I suppose you checked the actual bulbs? did you see any water intrusion on the FRM connectors?
I'll check for you when i get home if i can find something.

 

No water damage, no power at connector to light socket. Good ground.

Drivers side reverse and high mount stop light wont light. No bulb out codes. Bulbs good.
Thanks,
Tim

 

First post on the board...
Owner of a 2012 Mini Cooper S Hatchback
All started when trying to repair a bad thermostat sensor (which still needs to be fixed).
I disconnected the battery for the sensor repair and after reconnecting the battery the red lift light appeared. No control of windows, headlights, hazard, license plate lights interior mood lighting.

Ive contacted Jims Import to see if they have the part.

Any one willing to check my FRM to see if its dead or reprogram it? Willing to pay (and throw in some craft brews from my hometown).

 

Welcome aboard and sorry for the hickup. There are few things you can to at least get back on the road. Try to match your FRM part number with ones on ebay or car-part.com (preferably). If you do not have programming tools, either invest in them (may cost anywhere from 50 to couple hundred) or hopefully NAM member near you can help. Im in philly PA.

 

I shouldn't have read this thread...
From all the posts here I'm gathering that the simple task of disconnecting and reconnecting the battery can fry the FRM?

That's INSANE!

 

Not always. I do that numerous times and nothing happens to the module. There might be a some sort of a free replacement from dealer. Check the threads here as some was able to get it gone from the dealer. Or you can buy a used one with matching options or part number. It will work.

 

It is possible but it is not usual. In fact, it would be strange.
It is more likely to fry the FRM if you are working with the car wiring without disconnecting the battery.
Or a wrong electrical task that will fry the FRM when reconnecting the battery.

 

My alternator went while I was driving, battery was drained. Would this likely kill the FRM permanently?

 

It should not.
Did you replace your alternator and now your FRM is dead?

 

Signs of dead FRM include inoperable windows and lights. do you have these signs?

 

Yes, I knew it was on its was out because the battery light came on. I only made it halfway to the garage when the car stopped running. The alternator was replaced but my garage (which is pretty good) can't get that unit to come on at all. They sadly are sending me to the dealership$$$

 

What unit are you referring to?

 

The driver's side foot well module. After the car was delivered on the tow truck, I locked it up but the window got open somehow during that night and there was several inches of snow. My mechanic thinks it got wet (although they have had it apart and it doesn't "look" wet. I was wondering if the alternator going could have shorted it. Since I think I was the last one in the car an I know the window was up, it just seems like too big of a coincidence that the Module gor wet then shorted, instead of being hinky and rolling down the window first.

 

Car is going on 150K, 2010 Clubman S

 

As we speak, do the windows roll up and down?

 

I don't know, it is still at the shop. The only thing I heard was that it took him awhile to get the window to go up. He said they can't communicate with the module at all, it's like it isn't there. I asked if it was driveable (to get it to mini) but have not heard back yet.

 

if he got the window up. I think the module is still alive. Sometimes you have to roll the window all the way down to be able to roll it up. Otherwose it will be moving up 1mm at a time.

When you hear back from them, ask them of the lights turn on and off!

 

+1

+1

As MiniToBe said, you can detect a dead FRM by:

- No power to windows
- No turn signals
- No high beams, fog lights
- Low beams always on

Check this on the car

 

By the sound of it I wouldn't be surprised if it was going up 1mm at a time. . . but thanks, I will find out about "what's out"

 

Just joining this thread now. Have a 2010 Mini Clubman. Went to take a ride on Tuesday and got all kinds of odd things occurring in vehicle:
-windows only moving 1" up or down, Window alert on small tach screen
-Headlight warning alert on small tach screen, headlights worked fine
-TPMS warning yellow LED on
-Brake fault yellow LED on, brakes worked and temp after short ride was of by touch, Emergency brake red LED worked normally
It had rained the day before so I thought a short drive would clear the issue. The Emergency flashers started working without activating button on top of dash!! The finally switched to a "6 flashes then off for 1 min" cycle.


Stopped the car for about 2 hours and came back for another short ride. This time
-windows still had same issue and warning display on tach screen
-Headlight warning display on tach screen
then all the errors stopped and the dashboard lights kept flickering between night and day mode (like switching the left hand stalk rotating switch)!!


Called my local garage and explained situation. They called me back about 4 hours later and said "the FRM was bad, water had gotten into it and a component had fried"!! They want $1,100 to install new FRM and reload code. YIKES.
I plan on stopping over to shop to see location and damaged FRM. Sounds like there could be a leak somewhere.
Read most of this article. Do not want to tackle this as I do not have the tools to fix it.
Why is the FRM not made to be more waterproof!! Seems like a bad design.

 

Sheardc, welcome aboard. as discussed earlier in the thread, a dead FRM will not be able to let you control the windows at all and the headlights will remain on all the time when you turn on/start the car.

It is proven (and I have done it several times) that you can buy a used FRM with matching part numbers or matching options. check ebay and my favorite site car-part.com

instead of wasting 1100 to the shop, invest in programming SW like WinKfp and NCSexpert and get the K+Dcan cable. these will run you less than 100. With remote access anyone here on the board can help either for free or a small fee

as for it being a bad design, I think it is the location that is bad not the design. Everything has a life expectancy and eventually will die/break/malfunction no matter how it is made. The good news, it is replaceable

 

+1 on these directions if you can't afford 1100 on the shop
Additionally, you need to fix the water issue before replacing the FRM module.
With the software and a compatible FRM module in your hands, the swap takes no more than 15 minutes.

 

I'm not supposed to say any of this as I signed a confidentiality agreement (but who cares the car is sold now!): I wrote a letter to my dealer and threatened to go public on Social Media about the issue and I also contacted BMW North America to report the problem and to complain. They finally covered the whole repair. In my case though there was a mini fire down in the FRM and you could see the scorched components (I removed the FRM myself to look). Still the location is absolutely stupid and that's why so many people are having problems. Furthermore water can get in via the sunroof drains or other means. Really, really, really poor engineering design.

 

That would be insane, and I'm not convinced that dis- and reconnecting the battery can fry the FRM. I think more likely what could happen is that jumping a battery could be a problem if wrong connections or shorts are made, or if the battery is not reconnected properly resulting in a wiggly connection. I have disconnected and reconnected my battery dozens of times, w/o problems. My FRM problems were strictly the connectors (so far, knock on wood) and once sorted, I have not had problems now. It may also be possible that water intrusion coincides with other issues, and then symptoms appear when disconnecting and reconnecting the battery.

 

So in this other thread
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...w-battery.html
ryansonfire states that:
..had the same problem with my dead battery corrupting the footwell control module. i called the dealership and they have a warranty extension for the footwell control module and they replaced mine for free. call with your vin and make an appointment to get it replaced.
That's the first I've heard of a warranty extension for the FRM. Given how many problems have been reported related to FRM, this is welcome news!
Can anyone else corroborate this, have you heard of this or ad yours exchanged at no cost under a warranty extension?