I’ve been having some intermittent issues with my 08 Clubman, (power steering flakes in an out, red battery light comes on) but the battery shows a full charge. Before I dive into the alternator I wanted to reset the computer first to see if that fixes anything. I found how to do this with the 1st gens but it doesn’t work for the 2nd gens. Any one know how to do this? Thanks in advance

 

Sorry, do not know of a published procedure for Gen. 2 MINIs.

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

 

No procedure that I know of but if it's your original battery then it's almost certainly gone bad even though it appears to be okay. The battery in my 2009 Clubman S started displaying symptoms around the 4 year mark: Comfort access not recognizing door handle button presses (new batteries in the remotes), trip meter resetting, stereo turning itself off after only a few minutes while sitting in car in "accessory" mode, and eventually getting the battery symbol in the cluster if I had lights or stereo on too long. But I only got the battery symbol at the very end and even then only a couple of times. The car still started okay. I kept on like this for at least 6 months until I finally got tired of it and got a new battery at the dealership. Even the new battery never felt very strong. The windows roll up kind of slow when I the engine is off and it cranks a little slow in my opinion, but I can leave the stereo on much longer and I haven't had any real issues. These cars are power hungry both while running and while shut off.
The battery drains more while sitting than a other cars I've owned. I've done the parasitic loss test and mine is within range. There is a way to register a new battery to the car using the Carly app and a Bluetooth OBDII adapter. This tells the car's computer that it's a new battery and therefore can handle certain charge/discharge parameters different than the old/used battery, or something like that.

 

Thanks for the input.
The car just died. I was driving and everything shut down. Wouldn’t take a jump(died once the cables were disconnected) so towed it home. Battery volts said 12v. Jumped it in the morning and ran long enough to get the fault codes off (ccid 213 - alternator malfunction/battery not charging; ccid 305 - battery not connected correctly; P0503 - ECM intermittent) and battery dropped to 8v. Didn’t touch for 30min and battery was stone dead. So this all happened after my wife came back from vacation where they were doing road work on the highway and had to drive on grooved pavement for 30mins. I’m wondering if something came loose and is making a bad/no connection.
So start at the battery and then the alternator. But if I understand you correctly about a battery swap, the new battery needs to be registered otherwise the problems will persist? Closest Mini dealer is 5.5 hrs away.

 

Check this out:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...eplacement.htm
"If the battery is not registered, the charge program will be incorrect, shortening battery life. NOTE: If your R56 is not equipped with the IBS unit you do not have to register it."

 

This has probably the best info on it, even has a list of which vehicles need battery registration (they say all 2007 and newer R56).
http://blog.atlanticmotorcar.com/201...replacement-2/

 

I did not register my battery, over two years ago now... Just used same amps. If you want to register, the Carly App lets you do it yourself. It aint cheap, but it would be less than the dealer

 

Talked with the dealer where I bought the car and you are correct the battery does not need to be registered for this year. However, after installing the new battery the red light came back on instantly. I’m going to find a local shop that can test the charging system and see if we can find the culprit. Keep you posted.

 

If anyone in NYC/Northern NJ area wants me to change their battery type and/or register their new battery, PM me. I can do it for 20 bucks. I live near Giants Stadium. I bought the Carly for BMW app yesterday and registered my new battery. Everything seems to work great so far. For anyone that wants to get their own, The app and adapter cost me about $135 total. I would like to recoup what I paid. Depending if you need fault codes reset, It takes about 15-20 mins to do everything. My battery died so a bunch of fault codes showed up as Low Voltage. I had 21 fault codes due to the old battery dying and I reset everything. If there's 10 guys that want to meet up, I can do it for 10 bucks. I'm not trying to make a profit, just get back what I paid.