My clock has needed to be reset several times. I've also had to jump-start the car twice. It's going into the shop on Thursday. I'll let you know what they say/do.

 

Ok, so here's the deal. The battery had a dead cell. According to the computer printout the roadside parking lamps where on for almost 12 hours. I must've accidentally activated the lights when leaving the car one night. I guess technically it was my fault but Mini was cool about it and replaced the battery no-charge. Oh well, now I know about the roadside parking light "feature". A feature that, apparently, should only be activated for short periods of time. With all the computers in this car you'd think it would have some logic built-in to shut down accessories when a battery drain is eminent.

 

I don't recall the exact wattage of the bulbs that are illuminated with the parking lamp feature, but I don't think 12 hours should have been a big deal. It was probably just coincidence that your battery shorted a cell, or else the battery was marginal to begin with and leaving the parking lamps on just pushed it over the edge.

Did you ever check the battery voltage with the engine off? With a dead cell, I don't think you would have seen more than 10.5 volts, which would have been a dead giveaway as to the problem.

Regardless, I'm glad it's fixed for you.

 

My clock (& trip odom/MPG/Etc) were all reset today & got the message to reset clock. It is an 09 MCCS daily driver (72mi RT) and was picked up new last November. Funny comment about the roadside parking lights. My hazzards came on a couple of weeks ago all by themselve. A co-worker came in and told me. I looked out the window and sure enough they were on - but by the time I got outside to the car to turn them off... they were already turned off. A ghost in the machine i think...

 

I realized I never reported back with what the service people at the dealership said. They said the car is so smart that it starts to shut down non-essentials in order to save the battery if it detects the need. They tested my battery and it tested fine. Seems like every 3 days or so would be enough to keep the battery charged or whatever so it wouldn't shut stuff down, but I guess the car is smarter than me, so...