Got an odd issue.
2012 Cooper S.
My car is at the shop. They just replaced the thermostat and rear brakes.
Now, when the key is clicked into the ignition (just inserted, not pushing the start button) the speakers crackle and the fender lights flicker. At one point the taillights were coming on and staying on as well, even after the key was removed and the car was locked.
The car starts and drives fine, but that is definitely not normal behavior and it didn't do this before the service work was done.
The only thing I've done somewhat recently (two months ago) was swap the fender lights to LED assemblies.

Thoughts? My gut is telling me it's a ground / short issue, but no ground wires / straps need to be removed for the thermostat, do they?

 

IT definitly sounds like a grounding issue somewhere but I would pull the FRM and check its connectors for corrosion and clean them up if necessary. Then go over to the passenger side footwell and check all the grounds in that area to start. Something might not have been tightened down...

 

Sounds like your CAS module is failing; connect a scan tool, and use the MINI settings to scan all the modules. You'll be looking for faults in the CAS module.

 

Can you rule out with certainty that the fender lighs started flickering right after the LEDs were installed but it went unnoticed until the car was at the shop? Do the "LED assemblies" emulate regular bulbs in terms of resistance? If not: did you code the car to not check for dead bulbs after installing the LEDs?

No according to the official service instructions. However:
- they may have done so anyway (by mistake or by standard practice).
- BMW/MINI shops in Germany require at drop off to sign a sheet allowing firmware updates of any ECU, irrespective of whether the work to be done requires it or not (had to sign this when having my thermostat housing replaced). If an update is executed, all ECUs are rebooted afterwards.
- some ECU memory (notably FRM) become erroneous over time. Depending on where exactly it may alter the behavior of the car or cause the ECU to not function at all. Any such errors only appear after a reboot of the concerned ECU.

Also: is/was an aftermarket amplifier ever installed in the car? What is ithe condition of the main battery?