Ok, so when I went to bring my car in the garage for some engine work, the key would unlock the doors just fine, but when the key is inserted in the ignition, NOTHING. Not a light in the dash, nothing works at all, and when you keep pressing the start button, it pops the hatch. So I took the shifter boot off and used the yellow tab to put the car in neutral so I could push it into my garage. Of course, I had to key in the ignition so I could turn the wheel, and damn if halfway in the garage it turned on, locked all the doors, with the key IN it! Thankfully the trunk had been pooped open before I started pushing. Anyway, While engine was apart I checked all the wiring for anything obvious, removed the ECU and fuse holder, checked all the grounds, checked the battery with my Matco tester and it is good(only 6 months old). Didn't find anything that stood out? The grounds tightened a little, but i don't think they were loose enough to cause this problem? Hooked the ecu up and connected battery, got in the car, put key in, the door chime came on, pushed the start(no brake)and everything in the dash lit up like normal and the windows and everything worked fine. I thought, dang, I fixed it! Couldn't try start because half the engine was disassembled. Now, a week later, all ready to start the engine. Put key in the ignition and the wiper turn on, even though the switch is OFF? Push button and the dash lights up, doesn't even try to crank, no windows or anything work,. and the wipers still going all the time? Also, there was no door chime. Remove the Key and the wiper still keep going for a few seconds before stopping, even with no key in the ignition. Exclamation in gear indicator window with key on, changes to trans warning when after pushing STOP,. and then the Key icon stay on for a bit? I'm getting a Can bus error and TCM faults. I couldn't even check that before because there wasn't any power with the key. I'm not even surer where to begin? All the connections are good, cleaned with electronic cleaner and shop air. It has had an issue with the key getting stuck in the slot a few times, and sometimes when you crank the car, it acts like the battery is dead at first, then spin over like normal? I was really hoping it was bad ground or something, but doesn't appear to be that? What should I be checking? We don't have any Mini dealers near and not any shops that have a computer to run a full diagnostics.

 

Was the car ever running normal before all that?
Where you located again?

 

It had zero electrical issues when it was parked, it started running rough and drove into the drive and parked for a couple weeks while waiting to get time to work on it. Went out to move it in the garage, and NOTHING!
In central illinois. Chicago or Indy are the closest dealers, well over a 100 miles away. Only 2 shops in the area will work on these, and they both suck. They supposedly checked the fuel system because it kept flooding the plugs and has had what I thought was fueling issues, well, guess they didn't check it real good after washing down a cylinder?

 

put the battery on a charger and make sure voltage is healthy. Next, try to communicate with the ECU with an obd reader. if the car was parked outside in the open, look for water intrusion to the fuse box on the passenger side. Also, if your area has seen rodents, it might be a good idea to lift the car and look for chewed wires or anything of that nature. Finally, do you have another keyfob that you could use?