Hi!

I am the (proud) owner of a Mini Cooper S 2005 convertible. A few weeks ago a mysterious electrical issue began to show; randomly when the car has been parked for a few hours the alarm just shuts of (stops functioning). Also It doesn’t respond to my remote key. When this happens I open the door with the key but the car is totally dark (no internal lights go on). It just appears dead. I can start the car however, but when the car is started the following functions failure; wipers, steering directors, ac and fan, power windows, long distance beem. H o w e v e r; the anti spin, ABS brakes, stereo and many other things do work fine. Apart from the things mentioned that failure I can drive normally and at ANY time full functionality can suddenly come back. Just like that. After 30 seconds or 25 minutes. Totally random. Ive had this problem when the car has been parked in 5 degrees (outside) and 70 degrees (in a garage). I have tried with a new battery but I does not solve the problem. From reading here I’m thinking it might be the General Modul. But can I really failure that randomly? Also notice that the problem has never appeared when im actually driving. If it starts fine it continues fine. If it starts bad it continues bad… until it jumps back to normal…

From looking around here it certainly seems as if the problem is related to th BC module (General Module), and it seems as if the BC module (or parts of it) sometimes, for some reason lose power when the car has not been in use for a few hours. Another strange thing is that when i approached the car this morning i noticed that the alarm indicator was not flashing (alarm off), BUT the remote key could still open the car and everything functioned when i drove it to work this morning.

Gaaaa... this drives me mad!


ANY help would be SO MUCH appreciated!!!

 

I have heard of other MINI's doing this as well. In many of those cases, it just turned out the car's battery was faulty, not holding charge ect, and for whatever reason, the car's electrical system acts like it is posessed.....

Wierd, I know but usually a new battery did the trick. I have not done a search yet, but if you check under the section: "Stock Problems and Issues" you may find more info.

 

i'm not super smart.. but if your having the issue while driving as well, i would assume the battery isn't the issue. since the engine and other related functions work ok, then the issue is also not in the engine harness. is there something similar to an LCM in the mini? maybe try re-attaching all the connections to it. do you have a bentley?

 

My guess is gonna go to the ground wire in the engine bay, i was having some issues with electricals and got my att tested ad everything and i ended up noticing the ground was loose and i tightened it al the way down. Its gonna be on the left side of the engine bay its kinda a big thick wire. Try it, maybe thats your problem.


and for the record im a bonified genius.....

 

My money is on the Body Control Module

 

Ive tried with a new battery but it doesnt help. However, ive noticed that the voltage in my new battery drops from 12,8 to around 12,5 once its attached to the car (with only the trunk light and alarm on)... Im thinking that something (perhaps the alarm) draws more power then it should from the battery. Since the problem is only initiated when the car is not driven it seems logical...

And thanks for all the tips!!!

 

As the @someguy have said,

It is indeed the FRM module(body control module or some people call it footwell module). I just replaced mine and you need to have it recoded