Hi,

my passenger side brake lamps are staying on, even after removing the key from the ignition completely. These are the upper and lower lamps, (I have the extra brake light modification done [See here for more detail http://www.motoringfile.com/howto/brakelight_mod.pdf]).

The turn signal (middle bulb) is not staying on, but when activated, it does make that quicker clicking noise, indicating a probable short somewhere, correct?

I am unsure about why this is happening now, after it has been absolutely flawless for 2 years now. Why did it fail today?

Any idea where I should look for this short?

This photo shows the tail lamp, but please note that this does not show the lamps lit. This is not a recent photo, and therefore is just for context only.

 

Has to be a short somewhere, to an "always hot" wire. My 03 has had the brake light mod since late 2002 and never had an issue with it. My brake lights don't come on without the key turned to the on position, even if the pedal is pushed. Are you still in warrantee?

 

No

 

I'm guessing you're going to have to bite the bullet and pay someone to troubleshoot your eletrical issue.

 

I would bet if you used a diode that its either in the wrong spots or done incorrectly. Remove the BLM and see if it still happens

 

I don't think that's the problem, cause the lights are on with the key out of the ignition. The wires to the tail lights are only hot when the ignition isn't in the "off" position. Worth checking though.

 

Update: I removed the Extra Brakelight jumper on both tail lamp connectors, and the issue still exists.

I have some aftermarket bulbs in place. They are not LED; they're standard incandescent bulbs, but with a mirror finish, (so the color of each bulb doesn't reflect inside my clear tail lamp reflectors). It's an aesthetic thing...
I plan on going back to the OEM bulbs next, but I don't hold out much hope that these aftermarket bulbs are the problem, since I've been using them for a year and a half already.

By the way, the front passenger amber running light is ALSO always lit, along with the rear passenger side brake light, (all while the key is out of the ignition). They get really freakin' hot, too! So, I have to disconnect the battery when I get to my destination, or the battery will drain. (Had to jump start it once already).

When driving around, both turn signals are giving me the fast click treatment.

 

I noticed this problem too. My solution....make sure your blinker isnt on. move the turn signal stick to the center position. when left in a left or right position and the car is off, it doesnt blink, its just a steady light in one of the back tail lights.

Sounds like you got too much blinker fluid...haha!

 

Well, after finally realizing just how unsafe my car was, without any brake lights or turn signals, I called the dealership. Because I'm still under warranty, (THANK GOD), I was able to have the car flatbedded to the dealership, a not-insignificant 130 miles away.

They said that there was absolutely no evidence of water getting into the BC-1, (body control module), but it was malfunctioning for some reason. He asked how long I had the front driving lamps installed. I knew what he was doing; trying to pin the blame on those lamps. But they've been in for 3 years now, and besides, all my front lamps worked fine! My headlamps, high beams, (which the driving lamps are tapped into), and foglamps; they all worked great. He didn't have much of a leg to stand on with that line of questioning!

So, he replaced my body control module under warranty, but warned me that if this new one were to malfunction again, they would not cover it.

So I have my car back, and it works great again. All work was covered under warranty, even the tow to the dealership.

 

Congratulations on having it covered. I've heard that those BC-1s are expensive!

 

Yes, it was close to an $800 repair. And the one-way towing on a flatbed truck would've cost somewhere between $300 and $500 for that distance, I'm guessing!

 

Some info for anyone else searching the forum for the same issue...

There are a couple service bulletins regarding this issue:
SI M 63 04 06 and
SI M 63 03 06.

SIM630406 says to replace the Body Control Module with an updated part #. R50/53 Part number 61 35 6 968 826 or later. R52 Part number 61 35 6 968 827 or later.

SIM630306 has information regarding the A/C evaporator drain leaking into the vehicle. It just has the tech inspect the A/C evaporator drain to make sure it's not leaking into the vehicle, and to make sure the wire harness is not squished between the body and the evaporator housing. If any damaged wiring or components are found, replace them. No part #'s listed in this bulletin.

 

I just had to have the BC1 replaced on my wife's 03 MC. About $600 parts & labor. And the new BC1 is kinda crippled. It doesn't have all the options as the original, it's in a plastic case instead of metal, and her alarm doesn't work the same as it did before.

After spending $600 I expected the car to be 100%, so it's kinda annoying....

 

What all is missing? Could it be that they just didn't set up all your programmable vehicle options the way you had it before? Or is it that the BC1 no longer has certain options?

 

I noticed that my new BC-1 is not configured like I had it stock. I used to have daytime running lights, but now I don't. I used to have the locks automatically lock when I hit 10 MPH, but now they don't do that.

