Chris James

does anyone have a new Mini & what do you think of it?

father_jack

Yep - Mrs Jack has a Cooper - it's excellent

GaryC

Mrs C likewise - Brilliant. The most fun and most chuckable car I have ever driven

carl

Any of you experiencing the reliability problems that Harry Metcalfe (Evo) has had with his?

Chris James

Carl
what problems is he having? Didn't think Beemers had probs!
Fancy the Cooper S supercharged, 165 BHP but local dealer wants £500 deposit to get on waiting list, then another £500 when the actual car specification is confirmed when he has his car quota. If I start this proceedure now he says earliest v end 2002 probably early 2003!!!

Chris

carl

I'll dig the article out -- but the synchro went on 2nd which required a new gearbox, which took BMW weeks to get hold of.

Stephen Read

I have just rented one for the equivalent of £20 per day from Hertz in Switzerland (the monthly rate).

It's a Cooper and I don't know the full spec. and I'm delighted with it.

It's way better then the One they tried to palm me off with first which was gutless and tramlined badly (on winter tyres, never checked the pressures).

It was a day old and only had 300kms on the clock when I picked it up so I'm treating it gently and still experimenting with the ASC and tempting it into lift-off oversteer when conditions permit

Not 100% happy with the ABS though. It cuts in far earlier than my MY00 did (I think) and it doesn't feel as nice under the pedal (but I'm sure it is effective).

Quality wise, perhaps because my car was delivered to Hertz, they didn't do a full pre-delivery inspection as there is one bulb out on the dash (the headlamp adjuster switch) and the boot/bonnet warning light will not go out. The interior light seems to stay on too after you open and shut the door and so far I have resorted to switching it off manually every time I get in. Maybe I'm think but I can't suss it out and the manual is in german which doensn't help me.

If you flip the front seat backs forward to get stuff in the back, they are a pain to flip back into the right position.

PS. there is a button under the handbrake with what looks like a tyre symbol and an "!" on it. Is this a tyre pressure warning check light? How does it work? I have pressed it a few times and nothing appears to happen.

I love the idea of owning one so I've rented one to find out if I could live with it. My initial impression is that it's great fun and not too fast (useful given the penalties for speeding out here) but I would probably want to compare an S before taking the plunge. Don't know when they are due out here. We only got the Mini in September.

Cheers,
Stephen

father_jack

Agree the seat mechanism is rubbish - dangerous if you try to adjust it when driving.
We had some weird electrical **** going on - boot warning light - windows dropping slightly whilst driving and the interior light thingy too.
All cured by phoning BMW assisance and saying take this away and fix it my good man basically some central control box thingy needs replaced.
The button under the handbrake is to reset the puncture detection system after you've replaced the tyre.
Bluddy great car tho - I would order a Cooper S, but 2 Mini's would be sad.

Robyn

same as others the wife has a cooper and i really want to get the S to replace the scoob but 2 of them is just a bit too much.

there have been some problems ours is fine and most of the ones out now are pretty good. usual new car stuff.

try www.mini2.com it has a BBS which is very good indeed for info and stuff.

Robyn

just looking at the other replies the "!" button is to set the tyre pressure sensor, ie you get them right press the button then its set if the pressures drop then the warning light comes on.

as for the seats yup getting them up and down is a nightmare for a few weeks then the mechanism free's up a bit and it becomes a lot more normal.

Jolly Green Monster 2

I noticed that the guy who does all the parking stunts and two wheel driving has ungraded all his mini's to the new ones...
He said they were a big improvement...
Sorry I dunno his name but a recommendation from a stuntman is superb.

BHORT

Drove a standard cooper last week and had a great time although it did have the drift to the left that the new mini is known to suffer from. The seats are the worst of any car that I have been in but I would probably put up with that as the handling/steering was excellent. Today I drove a Cooper with Sports plus suspension and 17 inch wheels and for me it detracted from the excellent handling of the standard car due to tramlining and too much vertical bounce. Over the poor roads that I use I would have to back off all the time with the firmer suspension.

I'm considering swapping my MY99 for a Cooper or Puma, overall for me the Puma handles better, I like the mini TLC idea but the pull to the left is putting me off.

Brendan

polarbearit

Is that Russ Swift, the guy who did the montego ad etc?

Jolly Green Monster 2

That is the guy!

GaryC

Mrs C's hasn't missed a beat, and she gets treated like royalty by the BMW dealer - they even wash her car when she pops in if she's passing.

The seat 'tipper' is awkward and can get stuck, but you just have to push it back down (or is it lift it up???) and it frees itself.

The interior light can either be set to on/off or time delay off/on when ingiton turned off etc by holding it on for 5 secs.

The tyre pressure sensor is the same as on the BMs and calculates the slip/movement from wheel to tyre through the ABS, and will warn of a drop of 3psi or more - unless you press the reset button all the time

father_jack

All 3 of the Minis in my group of friends have been back to the dealers with electrical gremlins.
Ours and another have "gone Herbie" on us e.g. windows opening of their own accord
The other lost all the instruments - maybe just a fuse.
Don't care, it's still a great car and the dealers have sorted them all pronto.