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Did you measure the battery voltage? Still cranking over good? I was just going to ask you about how the battery was holding up as I am in the weight weenie club and my current battery is just about toast - this one is on my short list.
EDIT: I have also heard tell that these cars don't like having the batteries changed out, and that the sudden voltage spikes associated with battery changeover can erase the coding in the body control module. I have never had an issue with replacing a battery or disconnecting or reconnecting it when I put my seat airbag spoof resistors in when changing out my seats.
Last edited by jcolletteiii; Apr 6, 2022 at 07:15 PM.
Car starts up fine on the Braille battery. This winter, I had it on a battery tender if the car was going to sit for 3-4 days. Even when I started it up 3 times in couple hours while changing the oil, it started fine. Did the Mini not like the voltage drop with the smaller battery??? I don't know.
I have been disconnecting the battery a lot over the past few days of diagnostics but it doesn't seem to have changed anything for better or worse.
Update: I found this YouTube video that seems relatively close to what I'm dealing with. BUT most of this goes over my head and I can't understand what he did to fix it.
Here is an excerpt from the comments: Elite Automotive Diagnostics there is a K-bus communication either under the drivers seat or bottom right trim by door, connection there is easiest
REALSOMLANDERvery strangely error code coming up is 40 with no letters and it says K-bus cluster communication fault.Any idea what's is code 40. I look the footwell buses which 4 terminals they are all fine
Elite Automotive Diagnostics there will be a k-bus communication comb which is where all the k-bus modules will join (splice pack).. This is where you will need to take a measurement
Evidently all the K-bus wires are WHITE & RED with a YELLOW stripe.
So I think I have found the k-bus communication comb????
BUT I have no idea where to go from here.
Or if I'm even barking up the right tree???
Your car and wiring seem to be really clean, so this is likely a not-so-likely-guess... Mice - Rodents - Damage somewhere?
You mentioned something about voltages, so on a side note: I have had an issue with our R50 that may be voltage related. This has to do with the control of the CVT. In researching the issue I came across a post on another forum where the guy speculated that it had to do with high voltage spikes; if I remember right, up in the range of 14.7v. In his case was related to the battery going bad. In my case the car gets driven very little so it is on a battery tender. The battery was really old and, as it turns out, the alternator was is the throws of dying. So, I speculated that with my MINI one or more of those threee thing may of cased a voltage spike which sent the CVT control into a frenzy. Not sure how it fits into your issue, but at least it seems to say that voltage can be an issue.
jcolletteiii Yes I think his fix was to replace the center instrument cluster. (Which after more work yesterday, is a possibility.)
Eddie07S All good thoughts. In all my work on the car, I have never seen any signs of critters so I'm assuming no critter damage. I'm no electrician, so I'm almost ready to take it to someone.
Here's what I assessed yesterday.
I re-installed the BCM. No difference to the codes.
Battery is good.
Alternator is at 14.3v (14.1v with AC/fan/lights/fog lights etc. running) Ripple was at 0.20 which I don't know what that means... just came up on my tester.
I un-plugged the Tachometer and same results plus added another error code: 67 Can Bus - message from KOM2.
So I think I have three choices at this point:
1) Pack it all up and take it to the MINI dealer here in Portland.
2) Get INPA. I have a old PC laptop and the cable, but I know nothing about INPA and this seems like it could be a big rabbit hole.
3) Do some more research on the Center Instrument Cluster to see if it's worth pulling the dash apart but this seems like a long shot and if I need a new Instrument cluster it's going to needs some re-programing (odometer?) to the car, correct? (Seems to be a ton of info here in the "Chrono Pack Retrofit" thread. Maybe????) https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ispreloading=1
Do some more research about INPA, both here and on the internet in general. From what I have seen, it is less intuitive than it could be, but I have seen posts of a number of people who have used it....
Another might be NCS Expert, which there are several dedicated threads about it here on NAM. Not sure if the two programs do the same things or not.
If you are thinking you may need to replace the instrument cluster, you might need either of those.
Not sure how good your MINI of Portland is, but here I have mixed feelings about taking my older MINI to the Dealer. Not sure they know that much about them any more. But if you don’t have a good MINI Indi shop in the area, then that might be your best option other than doing it yourself.
Good luck with it... sorry - can’t offer more help.
