So you're saying that you turned the interior dome light on (manually) instead of turning it to "door", and it faded off when you shut the door?

 

Not sure what you mean there - the only 'dome' switch I have is the little button on the light (plus the map lights, but I digress) - was sitting waiting in the car, idling, and turned the 'dome' (interior) lights on w/ the button on the light - when he came out, opened the door, got in, and shut his door the interior lights went out (w/out us touching anything else)...

W/ the saying Hi and all that after he got in, and with the house and street light, I almost didn't realize what had happened - at that point I chuckled, took it back out of gear (reverse), turned on the light w/ the button, waited a second, then opened and shut my door and the interior lights went out ...

 

I'll try that out later, but it seems counterintuitive. The whole reason for having a manual "on" feature for your dome light would be to keep it on. Usually there's a "door" setting, "on" and "off".

 

Mine's just a push button...

Maybe it's a battery saver thing :dunno: , prevents leaving it on after exiting the car - I knew they went out after 15 minutes or so if you leave the hatch or door open (not running)...

 

Question:

When the Mini is parked and the keys are out, what happens if you move the turn signal selector lets say down ( for left turn ) ???

Does the left front and rear parking lights turn on as they do in German cars like a Porsche ???

Has anyone tested this ???????

 

Yea I'm almost positive that they do

 

Yes they do. I killed my battery when I accidently hit the turn signal getting out and left the Mini in the garage over the weekend.

 

How long is it meant to stay on for, without killing your battery?? Even for 2-3 hours, cant be good for the life of your battery.

 

I read somewhere the idea was if you parked on the street you could leave one side on in an attempt to keep drivers aware your vehicle was parked there. The thought of wasting a battery usually changed my mind on using them. I do rarely at work if I park outside the front door at night to run in and get something because it's at a street corner of brick paving sloping downhill into the building and the local residents tend to take the corner fast. We've seen a few not make the turn.

 

Happens to me quite often actually. :/

 

I tested it. No key in ignition. Pushed down on the stalk. The turn signal didn't flash but it turned on! Great, I'll have to be very careful to not bump it by accident as I've done it once before. Fortunately, I was only gone for 10 minutes.

 

The European idea of parking lights was that there's no sense in having the sidewalk-side lights on (reduce battery drain) - in those situations were you'd want to leave those on (like "ToBFree" above). In Europe it's much more common to have narrower streets, and to park on either side (it's an American thing to always park 'right wheels to curb')...

 

I don't know if it was mentioned, but we found a "secrete" compartment above the glove box. Great for CD's

 

Ummm, but you have a "2nd Gen" (R56) though, right?

 

Yup

 

The bonnet- where the bird poo is- that's my secrete compartment

 

It's OK, at least I caught it before I went out to check mine ...

 

Here's an interesting thing that our Mini's WON'T do (that I recall my 05 BMW 330 and my 03 VW NB being able to do):

If you leave the car running and exit the driver side door (with no one in the car to lock it from the inside), you are unable to lock the car using the spare key. The ability to leave the car running, but locked and accessible via the spare key, is advantageous in colder weather when you want to keep the car warm if you are making a quick stop somewhere, and also to avoid multiple starts to your car when making multiple stops that require you to exit the car.

 

Yep, that sux, but...

If you have your spare key, you can manually lock the door by turning the key in the driver's handle.

I do wish the fob would work...it would be nice.

 

i'll have to give that a try.

another mildly interesting bit of info - for those who frequent starbucks and any other coffee house with similar sized cups that use the same type of lids that don't have a cover for the drink opening. as you've probably experienced, the starbucks style coffee lid is notorious for spilling coffee if you drive over a bump and the cup is relatively full. well, a grande sized cup (with the heat sleeve removed) fits perfectly in the cup holder under the toggle switches - turn it so the lid opening faces towards the front of the car and its flush with the underside of the center console and you won't spill your coffee all over).

 

I am sure it has been said but...

If I unlock my Mini with the remote but do not get in within a certain time, it locks its self back.

Common knoledge I am sure.

 

I think mine stays unlocked - have to check that out...

Approx how much time?

 

I think it has to be programmed that way. Mine does not lock back but my Honda Accord does. Glad my Mini doesn't.

 

Tried it yesterday, ~3 hours, stayed unlocked :dunno:

 

This would automatically re-lock the doors only if you didn't open any of the doors/boots in the meantime.
It will prevent that you keep the car open when you by accident unlock the doors while walking away and putting keys in your pocket for example.

The timing would be approx 5 minutes.