April, right after I read your message about the welcome kit, I logged off. I was puttering around, and finally went to check the mail - My Welcome to the Neighborhood kit was on my doorstep! (I didn't expect that I would be receiving any such items from MINIUSA, but here it is!

I'm posting attaching the pics directly so folks who don't want to see the details of the kit don't have to.

_Dave_

April, right after I read your message about the welcome kit, I logged off. I was puttering around, and finally went to check the mail - My Welcome to the Neighborhood kit was on my doorstep! (I didn't expect that I would be receiving any such items from MINIUSA, but here it is!

I'm posting attaching the pics directly so folks who don't want to see the details of the kit don't have to.

_Dave_

Hmmm...haven't seen on of those yet. My husband has had his MINI since February, and he didn't get a kit either. That's pretty cool though.

Someone from BMW customer service called me about the black spots on my car. They left a message, making me think that they wanted to help, but now I can't get them to return my phone calls. The dealer doesn't want to talk about it either. I'm kind of surprised. They were so eager before I bought my car, now they don't want to talk to me...and so far I've just asked casual questions; I haven't even hinted at being angry.

Oh - curious about the pop, pop noises. My little MINI does the pop, pop thing in every gear (which I think is really cool!), but Mike's MINI only does it through third gear. Just curious to see how this feature varies from MINI to MINI. I love listening to the noise!

I think we're going to order the item that auto-ups the windows and turns off the DSC. That's too cool. I'm really wishing that I'd ordered LSD after reading what everyone else has to say! :)

Debbie

Debbie, who gets a welcome package is a function of the dealer. It was noted before, some dealer's customers don't get any packages, and no one ever figured out why. Probably because the dealer doesn't submit all the paperwork?

If you haven't received the Welcome package after a few months you can call ASK-MINI and they will arrange to have one sent out to you.

Hi all! I don't know if any one remembers me... my old user name was monkeynet. It's nice to see this thread so active!

Well, my March build wasn't meant to be, but May turned out to be the winner and a couple of weeks ago, my MCSa was finally delivered!

Even though it's a May build, I spent much more time in this thread, so I'd like to share a picture of my MINI baby :p Maybe this weekend I'll get out and take some more pictures.

http://www.mini2.com/gallery/personal/25355/64383_thumb.jpg (http://www.mini2.com/gallery/personal/25355/64383.jpg)

-paul

Hi all! I don't know if any one remembers me... my old user name was monkeynet. It's nice to see this thread so active!

Well, my March build wasn't meant to be, but May turned out to be the winner and a couple of weeks ago, my MCSa was finally delivered!

Even though it's a May build, I spent much more time in this thread, so I'd like to share a picture of my MINI baby :p Maybe this weekend I'll get out and take some more pictures.

http://www.mini2.com/gallery/personal/25355/64383_thumb.jpg (http://www.mini2.com/gallery/personal/25355/64383.jpg)

-paul

I remember you. ;)

Nice MCS!

NICE! Thanks for sharing with us!

_Dave_

Nice Motor, Paul. Looks like an exact opposite of mine! :D Colour-wise, I mean.

Hi all! I don't know if any one remembers me... my old user name was monkeynet. It's nice to see this thread so active!

Well, my March build wasn't meant to be, but May turned out to be the winner and a couple of weeks ago, my MCSa was finally delivered!

Even though it's a May build, I spent much more time in this thread, so I'd like to share a picture of my MINI baby :p Maybe this weekend I'll get out and take some more pictures.

http://www.mini2.com/gallery/personal/25355/64383_thumb.jpg (http://www.mini2.com/gallery/personal/25355/64383.jpg)

-paul

Very nice. It's exactly the same as my neighbor's minus the external chrome package.

Zip

I remember you. ;)

Nice MCS!

Paul,

I remember you, too!

I like the Pepper White MINI. And, I might be partial, but I love the web spokes too!

Did your MINI come with Dunlop tires or Pirelli tires? I've been trying to find out if all web spokes come with Dunlops.

Hope you enjoy your MINI!

By the way, my husband and I both got our welcome packages today. They're so cute! I was so excited!

Debbie

Thanks everyone!

