Harmon Kardon and speed sensitive volume

Welcome to MINI2. Your dealer is a bit uninformed, its been discussed on here elsewhere, but I imagine it will be hard to find using the search feature.

Anyway, H/K has speed sensative volume, but unlike normal Boost head units it can't be adjusted. People who have replaced the head unit on H/K cars experienced the volume not changing, also if you listen closely you should (from what I know) be able to hear it getting louder as you speed up.

In any event, replacing the Head Unit won't fix anything, its 'supposed to be' that way, even though the manual doesn't say it right, I guess complaining to MINI might fix it, or perhaps new headunits that may come out could fix it, (but probably won't be compatible with your car)

Yeah, its rather odd. That's the way its supposed to work on normal (Boost) stereo's... I guess the engineers aren't communicating with the manual writers

Trust me, the car's not that quiet. Turn off the radio at highway speed and listen, its making a fair amount of noise, the radio's just happily compensating.

Great example of how if you're having one problem, someone else is probably having it too

I had the 16" dunlops. I think its probably more of what you're used to. The MINI is very square, and the upright windshield just makes a fair amount of noise compared to a sleek car, like a true sports car, or a higher priced luxury car.

Anyway, I think the MINI's quiet, especilly given its price range, but it does get louder at higher speed. Nothing to really complain about.