Thanks for the fast reply, here2help.
I have my first appointment today for the recall, and I have a long list of *SOME* of the problems with cooper already, all thanks to you and others' tips on this board. I would definitely ask them to update the software. Oh, by the way, all these fixes/updates are covered by the warranty, right? I wish I could use the 'mechanical terms' to discuss (and preferably, harass!
) with the mechanic -- they are usually not very informative or as helpful to car-ignorant people like me!