Debbie, I remember you had the web spokes :) Mine came with Dunlop tires. I'm quite pleased with them. My MA lowered the air pressure to 34psi to improve ride quality, so I'm not sure how they feel at their full 38psi. What tire pressure are you running at and how's the ride quality?

Johnny, Are you the same Johnny L that went to EVL?

And AprilWhine, thanks a lot with the name help!! :cool: :cool:

:confused: EVL? I guess I'm not that Johnny L . . .

Johnny, Are you the same Johnny L that went to EVL?
:

On the plus side, I've had some cool MINI sightings here in Seattle. One guy driving a very similar CR/W MCS that looked identical to mine gave me a huge thumbs up on NE 51st by the Chevron - another couple in a yellow MC with a black/white checked roof returned my light-flash near the intersection of 156th NE and Bel-Red Road. Good to see other MINI drivers returning waves - there are a whole bunch of MINIs around here and not everyone participates in the club :(

On the downside, more things are broken on my car. Now, the key remotes don't work at all. I unlocked the car by remote, got in just fine, drove home, got out, and the car wouldn't respond to the remote anymore. I had to lock the car by putting the key in the door - first time I can remember actually using the key in the door! I went in and got the spare key, and it doesn't work either. Rats. It's annoying, but I guess I can limp along until I can make it down to Northwest MINI. But between this, the nasty SNAP noise I heard one day when pulling up the parking brake and the defective-from-the-factory plastic side panel below the driver's seatbelt, I am building up a reasonably sized service call...

Ben

Ben, about your remote:

Was your car parked near anything that radiates? TV station, comm relay station, just outside a military base, near an airport? When I park near a Navy ship, within a mile or two, that is using their radars my remote doesn't work. But get a few more miles away and it works fine. Before taking that particular problem back to your dealer, try your remote again in a different location.

Maybe it's Bill Gates garage door opener.... muhahahahaha

Seriously though, AprilWhine's got it... many military bases and federal government centers have communication systems that operate on the unlicensed spectrum that most garage, car, security systems operate on.

http://www.professionaldoordealer.com/articles/551feat1.html

But looking at my remote, the frequency is 315Mhz not the 390Mhz the military is using :confused:

But who knows... there are many secrets :cool:

Also though, my ~20 day old MINI just had the BC1 module replaced. It's failure prevented me from doing any of the remote control convenience features and caused the locks to re lock when they should not have been doing so.

Thanks everyone!

Debbie, I remember you had the web spokes :) Mine came with Dunlop tires. I'm quite pleased with them. My MA lowered the air pressure to 34psi to improve ride quality, so I'm not sure how they feel at their full 38psi. What tire pressure are you running at and how's the ride quality?

Johnny, Are you the same Johnny L that went to EVL?

And AprilWhine, thanks a lot with the name help!! :cool: :cool:

I'll have to check mine. I don't remember what I set them at. When we first checked them, all four of them were extremely different. The ride quality isn't bad, but a lot different than my other car! :-)

I'm taking my MINI to Flow MINI on Monday morning to have those dreadful black spots checked. I hope they will determine if it's the tires or something leaking...and I hope that they can get the darned things off it! Not exactly my idea of a great 4th of July, but at least I won't have to take a day off from work to drive up there. I have my fingers crossed that they figure out what's wrong and it's simple to fix.

That's interesting about the remotes not working around military ships and equipment! I never would have thought about that.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Debbie

Look what was in my mailbox today:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/AprilWhine/th_miniswag1003.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/AprilWhine/miniswag1003.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/AprilWhine/th_miniswag1001.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/AprilWhine/miniswag1001.jpg)

Anyone else got their welcome kit yet? Cool stuff, I like the MINI floating pen best.
Just got mine last week!

Kellzir - you can appreciate this - I had a date last week and we went for a ride and she could not stop giggling :D We've been out a few more times since :D :cool: I can't imagine getting that kind of response from my old Toyota Matrix wagon :p Looks like the Mini has some competition for my attention ;)

I'll have to check mine. I don't remember what I set them at. When we first checked them, all four of them were extremely different. The ride quality isn't bad, but a lot different than my other car! :-)

I'm taking my MINI to Flow MINI on Monday morning to have those dreadful black spots checked. I hope they will determine if it's the tires or something leaking...and I hope that they can get the darned things off it! Not exactly my idea of a great 4th of July, but at least I won't have to take a day off from work to drive up there. I have my fingers crossed that they figure out what's wrong and it's simple to fix.

