Hi,
I'm hoping someone can give me some direction. I have a 2013 Roadster S ordered through MAG in Dublin, OH.

Some background: In January, Nigel suddenly and violently went crazy. Nearly every single indicator light was illuminating, I lost most all power, and it was generally chaos. It wasn't constant, it came and went on the drive home. My husband was driving and videoed some of the craziness.

MAG had me call roadside service to send it in. From what I could discern from the manual it was a "catastrophic electrical failure." MAG looked at it, said there were no codes, nothing was wrong. They replaced the battery and sent us on our merry way. It happened several more times, still no codes, but they finally managed to track down a loose wire that was damaged.

Fast forward to October, I came back from Germany and the Nurburgring, started Nigel and the car on the lift was back on. MAG claimed no codes no problem. Top must not be up, it's a countdown to service, and a handful of other excuses that made no sense. It is now on its third time. The second time MAG didn't even want to see it.

I now have a contact at Corporate that is supposedly working it, but she has known since October also.

Basically, if there is no code, MAG is lost. My airbag light has started flickering. They have it right now and I'm waiting on the call.
Has anyone heard of anything like this or had it happen? Thoroughout all of it, MAG has been awful. They've refused loaner cars, sent mine home filthy and scratched when I literally just left the car wash before I sent it in. Last night, the loaner car was out of gas. She said no big deal just stop and get some. Argh.

I just don't trust they can fix it.

 

I have taken pictures of the lights every step of the way so they know exactly what is going on. Last night, they wanted to get in the car with me so they could see what I see. "I sent color pix to your manager, that's exactly what I saw."

Part of the issue is the intermittent nature. It is never actually happening when they have it.

 

I would check for rodent damage on a new MINI like this.

Since you might have parked outside ( or long period sof time ) , and it was in January. They like to chew on wires and get in the engine bay for warmth. I would go through the entire electrical system. Check near the wheel well and the ECU ( driver side ) , right near the firewall. I have found acorns and nuts there just parking overnight. If you have them pull up the ECU box they might have chewed under it. Its in the upper right hand corner, two boxes.




Thanks and good luck.

 

Those are great suggestions. I can't fathom why the dealer didn't consider it. My car is only left outside at work, but it still should have been investigated.

The Mini corporate engineers are now looking into it. They've been evaluating it since early this week and agree there is something in the system malfunctioning. They still don't know what it is or how to fix it, but it's better than being told I must not be putting the top up correctly or that it is a countdown to service indicator.

I have been so disappointed and angry at MAG that when I am due for service again, I'll probably drive to Cincinnati. They have only been concerned with getting me to go away. I am so relieved to be working with corporate on it now.

 

Thanks for the update, glad I could help. I did not know they were looking into it.
If they are looking into it you just have to be patient, I know its a wait. This is a rare case and I have never heard of it on an R59. And I could only guess the rodent thing as I have seen it before on new MINIs. Also there are hall sensors in the convertible top, sometimes they error or if the wiring in the top has chaffed the main harness, rare but has happened in the past on older convertibles. .

Let us know what happens and if you need anything else I am here to help.

 

I can be patient now that I know it is being taken seriously. My corporate contact has been great and has assured me it will be taken care of.

I know about the wiring in the top, and I could see how it could become a problem. The dealership implied that "i" was the problem by not putting it up correctly. There is pretty much one way for it to go up and down and if sensors or wires are getting pinched/damaged, that is still an issue that needs repaired.

It almost sounds like I'm the first one this has happened to. I think the corporate guys would remember if they had worked on it before.

I'll be sure to update when I get a resolution.
Thanks again!

 

I have an update of sorts.

Now the dealership is claiming there was a code stored after all for this service visit. They have replaced a chip, then replaced the radio which they said was causing a voltage drop. Now it is getting a locking system fault code.

They told me the technician was using my key to attempt to find it on the lot. He probably held it too long. They plan to just reset the code today and see if it comes back.

I can't tell you how confident I am that it will work. BAER.

So, we're on day 12 of hospitalization for this visit. Since it started, they've replaced at least four different parts. They are just hoping something finally works.