I noticed today a symbol of a mini on a lift warning light on my tachometer. What does this mean? I also could not unlock or lock my doors with my remote today. Is there a connection between the two? Chris

I've noticed the same thing on my mini. We just purchased it a few weeks ago. Would like to know the answer to this as well.

It means your MINI is do for service.

I been googling the web and saw where some have said the brakes need replaced? will check them tomorrow and post what I find out

i kinda figured that. theres also a date below my symbol and it reads 9/2013. so i'm guessing thats september 2013 is when it's due?

Do door remote batteries go bad over time and need replaced?

If I am not mistaking I believe if the MINI on a lift in yellow it is brake sensors and a MINI on a red lift I think is brakes

To see if your MINI is do for service press the button in the turn indicator lever repeatedly until "SET/INFO" is displayed. Briefly press the button repeatedly until the corresponding symbol and "SERVICE-INFO" are displayed. Cycle through that menu and you'll see what service is required.

They should not as they are rechareable batteries that get recharged every time you put the key in the ignition.

brake sensors? so this means my brakes are almost done? i just bought the car... and the light showed up since day one.

would it be covered under warranty?

Did you buy the MINI brand new? How many miles? If it is new they should cover it if it is a defect. But brakes and sensors are considered wearable items and usually won't cover it.

i just did a bit of google searching, and i saw a picture of someone having a similar indicator on their dash. only, both the car on the lift and a brake light lit up on his dash. which means brake sensor was tripped.

However, my car is a bit different. The only indicator i have lit up is the car on the lift and 9/2013 being shown below the car. no other lights on the dash is lit up. does this mean my car is due for it's regular scheduled maintenance, rather than brake sensors being tripped?

Two things could be going on here:
1. Use the BC stalk and scroll through until you get to service and see what it says is due. Look at the image and compare it to the manual and/or take a picture of it and post it on here for us to help.

2. Do you have comfort access (small black button on the door handle)? If you do then your battery might be dead. If you don't the key is recharged every time it is in the holder while driving.

That is true unless you have comfort access package then you will need to replace the battery. Pop off the cover on the back and there is a battery in there.

ok seeing as this isn't my daily driver, and my memory is shitty...

i went to my wife's car this morning to put the key in the ignition and started it. the car ISN"T on the lift, but rather its just a picture of the car and a date of 9/2013 below. which i believe means the service indictor. correct?

Wow! Good to know!

I'm in the same situation so i hope this clears some stuff up. At about 31,186 miles my tach showed brakes due for service within 600 miles and it was yellow, that was last Thursday 5/16/13. So I called up my dealer same day to setup service appointment. By Saturday it showed 290 miles left, and on Sunday, it gave me a new light (the one with the MINI on a lift in red) cuz it had reached the zero mark already (I also put up a pic of the regular service light not due for another 28k miles for comparison). It has also kept the brake light on since then (the one that usually only turns on when i use my parking brake which is really annoying to see cuz it makes me think I have my parking brake on as I drive). I'm still under the 36k mile warranty, and the earliest appointment I could get with my dealer is this coming Saturday 5/25/13. Now, my tach reads -500 miles for brakes in red. I hope the pics help. Can't wait to get this resolved Saturday and get that annoying light to go away. lol

FYI...ALL of these icons are in your manual and are described next to each icon shown.

That's right. Every time you start the car you'll see that display just to let you know that a service is due at that time. You can then use the BC button and display to go into the service info area of the computer and see which specific service it's referring to.

Just got home from work and got in my mini to see if I could figure out what is going on with these warning symbols. I first want to say that last week I went to start my mini and the battery was dead. So I took it out and had my neighbor charge it up with his charger. It had water in all the cells and after filling them to the proper level, the battery took a full charge according to the charger. I have driven it a few days until yesterday I went to unlock it with my remote and nothing happened. I used the key to unlock the door and when I started it I saw the "mini on a lift" symbol. Thats when I posted the message on this site to see what it meant. So I get home this morning, start it up and push the turn signal arm to see what it would show me being the problem. Alot more symbols started showing up, like the ABS light, my seatbelt light wouldnt go out after snapping it on, my AC wouldnt work, my fuel gauge indicator showed me being empty but I know I have fuel in the car. I drive to the gas station and find that the lid over the gas cap wont release??? Geeez I got to thinking that maybe all of this could be that my battery might be my problem and it is going bad and triggering all of these issues. What does everyone think? LOL

and my warranty has run out so Im screwed in that department also....LOL

When I push the BC button it keeps popping up mini on a lift, ABS, and fuel empty symbols....not telling me anything else

I think I would try replacing the battery. It sounds like yours is just about toast, and is probably producing low voltage/amperage. Is that the original battery? How much water did you have to add to the cells to get them back to acceptable levels?

The cells were low but not dry in any of them. I checked the voltage and its showing 12.3 so that should be good. But maybe when the battery went dead, that it may have caused issues with the cars computer? I will call the Mini dealership and asks someone tomorrow what they think. I can start the car and drive it but cant get the lid to open to get to the gas cap for fueling. Wierd

All the weird behavior coupled with the battery issue really sound like a bad battery... Not getting enough or clean enough power can make the computer "flip out", which sounds exactly like what you're getting. The factory batteries in these cars aren't known for having superior longevity. Regardless of the voltage reading, I'd replace it. Betcha a dollar most if not all your issues go away, barring any maintenance that's actually due.

Leave the battery disconnected for a couple of hours before installing the new one.

found the green cord inside the back side cover that I pulled to release the fuel cap lid....back liftgate door still locked tho