ReferenceAt a glance Controls Driving tips Mobility
37
Parking brake
The parking brake is primarily intended to pre-
vent the vehicle from rolling while parked; it
brakes the rear wheels.
Applying
The lever locks in position automatically.
Releasing
Pull slightly upwards, press the button and lower
the lever.
In exceptional cases, if the parking brake
has to be used to slow or stop the car, do
not pull the lever up too hard. In doing so, con-
tinuously press the button of the parking brake
lever.
Otherwise, excessive force could lead to over-
braking and loss of traction, i.e. fishtailing, at the
rear axle.<
Manual transmission
When shifting into 5th or 6th gear, press
the gearshift lever to the right. Otherwise
the engine could be damaged if you inadvert-
ently shift into 3rd or 4th gear.<
Reverse gear
Select this only when the vehicle is stationary.
When the gearshift lever is pressed to the left, a
slight resistance has to be overcome.
Automatic transmission*
with Steptronic
In addition to the fully automatic mode, you can
shift gears manually using Steptronic, page38.
Parking the vehicle
To prevent the vehicle from rolling, always
select position P and apply the parking
brake before leaving the vehicle with the engine
running.<
Removing the key
1.Move the selector lever to position P.
2.Switch off the engine.
3.Remove the key.
Selector lever positions
P R N D M/S + –
Displays in the tachometer
P R N D DS M1 to M6
The selector lever position is displayed, or the
current gear in the manual mode.
Changing selector lever positions
>With the ignition switched on or the engine
running, the selector lever can be moved out
of position P: interlock.
Driving
38
>Before moving the lever away from P or N
with the vehicle stationary, first depress the
brake; otherwise the selector lever will
refuse to move: shiftlock.
To prevent the vehicle from creeping
after you select a driving position,
depress the brake until you are ready to
start.<
A lock prevents accidental shifting into selector
lever positions R and P.
Overriding the selector lever lock
Press the button on the front of the selector
lever, arrow.
P Park
Select this only when the vehicle is stationary.
The transmission locks to prevent the drive
wheels from turning.
R Reverse
Select this only when the vehicle is stationary.
N Neutral, idle
Select this when you are in a car wash, for exam-
ple. The vehicle can roll.
D Drive, automatic position
Position for normal vehicle operation. All for-
ward gears are selected automatically.
Under normal operation conditions, fuel con-
sumption is lowest when you drive in position D.
Kick-down
Kick-down enables you to achieve maximum
performance. Depress the accelerator pedal beyond the full-
throttle resistance point.
Sport program and manual operation
M/S
Move the selector lever from position D to the
left into the M/S shifting slot:
The Sport program is activated and DS is dis-
played.
Shifting with the selector lever
Push the selector lever forward or pull it back to
activate manual operation. Steptronic shifts the
gear.
>Pull the selector lever in the + direction.
Transmission shifts up.
>Push the selector lever in the – direction.
Transmission shifts down.
M1 to M6 is displayed in the gear indicator.
To use the automatic mode again, move the
selector lever to the right into position D.
Upshifts and downshifts are executed only when
they will result in a plausible combination of
engine and vehicle speed; thus, for example, a
downshift that would cause the engine to over-
rev will not be executed by the system. The
selected gear is displayed briefly, followed by
the actual gear.
Shifting on the steering wheel
With the selector lever in position D, automatic
drive, you can shift gears using the shift paddles
on the steering wheel. The transmission auto-
matically switches to manual mode.
If you do not shift gears with the shift paddles or
accelerate for a certain amount of time, the
ReferenceAt a glance Controls Driving tips Mobility
39
transmission automatically returns to D, auto-
matic drive.
>Pull one of the shift paddles.
Transmission shifts up.
>Push one of the shift paddles.
Transmission shifts down.
M1 to M6 is displayed in the gear indicator.
Overriding the selector lever lock
Should the selector lever refuse to move out of
position P although the button on the selector
lever is pressed, the selector lever lock can be
overridden:
1.Unclip the sleeve of the selector lever.
2.Pull the sleeve up over the selector lever
until the sleeve is inside out. Disconnect the
cable connector if necessary.
3.Depress the brake.
4.Pull up the loop on t he passeng er side w hile
at the same time moving the selector lever
into the desired position.
Sport button*
Pressing the button causes your MINI to respond
even more sportily.>Engine responds more spontaneously to
movements of the accelerator.
>Steering response is more direct.
With automatic transmission:
>More rapid gear shifting in Sport program
Activating the system
Press the SPORT button.
Deactivating the system
>Press the SPORT button again or
>switch off the engine.
Turn signals/
headlamp flasher
1Turn signal indicators
2Headlamp flasher
Using turn signals
Press the lever beyond the resistance point.
To turn off manually, press the lever to the resis-
tance point.
Unusually rapid flashing of the indicator
lamp indicates that a bulb has failed.<
Driving
40
Indicating a turn briefly
Press the lever as far as the resistance point for
as long as you wish to indicate a turn.
Triple turn signal activation
Press the lever as far as the resistance point.
Turn signal flashes once.
You can set whether the turn signal is to flash
once or three times.
1.Switch on the ignition, refer to page35.
2.Briefly press the button in the turn indicator
lever repeatedly until "SET/INFO" is dis-
played.
3.Press and hold the button until the display
changes.
4.Briefly press the button repeatedly until the
symbol and "SET" are displayed.
5.Press and hold the button until the display
changes.6.Briefly press the button repeatedly until the
display shows the illustrated symbol, arrow.
7.Press and hold the button until the display
changes.
8.Briefly press the button to select:
>
Brief indication of a turn.
>
Triple turn signal.
