You've fallen into one of the many underutilized features of our keys.

Each keys has its own set of user preferred memory settings. One key can be for the wife who like Daytime Running Lights, No Auto Unlock on Key Removal, No Passenger Door unlock when unlocking driver's door and her macho husband may NOT want DRL, may NOT want to unlock the car with 2 button presses, and MAY want the doors to be unlocked upon ignition off.

Whichever key was used to unlock the car will be the features that will be used for that driving session.

On an automatic, the MINI will also use the tuning nuances for best gas/air performance due to that user's driving habits!

 

Hi all . . . Boy, I was envying those who have this "open with the key" feature and, finding the specific intructions, went out on the porch in my bathrobe and tried it. Lowe and behold but didn't that MINI crawl about under its car cover. Unfortunately there were no instructions in this thread on how to put the top up with the key so I removed the cover, climbed in and closed the top. But boy, this will make it easier in the mornings!

Oh, the battery issue is no issue. Putting the top up with the engine off is another story. Putting the top down without the engine running will only affect battery life if it isn't charged up right away. When you lower the top in the morning before going off you really haven't left the battery partially discharged for long enough to be an issue.

 

rameeti, does your MINI actually have this capability of different settings for different keys?

I have the BMW TIS CD-ROM (service manual), and it describes the car and key memory functions available on various BMW models. Car memory includes settings that apply to all keys, and key memory are settings that can be stored individually for different keys. The document specifically states that only car memory functions are available for the MINI models.

Even on the other BMW models, many of the settings (such as Daytime Running Lights) are only car memory, not key memory. Very interesting is that the newer BMW stereos will remember the last settings (radio station, source, etc) individually for each key.

 

Yes, my car acts differently depending on which key is used.

The key does not remember anything beyond that it belongs to Robert's car is Key#1 or Key#2.

Robert's car recognizes that it is being asked to be unlocked by Robert's Key#2 and then uses Memory Settings #2.

 

Okay . . . does this mean I need to read the owner's manual? Is all the key feature stuff in there? Alternatively, is it a service representative issue? How do I learn how to choose? For example when I chose to have the running lights on it was simply because of casual conversation with our sales representative.

 

um, i call...

 

Dumb question...buuutttt

Does anyone know what the key button sequence to close the top??

Thanks!

 

There's no key sequence to close the top. You have to put the key in the driver's door, turn it to the R and the doors will lock. Release key, then turn it to the R again and hold it and the top will close and the windows will go up. Just like the opening procedure: if you open a door, release the key, etc. it will stop.

 

using the key fob remote to put the top up or down is tempermental at best

 

I understand that it is tempermental to keep from running the battery down. I had used it a couple of times and it got to where it would open the top, but not put it down. I went on a long road trip and it began working like it was supposed to again. As long as I don't use it repeatedly without driving a bit to keep the battery charged, I don't have problems.

 

Now that I've been using this feature for a few weeks . . . having learned it in this thread, I could hardly do without it. Before going to work I remove the car cover, open the top without having to climb in, and then load up my stuff. Funny, but it doesn't all fit in the trunk. It is much easier to load the back seat, cup holder, passenger floor and passenger seat with the top already down. After playing soccer, it is common to ******** in the parking lot. How much nicer to lower the top and let the car cool . . . while explaining away my foibles. In fact, it is slower to leave if one must wait for the key to decide you really are intending to hold the button down. But of course, I suppose the Queen of England travels about much more slowly than the commoner, what with the red carpet and the guys with the funny hats and all . . . but she does have a bit of style.:impatient

 

do you mean difficulty of operation was an engineering goal? :impatient

 

Really quickly, just to add my 5 cents (I hate pennies), my ride came with the top down feature without having it programmed. Come to think of it, I didn't specify any programming that I wanted which has me thinking there is a host of features I'm not aware of.

For example, I notice that the boot locks everytime I close it which is a pain in the a$$. Does anyone think it can be programmed to lock only when we manually lock it?

Thanks.

 

I have an 03 MCS and doors, boot, all stay unlocked until I lock them.

Earl

 

Color me jilted.

 

Is this true of all Mini's.....and all years?

 

Littlebit: I've been all over AskMINI and my dealer on this issue. Bottom line is that the owner's manual is wrong where it states that the "keys are progammable". The car's computer is... and both keys do the same things. Fancier BMW's have individual keys--ours do not.

 

When I first took delivery of my MCS convertible, the remote "open with key" feature worked just fine. And I made use of it. A few weeks later I had an OEM alarm installed and now it doesn't work...I'm going to assume that installing the alarm somehow messed with the programming (or does anyone know if installing the alarm makes this feature automatically unavailable?). At any rate, after reading some of these posts, I'm thinking about just leaving things the way they are.

Chuck

 

The OEM alarm and the convenience opening mode can both be programmed at the same time. If it was working before, I would take it back to the alarm installer and make them fix it.

 

Can't say. I just know that my MINI motoring advisor learned this was true from a day of training specifically for MINI and he advised me this was true on the '06 MCS Automatic.