So some basic info: 2012 mini cooper s hardtop. has about 17760 miles on it. in ATX. (hookem!)

Ok so about a week ago, I went around Austin doing errands and got back to my apartment, may 2-3 hours tops later, car wouldn't start. My brakes and steering wheel locked up and it wouldn't let me start my car. A few days later called someone to jump start it, went to dealer but services just closed so I drove it around. They said it should be fine after driving it 20-30 minutes. After 40ish minutes I went to the store. Turned off car and it started right back up. After I went grocery shopping it wouldn't start so had to call someone again to jump it. A few says later when I got less busy had to get it jumped again and took it the dealer and got it checked out. Apparently I left my lights on and it drained my battery completely. Would cost $330 to change battery even though it's warranty...

Anyways, if this happened to someone can I get some info or advice? The battery is $180 but they want to charge me $130 to change battery for. Can anyone tell me why they charge so much when other places charge much less???

I'm fully aware of human error, but I am also certain, with no doubt, I did not leave my lights on. It was during the day and I don't ever touch my lights. I always check to make sure everything is off and there's also an alarm in case it ever does stay on. But according to the computer I left them on. If I happened to leave them on, which I honestly doubt..., it would've stayed on for 1-3 hours. Would that have seriously killed my battery??

Thanks for reading all this sorry it was so long. Just I'm a small college student who is pretty much clueless about cars but I don't want to get taken advantage of at the dealer. My dad knows about cars but he can't do much due to the distance and because he's knew with minis.

Thanks again!!

 

Assuming it is a bad battery, changing one out is not difficult. I would make sure you can get the right one from a local auto parts store first. I believe the battery is located on the passenger side of the firewall in the engine compartment. Consult your owners manual The reason it is optimal for the dealer to do it is they reset the electronic monitoring system. Yeah, pretty pricey service. Probably you could have that done at your next oil change
Best of luck!

 

I don't think it's possible to have the lights stay on that long even if you wanted them to. FYI you can set it so the lights turn off as soon as you turn off the car, or have them stay on for a minute, etc. I don't think you can set it for them to stay on indefinitely. This smells like the classic dealer ploy: blame the customer and charge them a ton. I've seen threads about fuel pump failures being blamed on "bad gas" (your fault of course). To me this is a sign that you should avoid that dealer if you have a choice.

 

Here is my story about leaving my lights on... I was out at a car show and it was getting a little dark by the time I came back and pulled into the garage... pulled the key and went inside. Didn't even think about the car for the week it sat in the garage. Went out to take a nice drive a week later, and nothing... I had left the lights on for a week. Turned the lights out and hooked my battery charger up to it and walked away for 30 minutes as my neighbor was fixing her hair and getting ready to go out. She pulled her MINI up and I hooked the Jumpers to it and "Waroom!" Off I go out running around for the next several hours just driving around enjoying the day. came back and parked the car, made sure the lights were off. Came back the next morning and tested the battery it was fully charged and all was good.

So can it happen? It sure did with me. Does it kill the battery? It can, it depends on the condition of your battery and the amount of time the system was charging and the amount recovery time the battery can recover itself.

The new battery would have been $104.91 (including tax) at local Auto Parts store.

Always double check your grounding straps, and your Alternator Output.

Best of luck.

Motor on!

 

If I forget to turn off the lights on the stalk it doesn't matter. They go out as soon as I turn the car off. That's the way the car came when I bought it. Sure, they go on when I start the car. I just think that's a dangerous way to program the lights (to stay on indefinitely). There's a couple folks on the F56 forum that say they did the same thing. Nobody wants them to stay on for more than a couple minutes. Why would they program it that way in 2014?

 

A 2012 with less than 18000 miles... Warranty....

 

Fwiw. They can run a diagnosis. It's called "energy diagnosis". It will list all the things that effect the battery. For instance. Key left on car not running. Lights on engine off. Lack of use idle days etc etc etc. for the one that posted that the lights turn off when car turns off you are incorrect. The headlights turn off but the parking lights stay on till the battery dies.

If the report shows user error Like lights left on then it's not a matter for warranty.

As far as the amount for replacement. It's the battery plus install plus registering the battery to the car. ( something you can't do on your own ) You could purchase your own and install it but you would have to bring it to MINI to get it registered to the car so that the charging system knows what to do

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When I took delivery of my JCW Coupe last July, I have been told they don't turn off and will stay on. We should look at the owner's manual and see. I hope we could find a timer somewhere.

 

Looks like depending on option and what setting one may have









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Nope, I don't have DTR on, and when the car turns off, the headlights turn off too. They turn off right away. The turn on right away unless I turn the switch off on the stalk.

 

Since I own the car I never drove at night but I put the lights on once during a rainstorm this summer. You are right they shut off when I pull in my garage.

If the key is off, there is no reason for a battery drain.

Furthermore, if you leave the key in the ignition switch with the radio on, it will turn off after about five minutes. There is a relay somewhere that protects from battery drain coming from accessories that may stay on.

A battery drain may come from somewhere else and I am sure some TSBs have been issued.