I have a 2011 Mini Cooper with the alarm option from the factory. From DAY 1... if the sunroof is open or the windows are not completely shut, the alarm goes off within a minute or so of walking away from the car. This is my second Mini Cooper with the alarm and my 2008 did NOT do this.

Brought it in the first time and they said they "reset the system". No luck

Brought it in the second time and they said everything is operating as it should and they gave me the instructions for deactivating the glass-break sensor by locking the car with the fob holding a button on the door or something. HOWEVER... that's not a solution... it's a work around. I didn't pay $1000 for an alarm and comfort access to bypass the alarm and lock/unlock the car with the fob in my hand. The Dealer said he's seen this before with 2011's and instructed me to call Mini Support.. which I did. They called back today and said the alarm is functioning as it should and I should manually deactivate it when locking the car. I explained this is really unacceptable and she asked what I wanted... to which I replied "the alarm to work normally".

I'm at a loss as to what to do at this point. I've owned numerous BMW's and Mini's... all with comfort access and the factory alarm... and NEVER had this issue. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

I have never used a MINI with an alarm before but if it's anything like an Audi and has motion sensors inside of it, they can be so sensitive that wind blowing through a vented sunroof makes it go off. I know in an Audi you can take it to the dealer and turn down the sensitivity level. Though I do not know what makes an alarm go off on a MINI. If it has motiion sensors inside I would say my response is your answer

 

I can understand it being sensitive but this my second mini cooper with this setup and it never behaved this way. What do people with convertibles do???

 

Good question. I'm sure someone will chime in soon. You can't be the first with a simple problem like this

 

I have a 2011 JCW hardtop and have experienced this as well. There are motion sensors inside the vehicle that are (as I found out) highly sensitive to outside stimuli . I was totally freaked out when this happened the first time but was told by the dealership that all windows and sunroof should be closed to resolve the problem. Hope this helps out the OP .

 

So, I spoke to mini customer service and they've informed me that the system "is working as designed" and that all windows and doors should closed when locking any mini with the optional alarm system.

This is my third one with the alarm option and the others didn't work this way. What about convertible owners?????

 

To me it sounds like your interior sensor is too sensitive. In the late 90's BMW had this problem and came out a less sensitive interior sensor.

If you want to make sure that is the problem disconnect the interior sensor and use the car normally for a week or so, if it works fine the interior sensor the the part causing it to go off. That way the dealer can submit a PUMA case to MINI NA that these are too sensitive and hopefully they will come up with a programming or part update to make them less sensitive. The other thing is the particular one you have may just be too sensitive and another interior sensor work work better, but you have to narrow it down to the sensor first.

 

Why in the world would you be leaving the windows/sunroof open anyway when you are not in the car?! Just because you have an alarm system doesn't mean you should be letting down your guard to auto theft!

 

I agree^^ I know you would want the car to be vented in a hot climate but the alarm is not designed to work properly with the windows or sunroof open. If possible yes try to adjust sensitivity, if not I would just leave everything buttoned up safely.

 

Where is the alarm sensor? is it part of the plastic cover on ceiling above the rear view mirror?

 

On warm days I leave my windows down about an inch and my sunroof just slightly cracked open to let heat vent out. This causes the alarm to go off often. Solution is easy, hit the lock button on the fob twice to deactivate the internal motion detector. The other functions of the alarm are still activated, door alarm and hood (bonnet) alarm. I live in Seattle and sometimes take the Wa. State Ferry across Puget Sound to the Olympic Peninsula, it is necessary on many cars with alarms to deactivate the motion detectors because of the vibration of the Ferry setting off the alarms. If you can't you may be told to leave a door unlocked or stay with your vehicle. So again, if your windows are open and the alarm goes off, push the open button once to stop the alarm and then push the lock button twice to lock the doors and turn the alarm motion detector off.

 

I have also experienced this "feature" mostly on sunny, breezy days with the sunroof(s) in the vent position. I just chalked it up (rightly or wrongly) to the motion sensor detecting the sun shade being flagged a bit by the wind, movement of thermals, or perhaps floating dust particles large enough to scatter sunlight radiance into the sensor.

If I leave the sunroof and windows cracked for venting you can bet I'm not going to be very far away. As with Pez, I just do a double-lock to deactivate the motion detector in these instances. Otherwise, I button everything up without issue. No big deal. I'm actually glad the system is as sensitive as it is.

 

My 2012 MC hardtop/sunroof does this as well... frustrating for me as mine is my daily driver and sits in the work parking lot all day long in the sun.

 

There is FINALLY a fix for this. Apparently some of these devices are too sensitive and Mini has an engineered piece of adhesive foam that can be placed in the alarm grille to make it less prone to false alarms.

 

Yeah, all is well keeping the windows up until you have pets This alarm is a HUGE PROBLELM FOR ME! I can't take the dogs anywhere.

Looks like I will have to give my dealer a call for the piece of foam jmatero is talking about.