That's interesting about the remotes not working around military ships and equipment! I never would have thought about that.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Debbie




Debbie

Debbie - that stinks that you still are having the black spots issue. It's got to be some kind of leak near a wheel. I have web spokes and hear the ticking noise that you have talked about. - But no black spots. My tire pressure is at 38 and I do burn some rubber taking off sometimes. I find it difficult to keep the pressure at 38 and have to add every week of so. It goes down to 36 and stays there :rolleyes:

Motor on everyone and happy 4th!

Just got mine last week!

Kellzir - you can appreciate this - I had a date last week and we went for a ride and she could not stop giggling :D We've been out a few more times since :D :cool: I can't imagine getting that kind of response from my old Toyota Matrix wagon :p Looks like the Mini has some competition for my attention ;)

I got my welcome kit a few days ago. Haven't looked through the whole thing yet. Although I thought the card with the top view of an open Mini convertible with the reverse side that says 'the four crotch crotch rocket' was kind of cute. :)

Zip

I just had to spend the 15 bucks to get this accessory for the Minis tire valve stems :D :cool: :D I also got the chome licence plate cover to add to my personal plate :D

Just sharing the fun :D

I got my welcome kit as well. Cool stuff. I briefly looked through it and left it in the trunk.

Gaminicool - I can imagine the kind of attention you get. The MINI doesn't even have to try to get giggles, I think it comes automatically. :D

:D :cool: :D

I just had to spend the 15 bucks to get this accessory for the Minis tire valve stems :D :cool: :D I also got the chome licence plate cover to add to my personal plate :D

Just sharing the fun :D

gaminicool - Like the stem covers. I got the checkered flag for mine. The husband got the Union Jack ones for his electric blue MINI. I think those little stem covers are just the cutest! I think I may have to get a few more and swap them out...not that most people will ever notice. Like that plate cover too. I put a plate cover on mine (not a MINI one) and it flaps up and down when I close the boot hatch. Might have to find a new one. :)

That's funny about the giggling. My sister came to visit this weekend. I took her for her first ride in the MINI late the other night. She was giggling too! I think she liked it. Sounds like your date was enjoying it too. I think that's cute. I love the reactions that these little cars get.

We both got our welcome kits last week! Did I post that already? If so, sorry. I still haven't read the entire unofficial owners manual, but everything else is really cute. MINI is just so on top of the whole marketing thing. I'm quite impressed.

Yep, still having that dreaded black spot problem. Took the MINI the 3 hours to the dealership yesterday. They say that it can't be the tires and that there is nothing leaking. In fact, they say it has nothing to do with the MINI at all. I was a little annoyed that they wouldn't listen to what I had to say. But, I let them wax it up and tell me how it was something in the air or something where I was parking. They didn't have an explanation for why my husband's doesn't get it even though we park side by side at work. And, I park in the garage at home when he parks in the carport! They told me that it was up to me to do the detective work to figure out the problem. Okay, no problem, but I plan to make them look pretty stupid when I figure it out.

The first step in my detective work started yesterday. Half way home (1.5 hours), I stopped for fuel and inspected the entire car. Already there were some spots that wouldn't wipe right off...even with the brand new coat of wax just a couple of hours old. I drove it home through a few rain showers and parked it in the garage. Today we took mine and my husband's and had our wheels swapped out. I can't believe he's doing this when he thinks it has something to do with the tires too, but he put my tires and wheels on his MINI. Then we cleaned his up and inspected it very closely for spots...no spots. Mine already had little spots all over it, so I spent a couple of hours cleaning it up this evening (sucks since it just got cleaned and waxed yesterday). I removed all of the spots from the driver side and most of the boot. Now the experiment begins. We're going to take both MINIs to the beach this weekend (about 200 miles roundtrip) and see what the results are. It's bad to say, but I hope mine comes back with no spots and Mike's comes back with lots of them. At least then I will know it's the tires and hopefully I can get them to change them for something different. If his comes back with lots of spots, I will have to do something very nice for him for letting me use his MINI in my experiment.

