Hello all,

Well my MINI started having an electrical issue lately where the 3rd brake light would glow dimly even when the vehicle was shut off. Eventually, it got to the point where the light would stay on at full brightness, and the windows would open/close on their own - even when the car was parked.

Long story short - the problem was that the BC1 was getting wet with all the rain we've had here in Kodiak for the past month. I had the windshield replaced under insurance nearly 2 years ago, so I'll have to investigate if this is the source of the water leak.

Anyway, I'm all the way in Kodiak, Alaska. The nearest dealer is Northwest MINI, which is roughly 2800 miles if I were to drive all the way there. It's not exactly cheap to ship or drive the vehicle to the nearest dealer...

So my question - does anyone know if a BC1 can be programmed w/o the vehicle being there? I'm really hoping that drying out the BC1 is all that I'll need to do, but in the worst case it looks like I'll need to replace it. I'm hoping that I can get a replacement BC1 programmed and shipped over to me.

If anyone has some advice or insight to my situation, I'd greatly appreciate it! Thanks in advance!

 

Maybe the dealer can program the new bc1 unit in a car they have, pull it out, and send it to you pre-programmed the way you need it. It may take you paying the extra $$ for them to do 2 installs then ship the part, but cheaper than putting the car on a ferry.
To be honest, I am not sure if it needs programming, but the system used my mini is the same as I undrstand it as the one from BMW. So if there is a dealer in ANC, you might be able to get them to do it. Mini has said in the past, in some cases, BMW will/can work on mini's and even do warrenty work....this sounds like it is one of those cases if you need to do more than just unbolt/swap it out if there is a BMW dealer closer.

 

One quick tip...partsman ... I think that is his handle....works in a dealer in RI....if you pm him, he might be able to help you.

 

It would be great if they don't need my specific vehicle to be plugged into the BC1 in order to program it. I'd much rather pay them extra dough to do this for me, as the cost to ship my vehicle to Seattle exceeds the $2k mark one way.

Back when my car needed warranty work, MINI chose to ship it to NW MINI in Washington as opposed to sending it to the BMW dealer in Anchorage. At the time, MINIUSA claimed that they don't allow any of their BMW dealerships in the US perform warranty work regardless if the dealer has the capacity to even work on MINIs. Maybe they changed their tune?

At any rate, I'll have to contact the BMW dealer in Anchorage to see if they can help me out. My sister lives in Anchorage and has an '06 MCS that we could possibly use as a programming donor if we can indeed program a BC1 that way.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all I'll need to do is dry out my existing BC1 (and find the water leak), and everything will be fine. I've got my BC1 sitting on a forced air vent in my house - hopefully a few days of that will be enough to dry it out.

Thanks sooooooo much for the suggestions, I really appreciate it!

 

If you rinse it off with distilled water, then pack it in some dry rise....usually will work with cell phones. That way it will stop minerals from crystalizing on the elctronics and prevent corrosion.
I'm sure,if having an '06 would help, I think the computer changed in 05 a bit...real oem.com might help...see if the part number is the same fir an '06. Or just call the dealer or maybe partsman. We really love the dealer he works at around here....good bunch of guys and gals.

 

Ah, I forgot about the distilled water/dry rice trick. I'll have to do that when I go home for lunch. A week in the dry rice bag should do the trick, right?

I did a quick search on Real OEM using my '04 MCS vin and my sister's '06 MCS vin. Turns out, the '04 BC1 had been superseded several times - so now it shares the same part number as the '06 BC1.

Thanks again

 

I had to replace my BC1 a few months ago due to an electrical problem. A friend got me the part through an mechanic buddy and you're right, the part number for the BC1 (1st gen) is all the same since the module didn't look quite the same as the one I had in my '02.

The car will start and run, but if you have any dealer accessories they won't work, along with the buttons on the keyfob - because that needs to be programmed.

If I remember correctly, things like xenon lights, auto a/c, etc will not work properly until it's coded into the BC1 from the dealer.

Also be sure to check all your fuses if you're replacing the BC1 on your own - since it's a pita to get to the module in the passenger kick panel anyway. I'd say most importantly is to check the fuses on the underside of the engine bay fuse box. (You'll have to pull out the ECU box or unhook all the connectors on the bottom, if you need more information, just let me know)

Hope this information helps.

 

It seems to be popular advice circulated around the web for drying wet electronics, but I think it's an urban myth. Uncooked rice isn't good at absorbing moisture. If you soak rice in cold water, it stays hard and doesn't expand (it needs to be heated for the starch to absorb water). Actually I think instant rice (which is cooked, then dehydrated) would work better. You might look into silica gel desiccant packs that are used to keep food and medicine dry.

 

Even room emp air with some airflow...(maybe slightly higher)...the distilled water rinse is the important part!! The water is not in it self the enemny...but the contamnats...they can cause the trouble. Just make sure the unit is 100% dry before trying to power it up. Silica gel discant in the packs....lots of them would be pretty good like stated above, but few people have several pounds/handfuls of those around. I've heard the rice thing, and it seems to have some grain of truth to it...dry rice must have just a few percent moisture...so water moves from higher concertrations to lower.
Heck, I know guys in the tech field that wash keyboards in electric dishwashers...no soap, no heated dry, and then rinses them off with distilled water...and they mostly come back to life....you know the older IBM type keyboards that make that clicky sound with the good feel.... Those are the ones...not the cheaper, now more common bubble membrane type of switches.

 

If I were you I'd try to dry it out and see if that works. Otherwise It WILL have to programed with the dealer computer. If you just get one off the shelf or a used one your key remotes won't work, and you may have some features not work like lights, locks or Heat/AC. The BC1 is coded individual for each car specific.

Check your sunroof drains alot of time they come disconnected and water runs down into the BC1. or it could be cause of your windsheild.

 

To program your car, it is done through the OBD2 Port. I'm not sure if a dealer would have a way of reading it individually, but I don't know. I'm in the process with my brother, we can read all the ECUs in the car but we can't write to them (through OBD2) (we want to change options, etc on BC1) :(

 

Well I did the distilled water rinse, but didn't have any rice - so it's just drying on the one of the forced air vents in my house.

And +1 on the IBM model M keyboards. I keep a few new-in-box ones in my office.

 

Dumb question - where are the sunroof drains? Are these hidden behind the interior or exterior A-pillar covers? I know how to access the two rear mounted drains, but have no clue where to find the front drains. FWIW - the sunroof was replaced during my car's last warranty visit at NW MINI. I hope they didn't forget to hook those drains back up...