Took the car to the grocery store today while it was snowing...
Jumped out and locked the car by pressing the door button for 2 seconds to get the mirrors to fold in (I coded that).
Was inside 30 minutes or so.
Came out and the trunk was wide open... the sight of your "new car" sitting out in the grocery store parking lot during a snow storm with the trunk wide open is irritating to say the least. My wife had some shopping bags in the trunk which were by then covered in fresh snow... thankfully no one helped themselves to anything in the trunk or in the car. The doors were all unlocked as well.
We took the car in last year for this same issue... and the issue continues. Seriously the most stupid "smart" car we've ever owned.

 

Our CM is about a year old now and fortunately this has only happened once. Is there a fix for this problem? I will ask the dealer at my next service.

 

Let us know what they say. That is my MAJOR issue with the car and the dealer was no help a year ago when even asked if auto lift could be deactivated. Not possible. As a photographer, it would not be unusual for me to have $10,000 worth of photo gear in the back. True it is insured, but a hassle to replace. Occasionally, I walk to the parking lot and find the rear open - almost making me feel good when I saw a Cadillac with the same problem. More likely finding it open in my garage and intentionally parking far enough in to make sure doesn't hit the garage door bracing chipping more paint off.

From what I have gathered, appears to be the bulbus design of the key fob exposing the buttons to other items in the pocket which 'pushes' them. Hope you find something different.

 

There have been several threads on this over the past year. There was a TSB # about the problem... I took that information to the dealer, who re-programmed my computer on the basis of that information. The problem has only occurred one time since then... when I inadvertently left the car unlocked. Otherwise, it hasn't happened since.

Here's a link to my post in that thread – the post includes the dealer's service report on that problem,

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post4359976

-Bob

 

Yeah I think I was the first to post the TSB# here - we had that applied last year. Didn't work as we've been having intermittent issues with the trunk closing on people as they stood behind the car etc. all year long. We complained to the dealership but they couldn't seem to figure it out.


Today I parked the car across the street in an open parking lot. Probably 200 fee from my house. We left it there while going to the grocery store - were probably gone 2 hours. The car was parking in the lot for probably 4 hours.
While loading the fridge with groceries I glanced out my front window towards the parking lot to see the idiot car with it's trunk wide open (very busy street). Seriously the most idiotic car I've ever owned. I ran over the close the trunk and drive it back to my garage and not only was the trunk wide open but all the doors were unlocked. We'll be taking it in tomorrow to be looked at but now we have 0 confidence in leaving this car anywhere.

 

After reading your reply, it occurred to me that maybe your dealership didn't actually re-program the computer when you brought the car in last year (even though they said they did). Or, like a bad vaccination, maybe it didn't "take." Yeah, I know... It's hard to confront them with that. Perhaps when you take it in on Monday, if they don't have any other ideas, maybe you could suggest they do the computer programming one more time... I know from having been a software product manager that things sometimes go wrong during updates/upgrades, and it's often worth re-doing a procedure one more time. I don't think that can make things worse, anyway.

I feel your pain. I was pretty upset when it happened to me three days after I had picked up my new car. But since the time they updated my computer, as I mentioned, I've either been lucky, or the re-programming worked on my car.

Let us know your update. Thanks.
-Bob

 

Is it possible that the key fob is just way too sensitive and that it might cause you to accidentally trigger the rear hatch opening ?

 

I agree - we have not gotten it in to the shop yet - probably next week... I have no issues having them re-do the patch... it's just super irritating seeing your 40k ("BMW") sitting out there unlocked with the trunk wide open yelling "Come all - look within - take what you want"

Perhaps but unlikely. It's happened when I've been inside grocery stores etc. Last week I specifically remembering glancing at the car before entering the grocery store - all fine - then as I left 30 min later there it was with trunk wide open.

 

I would be emailing a link to this thread to the district marketing manager at MINI. This is pretty bad publicity! Will affect sales if there is not a quick resolution.

 

My hatch opened on its own again on Monday, while it was in my garage. I now have a collection of 5 quarter inch scratches (one for each opening) on the hatch where it contacted the garage door. Last year after the first three times I took it the the dealer. They claimed they changed some setting and they also said I should lock my car even though it is in my own garage. It is true that locking the car seems to work in my case (Monday I forgot to lock it, I think). However I think it is unacceptable that I am "required" to do that in my own garage.

 

Anyway to unplug the latch wire? Maybe the dealer can put in a manual switch that you could access near the driver's door to open it when you want.

Apparently, software resolution is not going to happen.

 

Had similar issues, plus it was also auto-closing when I was unloading cargo. The Dealer tried working the mentioned TSBs and recoded the fob to prevent "accidental" button presses - no improvement. After the third trip in for these issues, they replaced the SmartControl Module. No issues of any kind since then.

 

LOL at having to lock it in your garage. Ridiculous to say the least. No you absolutely should not have to lock the car to prevent the trunk from opening on it's own!

 

We got the car back.

They replaced a "sensor that operates the trunk". I asked for further detail and they clarified it was the Smart Opener Control Unit - https://parts.seattlemini.com/a/MINI...1_4452.html#01

We shall see if this resolves our issues... I'm glad ours never opened in the garage and struck the garage door frame...