So, as odd as it sounds, everyone keep their fingers crossed that my husband has little black spots all over his little blue MINI after this week. :p :D :p

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July. 4-day work week. Yippee!

Debbie

Deb, are the spots heavier in any area, or evenly distributed over the car? Are there more spots closer to the ground, or on top of the hood? Near the exhaust pipe? Backspash from the tires? The pattern could help you find the cause.

Deb, are the spots heavier in any area, or evenly distributed over the car? Are there more spots closer to the ground, or on top of the hood? Near the exhaust pipe? Backspash from the tires? The pattern could help you find the cause.

Hi April,

Most of them were on the boot. Actually...the boot was covered with them. There were also quite a few just behind the front wheels and then there were more (not really in a pattern) splattered upwards and back to the rear of the car. I haven't found any on the hood yet. There were even some on the back window. I think those might have showed up after driving it in the rain.

I may be wrong, but I think it's the pattern on these Dunlop tires that I have. They are those tires that are supposed to be really good in the rain (and they seem to be). They have swooshes (for lack of a better word) that direct everything outward. I think they sling more stuff than the Pirellis that seem to be on most of the MINIs that I've seen. I'm hoping to prove this theory with the tire swap between mine and Mike's.

Such fun. I suppose I should be happy that it's nothing mechanical. I think I will eventually figure it out. I think most people who get them think it's normal. I guess I would have too were it not for Mike not getting them on his. What sucks is that these tires are supposed to be more expensive. I suppose more expensive isn't always better. After all, look at the MINI - I'd much rather have it than some $60,000 sports car! :)

How are you and your little yellow MINI doing? I was actually thinking that my next MINI should be a yellow convertible, but we just read this weekend that they are discontinuing the Liquid Yellow for the Cooper S and the convertible! Can you believe that? :(

Debbie

That has been the story of my MINI life so far. ;) I bought a silk green, discontinued. With the green leather interior, now discontinued. Replaced with a LY convertible, soon to be discontinued. :rolleyes:

Good luck on the wheel swap.

Deb - hope you find the source of the black spots :rolleyes: I have web spokes with Dunlop tires and no black spots :( Swapping the wheels and tires is a great idea - you may have some kind of defect in the tire - hope you find out soon and then make the dealer fix the problem ;)

I wish the rain would go away :( I want to drive in the mountains again. I'm off work this week :rolleyes:

Deb - hope you find the source of the black spots :rolleyes: I have web spokes with Dunlop tires and no black spots :( Swapping the wheels and tires is a great idea - you may have some kind of defect in the tire - hope you find out soon and then make the dealer fix the problem ;)

I wish the rain would go away :( I want to drive in the mountains again. I'm off work this week :rolleyes:

I think it's going to rain for quite a while, first from Cindy, then from Dennis. :( No top down fun for me for a while either. :(

Hi guys,

Just checking in. Just got back from a 4 day road trip up to Eugene, Oregon. The MINI did great, but on some of those mountain passes, I did think, hmmm . . . an MCS might be just the thing here. Actually, I might just need to learn how to make fuller use of the CVT. I"m still driving it in automatic mode. So much technology, so little time . . .

I went on this trip with that tall guy I'm dating. I think we are quite an interesting sight stepping out of a MINI--me at 5'11" (and a half) and him at 6'9 (in socks). If MINI would like to use us for a commercial, we would consider it ;)

It was fun being out of the Bay Area because suddenly the MINI is more special to other motorists, the guy pumping the gas (they pump it for you in Oregon--and I watched him like a hawk!). Got a nice MINI wave in downtown Eugene.

I'm getting to a new level of comfort with the car, I guess--the MINI's got bugs all over the bonnet, and I even broke down and allowed us to drink frozen coffee drinks on the road. However, I did all the driving. And we're talking a lot of driving. It's 12 hours to Eugene! On the way back we cut through Napa county, found some fantastic twisties through the vineyards. Oh, and I finally passed the break in period. Life is good.
:)

Crosebud - glad to hear the MINI is doing well and life is going good. Sounds like a fun road trip. That is a good idea for an advertisement, sounds better than the new commercial G-whiz. That one is stupid funny. I only allow covered drink in the MINI, still no food can be eaten inside. :p