Hello,

First time poster due to first big issue with my 2008 Mini Clubman....I had both the front and back brakes redone this year. I noticed leaving the local mechanic that the brake light was still on and reset the computer. A week later the whole dashboard went dark with the exception of the radio. The speedometer, gas levels and all flickered off and then back again within a few minutes.

Ignored it initially but the same flickering on and off continued. Returned to the mechanic who said the computer was issuing an error that the ignition was bad; this was a common problem and fixed it for $900. One week later, the same issue popped up again. Now the mechanic has told me the body control module is bad and it will be $2K to repair.

I had no issues with the ignition to begin with and questioned why we had repaired that when the problem was deeper. The mechanic offered the explanation that the BCM was kicking out errors in a trouble tree and the ignition was issued before the assorted accessory errors now being generated. I question this as the flickering often kicked on temporarily both the brake and engine lights. They would go off the next time I started the car.

My question is how do I know if any of this is accurate? Other than the flickering, I've had no issues with the MINI and I'm suspicious they occurred after the brake repair. I liked the mechanic previously but I'm not sure if I'm getting good service. I checked with the local Mini dealer and they offered me lower price on the BCM repair of about $400.

Thanks.