And after the first week, I like it.

Elder · 2009-01-10T13:56:03+00:00

They lied about sorting out the steering wobble. But then they also lied about setting the tyre pressures right before they do anything that day with the alignment and balance.Book says 33psi, owners club say 35 feels better, checked this morning, 30 drivers front and rear, 28 passenger front, 26 passenger rear.While under the warranty, it is going in to get the wobble sorted.Happens between 50 and 60 but can carry on through to 70, then suddenly disappears at any speed. Drives fine for the rest of the journey then comes back when cold. Car also feels sluggish until the wobble disappears, then all good and pulls strongly in the upper gears. Also, when pulling up to a junction, you can coast in, dip the clutch and stop without brakes, front dips slightly and car doesn't roll on slight incline. The wobble is enough to rattle the key ring against the dash, and I'm sure makes an audible change to the road noise.My thoughts are, sticking caliper, warped disc, or warped hub face. It has had a couple of sets of discs according to the paperwork, so I'm guessing the warped disc is the symptom of the real problem not the cause of it.Alternative causes of the wobble could be rear arm bushes, or sagging transmission rear cradle putting the transmission/prop out of line, but I can't see how that would go off after a while.That is the only thing wrong with it, and it was something they were supposed to rectify before collection.It is a really nice drive apart from the shudder which lasts no more than 10 minutes once you reach 50/3krpm. Until it goes away it makes using 6th on the motorway impossible because the car can't pull, you notice the speed dropping until you drop back to 5th. Wonder if the ecu is reading the vibration as knock and backing everything off, it is a fly by wire throttle, so foot on the floor means nothing if the ecu doesn't want it to. Once the wobble is done, you can sit at 30 in 5th, and 35 in 6th and it will pickup fine.Other alternative causes

Jan 10, 2009 201 Replies

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Vamp 17 years ago

i know! lol to be honest when the alarm messed about i got round it by locking it with the key cos my only thought was 'sounds expensive' and i never even thought bout recasing the aging alarm fob D'oh! still i'm loving the lil mini so i don't miss the BM all that much, miss the straight line speed but i love the way the mini hugs the bends and roundabouts. plus an overtake after a roundabout is normally still possible in the mini if you carry enough speed into the roundabout, probably kill myself in the 328 if i tried some mini style entry speeds lol

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PCPaul 17 years ago

Got that one sorted too ;-)

Latest mod is some stainless rear turret reinforcements - apparently they are a bit weedy when you start to enjoy yourself too much, and the strut mounting bolts pull through the steel.

£20+ each side from BMW, or a bloke on e36coupe.com laser cuts them from 4mm stainless steel at £10/pair. Hmm. Decisions decisions.

I know I probably won't need the extra strength but I'd rather spend 10 minutes and £10 now than £ getting new strut mounts welded in...

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