[Czar]

Life long serious petrol head, Electric vehicles were never on my radar at all, however that all changed September 2021

current MINI Clubman Cooper S went for service and required a complete new gearbox replacement, that aside, for the two weeks replacement scheduled work, we were offered a courtesy car, that was a level 1 Electric MINI.

My initial reaction was erm…haven’t you got anything else, erm…no sir, ok, will it get me home, sure it will sir it’s good for 145 miles before it needs charging up, erm…ok.

Having never driven any Electric vehicle before with the exception of a dodgem at the funfair, I really didn’t know what to expect, so once familiar with the controls it was time to head off home, mostly motorway.

What a fun car to drive, before I had got to the motorway less than a mile from the dealership, I was thoroughly enjoying the way it accelerated, such a hoot, and the regenerative braking, fabulous, if judged correctly it’s a one peddle operation, just like the dodgem car at the funfair, with all the usual MINI handling characteristics.

My partner liked it so much that she asked if we could have one, so after the two weeks of fun, and some discussion we ordered in December a level 3 in Green with Satellite Grey interior with piano Black exterior trim including the belt line trim in Black too, the only deletion by the factory was the heated steering wheel, due to global chip shortage, everything else is as we ordered, as per title we collect our level 3 Electric MINI, Saturday 7th May.

 

[Czar]

Well upon first viewing the car looks stunning

however, it would appear to be either a Monday or Friday built car, Monday being the lazy and uninterested day after the weekend, whilst Friday being the, rush rush rush it’s the weekend.

furthermore why are dealerships absolutely useless at PDI (pre delivery inspection) and detailing.

it didn’t take me very long to start pointing out issues, a quick walk around the car and I pointed out several polishing marks from the machine they had used, the panel gap figment especially on the tailgate was shocking, a blind man on a galloping horse could have noticed the Cavernous gaps.

the Black belt line trim was incorrectly fitted to the drivers door, the original Chrome trim that had been removed was nowhere to be seen and nobody knew where it could be

the infotainment centre screen has a crack in it right at the top dead in the centre, the door mirrors don’t fold out or in when locking or unlocking, when reversing into a space the door mirror is supposed to active with park assist and tilt to offer a view of the kerb or painted marked line, it doesn’t do that, when the rear view camera is activated for a reversing manoeuvre, when you select forward drive, the camera stays activated for way too long as you drive forward.

the indication charging light behind the door flap doesn’t illuminate at all, satellite navigation spoken voice directions starts then disengages and that’s the end of the auditable voice directions.

the steering wheel has a run mark on the right hand side, the sunroof doesn’t stop at the first tilt position it bypasses this function and goes straight to full open, and that’s all I’ve found so far, I guess someone has to have the factory lemon car, well it would appear I’ve got it. 😂😂😂

 

[Pyf]

beautiful car. Really like light leather with the green exterior.

Shame to hear about the issues. Some sound like they are from a bad comedy sketch…. Just that it’s not funny as it’s a real car. Gives me some indicators how careful I should look around the car when it finally gets here.
If you don’t mind me asking, what actions are dealership taking to remedy the issues?

 

[sushi]

Life long serious petrol head, Electric vehicles were never on my radar at all, however that all changed September 2021

current MINI Clubman Cooper S went for service and required a complete new gearbox replacement, that aside, for the two weeks replacement scheduled work, we were offered a courtesy car, that was a level 1 Electric MINI.

My initial reaction was erm…haven’t you got anything else, erm…no sir, ok, will it get me home, sure it will sir it’s good for 145 miles before it needs charging up, erm…ok.

Having never driven any Electric vehicle before with the exception of a dodgem at the funfair, I really didn’t know what to expect, so once familiar with the controls it was time to head off home, mostly motorway.

What a fun car to drive, before I had got to the motorway less than a mile from the dealership, I was thoroughly enjoying the way it accelerated, such a hoot, and the regenerative braking, fabulous, if judged correctly it’s a one peddle operation, just like the dodgem car at the funfair, with all the usual MINI handling characteristics.

