R56 Cooper S Production Delay

FrankInMiami Dec 25th, 2006 Link

Good call on MINI to halt the production line in order to fix the leaking fuel pumps. That decision only tells me that quality control is working as it should.

The R56 is a first year car and I am sure this will not be the last of the QC related snafus.

There was already a recall in the UK for R56 MINIs whose cruise control/stereo audio cables would snap out of place when using the telescopic adjustment feature in the steering wheel.

Merry Christmas to all!

Sam Dec 25th, 2006 Link

Wow ! I was told my MCS was due early Feb. in Miami. What kinf of delay does this mean ? 2 weeks ? 1 month ?

FrankInMiami Dec 25th, 2006 Link

Sam, who is your dealer? Braman or South Motors?

Don’t forget to check us out: http://www.minisofmiami.com

Sam Dec 25th, 2006 Link

Braman.

Sam Dec 25th, 2006 Link

Frank,

what have you heard on the delay ? we were told yesterday that everything is up to date.

FrankInMiami Dec 25th, 2006 Link

No, but I will be happy to find out for you tomorrow.

Ed. Dec 25th, 2006 Link

I ordered an R56 MCS the day the dealer (in So. Calif.) was given the OK to take orders. I was told it would be in by the end of February. I wonder if different parts of the country will be getting the first deliveries so far apart. Any ideas?

Billy Dec 25th, 2006 Link

Good call on MINI to halt the production line in order to fix the leaking fuel pumps. That decision only tells me that quality control is working as it should.

As nice as it would be to think that BMW and Mini sincerely care about their customers, the halt in production is soley down to our Christmas holiday! – Which might I add isn’t nearly enough! The line speed at Oxford has recently risen to 46 per hour from 42 previously – and only 38 per hour the year before, and then the men at the top wonder why and worry when things go dreadfully wrong! Jobs are most definately more difficult with the rise in line speed so associates are rushing all day long, so no wonder mistakes are made.

Dave Dec 25th, 2006 Link

So basically production has gone up by over 20% (46 vs. 38) AND a totally new car is being made at the elevated levels.

No surprises then when things go wrong, especially when they should be expected to in the first year.

Dave former Pre-spec 2002 MCS owner

Dave Dec 25th, 2006 Link

Ed: cars may arrive at dealers before the official launch, but the dealers need to go through training and the cars will not be released to customers until the (Gabe correct me if I’m wrong) February 17th launch date.

krut Dec 25th, 2006 Link

My car moved from first week of production to third week of production. I would imagine it’s only a two week delay. Not a big deal.

Ed. Dec 25th, 2006 Link

krut, Are you following progress on the Order Tracking site, or is there somewhere else you’re getting your info on the state of things?

Vanwall Dec 25th, 2006 Link

Never fly the ‘A’ model, ‘zwhat I heard. :-)

Rectification, as it was known in the bad old BL days when a fair portion of “finished” product had actually never left the factory floor and was being re-”finished” at considerable extra cost to the bottom line, was what helped doom the British car industry, to say nothing of the not-so-minor oopsies that some of the early owners were subjected to – always nice to have the floor plates welded right way round, and such. Wonderful to see a pro-active system catching the glitches before they were, say, brewing up on the roadside. Carry on, lads.

BCNU, Rob in Dago

New England Off Topic and Banter as Most Brilliantly Proposed by Cape Cod MINI - Page 891 - MINI2 Dec 25th, 2006 Link

[...] So Richard, do you think you made the right choice to stick with the ‘06 MINI? MotoringFile » Archive » Major R56 Cooper S Production Delay Hope everyone had a great day Ian C. Gloucester, MA, USA (UK expat) driving GBMINI#3, now driving GPMINI [...]

driverphil Dec 25th, 2006 Link

Having a fuel pump leakage problem might be due to faulty parts rather than line speed.

krut Dec 25th, 2006 Link

found out from the dealer tracking system that I moved from first week of production to third week of production.