 

Umm, the pets would set of the motion sensor anyhow. I don't see how this affects your dogs.

 

Just got off the phone from New Country MINI as this was happening to me - I called them first and Googled to here second:

Solution is on p. 28 of 2011 Clubman Manual (prob similar for others - I have a 2012 hardtop) - as stated above hitting lock button quickly twice in succession turns off interior sensor and "tilt" alarm until car is next unlocked/locked.

My problem first occurred while napping in IKEA parking lot - was just drifting off when alarm kept going off, hmmmm.....

So we cannot blame MINI on this one as everything is clearly stated in manual

(HPVFP on 2007-11 "S" another question! - go BASE MINIs!)

 

That's not always a solution to be honest. There is clearly a problem with the interior sensor in 2011+ Minis as my previous minis with the alarm were used the same way and there was never a problem. Walking away from your car with the windows cracked or sunroof tilted should not set the alarm off when another car drives by or somebody in a parking lot slams their car door shut. Convertibles and Roadsters have the alarm options and there are no reports of them going off with the tops down. (albeit, they have a different alarm module). Hell, I was in a Trader Joe's parking lot last night and a 2012 mini owner walks up to me and says "hey, both our alarms were going off when I came out.... mine does it all the time... my dealer told me to disable the interior sensor/tilt sensor because there's something wrong with them".

C'mon. Again, in my car they spent DAYS investigating... even sent a mini engineer... and the "solution" was to place acoustic foam over the motion sensors which solved the problem but rendered them useless. My questions is, why did I pay for the alarm if they're just going to disable it with foam or ask me to disable it each time I leave the car?

 

@jmatero - I understand what you are saying. And in fact I did NOT have this issue with my 2007 MCS factory alarm - I left windows and sunroof open all the time with zero false alarms.

One of the reasons we purchase a factory versus aftermarket alarm (or any product) is for guaranteed, trouble-free operation.

Having said that, if the salesman had told me that the sensitivity/design of the 2012 factory alarms had changed, and I would have to perform an extra procedure to leave windows open - I would still have bought the factory alarm.

Similarly, if I was a VERY careful consumer - I would have read the manual prior to purchase, and discovered the "foible" around leaving windows open (I only read manuals when there is a problem).

So again I feel MINI is off the hook - but we should be free to give them our feedback "interior alarm to sensitive".

Good luck all with your solutions!

 

I disagree that MINI is off the hook.

First, not EVERYONE with the alarm is experiencing this. I have two neighbors who purchased the factory alarm (Clubman S, 2012 and Cooper HB 2011) who lock their doors with the comfort access button, windows down and/or sunroof open and their alarms do NOT go off. In fact, one of them parks next to me in my parking garage and my alarm going of doesn't trigger theirs... with their windows fully down. Also, my dealer (a huge dealer in San Jose, CA) says they have only seen this issue pop up a few times here and there and they lock the doors of cars they service and leave the windows down when they're inside the LOUD garage and they are never triggered. If this was normal performance for the alarm, they ALL would do this. They're not or this thread would be pages and pages long.

Second, the description of the factory alarm online mentions nothing about the interior and tilt sensors needing to be disabled when the sunroof and/or windows are not completely shut. The owners manual may, but who reads the owners manual BEFORE they take delivery of a car. And show me one other car sold anywhere in the world where you need to disable the factory interior and tilt protection alarms if the windows/sunroof are not fully closed.

 

We just bought a 2012 clubman back in Nov. We have had problems since we got it with the interior alarm going off. Windows up sunroof closed. We have taken in to the dealer and they have advised us to do the double click...did that for about a month. No false alarms, duh....we were disabling the interior alarm! Next they disabled the interior alarm. I am not suppose to take it back to them and they are going to reset the interior alarm.....are we going in circles here???
The service manager did mention that they are seeing this problem in a couple of other clubmans. The saga continues.

 

Yes, they are covering the grille in the alarm cover (on the ceiling near the toggle switches) from the inside with black foam tape to effectively "disable" the interior sensors. If that's the solution, we should all get our $500 back... or at least $250 of it.

 

So I’ve had my new 2013 JCW for less then a week with the first ‘kind of warm day’ yesterday and getting hotter today. Alarm went off with cracked windows twice yesterday and already at 7am this morning.
I’m fine with the solution of needing to ‘double lock’ the car to turn off the interior sensor. If I chose to take the risk of inviting break-in by cracking the windows or sunroof and disarming interior sensor…then that is my choice. I do not blame MINI for the problems when I keep it armed and crack the windows as I’d consider the normal state for protection to be all doors and windows closed tight…..just my 2-cents :-)

2004 BRG MCS
2013 BLK/RED JCW

 

Had exactly same problem with my 2012 Clubman. What you have to do when you leave the car, is turn OFF the inside motion detector. With my car, you just hit the lock button of the key fob TWICE in quick succession. You can tell, because the red glowing bar on top of the steering wheel blinks if you got it right.

NO MORE ALARMS, and you can keep the car cool!!!