Looking for some insight on an intermittent no-start issue that has me questioning whether this car is trustworthy for longer trips.

Background

Car is a 2002 MINI Cooper S (manual). No prior starting issues. About 70k, I'm the second owner. I bought it two years ago after it had been sitting for three years. I've put 10k miles on it.

Initial Failure

A few nights ago:

• Turned the key → engine cranked briefly (maybe 1 second) and stopped
• Second attempt → nothing at all
• Third attempt → started normally and got me home

Current Symptoms (When Failing)

The next day:

• Battery shows ~12V
• All accessories power up normally (dash, lights, etc.)
• Turning key to “start” → absolutely nothing
  • No crank
  • No click
  • No relay noise
• It genuinely feels like the car doesn’t recognize the key being turned to start

Suggestions Received

From others, the main ideas were:

• Battery / dead cell / voltage drop under load
• Ground strap or cable issue
• Clutch safety switch (manual)
• Starter solenoid
• Ignition switch failure
• Neutral safety / interlock logic

What I Checked / Tried

• Battery is only a couple years old
• Connected a fully charged jump pack → no change
• Cleaned ignition switch contacts → already clean, no improvement
• Pulled codes → nothing relevant to starting
• Removal and checks of battery connections
• Visual inspection of the clutch pedal switch

Current Status (The Weird Part)

I went back out to begin proper troubleshooting (checking for voltage at the starter trigger wire)... …and the car started normally. No changes. No repairs. No adjustments.

New Observation

I did notice something interesting: If I turn the key to “start” and then stab the clutch, there’s sometimes a slight delay before it cranks. That made me wonder: Is that normal behavior, or does it point toward a failing clutch switch / interlock?

Where I’m At

Right now I’ve got:

• A no-start that lasted for two days
  • No crank, no click when it happens
• A car that is now working normally
  • No clear trigger or fix

Which is honestly worse than a hard failure, because I don’t trust it to leave the driveway.

What I’m Looking For

Before I start throwing parts at it, I’m hoping for insight from people familiar with R53s. Does this pattern point strongly to:

• Ignition switch (start circuit)?
  • Clutch safety switch?
  • Starter solenoid/control circuit?
  • Is the “no click at all” a key diagnostic clue here?
• Does the clutch interaction/delay suggest anything definitive?
• Any known MINI-specific failure points that match this behavior?

Appreciate any insight—especially from anyone who’s seen this exact failure mode before. Right now it feels like I’m waiting for it to strand me somewhere inconvenient.

 

so many possibilities. my most resent issue was a bad ground connection on the alternator

battery will drain pretty qucikly like that

 

Have you actually removed, cleaned and re-connected the engine ground strap?