to wait and see how my car performs over the long haul. I already have a hearing scheduled for May 25 and I can still decide to try to recover for damages during the thirteen months prior to October 16 when my stumble was finally zapped. The best policy is......keep your options open. However, I still don't understand those who want to dump their Mini just when a fix is at hand.

 

<<< and i'm sure i talk to people like you all the time that think something should just work, they don't understand everything that goes on behind the scenes.>>>

I'm sorry (no, not really) but when I pay $23K for a car, yes, I DO expect it to be repaired in a timely fashion. And so should you. But if you're pleased with paying to work within someone elses time frame well then, carry on.

That said, I do think we all losing sight of the fact that we should be CELEBRATING the soon-to-be-released v.36. If you love your MINI, now is not the time to sell. Now is time to call your dealership and A) have them ship your ECU to Jersey for a preliminary reflash or B) put your name on their list and wait patiently as a child for Christmas...

 

Yehhh..............tell it like it is!

 

>>CELEBRATING the soon-to-be-released v.36. If you love your MINI, now is not the time to sell. Now is time to call your dealership and A) have them ship your ECU to Jersey for a preliminary reflash or B) put your name on their list and wait patiently as a child for Christmas...
>>

According to my dealer and Mini USA the fix is available now at Lauderdale BMW. If this is so why is everyone saying they have to wait for Christmas - Yet another example of BMW screwing with their customers.

Either it's available to everyone or it's not. Seems like BMW are guinea pigging some of us.

 

Got a reply from MINI today. After MINI conversed with my My dealer, he now claims to have no information on my attempts to have my car fixed, but has informed MINI that they'd be glad to talk to me about coming in to have my car "diagnosed."

What a load of crap! The dealer knows what the issue is, I seem to remember him telling me last week that he can't do anything about it until the new software's out and that as far as he knew that V. 36 will not eliminate the "yo-yo," just help with the stumble. I don't even think that the dealership's sure about that!

After tearing at my hair in frustration I decided that I'll go to the dealership again and will keep demanding written documentation. It will just make my case stronger if they don't fix it.

Wow, what customer care - pass him back and forth some more! I think that I'm renaming my MINI - the Hot Potato. I don't think this game would be half-as-much fun if I didn't live between 2-3 hours from the dealership (depending on traffic). Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

 

It certainly would have made better sense to distribute v36 to all dealerships at the
same time, but I've got to say that I am one very happy GUINEA PIG! And everyone
else should be very happy that us lab animals are so happy. Right?

 

I inquired about the latest stumble news, and here is the e-mail I got from my service manager:

Version 36 is not available til december, but we can send your control unit to N.J. and have them install what eventially will become version 36. The car will be down for three days due to fedexing the part back & forth. Call me to schedule if you decide that you can't wait any longer.

I am not in a hurry so I'm waiting until December. If they don't have the fix to the dealer by early Dec, I will have them ship the ECU off for reprogramming.

Aaron

 

>>It certainly would have made better sense to distribute v36 to all dealerships at the
>>same time, but I've got to say that I am one very happy GUINEA PIG! And everyone
>>else should be very happy that us lab animals are so happy. Right?

Herby,
I might have missed it earlier in this thread, but I assume you had your ECU shipped to NJ?
cheers.

 

No.......my ECU wasn't moved from my car. I got a call from my service manager who said there was a BMW technician at the dealership and if I could come right in, they would upload v36. I made it in five minuites. They guy showed up unexpectedly and was only going to be there for a couple of hours. After working on four cars, he was heading to a dealer in in Maryland......I'm in suburban Philly. He asked the manager to make appointments for others to be done the following week. So, I guess you could call me a guinea pig, albeit a very happy one. The technician assured me that v36 had been well tested and he was certain it would do the trick. So far, so good.

 

Any explanation why he couldn't leave the CD or copy it so other owners could have the upgrade instead of waiting for Christmas or sending their ECUs to NJ???

This is all just far to wishy washy BMW wierd!

Fixed as your car may be there are literally thousands of others with these same problems and BMW are holding out on fixing their cars.

Maybe they are still working out how to copy a CD.

_________________
'03 S DS

 

There is most likely a method to their madness......they're just not telling anyone what it is. We know that the problem all along has been the lack of communication with service departments and customers. If my stumble has already been fixed at a dealership, it's natural that you would want to know why your dealer is telling you that v36 won't be available until December. The customer relations section of
BMW/Mini is in need of an in-depth organizational development consultation. If they
feel the consequences are negligible the status quo will remain the same, so......... file those Lemon Law suits!

 

I can't believe I'm doing this. Never thought I'd want to give up my car for more than a day at the shop. But here I go...I made an appointment to drop it off Monday morning so that they can remove and ship my ecu to NJ. They say 3 days down, but I'll be happy having it back by next Friday (Halloween!!!!).

Until then, I'll just have to monitor "Clock losing time", "So Cal mini spottings", and "What do you do while your Mini is down" threads.

Pray for me.

Ken