2022 Mini SE - In Focus: Sound-a-Palooza!

  • Thread starter Thread starter GvilleGuy
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GvilleGuy

GvilleGuy

Well-Known Member
These are many of the mechanical and digital sounds which characterize the Mini SE. A video where you don’t have to listen to me talk! (Well, only a little bit)



Clickable index in the video description, but here are the contents:
0:13 Startup with seatbelt warning
0:24 Startup without seatbelt warning
0:35 Turn the Mini off
0:41 Turn signal
0:51 Door open/close with annoying window chirp (fix shown)
1:34 Hatch open/close
1:46 Da horn!
1:51 The ALARM!
2:02 The headlight motor
2:08 Lock/unlock the Mini
2:20 Folding side mirrors, windows, and moonroof (exterior)
2:39 Moonroof (interior)
3:09 Window auto down/up
3:20 Door locks
3:25 Front/rear parking sensors
4:04 Full acceleration
4:18 Navigation
5:21 Popping the hood
5:39 Parking brake off/on
5:54 Pedestrian warning sound (in stereo)
6:25 EV Motor start (exterior)
6:50 Air conditioning compressor (exterior)
7:27 Max A/C (exterior)
8:05 The end!
 
It's so puzzling that my SE plays the turn-off sound occasionally when I open the driver's door. I cannot discover any pattern that might predict when it's going to happen.

Are the headlights motorized so they can change their angles on the fly--something NHTSA doesn't allow in the US?
 
insightman said:
It's so puzzling that my SE plays the turn-off sound occasionally when I open the driver's door. I cannot discover any pattern that might predict when it's going to happen.

Are the headlights motorized so they can change their angles on the fly--something NHTSA doesn't allow in the US?
Click to expand...

Are you sure it isn't allowed in the US? I know we're not allowed the adaptive high beam tech but I can't find anything one way or the other about leveling adjustments. I swear I've noticed them subtly adjusting as I drive.
 
Carsten Haase said:
Are you sure it isn't allowed in the US? I know we're not allowed the adaptive high beam tech but I can't find anything one way or the other about leveling adjustments. I swear I've noticed them subtly adjusting as I drive.
Click to expand...
I haven't driven my SE much at night so I don't have much experience with its amazingly powerful LED headlights (way more powerful than our Clarity PHEV's LED headlights). What kind of sensor would control the angle--a gyroscope? If you jacked up the front end with the headlights on, would the headlight beam raise up less than expected? Or would the auto-leveling only work while you were driving?

This 2019 (pre-SE) YouTube video shows MINI's adaptive LED headlights with Matrix function in action, but the sound-track is just music; there is no narrator describing the technology. I don't think motors alone would be sufficient to provide this capability. If Bimmercode can activate this behavior in a US MINI Cooper, I'm sure lots of owners would do it.
 
If you're talking about the cornering lights, it's just extra LEDs that turn on. You can test it in your garage by turning the wheel to the right. I think the turn signal may also activate them, but I don't remember for sure. Note that the headlights have to be in auto mode for the cornering lights to work.*

*This is true in my R60, anyway, which has xenon lights that physically turn side to side for cornering. If the lights are just in the regular On mode, the cornering lights won't work, for whatever reason. The cornering light reaction speed is much better with the LED lights, though it's just a simple on/off vs being dependent on steering wheel position like in the second gen cars.
 
My first MINI (2010 S Clubman) had self-leveling headlights, which are different from the adaptive beams. You could see them level when the car turned on.

The SE does have intelligent side lights, which I still get a kick out of seeing activate. And also auto high-beams, at least in the Iconic trim. I love those too.
 
GvilleGuy said:
These are many of the mechanical and digital sounds which characterize the Mini SE. A video where you don’t have to listen to me talk! (Well, only a little bit)



Clickable index in the video description, but here are the contents:
0:13 Startup with seatbelt warning
0:24 Startup without seatbelt warning
0:35 Turn the Mini off
0:41 Turn signal
0:51 Door open/close with annoying window chirp (fix shown)
1:34 Hatch open/close
1:46 Da horn!
1:51 The ALARM!
2:02 The headlight motor
2:08 Lock/unlock the Mini
2:20 Folding side mirrors, windows, and moonroof (exterior)
2:39 Moonroof (interior)
3:09 Window auto down/up
3:20 Door locks
3:25 Front/rear parking sensors
4:04 Full acceleration
4:18 Navigation
5:21 Popping the hood
5:39 Parking brake off/on
5:54 Pedestrian warning sound (in stereo)
6:25 EV Motor start (exterior)
6:50 Air conditioning compressor (exterior)
7:27 Max A/C (exterior)
8:05 The end!
Click to expand...


