@Mini_Monster, have you installed Alexa? I have a 2024 JCW - Gen 3 to be fair but I installed the MINI app on my phone after which installed / enabled Alex for voice functions. Believe a 2024 Countryman will be a later Generation and uses OS9.

 

Hi MickeyMini - thanks for that.

Yes, I've installed Alexa (and she works fine - as does Siri, but only via mu iPhone). Spike appears to have abandoned me :-(

I've spoken to a couple of the salesmen at the dealership (also drive the new C'man) and they have both had similar problems. "Yeah, it'll probably just start working again...". They also told me that they're aware that the software is still a tad 'flaky' and the developers are still working on bugs: "You'll probably get a new version of the software downloaded fairly soon".

I suppose that's one of the perils of being an early adopter of new tech - I'd never do the same with a computer O/S, phone, games console, whatever...

Trouble is, if the voice control code is so flaky, how much can I trust all of the assisted driving wizardry that's now built in?

 

My problems continue. I've now lost the spoken directions in sat-nav. The app tells me that I need to install a language pack. I initiated that on Friday - and it's still telling me 'nearly ready'... I really hope that Mini haven't rushed to market before everything was properly tested and bugs fixed. Not exactly inspiring me with confidence in the new Countryman :-(

 

Another update. I spoke to my dealership this morning (Lloyd Mini, Cockermouth - brilliant, by the way!) who suggested I raised my issues with Mini UK Customer Service (tel:0370-5050-122).

That was interesting... I spoke to a very helpful lady who asked me to go to my car and she would talk me through doing a software 'refresh'.

So - we set about it. The first thing she asked me to do was to navigate to somewhere or other using my "I-drive controller". My I-drive what? I don't have one of those.... "Yes you do, its that round control knob with buttons around it between the front two seats". No - deffo not got one of those - just the big central OLED touchscreen... "Hmm - I only have instructions for using I-Drive; sorry, I can't help you".

So - bottom line is that my issues are being passed to BMW in Germany who will get in touch with Lloyd Cockermouth - who will then take it from there.

It really seems as though this model has been rushed to market before all the support services are in place :-(

 

Yikes! I'm looking to buy an older model.. But this type of service kind of scares me a bit tbh.

 

Exactly the same for me. I have just taken delivery of my Cooper S 2024, and have no sound from the Sat Nav. I also can’t activate ‘Hey Mini’ or ‘Hey Siri’. Did you get your issues sorted?

 

Nope - I'm still waiting :-( I reported it to Mini Customer Service (UK). They tried to talk me through doing a software refresh - trouble is, they didn't know anything about how the new model worked - they insisted that I use the iDrive controller (but it hasn't got one!). In the end, they gave up and told me they would refer it to Mini/BMW in Germany. That was over a month ago now - and I've heard nothing from them since.

Meanwhile, other problems keep popping up. Most worrying was that the automatic brake hold stopped working without warning (and I very nearly rolled into the carf in front of me!).

Numerous issues with speed recognition too (either not registering one at all, or registering the wrong limit - including dropping to 10mph in a 30mph zone - and braking for me!).

I've nagged my local dealership - but they say they are experiencing similar problems with the new Countryman(men) that they drive. "It's very new software - the developers will send us updates and patches in due course". I can't get angry with them though - certainly not their fault.

It really feels as though this product has been rushed to market long before it was truly ready.

 

Just ordered a Countryman this morning, Classic with Level 2 and 18" wheels.
I do hope the problems you are all having with your car's are well sorted by the time I get mine in September!!!

 

I have two complaints with mine. The ambient ’projector’ lights don’t work in the daylight. This seems to be the case for everyone, so a design fault. Hopefully they’ll sort it with a software update in the future. The second problem is with the aircon. It doesn’t appear to work in auto mode. The fan doesn’t self adjust to combat temperature changes and when you try to adjust the fan it seems to have only two speeds “very low” and ‘full blast’. Therefore I have to use the manual mode - which rather defeats the object of climate control! This also appears to be a ‘fault’ with all cars.
Can anyone confirm or deny these issues?

 

A bit like BMW going ahead with the Prince engine in the Gen 2 MINI knowing all the flaws they were about to spew on the unsuspecting consumer! Don’t care and it’s a short life consumer product so what’s wrong!

 

Isn't the system the same as in existing mini's? Operating system 9 has been around for a while now so why would it have more problems on the Countryman than the Mini? Sensors etc. will be common to all mini variants.

