I took my car into the shop for what I believed to be a problem with the starter. The mechanic first checked wiring and fuses, then determined that it was the starter. When I got my car back (a 2006 Mini Convertible), the rear defroster doesn't work, the doors don't lock once the car is moving, and the rear windows don't go down. Most importantly, the top will NOT go down past sunroof stage! :( The lights on the buttons for the windows and the roof no longer blink either. I've check all of the fuses for these things and replaced whether they looked like they were blown or not. Help!!! Summer's coming!

 

When the roof retracts to the sunroof position but no further, the most common issue is that the rear shelf in the luggage compartment was not all the way down. It presses on an interlock switch that allows the roof to open. Make sure that the shelf is all the way down and the two levers at the tailgate opening are locked in down position.

 

Yes, sometimes my shelf just needs a jiggle from time to time for top to work..

 

I had my battery die on me last summer. After new battery installed, my top wouldn't drop. It had to reset itself in relation to where the windows are(up or down). Once I lowered and raised the windows, the roof and windows dropped as normal.
Now you say that you can't drop the rear windows? Then that top isn't going down.
The rear shelf is always a possibility as the other posters stated. Locking doors when car moves i believe is a programed option.
These little things could be the result of disconnecting the battery? I would take it back to the shop and see what they come up with.

 

Thanks all. I checked that. But will look again!

 

oh no.. i have to check mine as have not open it since last summer

 

The Cable is broken,
PM me for help!

 

any advise on your previous issue in march? My battery was low so I charged it and installed it, my top wouldn't drop. Now I can't drop the rear windows? The auto Locking doesn't work and the lights stay on.

 

You aren't going to like what I found out. I took my car to the Mini Dealership in Sterling Va. Because the mechanic had not put my car on a booster when he disconnected the battery, he had blown the computer module that runs the top, windows and several other components of the car. He had also "scrambled" the module that runs the thermostat and the a/c. The dealership said you should always keep at least a low amount of power going to the car when the battery is removed, disconnected or goes dead, if you don't, when you do get power to the car, the computer system pulls as much power as it can all at once and will, most likely, blow. In other words, the booster is a surge protector. Although the dealership said you can't buy one of these, I have found them on Amazon for around $80-$100. They plug into your cigarette lighter and provide a low amount of power to the computer to keep this from happening. (It cost me $1200.00 to repair.)

 

OK, so you're saying you had to shill out $1200 for their mistake?? Tell me they're not that naive.

 

My car was out of warranty, so a non-mini repair shop did my original work. I took it to Mini to get it repaired. My mechanic said he didn't know he was supposed to keep power to the car. I find that hard to believe since Mini says all imports have had to have it since around 2000 and American cars since 05. Anyway, it was a lesson learned and all future repairs to my baby will be done at Mini, regardless of the $$$.

 

I'm sorry but each time you work on a car and lets say you have to remove the battery. You have to remove the power to it. If you touch the power and ground together you have the chance of shorting out control modules. You don't want to keep power to the vehicle when removing the starter.
If that happened when you lost power what happens when your battery dies lets say?? this might happen again? no... It doesnt happen when you remove power from the vehicle. I'm sorry, but either the story got messed up or you were had.

 

OK, I did not realize you went to a 3rd-party mechanic. As for power, I replaced my OEM battery myself in my old '02 MCS back in March '08. I did not have any problems like you described.

healey67, you're on to something. I smell a rat. Keeping power to the computer when the main battery is disconnected sounds like a lame excuse. You have to start somewhere. The computer had no power before it was connected on the assembly line back in Oxford, England.

 

The need to have power at all time is "bleeped". If you would ever need to store the car for months at a time - it's recomended that the battery be removed or disconnected. Nowhere in any manual, owners or aftermarket, have I ever seen such a lame requirement......
OP if they give you a hard time, I'll write you a note.

 

Perhaps your mechanic did do something to fry the electronics, but the dealer's explanation for what might have happened makes no sense at all. The dealer diagnosed that the modules had gone bad. They just don't know what actually caused it and should have left it there without trying to come up with something.

BTW, the cigarette lighter charger you describe won't do anything in a MINI unless you have the ignition key in the on position. MINI's ignition switch disconnects the cigarette lighter from everything else in the car when in the off position.

 

Ditto on Dealer BS. Makes no sense at all. A car that blows itself up when the battery dies?

 

It got a power surge when the battery was RECONNECTED. Geez, I know I'm a chick but give me a break guys! lol. I have the fried module! And the top goes down and I'm having a fantastic summer!

 

We are not downing you because you're a chick. Computer components are supposed to be built in such a way they can handle some kind of power fluctuation. What do you think happens when you flip the switch on your home computer? The circuitry has to be designed in such a way it can handle whatever voltage it's rated for. That requires the use of various capacitors.

Additionally, correct me if I'm wrong, but, if the key is in the off position when the battery is connected, would that not prevent any electricity from powering up any of the computer modules in the MINI?

 

It's not you, it's the dealer's explanation. They claim that a power surge kills electronics when reconnecting the battery. That is simply wrong. There would be a undervoltage DIP if everything suddenly started drawing on the battery.

As I said before, they diagnosed that some electronic modules were damaged, but they shouldn't have tried to explain the cause if they didn't really know why. They were just throwing out a comment to a customer to try to make themselves look smart. It happens all the time in the car repair business.

JumpingJackFlash, some electronics receive constant power and are not connected through the ignition switch. An obvious example is the remote lock/unlock. The cigarette lighter IS through the ignition switch, and a cigarette lighter type of battery charger won't work unless the ignition is on.

 

VW Girl, no rain on your parade.... Glad to hear the car is fixed.

The information you are getting, disconnecting the battery = module problems, is incorrect. If this was fact replacing the battery, when needed, would be a big time problem. I won't speculate on the issue = post 1

 

VW Girl, FYI, The dealership told me that the problems are sensor issues, That is the problem with the soft top and headlights. Over $2K canadian later the car will be back on the road Thursday and the top will be down. Still a fun in the sun little go cart!

 

I replaced the battery in my 05 today and tonight the top would not come up... five minutes on the web and I had my problem solved. I raised, lowered, raised my windows and then the top went up without a snag.

thanks again everyone.

(I'm going to invest in that tool that plugs into the cigarette lighter and keeps the electronics alive during a battery change.

James

 

WV Girl,
I replaced my battery and my top won't go down, rear windows won't go down and the doors don't lock automatically when driving. What was the actual part BMW replaced? Did they give you a part number or part description? I've checked everything else, so I'm afraid this is probably my issue.

Thanks, jb

 

Old but hopefully this can help someone:
Same problems as every stated: battery died and when replaced: convertible don't open all the way, running lights on, and auto lock stopped working. Replaced the Body Control Unit (or the footwell module for new models) and everything is back to normal! Be sure you match the Body Controller number to your current one or else you will have to get it reprogrammed. Hope this save some headaches for folks. Good luck!