Pretty cool @GvilleGuy. Was particularly interested in the pedestrian warning sound, somebody might turned that into a mobile phone ringtone.
 
azausa said:
Pretty cool @GvilleGuy. Was particularly interested in the pedestrian warning sound, somebody might turned that into a mobile phone ringtone.
Click to expand...
Then whenever I got a phone call, that Hans Zimmer-composed pedestrian-warning/ring-tone would cause me to begin head-swiveling as I looked around to avoid being run over by a MINI Cooper SE. Others around me, however, would look towards the sky to see if the invaders from space had finally arrived.
 
Puppethead said:
The SE does have intelligent side lights, which I still get a kick out of seeing activate. And also auto high-beams, at least in the Iconic trim. I love those too.
Click to expand...

Anyone who rides with me in the Mini at night gets the full lecture: "see when we fall under a certain speed and we go around this curve, or if I put the turn signal on, how the cornering light activates and lights up the entire area over there? So cool!"
 
Thanks GvilleGuy for making these. It is appreciated.

Your approach to tricking the car into thinking your still driving it quite interesting. I might have to try that once mine arrives, as I am known to forget things when I leave the house.
 
ER13 said:
Thanks GvilleGuy for making these. It is appreciated.

Your approach to tricking the car into thinking your still driving it quite interesting. I might have to try that once mine arrives, as I am known to forget things when I leave the house.
Click to expand...

Full credit to @F14Scott on the tikit seatbelt clip. https://www.insideevsforum.com/comm...aving-my-wife-in-a-hot-car.11363/#post-136648

I was frustrated by this sequence: buckle seatbelt, start car, set driving mode, wait for CarPlay, select music, set GPS destination, pull out of garage...realize I forgot my glasses...go back into house and get glasses..... buckle seatbelt, start car, set driving mode, wait for CarPlay...
 
insightman said:
I haven't driven my SE much at night so I don't have much experience with its amazingly powerful LED headlights (way more powerful than our Clarity PHEV's LED headlights). What kind of sensor would control the angle--a gyroscope? If you jacked up the front end with the headlights on, would the headlight beam raise up less than expected? Or would the auto-leveling only work while you were driving?

This 2019 (pre-SE) YouTube video shows MINI's adaptive LED headlights with Matrix function in action, but the sound-track is just music; there is no narrator describing the technology. I don't think motors alone would be sufficient to provide this capability. If Bimmercode can activate this behavior in a US MINI Cooper, I'm sure lots of owners would do it.
Click to expand...
I second the headlight brightness comment. Our SE's headlights are noticeably brighter than any other car we've owned. For us seniors, it adds a level of safety and confidence when driving at night we haven't felt in years. To my surprise, the headlights have such a sharp height cut-off, we've yet to have anyone flash their lights at us thinking we were on high beam.
 
Cindy B said:
I second the headlight brightness comment. Our SE's headlights are noticeably brighter than any other car we've owned. For us seniors, it adds a level of safety and confidence when driving at night we haven't felt in years. To my surprise, the headlights have such a sharp height cut-off, we've yet to have anyone flash their lights at us thinking we were on high beam.
Click to expand...

The cornering LEDs are excellent. The auto mode is pretty good too, strange that it can't start with that engaged.
I also love how bright the "angel eyes" are, even in the day. That helps to make us more visible. And the horn.. it's LOUD one! All nice touches to improve our safety as other cars get bigger and bigger each year.
 
Puppethead said:
I confirmed today my 2021 SE Iconic has self-leveling headlights. If you stop facing a wall and turn the headlights on you can see them level off, just like my 2010 S Clubman did.
Click to expand...

Yep. Mine do that, as well. I would love more detail about how they work. I was at a friend’s house on his sloped driveway when I started the SE, and when I drove away, it seemed my headlights were shining too high. Cars were flashing at me. I parked the Mini at the next stop light, turned it off and back on, and that seemed to fix it.
 
GvilleGuy said:
Yep. Mine do that, as well. I would love more detail about how they work. I was at a friend’s house on his sloped driveway when I started the SE, and when I drove away, it seemed my headlights were shining too high. Cars were flashing at me. I parked the Mini at the next stop light, turned it off and back on, and that seemed to fix it.
Click to expand...
What? Does the car consult its gyroscope only when you turn on your SE? Was your car facing down the slope when you turned on your SE? If it was facing uphill, I would expect gyroscopically levelled headlights to be aimed lower than normal.

Sounds like a there will be a new video coming where you compare the height of the headlights' focus on a wall after starting your SE on level ground to the the height of the focus after starting your SE on a slope and then driving it to the level-ground test wall.
 
insightman said:
What? Does the car consult its gyroscope only when you turn on your SE? Was your car facing down the slope when you turned on your SE? If it was facing uphill, I would expect gyroscopically levelled headlights to be aimed lower than normal.

Sounds like a there will be a new video coming where you compare the height of the headlights' focus on a wall after starting your SE on level ground to the the height of the focus after starting your SE on a slope and then driving it to the level-ground test wall.
Click to expand...

That's what confused me. The mini was facing up slope when I started it. It could have been a coincidence that two cars flashed me, but it did seem to me that my lights were shining higher than normal after starting on an up slope. I have not run any tests on the topic yet!
 
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