Hi everyone!

My parents are shopping around for a new car and they're quite attracted to the CMS All4. I've noticed that there is a 12V power in the trunk area of the Countryman. Does the 12V outlet in the trunk stay powered while the car is parked and locked? They'd be thrilled to know if it stays powered since they lug around their powered cooler quite a lot.

My gut doubts that it stays powered since BMW owns Mini. I currently drive a 335d and all the 12V outlets (none in the trunk) shut off after the car is locked or within 20 mins after the engine is turned off. My old Audi A3 had the feature where the 12V in the trunk would continue to be powered even after the car is locked and engine is off.

It'd be very nice to get an answer from CM owners, since their sales person didn't seem to know.


Cheers!

 

None of the 12v outlets in the Countryman stay powered once you take the key out. Its a poor and ancient design. I figured by now that all cars would have multiple outlets running both ways. Heck, even my 5 year old Wrangler has one that is always powered and another that works when the key is in.

 

Welcome. Good choice on cars the CM and the 335d (my envy). The power ports will not stay powered while the car is off as previously stated but a cooler could quickly drain the juice from the car if left to run while the car was off for a period of time.

Not what you want to hear but you could wire a separate power line and fuse it from the battery as you would an after market amp for a stereo. This way you could use the proper gauge wires for how much power the cooler draws.

 

Small battery plus high electrical pull = disaster

 

One thing I questions when visiting the ealer is I noticed the cars on the floor all had battery chargers. I asked and it was recomended to get one to keep the CMS battery charged when not useing it frequently. I got a powered cooler and found the boot power outlet only works when the engine is on. I have yet to get the car in to have them check the passenger outlet since its not working at all.

The other thing about the outlet in the boot is to be carefull when plugging a power plug in as the outlet is fitted to the thin walla nd the slightest push will pop it through and it all goes to pieces after that. I want to make a pig tail that I can plug into it then plug anything into the tail whether its an easy plug ot s stiff new plug.

 

Thanks for the quick reply guys! Sort of sad to know it doesn't function the way they wanted it to be. I must say that the CMS is a hoot to drive. I had a chance to drive it on one of mini's promotional events and it was a blast. Suggested the CMS All4 to my parents for their new car and they seem to like it a lot. Quite a difference in size and driving excitement from the awd minivan they currently drive. Of course the most difficult decision is choosing the colour.

I have a question that maybe some Canadians on this forum can answer. Is it possible to order the 5 spoke wheel in anthracite finish? The website only lists jet black.