I suppose I should post this in the ELECTRICAL section, but maybe I'll get a faster answer here...

I have a 2009 R56. The cargo light (in the rear) no longer works. I had replaced the incandescent lamp with a bright LED type about a year ago and it worked great. Recently,it stopped working so I checked the voltage at the socket with a voltmeter. It was zero.
I took the car to Stevens Creek Mini and they told me that the problem was that the the associated fuse was blown, but when they replaced it, my LED light went up in smoke, and they would do nothing more.

When I got my car back the LED light assembly was in fact destroyed, but I believe they attempted to check the LED lamp by hooking it up to a voltage source of the wrong polarity because when the two polarized capacitors on the LED lamp assembly were now fried. The incandescent lamp doesn't care about polarity, but the LED light does.

So now the dealer refuses to fix the problem (they insist it was my fault for replacing the factory-stock bulb), and I still have no cargo light. I suppose I'll have to fix it myself.

I checked the fuse box in the right foot well and no fuse is blown or missing. Can someone tell me what fuse (by number) is connected to the cargo light?
Also, does anyone know where the switch is for the light? Is it by the hatch latch?

 

I found the answer myself - sort of. Fuse #14 is the one. Unfortunately, it isn't blown. There must be a fried wire or a bad connection somewhere along the way.

 

Bummer. do you have an r53 or r56? I have an LED back there too in my R56 Cooper. It is not super bright or anything. Due to the angle it is tough to get good light output back there like in my old R53.

Good luck with finding that connection.

 

Let that be a lesson learned. If you have a problem and hope to get warranty service, restore anything related back to stock first.

When you initially checked the voltage, did you also check whether the LED was still working? I converted all of my interior lights to LED and added auxiliary lighting as well (see my gallery). I've had an LED fail after a couple of years that shorted the circuit. I didn't realize this at first. None of the interior lights would stay on. Whether opening the door or turning on any interior light, lights would flash on just briefly and turn off. I think the computer was detecting the short and shutting down the circuit. I was fearing the worst but luckily only needed a bulb replacement.

 

Charles , I had the same bulb blown in my 2010 Mini cargo area. Fuse #16 10A Red color was blown I put in a new one, bingo, try it,good luck.

 

hi Charles I had the same problem when I shorted my cargo light bulb in my 2010 mini.I went through a lot of the fuses finally saw #16 fuse was blown not #14.try it good luck.