Car doesn’t have a charge and when I try to jump start it, still won’t start. The strange part is when I stop the jump and leave it for a few minutes, the tail lights start to flicker. I’m thinking it’s a short in the wires somewhere but want to see if there are any better ideas out there before I go exploring the wiring harness.

 

Is the battery new or old?

Maybe something is draining the battery and/or the alternator/starter is faulty.

 

And check all the main battery connections for tightness and corrosion

 

if the battery is going dead and I mean DEAD ...

when you first hook up to jump, it may not work but leaving things connected for a few minutes gets the bad battery up just enuf to allow some power to pass thru and the jump is successful. not unique to MINI but is not unusual with modern electronics (which even control the start sequence)

guy with a newer 'vette managed to kill his battery at a car show when he was parked next to me. He tried to jump from two different cars with no luck and entered panic mode. Finally convinced him to hook up and let it sit with the good car running for 5 minutes ..... TADA .....

it may NOT be this,but it isn't unusual ....

 

It’s a new battery