I also talked to the service manager at Portland of Mini. Nice chat but if I do need to replace the Instrument cluster they can only program a new one...No reprograming a used one. (Which I can get from Allmag for $60)
Something tells me I'm going to spend north of $500 on this little K-bus communication error.
My MINI dealer is $135 just to plug in the computer.
So, I think your estimate of $500 to resolve this will be a lot less than going to the dealer...
Nothing about these cars is cheap. But that may be true for all cars these days...
So I decided to pack it up and take the Mini to "Mini of Portland" I was out of my league with the K bus issue. On my one errand on the way to the dealership the Mini wouldn't restart. Felt like no fuel / fuel pump. (it was the fuel pump)
So headed to Uhaul and got a car dolly. Which by the way works great. $44 bucks and two guys to push the Mini up on to the ramps and off to the Dealership.
Cut to the chase:
About 3 years ago I read about the IPOD connectors causing electrical weirdness. So I took it out. Evidently I didn't take it all out. The adapter wiring harness was still connected to the radio and caused the K-bus problems. So they removed and rewired the IPOD interface harness back the factory specs and were able to clear all the codes after that. This evidently also allowed them to clear the fuel pump codes and it started working. So just over $400 for the UHaul dolly and the Dealership and I'm back ripping.
*** I do have to say, while expensive, Mini of Portland did a great job on tracking the issue with my notes and did so quickly. Could have been a lot worse.
The rest of the IPOD adapter harness that needed to be removed.
It was a good summer and the Mini has been running great. (knock on wood) No track days this summer... too busy with life. Maybe next summer, I'll have time. The few trips to the coast on the curvy roads were a reminder of how great this little car is.
With the weather changing the Mini will get stuffed into the garage with the battery tender. Got a few winter projects (new street tires for sure) but for the most part I have the Mini where I want it.
I'm Back.
Been awhile but I finally signed up for another HPDE day with the BMW club. It took me all five sessions to get my line and lap times back down to where they were 2 years ago but soooooo fun.
Another R53 too..
Great BMW 2002 that was fully restored by the owner himself. Beautiful.
Notes from the day:
Suspension is still too soft with the Koni FSDs and stock springs. 22mm RSB still in the middle. Tires did really well when I got the pressures down... First couple sessions I think they got a little to warm.
I think this was the first track day since I had the tune by Adrian CL. Having just a little higher rev limit was helpful and noticeably more power coming on to the straights.
Might have a warped rotor on the front brakes. Felt a little more vibration than I remember under heavy braking. Need to check.
Overall... it was good to be back.
That 2002 is really nice. That was the first car I ever bought (many years ago). I had it an hour and a half before some kid ran into the back of it at a stop light. It was “totaled” but I was allowed to keep it and found a shop to fix it. Had it for a year before family pushed me into getting a more “family” car. It was a great handling car for the day.
Suspension is still too soft with the Koni FSDs and stock springs. 22mm RSB still in the middle. Tires did really well when I got the pressures down... First couple sessions I think they got a little to warm. I think this was the first track day since I had the tune by Adrian CL. Having just a little higher rev limit was helpful and noticeably more power coming on to the straights. Might have a warped rotor on the front brakes. Felt a little more vibration than I remember under heavy braking. Need to check.
I have gone through these exact issues. FSDs are great for the street, but don’t work on the track. They get “confused” (the best word I can come up with) and are never at the right level of stiffness. I put a set of Bilstein B8s in to replace the FSDs. A world of difference. The B8s are for lowering springs; B6 for stock springs. If you want something adjustable, go with a set of Koni Yellows.
As for “warped” rotors, I spent several year buying new rotors to resolve what I thought was a warping rotor issue. Nothing worked and this was with a set of Wilwood 12.2” dia directional vane rotors on my R56. It turned out there was nothing wrong with the rotors. It was the pads. I was using the Wilwood Poly H pad, which is their top race pad, but I think I was over heating those and they were leaving deposits on the rotors that felt like I had warped rotors. What made me think the issue was with the pads was that for the first lap of a session, the brakes would be fine. Within a few laps the “lumpies” would start up. Next session, same thing. With warped rotor, the “warp” doesn’t go way when they cool off. The fix was a more aggressive race pad… Hawk DTC60. I would suggest trying those before changing out rotor.
Eddie07S Thanks for the ideas and thoughts. Yes the FSDs are too soft but I just can decide on what I want or justify the cost... I have a lot of toys and hobbies.
