There is a TSB (technical service bulletin) on the power tail gate. It's a software update. To address it opening on it's own etc. This should be free even if out of warranty (I believe that's how TSB's work). We're going in Monday next week to have it applied and will report back if it resolves the issues we're having.

TSB # 510916

 

Mine opened when we were in a restaurant.

 

TSBs are generally written and covered for a vehicle in warranty, it's Recalls that go on and on no matter who owns the vehicle. You can have a Technical Bulletin for either situation, but it's the Federal Recalls that have a life of their own...
The weird ones are the quiet campaigns that have a set expiration date, which can be still in the warranty period of a vehicle, but that date is when the Manuf. states they're not providing warranty coverage on a stated repair or issue after that date.

 

Hm, I've had TSB's covered outside of warranty. I guess it comes down to dealership discretion. It should be a recall IMO

 

TSB is simply a bulletin, just info. It’s the stated warranty or factory participation IN that bulletin that matters. Sorry if I wasn’t making it clear.
Goodwill after warranty expires can be influenced by a TSB though.
A directed Service Action to a dealer covered IN a TSB is however what most people think about with TSBs

 

Anyone get the TSB done? Did it resolve the issue(s)?

 

Picking ours up today. I'll update in a week...

 

I had a TSB on the tail lights of my old C63, not a recall, a TSB. It was for a poor ground connection in the tail light which could cause a fire... You would think that it would have been a recall... Manufacturers and their lawyers can get creative with rules and regulations (and the included loopholes they always seem to find) when it comes to recalls or TSBs.

Mine was well out of warranty when it occurred, and Mercedes sill performed the work and covered the replacement tail lights.

Sometimes a manufacturer will release a TSB before the feds make them do a recall to avoid bad press.

 

When dropping off the car for this update my wife asked if it would over write all the coding I'd done. They said no but I'm not sure they understood what she was asking because it did... all my coding went back to the original settings.

When I picked up the car I asked them the same question and I could tell them were confused. Guessing they are not too familiar or used to customers making these changes themselves.
I've got to get back in there and re-do all of them. PITA!

 

Update.

The tail gate foot sensor seems even more sensitive now - a good and bad thing. I've had to jump out of the way from it coming down on me a few times still as I load thing. I think I'd rather just disable the function all together.

Have not had it open on it's own since the patch.

Has not closed randomly on it's own either - other than by foot sensor.

The patch did remove the options for the seat belt reminder to de-activate it (or moved the option). Same with the welcome gongs.

 

I'm interested that there is an update available - but I'm not sure it will solve my problem - I definitely don't want a more sensitive system. Twice now, I have entered the garage and hit the control to open my garage door, and the back hatch on the Mini Countryman has also opened - right into the moving garage door! The second time it did this, it put a big scratch on the hatch. I am going to have to see if I can have this repainted. Evidently the sensors are seeing the garage door opening and think it is my foot. The key fob is present as I walk into the garage, but not close to the back hatch. This is not a good thing. I wonder if anyone else has seen this behavior. The car is parked well into the garage (until the front parking sensors beep) - the back end is at least 18 inches from the garage door. It doesn't do this every time, but the two times it has happened has caused damage.

David

 

Would it help if you back into your garage? Perhaps that way there's nothing moving in the back. I have a small driveway and it is way easier to back into my garage rather than drive forward. I have never had the hatch open up based on the moving garage door. I have had the hatch decide to open and close randomly when I walk around the back. It is annoying.

 

This is really troublesome. It shouldn't even open if the parking sensors register something if you ask me. Or even the camera. Mine also opened on it's own when my neighbour was on the side of the car handing me the power cable through the kitchen window. Thank god it hit my window but did not damage anything. I am afraid to walk near the rear if i have the key on me... But i really love the automatic tailgate. It is a very great feature! When i told my dealer about the issue, they didn't find an issue ant said there was nothing on my vin number to update about that issue. Nut they updated my system for my phev not having a very big range. So maybe it was in the same update as wel. Haven't had an issue since but haven't used it much also.

