I bought a 2008 MCS last week from an out of state dealer. Before I got the car home, the clutch went out and left me stranded on the side of the highway for hours waiting on a tow. The flashers wouldn't come on, no matter what I tried. Since it's my first Mini, figured it was something I was doing wrong. Anyway, Mini dealer installed new clutch and I'm good to go.
Get the car home and am sitting in the driveway (car is off, door open) and hazard lights start flashing. Nothing I try will get them off. Read the manual about the alarm, nothing. Finally, disconnect the battery, reconnect. All is good, no flashing.
Now, at random times, the flashers come on. Sometimes they go off on their own, sometimes I have to disconnect/reconnect the battery.
Am I a moron or what? There's no audible alarm. I've tried using each key seperately, out of range of the other key. I can't figure out what's causing it or how to stop it.
Any help would be great. I feel like an idiot.

 

Usually the big button on the top of the speedo should toggle the hazard/4-way flashers.

Do the little green directional arrows on the tach flash at the same time?

My guess is you have an electrical problem, like a bad ground. Secondly, you may have a bad FRM (footwell module), or airbag module (sending a false crash signal). A dealer (or shop with BMW diagnostic software) should be able to see stored codes to see what is happening.

The flashers are entirely controlled by the FRM module.

But the best thing I would recommend first, if you don't want to take it to a shop, is to pull the trim from around the speedo and disconnect the flasher button (there are instructions floating around here how to remove it) from the harness. I wonder if your button had something spilled in it causing it to trigger at random times and not work properly. If you find out the flashers don't activate anymore on their own, you can then order a new button and pop it in.

 

Yes, the green arrows on the tach flash when the hazards are doing their thing.

I agree that something may have been spilled on the speedo or the hazard button. While cleaning it, I see there are water spots on the inside of the speedo glass. We're going to take that trim ring off and disconnect the flasher button and see what happens.

Thanks for the help!