I've been having issues with my 2007 mini Cooper since November. Basically the battery winds up drained dead after a few days of not driving it.

My normal mechanic plus the dealer have done several things (replaced footwell module, replaced szl, couple of other things)I. I'vereplaced the battery twice (interstate battery).

It happened again yesterday. I tried to charge the battery but could t get it to start. IIpulled the batter and took it in, and interstate says it was fine (650 cold crank amps, I think) but warranty replaced it anyway. New battery cranked the first time. Drove it into the mini dealer and they have nothing, no faults other than the ones for the low battery itself.

I'm losing my mind. Any suggestions would be awesome

 

I would have your alternator tested.

 

With the car turned off, put an ammeter between the ground cable and the battery, you will see a reading that shows how much current is being used by the car, this number should be pretty low, less than an ampere. If it is more, start pulling fuses until one of them causes the current draw to drop off, that circuit will be causing your problem.

 

I appreciate the thought, but the alternator has consistently tested fine. 0 issues with the battery once it's started. The only time I run into issues is after the car sits unused for a day or more (the last 2 times it happened it was 3 days and 9 days unused).

Back before I swapped my battrry (constantly being drained had killed it) it was happening daily. It would always start up right after I was done driving but not the next morning unless I left it on a trickle charger overnight.

 

On a 2007 and newer you need to have the battery ( registered) with the car.

Your car does not recognize the battery....therefore it will not charge.

There is a computer on the battery terminal that needs to be " told" that your battery is for this car.

This is something that a Mini dealer has to do or a shop that has the BMW info and computer to do.

Its crazy I know but true !!!!

 

Thanks foe the heqds up. The new battery i got today was registered at the dealership, so I actually found that out today, coincidentally

The last battery was installed by theml dealership (I dropped it off after the servixe dept closed after warranting it, and they put it in) so it SHOULD have been registered. I guess it's possible that it wasn't, but it seems really unlikely.

ImI looking at some other threads about parasitic draws... It seems like.it has to be something like.that...

 

That is true, and I'm not sure what year it started in, but with all the electronics, it pulls constantly and drains the battery. Should last for longer than a few days, but it's hell if you don't drive it in the winter and try to start it in spring.

And new ones do have to be registered as mentioned, or it believes its the old one and maintains it like the prior battery needs.

And from what I've read, if its the AGM ?? battery, the charger has to work with the AGM battery. It's supposedly different than the old style batteries and has to be charged differently.

 

I live in Florida. It gets all the way down onto the 50s in the winter. It's common to see 80+ during the day.

hmmm... I'll look into that...

 

AGM batteries do require higher voltage. The CTEK MUS 4.3 is made to charge AGM in the "snowflake" mode. You still need to check like DneprDave says. You shouldn't see more than 35-50 milliamp draw after the car goes into "sleep mode". Any competent shop should've done this first thing.

 

Not all series two MINIs have to have their batteries registered. If there is an IBS box on the battery's negative cable, then a new battery needs to be registered, if not, then it doesn't. My 2010 R55 does not have to have the battery registered.

This is what an IBS cable looks like, if you don't have one, no registration is necessary.

https://www.bimmerscan.com/bmw-intel...ry-sensor-ibs/

 

You have a hardtop or a convertible? If the latter you are in the right place but the hardtop would be a Gen2 car.

 

see this thread:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-diagnose.html

I've been dealing with the problem for years. Never been able to find the parasitic drain.

I finally installed a switch in the trunk that disconnects the negative cable for the battery. I installed the switch in the side area of the trunk. Whenever I leave the car sitting for more than 2-3 days, I flip the switch. It works great and the battery is always fine when I come back, even after several weeks. But it is definitely a band-aid.

It sucks because you can't open the trunk when the battery is disconnected, and also you lose clock and radio presents every time you disconnect the battery. But it keeps the battery from dying.

If you find a solution, let us know!

 

Hi I took my 2002 Mini Cooper S to a very reputable European car mechanic who works on a lot of Minis and he was not able to figure out why the battery was being drained every couple of days while the car was parked at his shop... he also couldn't figure out the overheating problem. He said that the car wasn't worth spending any more money on.