I'm going to pull the track wheels off today and check the brake rotors and pads. Your idea makes a lot of sense.
On another subject.... I want to report back on my Plasti-dip adventure.
March of 2018 I painted my wheels with Plastic-dip. I wanted to go black and it seemed like a good idea at the time. After a lot of back & forth and apprehension.... Yesterday I decide that the black plastic-dip was looking a little faded and dingy.... so I started peeling.
Plasti-dip after 5 years.
So I'm very happy to report that after about 2 hours, all the dip was off and the wheels are back to 2018.
Thoughts for those considering Plasti-dip on wheels:
I think the brake pad dust is what made the Plasti-dip dull and dingy. Maybe some sort of clear coat over the plastic-dip would have helped.
Lots of coats of Plasti-dip. When removing it, the thicker the dip was, the better it held together and pull off in one piece. The thinner spots tended to tear away in to small pieces.
Pressure washer worked to get the last of the thin spots.
For 5 years of black and then in 2 hours I'm back to original ...I'd say it was great.
I wouldn't be posting this except it might be helpful knowledge for the next guy that you CAN replace the dust boot on the r56 front calipers WITHOUT removing the caliper from the car or removing the brake piston. It's tedious but can be done.
Remove the brake line from the strut mount so you have more room to work.
Get a head lamp and bunch of different picks, small screw drivers... I used dentist tools.
The piston needs to be push all the way down so you can use the channel on the piston ring to pull out the old and push in the new dust boot into the channel in the brake housing.
Once you have the bottom portion of the boot seated you can push the brake a couple times to put out the piston a few mm to get the seal in the piston channel
Hope that makes sense.
Got the wheels on the mini too... looking pretty good.
If you think the rotors are warped, use a micrometer dial indicator on them mounted to the strut with a magnetic holder or clamp but, confirming what Eddie07S said, I can see the build-up on your rotor in that pic with the caliper boot. You can remove the build-up by scrubbing with emery paper or a 3M sanding block but it'll come right back if you use the same pads. I tried CARBOTECHs and got the build-up. Went back to HAWK DTC60's...no build-up. Be sure to scrub the rotors completely before changing over.
If you think the rotors are warped, use a micrometer dial indicator on them mounted to the strut with a magnetic holder or clamp but, confirming what Eddie07S said, I can see the build-up on your rotor in that pic with the caliper boot. You can remove the build-up by scrubbing with emery paper or a 3M sanding block but it'll come right back if you use the same pads. I tried CARBOTECHs and got the build-up. Went back to HAWK DTC60's...no build-up. Be sure to scrub the rotors completely before changing over.
You can remove the build-up by scrubbing with emery paper or a 3M sanding block but it'll come right back if you use the same pads.
That is exactly what I found. It comes right back. With the DTC60s, there can been another issues. That is they are very aggressive and they need a fair amount of heat to make them work right. I found that on a track that doesn’t require a lot of braking, the DTC60 will eat a set of rotors in no time. That said, a set of DTC60s (that spare set you have laying around) when used just on the street will clean a set of rotors up in short order… They are like sandpaper. A very aggressive sandpaper.
It is interesting to hear what people find that works for them in the way of brake pads. Like you, I went to the Hawk DTC60 on the R56 to resolve the issue I was having on that car. However, on my JCW I went from iSweep pads (a Japanese brand of race pads) to Carbotech XP12s. I found that the XP12S work great. However, when new they would take a few laps for them to settle into the rotors. While that is happening, there is a bit of lumpiness. I buy them pre-bedded, so that’s should not be the issue. It could be that there is still a little bedding that needs to happen as they are fine after they have been heat cycled once.
You are confused. The tire speed is read on each corner. when a tire is low on pressure, the abs signals the rotating difference and sends a code on low tire pressure. It is not measuring real tire pressure, like the one attached to the tire valve. It can not tell you what pressure the tires are at.
It is an earlier design, which is all but useless in my opinion. I look at my tires before taking a trip (with a tire gauge). If you are going to the twisties, you need to have the tires running the correct pressure. One low tire can throw you off the road.
Buy a good tire gauge. I need to do the same as I just ran over mine, with my truck! Still looks ok, but does not work!
Also found that if your alignment is out far enough, the system will flag that as a "low tire" as well.
