All, so here's what's happening... let's start with me disconnecting the battery (no brake lights on), then I reconnect battery, start car, press brakes, all work fine (on and off). Then i turn off car and rear brakes lights come on and stay on... I am befuddled! Any thoughts would be GREATLY appreciated! By the way, I replaced the brake light switch already!

 

Bad ground somewhere or bad starter switch?

 

engine starts fine... ground?

 

Any chance the brake lights being on is some kind of MINI/BMW way of signaling a problem with brakes? Or more specifically the brake hydraulic system?

See if by manipulating the brake pedal linkage/brake light switch you can cause the brake lights to go off. This would go a long way to eliminating the brake linkage keeping the switch closed or the switch being closed on its own.

If the car fitted with a traditional ignition switch that requires a key to be turned to start the engine or turn on the accessory power a bad ignition switch can be the culprit. There is typically an enclosed number of electrical contacts which are operated as the key is turned. These can wear out.

Doing this multiple times wiggling/pushing/pulling on the key while turning it and observing if there are any "weird" electrical behavior like dash lights not coming on fully or only coming on in part, and in this context if the brake lights are affected, could find the ignition switch is bad.

 

X15 42 pin connector below the interior fuse block. Check for corrosion and/or broken wires.
It'll be why your OBD isn't working too.

 

X15 Connector.... at first I didn't know what that was... so i researched it... the fuse box was where I was heading next… thank you scf... I'll keep you posted!