Okay guys,

So my GF has an 03 R50 that has shown signs of a BC1 issue in the past (power steering cuts out, gauges go dead, no headlights, no interior lights, radio goes out etc). It's intermittent and I've never seen it done.

My original plan was to buy her a new BC1 as I've seen them on ebay for ~$150 all day long but from research on this sight, I'm seeing reports that you can't reprogram them (this part doesn't make sense to me as an electrical engineer unless they're burning fuses etc).

I'm trying to fix this mini as cheap as possible right now (the back story is that this car first showed these issues the afternoon of our first date and she almost cancelled on me because of it. the car was then at a "shop" for over a year where he just didn't fix it and charged her more money than I can even care to post. it has since sat at her parents for a year and I just got it to our place last weekend. So 2 years have gone by, I'm preparing to propose to her and i wanted to surprise her with getting this mini back on the road as she loves it). Besides buying a BC1, ECU, Key cylinder, etc from a totaled vehicle, is there any other way to replace this other than a new one ~$450 online and 2hrs of programming at Mini?

 

Have you had the alternator tested, battery tested?

Powersteering isn't controlled by the BC1, and the usual reason for loss of powersteering is either pump failure, or alternator failure.

Sounds like you need to have the electrical system diagnosed before you replace the BC1.

Does the car have a sunroof? Have you pulled the headliner back to see if the drains are still attached? Is there signs of water ingress in the passenger footwell?

 

Thanks nkfry,

I know the car has a recall for power steering pump but I currently can't get it to any Mini dealer until I figure this out. I've ordered a new crankshaft pulley from Way and will get the alternator tested this weekend when I pull the nose and test everythign out.

As per the water ingress, I haven't seen any damage on the computer and i already checked for leaking sunroof and nothing. It does have the black water "protector" fix that mini started putting on them though.

I've unfortunately never seen the BC1 act up other than this week when the alternator appears to have decided to go. I only have my GFs word on what occurs.

 

If the alternator died , don't you think the electrical problems were happening because of that? The way you worded it sure sounds like that was the problem. The car will definitely do weird things if it isn't getting enough power.

 

So the shop that has it for over a year replaced the alternator and when she had it back for a few days it still did it. Now it could have been a bad alternator and I plan to test it sat when I pull it out but I don't think it will test bad.