I'm a bit over Mini if I'm honest.
This time around it's not been the best experience.
Don't get me wrong, the car is still great to drive however....
It has had a recall for the HV battery problem but instead of checking the car properly they have decided to update the software to prevent a "thermal event". That's a bit like saying yeah we know that your house might burn down because of a fault with the electricity supply but we won't fix it, instead we will give you a fire extinguisher just in case.
When I said I wasn't happy they rejected my concerns making reference to cars with engines as part of their excuses.
They are expensive for servicing etc Yes I know all dealers are, but over 1.6 times the price for 2 tyres that a mobile supplier fitted at my home and over £140 more than an independent EV specialist ( no , not Halfords !!)for the first service - they couldn't even make their minds up how much they would charge for that and have me 3 different quotes.
They quoted a ridiculous figure for some "advisory" work then when I questioned it said they were open to reduce the cost.
The car now charges as and when it wants and can't be controlled so I have to use the timer feature of the charger to make the most of the off peak rates . Not a big deal but far from ideal as they seem to have said they ain't got a fix.
Mind you a JLR dealership "stole" my last car having offered to buy it off me for X which I accepted. They transferred it over to themselves @ DVLA and it was showing as being in their stock but wouldn't cough up the money saying they had changed their minds and had offered me too much.
Perhaps they are all as bad as each other!!!
Don’t be frustrated. We experienced same with the charging with VW and the ID3. It took them 2 years to resolve it. The VW garage was clueless .. I knew more that them because of the UK VW forum. At least the Mini doesn’t turn into a brick, which is what happened when VW did ‘over the air’ software updates. Some people had to have their cars towed from their home, and the ID3 typically spent 2 days in a VW garage to have a revision to the software.
As someone said it is the app but not only. With VW it is how a safety feature built into the software works. If the BMW software is built similarly to the VW: 1) When you plug in to the charger there is a handshake between the Mini software (in the car ). The charger sends a signal to the car that it is connected and ready to charge. The software sends a signal back .. OK hit me. 2) When you set it to charge during the (future) time slot apparently the software in the charger and the car get out of sync. With the result one or other thinks there is a fault, so reverts back to ‘charge now’. 3) This fault usually occurs when some clever software bod has designed an update. My Mini worked perfectly for 18 months and the VW for 6 months ( both cars bought at end of 21 / beginning 22)
VW’s answer was that they were working with ‘charger manufacturers’ to resolve the problem. Although at the base there are not so many charger manufacturers, ( many are just branded versions of an OEM technology,) you can imagine how this goes. ‘Yes Mr VW/ BMW we can modify the code in our charger … but what about Renault, PSA, Kia and Tesla? Maybe you motorheads should put you heads together and develop a standard?’
Let’s see how this goes …and hopefully there is a solution soon.
As some said to me … Tesla built a computer and put a car round it… the others built a car and then tried to squeeze a computer in. 😉
. Still awaiting the correct instructions.
