First, I know someone has mentioned the brake squeal b4, and although my MCS stops on a dime it still bothers me. Second, I have never had a front wheel drive vehicle b4, is it normal for the steering wheels to move everytime I hit even the slightest bump in the road? Also is it normal to pull to either side of the road depending on the shape of the road? Lastly is anyone getting the suggested gas mileage out of their MCS. Mine seems to be changing. I did a rough check a couple of weeks ago and got 21mpg city and just took a trip to NJ and only got 23 mpg highway. My service advisor say all of this is normal, any suggestions?

 

Welcome Trevor to MCO! (for some reason I find your real name preferable to your username... )

You need to supply a bit more data to get the best help here. First, what sort of tires and wheels do you have on your MCS? The "pulling" you describe could be a result of the performance (especially) runflats tramlining on grooved pavement. On the other hand, if you are on smooth pavement at lower speeds and it's still pulling, you may have a problem.

Brake squeal is a known problem...so your dealer is right about that one. I'm not sure what the authorized fix is. I think some have found success with replacing the OEM pads with an aftermarket pad. Some (i.e., me) haven't had any squealing problems at all.

Your gas mileage is pretty much on target with what others are getting in their S's. Actual mileage does indeed vary from the EPA estimates. Personally, I think that the EPA/BMW testers must have been driving their S's like golf carts to get the "official" figures.

Finally, I'm not sure what you mean by the "steering wheels to move" when hitting bumps. Give a bit more of a description here...

What year and month-of-build is your car?

 

Trevor, I know exactly what you're talking about with the pulling and the steering wheel jerking every time you hit a bump. I've had my MCS for 6 months and I'm told it's the run flat tires. My car will actually track the smallest groove in the road. The worst thing I just found is that all that jerking and pulling has worn my Pirelli front tires down to the wear bars after only 4000 miles while my back tires still look new.
Mark

 

The car was built in July of 2002 and, yes unfortunately it has the 17 inch run-flat tires. I have heard from other people that this tire technology really sucks and if possible change them because I dont need them. What I mean by the steering wheel, sorry for the spelling, moves when I hit bumps refers to the pulling of the car. Sorry for the confusion.

 

you mean Bump Steer?

This could be simply the contour of the road surface, or it may indicate your alignment is off, or you may be hitting Really big bumps!

I front driver will feel much different dynamically than you're used to, and bump steer is much more common in front drive cars than rear drive cars. This is because there is both steering and propulsion going on up front, and geometries and assemblies are difficult to optimize for perfect handling relative to a rear drive car, or even a larger front driver (but not imperically true). For a front drive car, the MINI has relatively minimal bump-steer and torque-steer. I can't comment on tramlining of the MINI (how the car 'tracks' the road curves, if it pulls to one side of the road if the road is contoured or has ruts), since I haven't driven one on those kinds of roads.

Your brake squeal may be annoying, but it's only that. You can change brake pads to a different compound to alleviate.

Gas Mileage: There are no "fuel efficiency" driving schools that I know of, however there are good styles and bad habits if you're concerned about mileage. Do this as a baseline; medium acceleration always, no randomly flooring the throttle, keep your speed as steady as possible, and stay away from traffic! It's quite reasonable to drive "like a maniac" and still get better milage than "granny oozing along". It's all in the style, really.

Read: stuff

For example: My father and I owned the exact same truck for a while, a '01 dodge dakota quad cab 4x4 with the 4.7L V-8 and a 4-speed auto. Epa is 13/18. My dad drives 'average', he gently accelerates from lights, gradually builds to 5over, and occasionally crams the throttle to pass. I drive aggressively. I accelerate quickly from lights, and then cruise near the speed limit. I corner fast and smooth, and I modulate my throttle gently and smoothly. He averaged 14 mpg combined, and I averaged 22mpg combined. We switched trucks for compairson. I averaged 19mpg with his, and he averaged 15mpg with mine. So my truck seemed to be more efficient, even with the same powertrain, however my driving style was simply more efficient too.

"...and I'm spent!"
Ryan

 

I also have 17" runflats. I does seem to track grooves in the road and a little bit of jerk in the wheel if you hit a good bump. Most sport suspensions give up comfort for handling. I'm sure there are better tire and wheel combos out there. I'm not complaining about mine as it is the best handling car I've ever owned.MB