So, I bought a 2008 mini cooper S in March. It used to be that when I would turn my car off the radio and lights would stay on a good 15 minutes, at least. Lately I've noticed that when I get in my car, the radio settings are not how I left them. Actually they change over to some staticy AM radio, which I never use. Then I noticed that my radio and random lights (not all of them) will turn off seconds after turning the engine off.

I'm not convinced it's a battery issue because I have no problems turning it on. I'm not sure if it's the electrical system failing or maybe a fuse issue.

Can anyone help me? Pleeeeeeease.

 

How old is the battery and how many miles? And which random lights are you talking about? Like dome lights or dash lights

 

It doesn't even have 65,000 on it. I haven't checked to see the year on my battery yet. My radio will shut off, thus making my dome lights turn on. If I put my little map reading lights or dome light back on then they will shut off about a minute later. BUT, my dash and ambient lights will stay on until I push the button to turn them off or open my door.

 

By any chance did you switch the key fab you were using? Some of the Mini keys have a memory preferences that saves some settings.

 

I thought about that, but I was only given 1 key to my car. =(

 

If it's the original battery, replace it. The electrical on these cars can get wonky on a marginal battery.

 

UPDATE: I had my battery and alternator checked this moring. Both of those are perfectly fine.

My car goes back to the place I bought it Monday. Praying it doesn't have to be sent away to be fixed =/ (closest mini dealer is 3 hours away) whomp whomp

 

2ND UPDATE:

I took it to the dealership I bought it from. They supposidly ran diagnostic tests (I say supposidly because they claim to be unable to print result and expect that I take their word for it). Despite being adament that there is something more serious going on and being told differently by 2 other places, they claimed I simply needed to replace my battery.

So, I picked my car up and had a brand new, slightly more powerful batter installed. First day everything was smooth sailing, then the next day I parked, cut the engine off and 2 minutes later all my electrical equipement failed. Trip odometer, time and date reset. Radio shut off and was reset to some crackely AM station when I restarted my car. Check engine light popped back up. All the same issues I was having prior to replacing the battery.

The kicker is that the car starts, the electrica components work perfectly and it runs fine as long as the engine is started. I'm not understanding what the problem is. Any suggestions?