"culture" ;)
So I live in USA but I am English - which should I choose?

My first MINI has auto a/c; I regularly found it would not blow air where I felt I wanted it to blow. Also, it would blow freezing cold air in the middle of winter - it would not wait till the engine was hot.
Apparently newer auto a/c units do wait for the engine to warm up before trying to heat the car - good.

The noise issue with the auto a/c is real - yes the fan/ducts are the same in manual a/c. And yes you can get a noisy manual a/c too.

Example:
On manual a/c, if I adjust the air direction to feet only, it is very noisy, but I can turn the direction so that it is "almost all feet with a bit of windshield" and the noise quiets down.
On auto a/c, I can choose "feet only" which is noisy, or I can choose "feet and windshield" which is not so noisy but now splits more air to the screen than I would like. There is no "inbetween" adjustment like there is on manual a/c.

On that issue, it used to be difficult to get air to the windshield without having it do the "mega-blast" demist thing - again recent auto a/c has changed the switching to improve control there.

If I got another MINI, I would check out auto a/c to see how much better it is than in my old '02 ... but I might still get manual a/c ...


Yep, I agree with all you comments about Auto - it looks pretty but just ain't very clever....

Its harder to control to your exact requirements
Its 'stupid' (have lots of cold air when your already freezing
Its noisier unless you jump thru hoops to set it not to be noisy (like you said above, when just pointing at your feet, its noisy, so put some screen on, and your stuck having cold air blowing at your face all the time)
Its also harder to work out which button does what without actually looking at them - with dials, you just don't need to take your eyes off the road.

Its interesting to see that all the top end luxery cars have now gone back to dial controls - too many silly little buttons clutter up the dashboard.....

i got manual aircon. can you change it auto with a new display and sensors? or is everything differnt?

I have auto air con in my Cooper and in my Subaru. I spend all my time fighting them both because they're not doing what i want. Needless to say, my Cooper S automatic due soon will have maual aircon. Must say that the auto aircon does look good in the dash though

My car (11/03 build) has the auto A/C system. If I were replacing the car, it would be the main thing I make sure not to get. I was given an MC40 with manual A/C as a loaner for about 4 days last week and found the system to be much more to my liking.

If I'm on a long trip, the system is acceptable. But for short, around town trips, I don't think it works very well. The system's choice of vents is completely opposite to what works for me in my climate. It is loud. I also don't like the fact that the compressor is engaged whenever the auto function is pressed.

In cold weather, the car takes forever to warm up. If you are getting Auto A/C and live in a place where it can get cold, I recommend that you get the heated seats also (mine doesn't have them). That way you won't freeze to death waiting for some warm air out of the system.

Not read the whole thread, but I like the manual a/c over auto in terms of day to day use, and I've driven both for thousands of miles in all sorts of climate.

"...On that issue, it used to be difficult to get air to the windshield without having it do the "mega-blast" ...

I found a cure and this also saves you fuel as the a/c is not used. I only use the a/c in summer (and only had the car for about 1.5 months so far):

Assumptions; you have auto ac. The auto button is on, BUT (as it is winter) the a/c button is off.

Press (and hold) the windscreen button. You will get the air to the windscreen, and it will be auto controlled.
Once you have finished with the windscreen demisting, press the windscreen button again. The auto will go back on, and the a/c will still be off. If you press auto instread, then the a/c will be on and you will have to press the a/c button to turn it off.

Hope this helps.

PS: Dont forget to use the a/c function (for about 5-10 minutes) each month so as to keep the seals lubricated (something like that, cant remember exactly what it does, but is necessary).

Is it possible with the auto system to run fresh air through the vents or even heated air using the fan without employing the compressor like one can with a manual system?

Hugh
Stanhope NJ

Is it possible with the auto system to run fresh air through the vents or even heated air using the fan without employing the compressor like one can with a manual system?
Yes - easy. You can still turn the a/c compressor on/off manually; when you press AUTO it is on but you can then press the snowflake to turn it off, and it stays off.
For unheated freash air, press AUTO, press snowflake to turn a/c off, then turn temp down to "LO" - air will be as cold as possible (ie: unheated) but with no a/c to chill it.

I find a lot of these posts quite weird. I have had 2 Mini's with auto ac and it couldn't be better for me. The AC in my later MCS seems a little less noisy than the AC in my original car, buit other than that i never touch it. As for fiddly to use..... what do you want, controlled automatically via a microchip in your brain??? It's a turny knob, right for hotter and left for colder.

Thank you to those critical of the auto AC option. It's the last option I questioned before I ordered my MCSC, and I ended up not ordering it. It seemed kind of silly to me to pay for an automatic system for a convertible.

Needless to say, ever since I ordered the car, I wondered if I should have gone with the auto AC, since I ended up getting every other option I was undecided about. The car arrives this week and I was having serious anxiety on whether I goofed by not ordering it. While there are those who like it, I'm glad to hear from the detractors who make me feel more at ease about not getting it in my car.

Thank you to those critical of the auto AC option. It's the last option I questioned before I ordered my MCSC, and I ended up not ordering it. It seemed kind of silly to me to pay for an automatic system for a convertible.
My wifes ($50K!) Audi convertible has a neat feature with its (standard) auto a/c - it remembers the last "top up" and "top down" settings and switches over when you open/close the top ... sadly when I test drove the convertible last year, it does not do that. Not automatic enough?

My wifes ($50K!) Audi convertible has a neat feature with its (standard) auto a/c - it remembers the last "top up" and "top down" settings and switches over when you open/close the top ... sadly when I test drove the convertible last year, it does not do that. Not automatic enough?

Heh, that extra $21k (my MCSC will be $29k) has to pay for something. ;)

Heh, that extra $21k (my MCSC will be $29k) has to pay for something. ;)

Wicked.... my MCS at current exchange rate is about USD45K!

Amazing how they cross the pond and get cheaper...

Somebody hit it on the head when they mentioned it was a "cultural thing" a few responses ago. When I first got my E36 M3 I was living in Houston at the time. It took me a couple of months to "let go" and allow the automatic climate control to do its thing. Seriously, I had to re-train myself to not fiddle with it.

It was time well-spent, however. Why? Because I came to discover that there was a lot of thought and engineering built in to the system. My independent service man was a stereotypical German with very strong ideals as far as motoring is concerned. He gave me insight not only into the culture of his homeland, but the thought process of BMW as well.

For example, he taught me the "warm feet + cool head = comfortable and alert driver" equation. We spent over an hour one Saturday morning going over every aspect of the car's climate control and ergonomic features. I walked away with an entirely new appreciation for the car and the thought that went into it.

My MCS will have the auto climate control and I'm very glad. One of the biggest draws to the MINI for me was the very strong ties with BMW. Not just financially, mind you, but in the car and the driving experience it's meant to deliver. Frankly, I was surprised to find an ashtray and tilt steering in the MINI. Not due to cost, but because they tend to "rub against the grain" of what I've come to know about BMW's motoring philosophy.

As others have mentioned, it's easy to override the automatic functions and go into "control freak" mode. In my M3, I rarely have the A/C on now that I live in Minnesota. When I do want it, I just press a button. The rest of the time, it does its very best to maintain a confortable 70 degrees using recirculated and fresh air.

I guess the final word from where I'm sitting is that it's probably worth the cash and it's a great bargain if it's included in a package. Go for it, but keep an open mind!