 

I think this is all new. I don't thing the older Mini used RADAR (did they?); in addition, the automatic speed recognition and semi-autonomous automated driving is supposed to be a first for Mini.

 

The salesman who I dealt with drives a mini with OS9 and has answered several questions about the Countryman by checking on his car. So far everything fits but I guess that there must be some adjustments between the application to the Mini and Countryman, you would hope that Mini/BMW could resolve this quickly with a software update.

 

Picked my Countryman up yesterday. After going through the hand over the salesman casually mentions that their are 'gremlins' in the digital software and I possibly will have 'random' issues with some interfaces but BMW Germany are aware of it and will be sending out a corrective patch(s) in due course. This was after finding out my chilli red car with a black roof does not in fact have a black roof(all red). Salesman said I know a bloke who does resprays I can get that done for you. If I had wanted Mickey Mouse I would have gone to Disney.

 

FFS, who’s your dealer? I need to know so I can steer clear of them.
Only issues I have are the previously mentioned daytime projector lights and more annoyingly the auto aircon is absolute rubbish, just doesn’t work properly at all.

 

Just want to add: we picked up our U25 a couple days ago and we have the same climate control issue. Fan control is not automated and the delta between very low and low is maximum while beyond low there is no difference in adjustment. Haven’t noticed the projector lights yet — at night they are certainly working.

 

Yup, that’s exactly the same - glad I’m not alone. Hopefully Mini will sort it with a software patch at some point. At the moment it’s a real pain having to keep manually fiddling with the settings to try and stay comfortable. Wouldn't be so bad if it had the old manual dials!!

 

Thanks, so clearly a fault in the auto system. BMW should surely have resolved this by now. Anyone thought of rejecting their Countryman for the faulty Aircon?

 

trouble is when use china as most of parts and electronics , below story worth a read and can see how everything is heading . the twin charge engines in mini's are very much like engines used in MG cars from china , believe the other makers are doing same things , vw and bmw very much like the new MG powertrains in battery and small cars , one big down side is finding parts for them,, the vvt actuator on n18 engines is made in china and can only program with web based diagnostics ie main dealer only, its going down a road where nothing will be fixed and can be fixed if many peoples in the trade fear ,

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/oct/15/bmw-axe-uk-production-electric-mini-relocate-china

 

Okay, but if you give Mini 2 chances to fix the Aircon and they can't then, I believe, you can reject the car for a full refund. A few rejections and associated press coverage might persuade Mini/BMW to resolve the issue.

 

Did your daughter try to reject the car?

 

she threatened it got met with a can try if you wanted to but will cost answer last new bmw she bought , back when the new n47 diesels came out i had brand new 3 series after 67k just over 3 years timing chain failed , bmw were more than unhelpful blamed the services which i work in trade and was oil and filter changed every 8k 12 months with good oil , then a few years later bbc watch dog program came out height lighting the problems, and still bmw blamed the owners for it, and at same time they resigned the chain kits funny that why would you redesign something that they said was nothing wrong and gold standard,

 

Does everyone have the Aircon auto problem? i.e is it endemic to every car or spasmodic with some being okay and others faulty?
Surely if it affects every car Mini should have fixed it by now.
What compensation are dealers offering to affected owners - free servicing or extras?

 

1. According to my dealer all their cars, so far, behave the same.
2. With regard to a fix, It takes weeks or months for fixes to be coded and tested (to ensure they don’t break something else) before they are released in to the wild, so I wouldn’t expect a fix any time soon (unless it’s something unbelievably simple, which is unlikely). I come from an IT background so know how long these things can take.
3. Absolutely no mention of compensation - at the moment it’s just “oh, they all do that, so must be normal”. Not sure Mini have even acknowledged that it’s actually a fault yet.

 

Got to say I'm wondering if I should just cancel my order for the Countryman.
Don't see why customers paying £35k+ should have to accept an unproven system or car.
Has Mini actually recognised there is a fault and confirmed there will be a fix soon?

 

Spoke to Dealer today and they can’t identify anything wrong with the working of the Climate Control on their demonstrator or those in stock, their Senior Technician spoke to Mini(UK) who claimed to know nothing of any problem or complaints. Salesman also spoke to existing customers who have bought a new Countryman to ask how their cars were performing and none mentioned any problem with Climate Control. He asked me if anyone who has the problem could explain in detail exactly what the fault is and when it occurs, they will then try and reproduce it on their demonstrator and stock cars.
Anyone care to define the fault in detail and how/when it occurs?

