Here is one for all your science geeks out there.

My MINI has started to shock the HELL out of me!! Every time either I or a passenger exit the car the MINI shocks you when you close the door. You can't avoid it! What is the scientific explanation for this phenomena? I've had it happen in vehicles before but never every single time and never with such absolute authority! Is my MINI upset with me?

~Steve~

 

Static from your floor mats.. maybe they're made of a material that when you rub your shoe, or other clothing part on it, it creates the shock. I had this problem for a short while with my old car, and all I did was replace the sear covers.

 

I found it was an electrical charge built up from my cloth seats. Whenever this starts to happen I spray the seats with Static-gard...end of problem.

 

I've been shocked by cars before too. For some reason that I will not speculate on, your MINI is developing a static charge. The rubber of the tires insulates this charge from going to the ground. When you step out and touch the ground and the body, you get shocked.

You could attach a small wire to the underside of your MINI that will drop to the road surface and ground the car before you get the shock.

 

If you don't already have them, get rubber floor mats. Carpet ones will cause a static charge to build up when you shuffle your feet during driving. If you have cloth seats that might contribute too. Leather won't do this.

 

I've got the rubber floor mats but I do have cloth seats. I'll test out the static guard and see what happens.

I'm 40 miles away from 1250! That means I've only got a couple days of break-in left. LOOK AT RPM'S!! HERE I COME!! :smile:

~Steve~

 

I was just thinking of this the other day when I got a whammy of a shock getting out of Ollie. It is once again shocking season. I think it's likely the cloth seats (all the cows I spared had better appreciate this!) that build up the charge so quickly--I get shocked on any vehicle in the winter, but the MINI is by far the most painful...

Every year about this time I wish I could take back every negative word I uttered over the summer's extreme humidity...

 

Ah, static shocks. There's another point to add to the never ending Leather vs. Leatherette vs. Cloth Seats debate. :smile:

 

It is definitely from static electricity build-up, but it could be from several sources.
My previous car was a 94 325i, and it came with Michelin MXV4s. MXV4s were new back then, and Michelin said they put in a new compound in the rubber to make the tires perform better.

Well, what they didn't notice was that this new compound also builds up a whole lot of static electricity. It got so bad that at every toll booth, I was able to make the toll collector jump. They also almost always lost the money I was handing to them. Almost always, they immediately said, Michelin tires?

So what tires do you have? I have the Dunlop 16" all season that come standard with MCS. I also have Space cloth and rubber floormats. My static electricity buildup is mild, not too severe.

 

I used to have BFGoodrich compTA's on my old car, and they were like that. Everytime I climbed out, ZAP! I haven't had that happen with the mini, though.

 

The only shock I ever got from my MINI was from STICKER SHOCK :smile: MOTOR ON!

 

My Mini has also been shocking me. I was wondering how good that was for the computer. I also have the cloth seats, will try the static guard. Years ago, I would see cars with 2 straps dragging on the ground. Anyone know the thinking/benefits of these grounding straps ?

 

nooo! Not the ghetto straps!

I have rubber floor mats in my MCS, with Space cloth - no zapping here.