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So today I took on the oil filter housing gasket fix on my 2010 Mini Cooper S. After getting the front end apart I proceeded taking off the down pipe, draining the radiator, and so on. Once I got to the oil filter housing took that off replaced the gaskets. I’m using the Detroit Tuned kit so the oil feed line to the turbo was also replaced. During all this today I disconnect my the cable to the negative side of the battery. (A video I watched suggested this due to wrenching around the alternator getting shocked etc.). Once the car was put back together I added oil and 50/50 mix of Mini’s coolant back to the car. So happy the job went well until I noticed my blinkers, windows and fog lights weren’t working! Such a bummer! Pretty frustrated right now and taking my car to the mini dealership Monday morning (Which I was really hoping to avoid)
If anyone has any leads to why the windows, fog lights, and blinkers aren’t working would be very appreciated.
This sounds like classic FRM failure. They develop an issue over time (which may only be the FRM1 and FRM2 units) where they'll work perfectly fine until power is cut then they fail to boot back up when power is restored. The FRM is essentially a programmable switch board for the car that routes signals and power/ground to the various components the car received based on features that were added during initial order. I had this happen to mine last year when the shop installing my Aquamist killed my battery.
Dealer cost to replace/fix was ~$900 I think. I ordered the FRM3 from ECS Tuning and programmed it myself for ~$500, but that was with overnight shipping as I had a track day two days later and in 100 degrees I needed my windows to go down.
Yeah afterstepping back from the project today, I started research guiding me to the “footwell module”. So it’s saves a lot of stress hearing you talk about the FRM. I suppose my next step be purchasing and installing.
Yeah I’m still fairly new to all the inner workings of the Mini but certainly learning and gathering the wealth of information here on the forum.
Great story overnighting the FRM3 haha I guess when you need the parts ya need em quick! Thanks for your feedback Cab00se much appreciated!
Yeah afterstepping back from the project today, I started research guiding me to the “footwell module”. So it’s saves a lot of stress hearing you talk about the FRM. I suppose my next step be purchasing and installing.
Yeah I’m still fairly new to all the inner workings of the Mini but certainly learning and gathering the wealth of information here on the forum.
Great story overnighting the FRM3 haha I guess when you need the parts ya need em quick! Thanks for your feedback Cab00se much appreciated!
I forgot that there was an extended warranty on the FRM units so yours may actually be covered. When I gave the dealer my VIN they said mine wasn't covered, not sure how they came to that conclusion since it appears to be year/mileage related but I'd say give this a shot first. https://bimmerscan.com/wp-content/up.../M010616-1.pdf
So I go to the closest Mini dealer without any blinkers and windows down and dropped my car off. The next day they called back and said they’ll have to replace my FRM which is what I was expecting. (quoted at $1002).
After talking with the service department I mentioned I had a bulletin (thanks Cab00se!) that I believed covered the FRM with an extended warranty. They said they’d be happy take a look. I printed up the bulletin and brought it in that day. Later I got a call back saying that bulletin would indeed cover the FRM but based on when the car was originally purchased missing the extended warranty by two months!
Continuing to “plan b” I sought out places online that offered to reprogram the FRM. After searching a bit I found a seller on EBay by the name of RVGparts. So I shipped the part out with a piece of tape including the last 8 digits of my vin.
So a few days passed and the reprogrammed FRM was shipped back. I installed it the other day and sure enough my fog lights, windows, and blinkers work again! What a relief saving some $900! However when I plugged my C110+ bmw scanner up to the car I did have a few faults including the FRM. Not sure if these are stored on my car prior to replacing the FRM and can be erased or if I need to go back to the drawing board?
Again I’m fairly new to working on Minis and reading scanners (not even sure if the c110+ is a good scanner?). Any suggestions and responses are greatly appreciated. Still maintaining the hope of working on the Mini myself instead of just bringing it in. Might even attempt to replace the crankcase front main seal in the future! Thanks again
Last edited by NoShowJones; Aug 11, 2020 at 08:16 PM.
) that I believed covered the FRM with an extended warranty. They said they’d be happy take a look. I printed up the bulletin and brought it in that day. Later I got a call back saying that bulletin would indeed cover the FRM but based on when the car was originally purchased missing the extended warranty by two months!