 

OK, I’ll do my best to describe it, as I see it.
In the aircon controls section choose “auto”. In every car I’ve ever owned with climate control (including 5 previous Mini’s) if the interior temperature is say 26 degrees centigrade and I choose a temperature of say 20 degrees the fan will fire up and pump cool air until the temperature is reduced to my chosen setting. Once the temperature reaches 20 degrees the fans slow down and will go up and down as required to maintain the temperature. However, in the new Mini it just sits there on the slowest fan setting never reducing the temperature. It’s pumping out cooler air but not fast enough to achieve its target temperature. So if you then go in to climate settings you will see there is an option for fan speed (odd, in auto mode, but it’s there). Now, if you change the setting from its default (very low) to “low” the fan instantly goes to maximum. All settings above “low” (medium, high and very high I think they’re called) appear to be the same speed - so you have very low or full blast. Now you’ve selected a faster setting the car cools down but the fan stays on high so just keeps getting colder. This means you are then forced to go into the settings again to reduce the fan speed - so then the car heats up again… and so it goes on ad infinitum! By way of a test, if I turn the temperature back up up to 26 degrees the fan just keeps going (at either full speed or very low depending on the selected option in the aircon settings). To get the cabin temperature to an acceptable level I have to put everything to manual and constantly adjust the fan speed. The fan speeds do work in 5 stages when in manual mode - but confusingly they are labelled 1 to 5 rather than very low to very high when in auto - go figure! So at least in manual mode you can have a medium fan speed.
It’s almost impossible to just set a temperature and leave it to it. Never had the problem with any other car with a climate control option, I typically set the temperature to 20 degrees and never need to touch the controls again throughout the year. With this car I’m constantly having to fiddle with the settings. I’ve just done a 600 mile round trip over the last few days and found the only way to get comfortable was to set aircon to manual with output restricted to face vents only and speed set to level 2 (sometime 3 if really hot) and then maintain cabin temperature by opening and closing the vents physically as required. There were four of us in the car and working together this was the only workable solution.
My dealer replicated the issue on their demos and stock cars. Whether they reported it to Mini is another matter as their feedback suggested they thought that must be the way it’s intended to be. I haven’t yet challenged them on it again. I may do in due course.
If I’m doing something wrong then so is my dealer - and we’re both following the handbook.
Interested in any feedback you may get.

 

As you describe the problem it is amazing that this was not rectified during the extensive pre release testing every new car goes through. How on earth was this missed?
I've copied your description to my dealer, I will let you know their response.
Have you thought of rejecting the car for a full refund? That might get Mini's attention.

 

As you describe the problem it is amazing that this was not rectified during the extensive pre release testing every new car goes through. How on earth was this missed?
I've copied your description to my dealer, I will let you know their response.
Have you thought of rejecting the car for a full refund? That might get Mini's attention.

I took the car out for another run today and the climate control is now (sort of) working! Not as well as I’d like or expect, but it’s definitely trying. Wasn’t aware of any update being installed (and don’t know where to look for version numbers etc.), but it’s certainly adjusting fan speed a bit now. I didn’t trust it enough to try altering the fan speed manually in case it stopped working again, but I did alter the cabin temperature setting and the fan did slow down when interior temperature was close to requested temperature. I’ll try again in the week and include testing the auto fan speed setting. Hopefully this wasn’t a one off and something has been fixed.

 

I agree, very strange, can the Countryman update the software over the ‘air’ without any driver involvement? I’ve no idea but maybe another forum member knows? I wonder if other people with your problem have also noticed an improvement in the Climate Control. As you describe the improvements it seems to be working better if not perfectly; interesting to see what happens this week when you try it again - further improvement, no change or slip back to previous!
I’m still waiting for a response from the local Mini dealer my Countryman is on order with - I will post their response when I get it. The have said, as reported earlier, that the Climate Control on their demonstrator works fine - but they are going to try changing the temp - as you did in your test - and report what happens.

 

Well, my euphoria was short lived. Took it for another run out this morning and although it is working, after a fashion, the fan speed issue isn’t fully resolved. Whilst in Auto mode, if I set the fan speed to “very low” it doesn’t matter what I do to the temperature setting it never adjusts itself and air just dribbles out. However, if I select “low” the fan goes to what I would describe as full speed. The fan speed now does adjust ltself on this setting, but only slightly and when the desired temperature is reached the fan doesn’t slow right down - it stays on the (too fast) low speed. So it’s working after a fashion, but really not what I would describe as “properly. I had to shut the dash vents to prevent the car getting too cold. Of course, when you do that the fan speed means the aircon gets noisy so in the end I went back to the menu and selected “very low” again. So not perfect by any measure. I really don’t know what to make of it to be honest.

