Took the '12 Cooper S in for some warranty work today. Passenger airbag light coming on; long hard rattle at start (maybe knocking maybe not); and distorted sounding speaker in the rear. Said that they wanted to keep it overnight to see the cold start and gave me a loaner before I even realized it. They took it back to the service garage and started working on it immediately. I'm impressed so far, and they even let me have a countryman S all4 for a loaner my wife wants to buy one so she gets to see it firsthand. I kinda like it too but I miss my manual transmission!

 

Got my cooper back! They tested and rattle at startup wasnt out of normal spec, and while I had the countryman it did the same thing so it put my mind at ease. Couldn't replicate the airbag light but it's documented just in case. Speaker wasn't blown or anything, the bass made the seat belt in the rear vibrate I guess with the rear belt clipped in it stopped
All in all I'm pleased with how things went and am glad to post something that isn't negative, nobody ever says good things when they happen.

 

I love hearing good dealer experiences... even when they are 1,500 miles away!

 

Well, I'm glad they treated you well.

Hate to be a downer here, but be careful once you're out of warranty. A few years ago I took my MINI in for a routing transmission fluid change:

They came back and said I needed to replace my oil pan gasket (a $600 repair, mainly b/c of labor), which was actually fine - it is still to this day not leaking a drop of oil. They also passed over an obvious power steering leak, which thankfully a local mechanic caught before my power steering pump was toast.

All this to say, YMMV and be vigilant.

 

Well I have video of my wife in the seat and the passenger airbag light on. I also have video of the deiselly sound at startup. Maybe in 15k it'll be an issue but right now everything runs great

 

Glad to hear. This is my dealership as well. It also helps if you are a member of a Mini Club. I am with C3M, central Maryland mini motorists on meetup.com. I have been treated very well there also. We patnered with them on Toys For Tots run this past holiday season.