things I like ... and don't like

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Qisl

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So, I've had my SE ALL4 four almost two months now. It has relatively few miles, being basically a Sunday driver. (That said, it is really easy to rack up the miles in this car, and I'm beginning to think that I need to purchase more miles for this two year lease.)

Some of the things that I like about this car are:
  • it is really easy to fasten the seatbelt. I know: pretty basic. The seatbelt glides out easier than the belt in my SE. And the fastening point is much higher than in the SE. (Often, in the SE, because I am, ahem, robust, I have to dig down to fasten the belt. Not so in the SE ALL4.)
  • the suspension is nice: the car glides over all of the broken pavement where I live. In the SE, I often say 'FU Plano' out loud when I encounter new potholes and cracks. I haven't had such a potty mouth once in the SE ALL4
  • acceleration is great. 0-60 is maybe a second faster than the SE.
  • location based charging parameters. The SE ALL4 parameters for different plugs.
  • the additional safety features. (yesterday, in heavy traffic, red alarms went off when I approached the car in front of me too quickly.)
One thing that I really really miss in the SE ALL4 is the center control knob that the SE has which allows me to select things on the interactive unit without touching the screen. The SE ALL4 needs detents on its circular display unit so that I can preposition my hand without touching the screen.

Often, when driving, I try to select something, miss, and then because of traffic, I can't look at the screen to back out. So, I've developed a new hand technique. I call it the Old Geezer wave: first, you have to flip a few birds at the OS9 interface, and then all fingertips touch the screen and you make quick hand twirling motions. After that, you have to wait until you get home to see where you are.

If there's one thing that might cause me to turn in the car after two years, it is the lack of toggles and the loss of the control knob. I have 9000 miles to go before I decide whether to keep the car or not.
 
MINI was probably hoping more people would press the voice assistant "Hey MINI" button on the steering wheel. The new center console airbag probably eats up too much real estate space.

I'm actually more saddened by the deletion of the home link garage opener for the U25.
 
My main complaint is that the time should be at the top of the Infotainment screen so you can see it while driving. Other than that I'm very pleased with my SE ALL4.
 
Took delivery (lease) of a Countryman SE at the end of November. I was rewarded by a satisfying drive home on some familiar twisty roads. Although rather heavy, the car powered through the corners with very limited body roll. The behavior was better than expected as the two test drives I experienced were on unfamiliar roads with traffic.

Unfortunately, within the first week the boot/trunk/tailgate would not latch. I spent several hours in a cold parking lot trying to resolve the issue. The next morning, I was off to the dealer where the Countryman now sits awaiting a part from Germany. Four to six weeks. Ouch. At least the dealer is storing it inside and I have a Cooper S (ICE) as a loaner.

During my brief use of the SE and the Cooper S, I noticed the awkward placement of the time on the screen. Could this be addressed in a OTA software update? I would think so. Not fixable by software is the lack of a simple windscreen wiper maintenance option. It is not possible to simply fold up the arms. Instead, the stalk must be used to interrupt the wipers in order that they can be folded out for glass cleaning, debris removal, or insert replacement. I guess that I’m a bit OCD about a clean windscreen.
 
As for the OS, it's based on Android Open Source Project, so the time location could be customized in the future.

Wiper blades on the U25 should follow BMW's service mode where you go into accessory mode and hold down the wiper stalk. Maybe there is also an option like the Tesla on the iDrive screen for wiper service mode.
 
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