I can see that happening to me. I function despite the dain bramage.
The smart fob is for people smarter than me.

 

So just stop ignoring the warning like you admit to and take the key with you. Sorry, but it's not the car's fault if you ignore what it tells you.

 

It was just time for a change. I turn over cars every year or two and the JCW struck my fancy. I had a 02 Mini bought new for a year and liked it. Plus with the economy and the way my 401K is going, spending $36,000 vs $50,000 plus seemed like the smart thing to do.

It made it easier when I had a offer on the 07 Vette that was hard to pass up.

 

Well its kinda like a coffee pot that beeps once when your coffee is ready but then later after it has been burning for awhile it beeps to remind you to turn it off. Then when later you come home to a burnt down house your gonna say why didn't it continue to warn me or auto shut off before it caught fire.

Redundancy is built into most things to warn you that there is a problem. So if for say your check engine light came on once and went off you would think that the problem has gone away. Or that your key is now back in the vehicle like it always does. That is why warnings stay lit it should be no different for a key that is missing that you are gonna be stranded.

 

Mine does this as well.

 

So it's not the battery in the fob that lets the car know the key is inside, it's the chip? I may have to try this myself.

 

well i feel foolish. I completely missed the batteryless part.

I'll try this myself and report back

 

interesting behavior. with the key in the car and you lock the car you can't unlock the door using the buttons on the door handle.

so i suppose you can just "hide" the key fob inside the car some where, but you have to use the metal key to lock and unlock the door.

 

RFID uses induction to power the chip, so it receives enough power from the car through the air to be detected.

 

And here's one of the few areas where women might have a slight edge.

I rarely change purses so my key would stay safely with me whether in the car or out. Kinda like my iPhone.

I've been thinking the convenience package might have been nice to get but the super-sweet checkered door handles were a higher priority.

 

I thought that I read somewhere in the manual perhaps, that without the key on you, you ARE able to restart the Mini within 10 seconds after shutting it off. Am I wrong?

 

It works for me. Our MA pointed this out to us when we got Tristan. I also managed to do that accidentally, which made me a little nervous when the fan runs on, I'm not sure I've managed to leave the engine on.

I can't work out why they have this feature.

 

...maybe if the MINI delivered a mild electric shock, as well as the dash warning, it would get your attention.

 

Subcutaneous imbedding of a micro-key would fix the problem. LOL...