My partner liked it so much that she asked if we could have one, so after the two weeks of fun, and some discussion we ordered in December a level 3 in Green with Satellite Grey interior with piano Black exterior trim including the belt line trim in Black too, the only deletion by the factory was the heated steering wheel, due to global chip shortage, everything else is as we ordered, as per title we collect our level 3 Electric MINI, Saturday 7th May.

Well upon first viewing the car looks stunning

View attachment 78642
View attachment 78644
View attachment 78643

however, it would appear to be either a Monday or Friday built car, Monday being the lazy and uninterested day after the weekend, whilst Friday being the, rush rush rush it’s the weekend.

furthermore why are dealerships absolutely useless at PDI (pre delivery inspection) and detailing.

it didn’t take me very long to start pointing out issues, a quick walk around the car and I pointed out several polishing marks from the machine they had used, the panel gap figment especially on the tailgate was shocking, a blind man on a galloping horse could have noticed the Cavernous gaps.

the Black belt line trim was incorrectly fitted to the drivers door, the original Chrome trim that had been removed was nowhere to be seen and nobody knew where it could be

the infotainment centre screen has a crack in it right at the top dead in the centre, the door mirrors don’t fold out or in when locking or unlocking, when reversing into a space the door mirror is supposed to active with park assist and tilt to offer a view of the kerb or painted marked line, it doesn’t do that, when the rear view camera is activated for a reversing manoeuvre, when you select forward drive, the camera stays activated for way too long as you drive forward.

the indication charging light behind the door flap doesn’t illuminate at all, satellite navigation spoken voice directions starts then disengages and that’s the end of the auditable voice directions.

the steering wheel has a run mark on the right hand side, the sunroof doesn’t stop at the first tilt position it bypasses this function and goes straight to full open, and that’s all I’ve found so far, I guess someone has to have the factory lemon car, well it would appear I’ve got it. 😂😂😂

View attachment 78642 View attachment 78643 View attachment 78644

How very very disappointing. Thank you for pointing out each of the issues as it gives those of us waiting for our new cars the opportunity to not rely on pre-delivery inspections. Shame on the dealership handing over the car waiting for you to spot these problems.Were they really not aware before handover?

 

[MarkYorks]

Sorry to hear about the issues. At least your woes will give us folk waiting some tips as to what to look for. How much was the black belt line trim ?

 

[brg.countryman]

The car looks incredible, awesome spec Hopefully the dealer can get those fixes sorted for you ASAP. Some of them are just MINI quirks though:

• Door mirrors don’t fold on lock/unlock unless you hold the lock button for a few seconds
• The mirror controls have to be switched to the drivers’ side for the passenger mirror to dip in reverse
• The reversing camera does stay on for a while when you drive forward, I think it only turns off over a certain speed.

 

[ajgriff]

The reversing camera does stay on for a while when you drive forward, I think it only turns off over a certain speed.

Pressing the BACK button next to the central control knob once you've disengaged reverse turns off the reversing camera immediately.

Alan

 

[F60Mini]

Sorry to hear about your few niggles. Lovely looking car though and I’m sure you will soon get the issues sorted and be enjoying your new pride and joy !

 

[Rod S]

Shame about the build quality, hopefully the dealer will fix it all. My dealer did a good job, I drove in to look at it as soon as it was delivered, still with protective film on, and when I collected next day it was spotless, salesman even said "there might be a few drops of water on it, we just gave it another wash this morning as it rained last night and some dust have been splashed up onto the wheels".

The door mirrors not folding in without holding the lock button for three seconds annoys me the most. With a suitable OBD2 adapter and "Bimmercode" on your phone/laptop you can change it but that isn't free, not only do you have to buy the adapter but the code, unlike the Ford equivilant for changing underlying setting, isn't free either (and my Ford OBD2 adapter wasn't compatible). BMW really should have put the option in the usual driver accessible settings without having to mess with the underlying code.

