[Apial]

Just for a bit of extra torment, the Yellow Peril has decided that the drivers seat will not return back to where it should be. I have been forced to adjust the seat position rearwards. The seat no longer slides backwards and forwards as it should when getting in to the rear seats. Entry to the back seats is now only possible via the near-side seat.

My dealer will have a go at fixing it on Thursday. In the meantime does anyone know if this is a common problem? Will parts have to be ordered, and are they available?

 

[Hanny]

I have the very same problem.
Took it to my dealer yesterday to have various things put right and it was something I mentioned on the morning I took it in, as I had only noticed it the night before.
When I collected the car in the afternoon I was told they had a quick look at it but thought it was working fine, and due to a number of people being off ill, didn't really give it a lot of time (thanks!).
I dragged the service guy outside to demonstrate the problem by sitting him in the back seat and ramming the drivers chair into his shins when bringing the seat back after dropping it
He very quickly realised it was a problem and said that of all the problems reported with seats, this was one he hadn't heard of before.
I am booking it to be looked at early January along with the replacement of the fuel gauge/tank thingy!

 

[Apial]

Not quite the same problem. My drivers seat will not move at all. It is jammed in the forward position.

 

[mr.bill]

A couple weeks ago I suggested a MINI screen saver with the driver pinned against the steering wheel by the seat while pounding on the window, trying to get out as the car kept going in a big, left circle. "It's deja vu all over again."

Sorry to hear of your continuing problems, Apial. Hopefully a new seat design is in the works. The MINI was supposedly being driven in prototype form for nearly four years. If that is true, how could they have overlooked the seat problems, the pulling left, and the ECU glitches? I've decided to put off buying one for at least a year, to give them time to correct everything. We are supposed to get the first cars in March, which means an early 2002 build, hardly in time for the "new" suspension, so I suspect the first cars here will have problems too.

 

[Apial]

Dealer says I need a new seat mechanism. No repair is possible. More income for the dealer, less profit for BMW.

I have a 316i on loan. My wife had an interesting morning on the ice. I forgot to tell her that the car had ASC. When she got home she grumbled that a warning light had been flashing at her all the way to work. She thought it was the low fuel light!

I asked if the BMW had skidded a bit, to which she replied,"Yes, all the time. It hasn't 1/2 the grip the MINI does! I had to drive at 30mph"

The dealer phoned to say that his technician thinks that the steering has been fixed with the new suspension. I am eager to give it a try and let you know if this is what must be the first car to be fixed by this method. MINI is now in the bodyshop having a new windscreen fitted.

Could the saga of the Lemon Adventure be drawing to a close?