At the recent F56 launch event at Orlando MINI, I left Black Knight to have some service work done – and first of all I’m thrilled with the care and attention given to me by that dealership! My Motoring Advisor Greg had organized everything before my arrival, including ordering what was needed and getting the paperwork filled out – and Service Advisor Adante spoke to me both when I dropped the car off, and twice today, to keep me informed and to let me know when everything was ready.
So what was done? Well the most important thing was installing Sirius Satellite Radio! It was the one thing missing from an otherwise fully equipped car, and I couldn’t really understand why it was missing – even more so when I researched and found that all 2012+ USA MINIs have the electronics installed, whether Sirius is active or not.
So activating Sirius is a reprogramming / software only task – though one that takes multiple hours, which is why I left the car rather than waiting. And the proof of success was not only an email confirming my free one year subscription (Orlando MINI even configured that for me!), but also the displays and sound when I drove home tonight:
I also had the dealership hunt down the cause of an annoying rattle / rolling noise in the back of the car, which started a couple weeks after I took delivery; it sounded like a bolt rolling around in the bodywork, and that’s almost what it turned out to be!
Orlando MINI shop foreman Vann tracked the noise down to that wrench socket, the size used to fix the rear lights – my guess is that the socket stuck on the bolt during manufacture, and after a while it fell off the bolt and began rolling around. So I’m happy that noise is gone, too!
M&I / GBMINI 
And meanwhile out here in Fiat-land…I took the Abarth in to have them see if they would replace a battery blank and a tonneau cover under warranty. Waited 2 hours, was then told that they had to order the parts and didn’t anyone tell you to come back later this week because there was no way they had the parts in stock…Really guys? Good news, yes it’s a warranty item.
Glad you had better luck.
How nice of them to give you a matching socket!
I’m still disappointed with sirius’s lack of fidelity and over compression. Even in the new car with H/K, I’ll switch over to slacker on my phone for long drives.
Sirius sound quality varies a lot from station to station, but I like the choices and the ease of use.