Been lurking here for a while and you guys have been a big help as I have worked on my wife and I's Mini Cooper 2009! Hope ya'll can help me here too.

This is the long version: we noticed a leaking sunroof two weeks ago and it didn't seem like an urgent issue so I put off taking a look at it (big mistake apparently). Tried to start the car 2-3 days later and the car will crank, but not start. Did not make the connection between the water leak and the starting problem at first and thought it might be a fuel pump issue. Had it towed to the dealer because we are still under the 10 year warranty for the HPFP. Dealer called back the next day to tell us that the fuel pump is fine, but the issue is the fuse box by the passenger door. Asked them to try fixing the leak in the sunroof and dry out the fuse box in hope that once the water cleared all would be good. Seriously doubt if they even attempted this. We have had bad experiences with this garage in the past (turning an oil change into $600 of unnecessary preventative maintenance, ect), so I'm not inclined to trust them. After a day they came back and said that the fuse box is totally shot because of water damage and the only way to repair is to replace the fuse box. Quoted be $1000 out the door. After some quick research I realized that even if replacing the entire fuse box is necessary I could easily do it myself and have them program the new box. Towed the car back to my house. I would rather not buy an entire new fuse box as it seems that other electrical systems connected to the fuse box work fine (head lights, horn, windows, locks, ect).

TL;DR Water leak led to car cranking, but not turning over. Dealer thinks the fuse box on passenger side must be replaced.

Took a look at the fuse for the fuel pump (I'm assuming it's marked with the fuel symbol) and it looked fine. What is my next step (other than making sure they actually fixed the water issue)? Anything I can try before forking over the $350-$500 for a new fuse box? Thanks for the help in advance!

 

If its like the r53 then the water makes its way down to the top of the fuse box and rusts the tiny wires and creates havok. If you can identify which wires are messed up you can try repairing just those. My friend had a r53 with fuse box woes and when we took the large connector apart going to it, we saw that at least one pin inside the connector was corroded so badly that it broke when we separated the two sides of the connector. Have a look and see what the state of your connector is. Maybe thats where the issue is.

 

I will attempt to install a 4 prong relay around the JBE and disable the fuel pump relay soldered to the JBE. Hope it will work.

 

The fuse box is plug and play for the most part. if you can find a used one that matches your part number then you're good.