This is a troubling issue for me. I got the letter, and I'm scheduled for my first service appointment in 350 miles, according to the display in the car.

I have a little bit of a stumble, but other than that it runs fine.

So here are my questions.

1. Am I required to get the software update, or is it optional?

2. Should I get it, and hope I can get it to work correctly, or should I live with my minor stumble and be happy?

Help!!!

 

I personally think that having a stumble (no matter how 'mild' it is) sucks big time and it is not acceptable.

According to the letter sent by MINIUSA Re: Recall, if you want to keep your emissions warranty coverage, the V39 update is mandatory, otherwise is considered to be negligence in part of the owner (Their words not mine).

So if you want to keep your warranty, you have no choice.

 

That's what I thought, but the way people are talking on NAM made it seem a little more flexible than that. Or maybe no one around here cares about their warranty?

As it stands, the stumble only bothers me about 1% of the time. So while I see your point about it being unacceptable on principle, the question for me is whether or not that 1% warrants opening the whole engine management can of worms.

 

Sorry guys. I'm already out of warranty so that doesn't concern me. But yeah I wouldn't want my emissions warranty voided over an issue like this. But I wouldn't want my MINI to run like crap either. We'll see what happens when I go in next week for service. They have to be VERY convincing for me to get the upgrade.

 

that was also what i thought, that all 04s needed the update, but when i emailed mini, he said that their were no recalls for my vin?
the build date is may 04.

 

I got V.40!

Well not exactly....I just picked up my car from Emission Recall and my car was running super smooth...no hickup...no stumble...just fine. I can some how feel 5 more horse power in the car!

If V39.2 is such a problem...I think I got a different one. Took off from the dealer with spinning wheels first and second gears....I think that's a good sign!

 

Originally Posted by Cooper4us
According to the letter sent by MINIUSA Re: Recall, if you want to keep your emissions warranty coverage, the V39 update is mandatory, otherwise is considered to be negligence in part of the owner (Their words not mine).

So if you want to keep your warranty, you have no choice.
__________________________________________________ ______________

Thats not exactly what it says: Failure to have this free repair work performed could be determined as lack of proper maintenance of your vehicle and could jeopardize your full protection under the emissions warranty provisions.

It is VOUNTARY at your earliest convenience,unless you live in Cali then its voluntary until you register your car. So if your car does'nt need to be registered don't do it.
My earliest covenience is april 2006 or my S has problems.As it stands now, it runs great. As stated before (if it ain't broke don,t fix it.)

They have no date of compliance other than Cali registration date.

Just my 3 cents worth. When in doubt power out

 

This has been my experience as well. And, the reset IS needed. Looks like the dealer knew what they were doing!

Theo

 

It appears from what I've heard to be affecting none of the MC owners. Only MCS owners. So far the only two MCS owner not to be affected by this are MyPocketRocket and Koopah as they have posted above.

MyPocketRocket & Koopah, what build date is your MCSs'?

My MCS's build date is Jan 03

 

Mine built on March 04.

 

My build date was 9-20-03, first production month of the '04s. It came with V.36.

 

Anyone know how to restore V36 back into newer versions???

 

LOL... I wish....

 

Can you use MTH software to download V36 form somebody and download in to yours?

 

No because it is coded to your VIN number... I already thought of that....

 

 

There's gotta be a way...

 

OK. I just cancelled my service upgrade. All of this negative talk has made me afraid to have anything done to my car.
I'm not sure if I have the yo-yo, stumble or any of the other issues, so I'm just gonna leave the car alone for now.

 

sure there is.... have a connection at BMW that still has the old software lying around....wink*

 

I’ve got the original v31 or v32 in my 02MCS. It’s never been upgraded and from what I read is not going to be upgraded. My car will be out of warranty soon so the chance of loosing any of it is a meaningless threat to me.

My MCS runs great and my gas mileage on the highway has been as high as 38 MPG. I received the recall notices a few weeks ago but like others wanted to wait for the inevitable backlash of complaints MINIUSA always seems to generate whenever they correct some type of error.

I do have my 25K service coming up and will talk to them about what they will do and what they won’t do to my MCS when I take it in. The v39 will not be installed in my perfectly great running MCS.

 

I have an 04 MCS (Sept 03 build) and got V39 software installed about 6 weeks ago. I had the same problems everyone else has noted. Rough idle, engine bogging and very choppy throttle inputs, not to mention slow throttle response.

Just went out over lunch to some private roads, and did the ECU reset.

WOW! HUGE difference. Car feels so much more eager off the line. Throttle repsonse is waaaay better. Hard to tell if it is smoother yet, since I was basically just standing up on the throttle the whole time. Thanks for posting the detailed instructions and the "how to drive after the ECU remap".

One question. I followed Ryephile's instructions (reving engine, short drive with lots of WOT). But I've heard the ECU continues to "learn" from your driving technique for up to 500 miles? How much affect will future driving have? Unfortunately, I live in the burbs of Chicago, so driving with WOT isn't always an option. Just curious.

 

You may want to reread the warranty concerning your emissions equipment. I don't have the book in front of me, but I believe the warranty for emissions equipment is something like 50K or 100K miles. If you don't have the reflash, you void the warranty on the emissions equipment. May not be a problem for you, but here in Kalifornia, it is a concern. Here we do not have the option, we can not re-register the car until we get it done. I'm just waiting, nutli the last possible minute, to see if MINI issues comes out with version 39.3, or something.

 

When you reset the ECU does the clock need to be set up again? Some how after I got the car back from the recal my clock went to 24 hour setting.

What I was thinking is BMW may reset the ECU for me.

 

The clock will not loose it's time nor will it switch modes (12 to 24 or back to 12) when you do a 21 reset. I believe that the switching modes and loosing its time was due to either a disconnected battery or the loading of the new software.

 

It's deja vu all over again...

As a version 33 (I think that'w what it was) stumbler, I know stumbling. I can verify that version 36 fixed me right up (after several interim versions that only made matters worse ). I can also verify that my recent upgrade for the recall absolutely positively did not induce any new stumble or bog or yo-yo (latter which I never had, btw).

I had the recall reflash done about 500 miles ago...so I don't expect any badness to appear now.

So, what I have noticed - for what it's worth - is that my car's (2002 MCS...bone stock except for a CAI and a shorty antenna) performance is unchanged. According to the car's computer, my gas mileage has improved somewhat (I haven't verified this by old fashioned calculator work). My clock was not reset or otherwise impacted.

Thus, my reading on the latest DME software is definitely