Hey there,

Some background first: I bought a 2006 CPO(MINI Next) Mini Cooper exactly a month back. It's already been into the dealership to fix a coolant leak in the 2nd week.

Last night, when I tried to start my car, it wouldn't start, the battery was fine as the radio, a/c etc came on. Thought it was a fuel problem as the light was on but there was yet 1/8th of a tank left. Called MINI Roadside, they would only send some fuel in 45 mins, and didn't want to wait in a shady neighborhood so pushed it for the next morning.

In the meanwhile as I had gone out for a movie, I'd left it parked near the theater and gone home. Came back and see the car had been towed away. Live in SF with it's crazy parking laws and insane ticket issuers.

This morning, got the car out of the impound, but the car would not start at all, the battery had also gone off. No radio, a/c, nothing!

Asked for MINI Roadside to tow my car to the dealership. Waited about 45 mins and when the tow guy came, the car started. Filled gas and drove it for 45 mins to the dealership that I prefer to go to.

They ran all the diagnostics and nothing shows up. Since I was so furious as I got $375 in tickets thanks to a non-starting car, the dealer has looked into the matter seriously.

They're keeping it in for the weekend to see if it's the infamous cold start problem.

What in your experience could be the mysterious reason???

Thanks in advance for your inputs. Also, if I've posted in the wrong forum do let me know.

 

anyone care to help?

is it a broken relay starter?

 

bad fuel pump, relay? It's a simple fix really, when the car is not starting, don't screw with it(even the tow guy) and have it towed to people that can check it when it is acting up. Can't fix it if it aint broke! I only stress this because all the time would have service advisors trying and finally getting the car to start, then it would run fine for me. If they would have left it alone, I could have popped a FP gauge on it or tested the battery or etc...

JMO, Chad

 

Curious, do you have NAV? Was the car "turning over" or was it doing nothing?

 

Got the car back from the shop today, nothing was found. Even after not touching it over the weekend, made me look like such a fool, ugh!

No nav.

 

Was the car turning over? It could be nothing more than a bad battery. Check the battery and see if it has a green dot on it. If it is yellow or black, you need a new one. If it is not stock, then you need to check the cells.

Before you argue that all the stuff worked, this happens. Generally there is enough juice to run the radio and lights, just not enough to turn the car over.

 

I would assume your MINI garage would put a diagnostics test on the charging system to figure out if there was a problem with the battery or charging system but maybe they didnt. I would ask what they did. If they didnt your FLAPS (Favorite Local Auto Parts Store) should be able to run a check for no charge. Start there or check the connections on the battery. Sounds almost like a loose battery connection.