Do you think I would have better luck at the Mini Dealership?

Thanks,

Mat

 

Hey Mat,

Sorry to hear of your issue with your MINI

I would definitely bring to a MINI dealership.

That is where I go for everything.

THEY work on these cars all the time, and have the parts right there.

Now you do pay a premium for this. But I have found the BEST dealership in the COUNTRY !!!!

MINI of Peabody MA

I have probably put about $4000.00 into my MINI!!! And that is not including the $5000.00 Paint job with 2 NEW doors and rear quarter panel in which MINI PAID FOR !!!!!!
You must a find a good dealership, and you may have to travel.

But it is well worth it.

Where do you live ?

Someone here can guide you to the right place.

Good Luck and remember........our MINIs are an expensive " toy" that brings so much pleasure !!!!!!

Stay/be safe

Michael

 

Thank you Mike for that quick response!

I would probably agree that bringing the car to dealership would be the best bet, but I was trying to avoid the cost. Appears I have lost nearly $1000 in trouble shooting labor fees, new battery, and towing fees in taking it to this mechanic. Unbelievable to me he was not able to put his finger on the overheating problem, but he is assuming it's a blown head gasket. Says the engine pressure is 110 and not 140 where it should be. He had the car for months.

I live in Brooklyn, NY and the nearest dealership to me is the one in Manhattan on 11th Ave. I am waiting for a call back from their service advisor.

Also my car has a sunroof and when it rains, water leaks from the lower part of the drivers side door jam. Is this because of clogged sunroof drainage tubes?

Thanks again,

Mat

 

NYC.
That's a tough place for a MINI.

You have to find a dealership in CT. I know you will have to travel, but here are your options.

1. Sell the car and cut your losses
2. Find a great MINI dealership that will NOT charge you to tell you what is wrong with it.
3. Find other MINI owners in your area and ask them where they bring THEIR MINI

As far as the water leak, this happened to mine 2 WEEKS after I read about how to fix it here on this awesome forum !!!!

The hose has pulled away from the drain tube. The drain tube is metal and the hose , of course, is rubber.

It took me about 35 minutes.

Just do a search here on the forum and the procedure will come right up.

 

Are there dealerships that don't charge for troubleshooting problems?

And I will check the forum for the leak fix, thanks!

Mat

 

Another thought on checking the alternator: is there a reverse current draw when off? Meaning, is the current flowing IN TO the alternator when the car is Off?

I bring this up because we had a similar problem on a 2001 Jetta. If it sat for a couple of days, the battery would be dead. I used the factory service process to check all the draw from all the devices in the vehicle, and everything was fine. I disconnect the power lines to the main fuse panels, and the battery would still die. Then, with everything disconnected except the alternator and ground, Insaw I still had a few milliamps of current draw. I replaced tha alternator and everything has been working great!

The fault was a leaky diode in the output regulator. The alternator would still charge the battery fine, but when the engine was off that diode created a leak path for current to ground.

It took A LONG TIME to figure that out, and I really didn't find similar advice on the web when I searched (but I was focused on VWs with similar symptoms in my searching).

Just a thought for something else to check. Good luck!

 

Thanks for this. It's still hard to believe that a professional mechanic can't properly troubleshoot a problem like this.

Mat

 

Hey Man,
I've been dealing with the battery drain problem in my R53 for over 8 years. I have taken it to several mechanics, several of which specialize in Mini's, and nobody could diagnose it. The problem, I believe is that the parasitic drain is intermittent.

I finally installed a switch in the trunk that disconnects the battery from the rest of the car. I flip the switch if I know the car will sit for more than 2-3 days. This solution comes with it's own set of problems, but these are really more of a nuisance compared to a dead battery. So I am (relatively) happy with it.

I tried the dealer several years ago; they couldn't find it. But it only cost me about $100.

Good luck and please let us know what you find.

MD

 

your over heating is probably one of the following
1- Belt slipping
2- bad tensioner
3- bad water pump