 

Curiouser and curiouser! Has anyone else detected the same fan behaviour?
Question is what changed between drives? Flaky software or a sensor(s) misbehaving.

 

Hi, just joined the forum. Have a 03/24 JCW. Seems to have spent a considerable time in dock with software issues. I have had all of the problems mentioned so far - Voice Control ( commands not being recognised) and Climate Control which exhibits all the faults you have mentioned. Came to start the car today and Voice Control once again not working. Booked in at my local dealer next week who will also look at Climate. Feel for everyone having software problems, should not happen in a £40K plus car particularly as it is in effect a BMW! Great to drive but fast getting fed up with it.

 

Received an OTA update yesterday. The climate control seems to be working as it should now for me.

 

would be interesting to see if had a independent temp gauge in the car to see what temps it is without using in car climate temps on dash as such,

 

Has the update fixed everyone's climate control?

 

I have had 2 issues with my brand new Countryman, they are separate to the aircon issue (which I seem to have). I tried to start the car a few days ago and got an error message saying Drivetrain malfunction. I could not start the car at all. I got out, locked the car and left it for a few minutes, opened up, got in and the car started fine, albeit with a warning to not drive it. I contacted my dealer and they took it in and did something (no idea what). Today I got in and all I had was a black screen. The car was drivable, but I could not access any features including aircon or any vehicle settings. I could see the speedo at the top and the gauges but nothing else. I did 2 or 3 trips, one back to the dealer who were bewildered. Then all of a sudden it all came back! I had to reassign the key to me using the QR code on screen.

I am not at all technically minded but I am fed up. My car is on Motability, I am going to enquire what my options are. I am reluctant to, but I will send it back and find something that is reliable.

 

I’m so glad to find someone else with this issue!!! My brand new Countryman came up with Drivetrain issues after only a few weeks. It also told me that reverse gear was unavailable on another occasion. I’ve had black screen, frozen screen and it telling me that the keys are not present when they were in my hand. My dealer had the car back for about 3 weeks and said that the head unit was faulty but spares on back order. After it was fixed and returned to me I’ve been on tenter hooks every time I start it. Well Drivetrain failure returned a couple of weeks ago as did black screen, frozen screen and keys not present. My dealer has had the car for the last week trying to replicate the fault - needless to say it hasn’t happened. They’ve now returned my car and said to take pictures of the screen if it happens again and they’ll look at it. I’ve said I want to reject the car, but they seem rather reluctant to progress this “without evidence”! There are clearly BIG issues with the software on the new models!

 

This is a case of telling the Dealer to fix the problem and provide a courtesy car while he does. Realistically you have got to give the dealer the opportunity to resolve the problems before you can reject. If after a couple of attempts the dealer still cannot fix the problem then you are on the way to rejection.
it sounds like a software problem and as cars get more complex these things can happen, however, it is up to the dealer to fix. It may need a complete reinstall of OS9 to resolve, anyone know if the dealer can do that?

 

We took delivery of a U25 Countryman C Sport with a level 3 pack at the beginning of July. All OK until this week when two issues have shown up. All £ 42K of it. a. We have the issues of no spoken word in SatNav. It was fine until yesterday but it says the language is not supported but we know it is. Nothing we do will change it. b. Electric seats when we plug in the seat belt the seat is supposed to move to the saved position. It moves and then moves back again. Plug it in a second time and it’s OK. c. We cannot get Hey Mini to work full stop. Pretty poor show by BMW

 

So far our satnav has been fine. Only have level 2 so no electric seats. I tired Hey Mini a couple of times with mixed results but not bothered since - never really gelled with voice activated things in cars (although I use Amazon Echos at home oddly).
I haven’t noticed any OTA updates and my aircon continues to annoy the hell out of me even though it is partially working.
Overall I’m pleased with the car. Did a 600 mile round trip a couple of weeks ago and averaged 47 mpg. Car was loaded with 4 adults plus luggage, so pleased with that. The first section (from Kent to Cambridge) it averaged 53mpg but the M20 was 50mph restricted for half its length, which probably helped!