Mirror dipping on reverse, just a little slide switch next to the normal mirror adjust controller. I had to ask on here when I first got mine. Now I know, I actually quite like it and would like it to work on both sides, for reversing down my drive rather than just for parking next to kerbs.

Reverse camera staying on a short while if you set of forwards immediately doesn't bother me, I guess their logic was that if you need to go forward again before you have finished reverse parking you might want to see again what you were close to. If you park immediately you've finished reversing, next time you turn it on it has fully reset (on mine anyway).

 

[jeremybingham]

As above your mirror behaviour is normal and you can force the reversing screen off by pressing the media buttons to force it but it reverts after a few seconds. Build issues are very unusual but am sure your dealer will sort it.

 

[xocomaox]

Isn't the white leather a perfect match for the headliner in anthracite (black)? Great build, too bad this did such a poor job building it.

 

[sfortis]

HK has no center speaker on electrics?

 

[Vorsprung]

@Czar Do you have the privacy/ sun protection glass on your build?

Have the same L3 and colour combo on order. We‘re debating adding the sun protection glass but struggling to find actual photos of BRG/ black roof/ piano black exterior/ sun protection glass.

 

[Czar]

@Czar Do you have the privacy/ sun protection glass on your build?

Have the same L3 and colour combo on order. We‘re debating adding the sun protection glass but struggling to find actual photos of BRG/ black roof/ piano black exterior/ sun protection glass.

hello Vorsprung, I do indeed have the sun protection glass.

 

[blackonblack]

HK has no center speaker on electrics?
View attachment 78655

Pretty much looks like a speaker to me. I think one can see the mesh.

 

[Czar]

Pretty much looks like a speaker to me. I think one can see the mesh.

Hope this helps.

 

[sushi]

How very very disappointing. Thank you for pointing out each of the issues as it gives those of us waiting for our new cars the opportunity to not rely on pre-delivery inspections. Shame on the dealership handing over the car waiting for you to spot these problems.Were they really not aware before handover?

Can I just say , that not all future mini electric owners have the knowledge to check that the pre inspection delivery has been correctly fulfilled by the dealer or carry out these checks themselves. So are there any independent experts out there who can offer this service for potential new mini electric car owners so we can enjoy our new car that all is ok on all fronts? Maybe this is a ridiculous ask

 

[Czar]

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for there lovely and supportive comments.

to answer Pyf’s question and to answer anyone else’s wondering as to the actions the dealership are going to take to remedy the issues, the dealership are fully aware of the list of issues, and when the car goes back to the dealership to have the MINI advanced car eye 3.0 front and rear cameras installed, all the issues will be taken care of whilst they have the car, I won’t see it again until it’s all the issues are completed.

if anyone would like to ask any questions regarding their own build of Electric or how they drive etc etc etc, I will do my very best to answer your questions.

 

[Czar]

Can I just say , that not all future mini electric owners have the knowledge to check that the pre inspection delivery has been correctly fulfilled by the dealer or carry out these checks themselves. So are there any independent experts out there who can offer this service for potential new mini electric car owners so we can enjoy our new car that all is ok on all fronts? Maybe this is a ridiculous ask

as a long standing MINI owner/customer, some of you may or maybe not, recognise my name (Czar) I’ve been away from the MINI scene since 2013 I used to post lots of technical information on several of the MINI forums worldwide.

of anyone would like me to write a comprehensive check list for here on the forum I would be more than happy to do that, or indeed if anyone would like me to inspect their new car before they drive it away, I would be happy to do that with you too, just drop me a message.

Czar.

 

[sushi]

as a long standing MINI owner/customer, some of you may or maybe not, recognise my name (Czar) I’ve been away from the MINI scene since 2013 I used to post lots of technical information on several of the MINI forums worldwide.

of anyone would like me to write a comprehensive check list for here on the forum I would be more than happy to do that, or indeed if anyone would like me to inspect their new car before they drive it away, I would be happy to do that with you too, just drop me a message.

Czar.

Thank you. Will make contact