 

My first tailgate opening event happened three days after I picked the car up. Having read about this issue in the forum, I took the car to the dealer along with the TSB#. When I picked up the car, they first thanked me for giving them the TSB# (they called it an "SIM") because it saved them time trying to look up the problem.

The problem apparently has something to do with what the car expects to receive from the remote to open the tailgate. Anyway, they reprogrammed according to the TSB and as noted in the comments the tailgate now expects a two-step operation: 1: Press the car's unlock button on the remote twice; followed by 2: Press the tailgate unlock botton.

I guess the tailgate was getting some kind of spurious signal that fooled it into thinking it should open (from the ECU? from the remote at a distance? from a cat running under the kick sensor? ... dunno, it's just my guess).

The tailgate has not opened itself at all since the car was re-programmed. While I haven't tested all the opening options, it seems like I have to unlock the car first before I can get a kick underneath the rear to open it up. But I haven't (and won't) use the kick gesture much anyway. The remote tailgate works properly in the 1-2 sequence mentioned above.

I've attached a scan of the technician's comments from the paperwork if it's of any help to you.

 

I was waiting in the car in Park while my wife went into a store for a quick pickup. A bike rider went by the rear bumper and it started to open. I started to panic cause there was traffic in the paring lot and I didn't want anyone getting hit with the tailgate or have a car come by while it was opening and rip it off. I'm do for an oil change and I'm going to have them do the TSB on it.

 

Get the TSB update done. It won't make the system more sensitive. If it's opening on it's own right now then you need the update. We haven't had ours open on it's own since.

 

I called ASK-MINI to see if this was a known issue with a fix, but they were clueless - had no access to the service bulletins or information about whether this was a known problem. So, I took the car into my MINI dealer who said there was a fix. Apparently this is not just software; they are going to replace the sensor, but the part is in Germany and will take two weeks to get here. (Second time I had to wait for a part to be shipped from Germany - they don't seem to stock much here in the US.) The car is due in for service in March anyway so when the part is in, I'll schedule an appointment. I hope this fixes the issue, but I think I will continue to back the car into the garage to make sure. With the backup camera, I'm getting better at backing in!

David

 

Interesting. Thanks for the update. We're still having issues with our hatch acting strange so perhaps it needs a replacement sensor now.

 

I had my car into the dealer for the repair today. Then ran a diagnostic test and replaced the "Smart Opener Control Unit" (Part # 61-35-7-932-682). The paperwork doesn't mention any reprogramming. When they ordered the part they told me is was a new sensor, but that apparently isn't what they replaced. (They told me it would take two weeks to get the part from Germany, but it took three weeks - or the dealer forgot to call me, which is likely what happened.)

We are still backing the car into the garage - it had opened into my garage door twice leaving a nice big scratch. I tried to buy to touchup paint (Island Blue Metallic) but the parts guy said it is not available - not in stock and can't be ordered. The car is a year old and no paint available? That's curious.

I haven't tested yet to see if foot motion still opens the hatch.

David

 

Skip the dealer for the Island Blue Metalic touch-up paint. Go to www.paintscratch.com, they have it for a 2018 Mini Countryman

 

Thanks for the paint suggestion.

David

 

BTW - our tail gate still closes on it's own... POS system.

 

 

Mine has never closed on its own. Even with the fix, we are still backing into the garage to avoid damage from hitting the garage door. Wish I had more confidence in the fix, but given the comments here, we decided to continue to be cautious. I have heard multiple theories: reprogramming, replacing the sensor, or (in my case) replacing the program module. I wonder if this happens with other brands - everyone seems to have this function now.

David

 

I wonder if you put a piece of 'black electrical tape' over the sensors under the car so you only can use the key FOB or the button on the tailgate or drivers side door switch, to close or open the tail gate?

Sort of like the tape over the camera on your laptop computer

wonder if that would eliminate a lot of these 'ghost' openings ? Unfortunately it would eliminate the 'soccer kick open'. At very least it would narrow down the culprit, if no unauthorized openings occurred while the tape was over the sensors.