9.Press and hold the button until the display
changes. The setting is stored.
Wiper system
0Wipers parked
1Intermittent wipe or rain sensor
*
2Normal wiper speed
3Fast wiper speed
4Switching off wipers or brief wipe
5Cleaning windshield and headlamps
*
Intermittent wipe or rain sensor*
If the car is not equipped with a rain sensor, the
intermittent-wipe time is a preset.
Everything under control
44
Everything under control
Odometer, outside tem-
perature display, clock
1Outside temperature display and clock or
current speed
2Odometer and trip odometer
3Resetting the trip odometer
Units of measure
Select the respective units of measure, miles or
km for the odometer as well as 7 or 6 for the
outside temperature, page47.
Outside temperature display, time
Setting the time, refer to page50.
Outside temperature warning
When the displayed temperature sinks to
approx. +377/+36, a signal sounds and a
warning lamp lights up. There is an increased
risk of black ice.
Black ice can also form at temperatures
above +377/+36. You should therefore
drive carefully on bridges and shaded roads, for
example, otherwise there is an increased risk of
an accident.<
Current vehicle speed
To have the current speed shown in the upper
display for the outside temperature and time.
Press and hold the button in the turn indicator
lever until the display changes.The outside temperature then appears in the
bottom display.
Odometer and trip odometer
Resetting the trip odometer
With the ignition switched on, press knob 3 in
the tachometer.
When the vehicle is parked
To display the time, outside temperature and
odometer briefly after the key is removed from
the ignition lock:
Press knob 3 in the tachometer.
Tachometer
Never operate the engine with the needle in the
red overspeed zone of the gauge. In this range,
the fuel supply is interrupted to protect the
engine.
Coolant temperature
A warning lamp will come on if the coolant, and
therefore the engine, becomes too hot.
Check coolant level, refer to page96.
ReferenceAt a glance Controls Driving tips Mobility
45
Fuel gauge
Fuel tank capacity
You can find information on refueling on
page84.
If the tilt of the vehicle varies for a longer period,
when you are driving in mountainous areas, for
example, the indicator may fluctuate slightly.
MINI Cooper
Approx. 10.6 US gallons/40 liters.
MINI Cooper S
Approx. 13.2 US gallons/50 liters.
Reserve
Once the fuel level has fallen to the reserve zone
of approx. 2.1 US gallons/8 liters, the remaining
indicator lamps change from orange to red,
arrow. The tachometer displays the remaining
cruising range. An indicator lamp comes on if
the remaining range is less than approx.
30 miles/50 km.
Do not continue driving to the point where
the fuel tank is totally empty. Otherwise
engine performance is not guaranteed and
damage could occur.<
Computer*
Displays in tachometer
Press the button in the turn indicator lever
repeatedly to call up various items of informa-
tion.
The following items of information are displayed
in the order listed:
>Cruising range
>Average fuel consumption
>Current fuel consumption
>Average speed
>Current vehicle speed
To set the corresponding units of measure, refer
to Formats and units of measure on page47.
Cruising range
Displays the estimated cruising range available
with the remaining fuel. The range is calculated
on the basis of the way the car has been driven
over the last 18 miles/30 km and the amount of
fuel currently in the tank.
If the range displayed is less than
30 miles/50 km, be sure to refuel; other-
wise engine functions are not guaranteed and
damage could occur.<
Average fuel consumption
Calculated for the time the engine has been run-
ning.
To reset average fuel consumption: press the
button in the turn indicator lever for approx.
2seconds.
Everything under control
46
Current fuel consumption
Displays the current fuel consumption to allow
you to see whether your current driving style is
conducive to fuel economy with minimum
exhaust emissions.
Average speed
Periods with the vehicle parked and the engine
switched off are not included in the calculations
of average speed.To reset average speed: press the button in the
turn indicator lever for approx. 2 seconds.
Current vehicle speed
To have the current speed shown in the upper
display for the outside temperature and time.
Press and hold the button in the turn indicator
lever until the display changes.
The outside temperature then appears in the
bottom display of the computer.
Settings and information
Operating principle
Certain settings and information are only avail-
able when the ignition is switched on and the
vehicle is at a standstill.
1Button for:
>Selecting display
>Setting values
>Confirming selected display or set values
>Calling up computer information45
2Calling up Check Control51
3Displaying vehicle check524Initializing Flat Tire Monitor55
5Setting formats and units of measure, reset-
ting to factory settings48
ReferenceAt a glance Controls Driving tips Mobility
47
6Adjusting settings
>Confirmation signals when locking and
unlocking the vehicle20
>Response during unlocking
procedure19
>Automatic locking22
>Pathway lighting59
>Daytime running lamps60
>Triple turn signal activation407Setting the time50
8Setting the date51
9Exiting the menu
Exiting displays
1.Briefly press the button in the turn indicator
lever repeatedly until "HOME" is displayed.
2.Press the button for a longer period.
The display again shows the outside tempera-
ture and the time.
Displays are also exited if no entries are made
for approx. 8 seconds.
Next setting or item of information
1.Within a setting or item of information,
briefly press the button in the turn indicator
lever repeatedly until "NEXT" is displayed.
2.Press the button for a longer period.
The display changes directly to the next setting
or item of information.
Formats and units of
measure
To set the formats and units of measure. The set-
tings are stored for the remote control currently
in use, refer also to Personal Profile on page18.
1.Switch on the ignition, refer to page35.
2.Briefly press the button in the turn indicator
lever repeatedly until "SET/INFO" is dis-
played.
3.Press and hold the button until the display
changes.
4.Briefly press the button repeatedly until the
symbol and "SET" are displayed.