So, I came out of the market today and found that my 06 MC would not start. Put the key in and turned it but rather than starting a series of very odd whirrs and buzzes came from the dash along with a minimal light show from the speedo-gauge area.

Is this how a MINI behaves when its battery dies? Any experiences would be appreciated. I'm gonna go back later this eve and try again but my guess is that it's off to the dealer tomorrow/Monday.

Thanks.

 

Yes, most cars I am aware of make these sounds when the juice is drained out of the battery. Get a battery charger or trickly charger at local car dept and let it charge or else get a friend with jumper cables to help you out.

 

Is this a trick question?

 

No tricks here...It's a series of very strange sounds. No solenoid click, just dash noises. Headlights are nice and bright, keyless works, radio's fine.

 

What does a MINI with a dead battery sound like?

It's very quiet

 

Does it sound like this?

 

Sounds like battery. This just happened to me before thanksgiving. The car would not start but sounds were coming from behind the dash even when the key was removed. The locks were going up and down on their own as were the windows.

I had it towed to MINI and they replaced the battery under warranty for free! I was really happy about that since I only have a month left in warranty!!

 

Like the sound of one hand clapping.

 

the only time my battery died in a MINI was back when i had an 04, and it made those noises but then the lights started going on and off by them selves and he windows started rolling up and down, along with the sunroof.

 

No car in the world acts as strange as a MINI with a bad battery, but I would think a MINI with a dead battery would be very quiet.

 

I had a dead battery on my 2006. I only had 5000 miles on it without a trickle charger. Dealer said it wasn't covered under warranty because I didn't drive the car enough. I replaced the battery myself and put on a trickle charger.

The sounds were a clicking noise when I turned the key.

A few months later I came out at night and turned the key. No clicking. I could turn on the lights. Tried it about 10 times and it started. Went to the dealer and they said "its all ok now". Very comforting!

I read about the key being an intermittment problem when the security system doesn't properly sense the key. I carry the spare plastic key with me just in case it happens again.

 

It sounds like this:












































.

 

@#$%^&*&* damn piece of junk. *&%$#@ Mother .... derogatory references to intimate body parts etc. etc. *&^%$#

You can take this car and shove it!!

And I really like my Mini. Imagine what it would sound like if I didn't like it!

Kaboom!

 

Last night I tried to start my ford explorer sport. The starter didnt make any noise whatsoever and it made a funny noise in the dash like your car and only a couple of the dash lights worked, no dome light or radio also. I opened the hood and shook the ground wire and all the lights and radio started to work and the engine started just fine. Need to inspect both ends of the cable for bad terminals.

 

This happened to me this weekend. I replaced the battery rather than trickle charge and worry about when it would die again. Seems fine now.

 

As a store manager for the largest Advance Auto in the Mid-Atlantic, we do about 150 battery changes a week (which is free and testing batteries and alternators is free as well). Of these, BMW's are the oddest. I have changed batteries in only a few MC, and I didn't hear that. However, BMW 7 series are well known for this behavior when the batteries are going or gone.

Hope this helps!
BR

 

I suspect that there is a problem in the design of the electrical and computer system in the Mini. The car is critically dependant on the on board computer for numerous functions even when the car is not running. Just listen when you first open the door to all the sounds that occur. Even when you shut the ignition off and remove the key you can turn on the radio to listen to it for a set period of time, then it shuts off, you can have the headlights stay for set period of time on so you don't fall down while walking up your pathway. As a result the battery is key.

On some cars there is a warning stating not to leave your automatic headlights in the auto setting if you plan to leave the car idle for 2 weeks or more. My Mini’s battery would discharge in little more than a week if left idle; of course the battery was on its last leg with only 5000 miles on the car!

I also had a similar problem with my Porsche. Leave it for 2 weeks and the probability was the battery would be down low enough that it would not start the car. I suspect that the engineers designed all this automation without really redesigning the battery dependency. Perhaps a second battery just for the computer? Besides which, I suspect that the software in the on board computer is flawed. If their programmers are anything like what I’ve seen over the 20 years being in the software industry, it’s surprising the car even runs!

I don’t really trust the reliability of my Mini. I love the car but I have other cars to drive that are dependable and reliable. Whenever I drive the Mini I expect something to go wrong or some function to misbehave. Just like the Mini of old. They designed in the exhaust burble so maybe they designed in the quirkiness of the old Mini? Look at what BMW did with Land Rover. Spiffed up the car but built in the unreliability. Ford continued that tradition with the Rover. Did I just bash my Mini and BMW and Ford?

Now I put on the trickle charge even if the car sits idle for a day. I think I will add an automatic shutoff really that shuts off the battery once the voltage falls below a specific level. I’ve used these devices before and they work well.

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OXYBLUECOOP

If my Cooper ever sounds like that I will drive it off a cliff

 

Sorry for the hijack, but isn't that too soon for a DB?
am curious causse i just bought a used 05...
should i be expecting a DB?
how long have some of you gotten out of stock battery.
thanks
boxcars

 

Huxley.........what brand and model/part number battery at Advance Auto will fit and drop in for an '04 MC ?

also, how long will the OEM battery last? Mine is now 5 years old and seems fine but am I living on borrowed time or can this battery often go 6 or 7 years?