If anyone is having problem with their horn being difficult to activate try the following fix:

Note: if you don't feel comfortable taking it apart, please let your dealer do this fix.

1) the contact terminals on mine was corroded hence it was giving me all sort of problems. The contacts are pointed by yellow arrows.
2) use sand paper to clean the contacts.
3) problem completely fixed. I can now press anywhere on the horn button/dome and it would honk immediately.

 

Don't you have to disconnect the battery?

 

You absolutely need to disconnect the battery, especially since the airbag is involved.

 

Yes, disconnect the battery or get your dealer to do it for you.

 

My right side requires a very strong push, left side ok. I went to the dealer yesterday and was told MINI knew of the issue but there was no fix and I had to live with half a horn.

I came here to see if anyone else had a problem.

Since I don't feel comfortable taking it apart I guess I will just alert NHTSA to be sure they have a record of the issue.

 

It was getting dangerous for me not having a reliable horn. Traffic is really bad where I live, so not having a horn = accident waiting to happen.

I just had to get it fixed so I asked my Mini SA to take it apart and we knew instantly it was the contact points being corroded. After cleaning the contact points we gave it a thin coat of grease to slow down future corrosion.

 

Thanks for the insight, so a little bit of moisture or humidity in the car and the point can just get a little corrosion on them ? Driven a couple F56's and F55's , have not had this issue. Thanks for the heads up.

 

I followed through and lodged a complaint with NHTSA and they opened a case. I gave them my dealers name and number at their request. It appears they took is seriously. My dealer still will not try to fix the issue.

NHTSA phone number is 888-327-4236. My complaint will appear on their webpage.

Be interesting to see if the dealer calls me.

 

I can push anywhere fine, but I only get one of the two notes! Anyone hear (or not hear) of this

 

The horn has multiple notes?

I have to push pretty card on my horn to get it to sound. Is this normal?

 

Mine's also pretty hard to press, and it's hard to make a short honk. Sometimes it would over-do the horn making it sound like I'm mad when I just wanted to do a very short honk.

 

Mine won't do the short honk at all. I have to press it very hard to get any honk and it's always a loud angry honk. I want the short honk back that my R50 had which was very convenient when saying hi or just nicely telling somebody to move along.

I will visit my dealer on Thursday and if they say there's nothing wrong I'll mention the corrosion fix. I'd rather not disassemble my steering wheel.

 

How easy does the center come off? Do you have to remove the steering column surround to get to the release?

 

The problem with the horn is actually two fold.

First problem is the delay itself. This is well documented on some newer BMWs. Basically the horn is not a simple relay, the signal goes to the DME first then the DME tell the horn to activate. This is why it's very hard to do a short courtesy honk on our cars. CMIIW, I think I've read somewhere that this is fixable by software update on BMW cars.

Second problem is the corrosion. Basically the metal contacts are not making a full circuit because of the crud/rust on them. The horn button would require excessive push before activating, sometimes it simply refuses to work at all.

You don't have to take off the steering column cover to pop the horn cover. I'd still let the dealer do it just because of the airbag liabilities.

 

Since mine is just a month old it sounds like it's not very likely corrosion so maybe there is nothing that can be done. I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

 

With the corrosion problem. You would think that problem would only exist in cars that go through a cold winter, Melting snow on the mats etc.
Anyone with this problem care to comment?
My 2014 had bad problems right out of the box but my 2016 seems way better.

 

Hi, can you tell me which tools are needed to take steering wheel apart?

Thanks!

 

Pls can anyone tell me how to remove the airbag?? I have already the battery disconnected but how do I remove the airbag? Plsss anyone pls

 

I had this issue after not quite a year owning the F56 JCW. I had the dealer do the fix.

 

 

 

 

Disconnect negative terminal of battery.

Insert T25 screwdriver into 3 small holes on the back of the steering wheel and press hard to disengage the clips holding hte airbag in-place

clean contacts as shown in post above

return airbag to steering wheel, line up and press firmly to reattach

Reconnect negative battery terminal