By the way. I have a theory as to what caused my BC-1 to fail. I think it was the extra brakelight mod that I installed many years ago. I installed a wire jumper in each tail lamp, (as per the instructions I found on the Motoringfile web site), to get my car's unused rear fog lamp bulbs to turn on when I hit the brakes. While that mod does give you double the brake lamps, it also probably does somewhat overload the body control module, from a voltage standpoint. I have no doubt that I installed it properly, according to the instructions, but I just don't think the body control module was meant to allow for that jumper to be in the system. I really think that is what (eventually) fried my BC-1 module.

I have since removed the wire jumpers, and do not plan on installing them again. I consequently recommend anyone who has this "mod" to go back to stock immediately.

 

If that's your opinion, that's up to you, but the brake light mod was the 1st thing I did to my car after getting it home, I think within 2 weeks of pickup. It's been on the car for almost 5 years and no problems.

 

Initially, all options were set back to default - the dealer insisted that they restored our settings, but they didn't - and they admitted that on the second visit.

The follow-me-home lights now only have one option - 40 sec. We had them set to 90 before, that's no longer an option. The dealer insisted they turned them on at the second visit - but they didn't, so now we have to make the 1.5 hr drive up there a THIRD time!

The alarm wasn't working after the BC1 was replaced, even though the dealer said it was programmed in. On the second visit they got it working.

But the red flashing LED on the stalk doesn't flash the same anymore. It used to be that when you first locked the car the stalk would rapid-flash for (I think) 20 seconds, and then to go a much less frequent flash. This isn't just a light show, it tells you when the system is fully active. Now it just starts a steady flash from the start and you have to guess when it's fully armed.

I understand MINI making the part cheaper by using a plastic case, but how does eliminating software options save them any money?

 

We own 2 03 MINIs - my car has 111K miles and has had that mod since early on. No BC1 problems.

My wife's car only recently got the brakelight mod, and the BC1 did fail a couple months later. I don't think that proves anything though...

 

I'm the first to admit that I'm no electrical engineer, but in my case, the evidence seems to point to the jumper for the extra brakelight mod, as to why my BC-1 failed. I could certainly be incorrect here, but that's my hunch.

With that being said, if you all have had many years of luck with the extra brakelight mod, then that is really great; I wish you continued good luck. But remember that in my case, my BC-1 failed 2.5 years after installing the brakelight mod. Maybe, (just maybe), it is the long-term use of the brakelight mod, that eventually will cause failure of the BC-1.

This is my totally unproven hypothesis. I hope I'm wrong, but like I said, I don't plan on re-instalilng the jumpers again.

 

The fact that MINI has two service bulletins out for the exact symptoms suggests that they have had problems with the BC-1. The first bulletin advices the tech to make sure the wiring isn't damaged, and that the BC-1 isn't getting wet. The other bulletin says to replace the BC-1 with an updated part if no water or wiring damage is evident (probably what they did to jonnieoh's car).

As a side note - I won't run the extra brakelight mod on my MCS mostly because I don't like tampering with a computer-controlled electrical circuit and because I've got the rear fogs activated on my car too.

 

As far as the bulletins are concerned, I had no idea there were any out for the BC-1 module. My SA didn't mention either of them to me, so I'm not sure if he even knew about them or not. I know that there was absolutely no sign of water getting into the cabin, into the BC-1, or even just dripping on the wiring that goes into the BC-1. So I can effectively rule out water damaging it.

That is why I'm leaning towards the extra brakelight mod as the most plausible reason for failure.

 

I suspect we'll never really know. BTW - I've got my rear fogs activated too, and I also have the brakelight mod in (using diodes). So far no problems, almost 112K miles on the car.

I've also upgraded many of the light bulbs on the car to brighter ones, including but not limited to the brake and tail lamps...

 

2 weeks ago my driver side brake light lit up with all above mentioned symptoms; everything was fine one day, then the next I noticed my left turn indicator wasn't clicking for me, but the right side was fine. Hopped out of the car to check lights and saw that the driver side brake/fog light were one. Shut car off and removed key - lights still on. Removed jumper wire from tail lamp assembly connector, and brake and fog lamp still on. (FWIW, yes, brake light mod; those jumper wires have been there nearly 4 years). The lights finally went off when I removed the connector, thank goodness, cause I was starting to think my MINI was haunted...

I am so glad that y'all have shared your own experiences, now I don't feel like I must be going nuts, and I know what the problem is. Now I just need to cough up the cash to get it fixed. My '04 has nearly 60K on her odometer - she been outta warranty for sum time now!

Shelly (wow, its been ages since I posted, feels good!)

 

Here is a pic of what the failed bc-1 from my 2004 S looks like. Hard to detect in the picture, but there is a area that looks over heated near the lower left in this picture. As I don't know what does what on the board, can't say what caused the over heating.

shelly

 

If you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost to get your BC1 replaced? Any chance you could email me a high-res version of this pic?