Hello,

I have been experiencing a bizarre problem with my 2004 Mini. Occasionally, when I turn the car off, the clock and trip odometer will reset, and the engine will not turn over if I try to start the car again. Other times, all of the electronics (radio, int.&ext. lights, door locks, ignition, key fob, everything) will become non responsive. There are times when this will happen and the car will remain unresponsive for a few minutes or hours, but will then come back online for seemingly no reason. The other day though, I turned the car off and everything immediately stopped working - no lights, radio, ignition, etc... Jump starting it brought it back.

I've noticed that this issue seems to occur when I turn the key to shut down the engine. If I quickly turn the key all the way I don't seem to have a problem. But if I turn the key one notch down (to where the engine is off but the electronics are still active) then these problems seem to occur.

I'm at a loss - I'm going to have my battery tested this week but this seems like too random and complicated a problem to just be a battery issue. Then again, I've heard Minis can do bizarre things when the battery is on the way out.

Any insight is truly appreciated. Thank you!

John

 

Could be a battery problem, body control unit problem, or some sort of ignition switch problem. Lots of diagnostic heading your way, best to find a quality scan tool and start simple.