Stop Sale on MINI Countryman SE?

Thank you, ADI. At least this is information that seems somewhat clear (which is more than I feel like I'm getting from my salesman). What have you heard from your dealership?

The way this delay was pitched to me was that this was just a hiccup. An agreement would be reached about the testing process, and then each vehicle affected would be tested and (likely) released once updated. I was told last week by the Area Business Manager for BMW/MINI that they expected a resolution "soon." When I pressed him on what he meant by "soon," he indicated perhaps 1-2 weeks. It's been just one week, but I've heard crickets from anyone.

Of course, I was told there was a problem with the charging cable. This article indicates something very, very different (and quite serious). I'm trying not to jump to the conclusion that we will never see "our" car and that a new one will have to be ordered, this time of course a 2021 version which would take.... another 3 months.

ADI, any more news from your end? I gave up and requested a loaner vehicle, which I drove about an hour to pick up yesterday. While it's nice to have a MINI at home, my dealership has absolutely no new information about how quickly these vehicles will be inspected and/or repaired and then released. In fact, your article gave my dealer more information than he had about this recall. They'd been referring to the situation as a "stop sale," not a recall, and they clearly didn't know this was a potential fire risk from faulty battery packs. I think my dealer is not, um, let's be charitable and say he's not proactive. (How folks like this make a living as salespeople is beyond me, but that's a conversation for another day.) I've been told I can have this loaner for two weeks, and then "hopefully" they'll have my car by then. Hope (of course) is not a plan, so I wonder if I should have hope for a car in two weeks. What do you hear?

Here's another strange detail from this saga; wondering if you might have any insight. When I search the U.S. National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration for my particular VIN, it shows that my MINI is a 2021 vehicle. If that's true, I suppose it's not a horrible thing, but I actually didn't like the 2021 changes to the Countryman SE (digital dashboard display, black styling instead of chrome on the exterior, and Union Jack taillights), and I was told when I ordered in May that my order would be "one of the last 2020 orders" before the line was re-tooled for 2021 vehicles. So I'm confused as to whether I was misled. Again, not the biggest deal in the world, but just another point of terrible communication between my dealer and me (or perhaps evidence of the world's most clueless dealer).

I hope you're right about the digital dashboard.... I do have a nostalgic love for analog displays, personally. It's still bizarre that my dealer would have told me when he sold me the car that we were purchasing a 2020 vehicle when that may not be true. We purchased on May 6. I can't track the vehicle completely to see when it came off the line, since the MINI Owners' Lounge won't allow me to access an online account until the finance department at BMW "knows" me (e.g. I have finished the purchase, which won't happen until I get the vehicle). That is, unless you know of some way to track my car....

Oh, wait! I checked my old e-mails and the plot thickens: This car was in "Assembly finish/quality check" on 6/25/20. On the other hand, it looked like it was also in "Entry assembly" on that same date. I can see just screen shots that my dealer shared with me. But in any event, that would be before July 1. VERY strange if this is a 2021.

So sorry you still have no news. This is frustrating!

Congratulations, Mattmas!

Can you do me a favor and let me know what options your car has? I posted elsewhere on a different thread about yet another wrinkle in taking delivery of our car. Here's the sad story:

We were sold a 2020 MINI Countryman SE and BMW has instead made a 2021 version. This isn't a problem in and of itself, of course, except that they didn't ask about certain elements which were "updated," and so I'm wondering whether these elements are options on the 2021 Countryman (and, therefore, cannot be changed even if we order a new car and have them start over building that new car). Here's what concerns me:

1) The interior seats have "Malt Brown" leather rather than "British Oak." Is that "Malt Brown" just the new brown leather interior for 2021 and "British Oak" no longer available? Or did they substitute their judgment on this for ours?

2) Similarly, the car has Piano Black Exterior Trim. We thought we were getting the (normal) chrome trim on the exterior. Is the "Piano Black" trim optional, or is it just what the 2021 looks like?

3) Finally, the car now has a Dynamic Digital Instrument Cluster. Perhaps others might think me strange, but I really do like the original non-digital instrument cluster. Again, is that an option that they should have asked us about (and we could have turned down), or is that just a 2021 "feature"?

My dealer refuses to just swap out these elements for us. So I suppose I have a secondary question for those of you who may know -- Can any of these be swapped out? Could you just "pop off" the Piano Black Exterior Trim around the headlights & taillights and replace it with chrome? Or is that going to create problems with the integrity of the car?

So, Mattmas -- which of these options does your car have and/or do you remember when you were spec'ing it out which are options vs. which are just 2021 updates?

Well.... my questions are now moot. I have a sad tale to report. Yesterday morning our dealer called, told us he was in possession of the car and agreed to swap out the "Piano Black" exterior trim to chrome. He sent photos of our new baby and everything was looking great. Then at 2:00 p.m. I received a call from MINI corporate that the recall had been re-issued.

Let me back up: On Monday, I sent an e-mail to the Department Head of Customer Experience at BMW North America as well as the EVP of Operations for BMW North America recounting my problems with getting the car I ordered. My letter was helped by the research I did here on this forum as well as a stealth visit to a local dealer, where I learned what could be switched out (and what couldn't) and therefore suggested a solution. By Tuesday morning a member of MINI Corporate staff had already been in touch with me.

Thus by the time I received the call from MINI Corporate on Friday it was clear at least everyone had been in communication within BMW/MINI. Their solution was to re-manufacture my car, since at this point we just don't know how long this recall might take to resolve and/or I might always have doubts about the safety of the vehicle.

It's the right solution, to be sure. So we've put in the new order.... and having originally ordered on May 5 we will now wait until... well, we'll see. Optimistically, late November or December until we have our car.



Working on breathing in and out and staying calm. At the dealer today when we confirmed the new build, we saw "our" car. Soooooooo close. Yet so far.