I was driving my ALL4 down the highway doing 120k, all is good. Then I looked down to check my speed and to my surprise all the dash was black. Rev counter and speedo needle were stuck where they had been, but everything else was black. The only things lit up were the radio, still working, and the heating system. The indicators made no sounds, so wasn't sure if lights were working or not.

When it was safe I pulled off the highway and turned off the car and restarted it four or five times, no change. Checked outside, lights and indicators both working, but no noise at all.

I called my dealer and they said they had never heard of it and told me to get it towed in as I was over an hour from them with busy highway driving.

They gave me a loaner as it was late. The next day they called to say the car was fine when they started it and could see no codes at all that showed an issue. They are keeping the car until Monday as they are calling around to find out if this has been a problem for other cars.

Have any of you heard of this before? My first thought was a fuse, but that is clearly not the problem.

 

maybe a lose wire connection?

 

Well, the good news is that it sounds like your dealer is taking an excellent approach to this problem. Some dealers might have said "...could not replicate problem..." and give the MINI back to you. I sounds like the "calling around" should include a regional TSE from MINIUSA, IMHO.

 

They just called and said that there has been one other report of this issue and that is was related to the radio. So they are replacing it and resetting everything. Fingers crossed.

Cannot fault the service I am getting. The dealership being 90 minutes drive away is a bit painful though.