Need some advice fellow Countryman owners...

Took out my new standard All4S CM tonight for some holiday shopping, a number of stores, turned the car on/off several times. No issues.

Then pulled over to grab some dinner, turned car off with fob in place, pressed start/stop button, car turned off BUT start/stop button still illuminated. Thought that was weird. Normally goes dark. Push/pull fob out gently as always.

With key fob in my hand, foot on clutch pressed start/stop button and car starts up?!?!!

Then, drove car a few blocks home (with fob in place), unloaded the car, had a friend hold my fob outside the vehicle from several distances away, happily didn't start with me inside.

Finally brought the car to garage, pulled over, turned off engine, removed fob as always, and start/stop button still lit up even after removing the fob. Tried starting without the fob in place, and, yes started up!!!

So, some questions....

Is this normal?

Should the start/stop button remain lit/illuminated? Never noticed this before...

BTW - love the car, very minor issues to date (almost 5000 miles, 3 months old).

Thoughts/feedback really welcome.

Thanks

 

The fob does not have to be in the "ignition" to start the car. It just has to be inside the car. If its running and you get out with the fob in your pocket you will notice a "no key" warning appear in the speedo box. I hardly ever put the "key" in the "ignition" anymore. MINI says to put it in from time to time just to keep it charged. I usually leave it in my pocket. That feature and the fact that I don't have to hit a button on the fob to open the door is wonderful and now I wish all my other cars had it.

 

Thanks for the reply Kunzman

Question still, does the start/stop button always stay illuminated? Even when the car is totally turned off?

By the way, I do not have "comfort access" as a feature...

Thanks again!

 

If you have the comfort access option, that's normal. If not, weird!

You can tell pretty quickly if you've got it if you have a black nub of a button on the driver's side and passenger's side door handles. Push to lock/unlock so long as the fob is within some distance (don't need to remove from pocket/purse). Also allows car to start by depressing brake.

 

That light as well as the gear select light (automatic) remains illuminated. I've never stuck around to see how long. I just know that's it's off when I get in it later.

 

Thanks Rktcyntst, definitely do not have comfort access...I'd say it's really weird too...

Hopefully it's nothing...but maybe others in the community have an idea. Or, my MA and dealership crew at Prestige will have an answer.

Really appreciate the support

 

Your MA may have told you this, but there's no reason to. It doesn't have a rechargeable battery in the key fob. I wouldn't be surprised if they told you this, as my MA told me the same thing when I bought my first MINI in 2004. AFAIK, it was just the 2005/2006s that had rechargeable batteries. It's possible that the key fob without comfort access has a rechargeable battery, but I know for sure that mine has a regular battery.

Back on topic: DDMNYC, everything you've posted makes it sound like you have comfort access.

 

I did some experiments today and I think it's a timing and logic thing - not a proximity effect like with the comfort access system.

If I open the locked car and try to start it without the fob in, no go.
If I get in, close the door, and put the fob in, starts normally.
If I then turn it off, take out the fob, and start again, it starts. [interesting]
If I turn it off, open the door, and try to start it, it doesn't start.

The START button light goes on to help you find it - it can be on or off when you start the car, depending on what the sequence is.

 

I can confirm no comfort access = rechargeable battery in fob.

 

I don't have comfort access.

When you open the door to get in the car the button lights up.

You do your driving.

You get home or wherever and push the button to stop the engine from running.

Until you pull the fob out everything works as it should to let you put windows up, turn off radio etc. You can even push the button to restart your car. ( on my car the fob won't come out while the engine is running.) To get into the hatch I just unlock both doors using the inside buttons and open it using the hatch button under the license plate.

Take fob out of socket and everything goes off. Car won't start

This is without comfort access on your car.

One thing good is you will never lock the fob inside of the car unless you really try.

 

So thanks all for your posts...stopped by my MINI dealer, explained the issue and here's what I learned:

1) Diagnostic via computer revealed no problems / error messages with the car's systems.

2) While I definitely do NOT have comfort access, evidently when the car is turned off properly, the fob removed and the driver is still in the car with the fob, you can start up the car by pressing the on/off button for a few minutes after as long as the car is not locked by the fob remote. Who knew?!?

So a weird "secret feature" that is evidently "normal". By the way, while waiting for my CM to finish the check-up/testing, there were 3 CMs parked in the customer area - and the start/stop buttons were all softly illuminated. When I pointed this out to my Service Tech - he said the cars were all unlocked - we checked and they were....

Hopefully, this is just a funny quirk for our CMs....

Happy Motoring to all - best for the New Year....

 

My 2010 hatch works exactly as described by DDMNYC.

 

In addition you can just set but not push the fob into the cradle then hold start/stop button for 30-60secs and the vehicle will start. This works with the non comfort access vehicles for sure. Guess its a backup if the cradle gets messed up.

 

My MA (Mini of Peabody) actually pointed this out to me when I picked up my All4 as a "cool feature." Not sure when I would actually use it though.

 

Tried it today and my 11 MCS does exactly the same thing........I've had the car over a year and never noticed.

 

11 seconds to start in my CM4.