Maybe 10% of the time when I attempt to turn on the ignition with the red start button, the car doesn't start and instead the front wipers swipe across the windshield one time. Second attempt, the car always starts right up, no problem.

Thoughts?

 

That's a strange one. I noticed last week that when my wife drives the Clubman, she just gives the start button a quick press and releases it. I have always pressed the start button and held it until I hear the car fire up (just as I would have in the good old days when cars had keys that you inserted and twisted). So a wild guess is that if you just give it a jab and release it, the engine maybe won't quite catch, but the accessories will power up. If you have the wipers set in the auto position, that could be why they jump. Two of my cars (BMW 435 and the Clubman) have push button starts. I've always pressed and held the starter buttons just like a would with an insert-and-twist key. Just a guess.

 

I second the SWMBO technique. Quick stab and release. Works everytime as long as I give it a solid push. As far as the wipers, I would question the auto-function as that should only operate when there is moisture on the windshield. Mine also turns off after the car has been shut down. I haven't checked to see if there is a way to set the autofuction as always on, but mine has to be manually turned on every time I have need for the wipers.

 

For auto-wipers, I noticed that if I leave my MINI for only short time, when I get back in and start it back up, the auto-wipers will still be on (and do a wipe). If I leave it for a long time, when I get back in and restart it, the auto-wipes will be off.

Seems it remembers its last state, but only for a short time (kind of like me).

 

It looks like on my 2020 Clubman that the auto wipers are controlled by the stalk position and thus can be always ON. Interesting. Previously the cars I've owned with auto wipers had a button on the end on of the stalk to turn it on and they turned off after the car was turned off. At some point I must have bumped the stalk into the ON position for the auto wipers and just not noticed. We haven't had much if any rain since I purchased the car back in April. I'm still not quite sure why the ignition button triggers the auto wipers on sunny days with no rain, but so be it. At least now I have the auto wipers turned off. So hopefully that at least keeps the windshield from getting streaked.

Otherwise, thanks to the comments above I'm going to experiment a bit with how long I hold the ignition switch down.