LL Dec 26th, 2006 Link

Hm… wondering whether I should be concerned with my order — reminds me of my experience with my dearler-stock 2002 Mini… Oh well. I’m waiting with one eye closed and crossing my fingers. ;-P

I agree with driverphil, we don’t know what the cause of the problem is… could be faulty parts, minor manufacturing errors (disconcerting), major manufacturing booboo (let’s hope not), or it could be design flaw (ooo, I really hope not).

On the other hand, I’m not sure when my baby is arriving — my dealer only said March… I figure east coast always get things before west coast — they only have to cross the pond. For those of us on the west coast, delivery has to either trek through the continent or go south of the border before final arrival.

Sam Dec 26th, 2006 Link

Frank…news today ?

Automotive Articles Magazine » Just another WordPress weblog » Blog Archive » New MINI Cooper S production delayed Dec 26th, 2006 Link

[...] There had been some rumblings recently that the Oxford plant, where the new R56 MINI is being produced, may be halting production of the new Cooper S model. Until today, it was just a rumor. [...]

JPM Dec 26th, 2006 Link

Gabe,

Have you heard of any other delays as far as specific options or packages go? I’ve been told the Audio package is being pushed back as well, and HyperSport is now summer 07. Is anything else looming out there?

Kevin Bacon Dec 26th, 2006 Link

My UK Cooper S was delayed from mid December to the new year. The car has been built, but is awaiting a fix. There was no news at Mini dealers until Mini customer services sent out email to several people on Friday 22nd December:

” I can confirm that through MINI’s ongoing and thorough testing processes it was recently discovered that a batch of fuel pumps fitted to some of new MINI Cooper S models was faulty. This issue has now been rectified and production is back to normal at Plant Oxford. Most of the affected MINIs in the UK were either held at Plant Oxford or at MINI dealerships and are being rectified.

All our investigations suggest that performance and safety are not affected. MINI apologises for this inconvenience at a time when demand and expectations for the new model are so high.

I trust that this information is useful to you. “

Someone isn’t telling the truth here….. Hope to find out the situation when my dealer is back to work in Jan.

Adam Dec 26th, 2006 Link

Makes sense to me… The news hit MF a bit slow this has been known on MINI2 for a while and a lot of members on MINI2 are reporting that they are receiving there MINI’s during the New Year so it shouldnt be an issue in the US since most of our production didn’t kick in until after this incident was fixed.. small delays I bet but nothing drastic.

Gabe Dec 26th, 2006 Link

Makes sense to me… The news hit MF a bit slow this has been known on MINI2 for a while and a lot of members on MINI2 are reporting that they are receiving there MINI’s during the New Year so it shouldnt be an issue in the US since most of our production didn’t kick in until after this incident was fixed..

Yes this shouldn’t affect US production. And like many out there we’ve known about this for a few weeks but never had it confirmed from internal sources as the actual problem until a few days ago (due to the holidays).

New MINI Cooper S facing production delay - Auto Insider News Dec 27th, 2006 Link

[...] ## Source: Motoring File ## [...]

cremi Dec 27th, 2006 Link

Fine! :/

My R56 Cooper S has been produced on Dec. 5th. It should have been deliverd in the week before christmas … would have been a nice christmas gift for me.

Hope they get that fuel pumps fixed quickly.

» New MINI Cooper S: production delayed- Super Cars, News, Latest Releases, Photos, Tests, Spy Shots Dec 27th, 2006 Link

[...] [Source: Motoring File] [...]

manu Dec 31st, 2006 Link

This delay might help me deciding : I’m just about to order my R56 Cooper S and was wondering if I should go for Sport Suspension or not ? Most of the reviews I had a look at kind of make me feel I should go for normal suspension with 17″ wheels…

New MINI Cooper S production delayed - Automobile Blog Jan 4th, 2007 Link

[...] There had been some rumblings recently that the Oxford plant, where the new R56 MINI is being produced, may be halting production of the new Cooper S model. Until today, it was just a rumor. [...]

New MINI Cooper S production delayed-- Ride Care Depot May 3rd, 2007 Link

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