Hello Everyone: I have a 2014 R57 non-S. At the end of July it suddenly would not turn on when I put my key in the slot. I had it towed to the dealership and they said the Car Access Module needed to be replaced. After sitting for several weeks, they said that part isn't available anywhere in the US or Germany and they did not know when it would be available. The car is now back in my garage and I am trying to figure it out myself. Apparently, the part I'm looking for is 51-21-0-036-756, but I'm not 100% sure on that because the actual part has a different number on it. Has anyone run into this before? And if so, how did you solve it? I have a feeling I might be searching junk yards for a used replacement and then have to get it reprogrammed, but I'm hoping for an easier way. Thanks.

 

For those who might be interested, I have a conclusion to this sad tale. First, I sent my CAS module off to be tested at the ECU Pros. They said it was good, so my next idea was the key slot itself. This is a heavily used item (obviously) and was getting kind of sticky (it wouldn't eject my key 100% of the time), so I ordered another one. When that arrived I started putting my MINI back together. Once it was partially reassembled, I checked the new key slot and much to my delight, the car started. Unfortunately, as I was finishing the job I discovered that my passenger side floor was soaking wet, like a sponge completely full of water!!! After some harsh words and a little though I figured out what happened. While my car was at the dealership, they unhooked the battery and removed the dashboard. When they decided my CAS module was bad and another one couldn't be located, they put my car outside for storage. The problem was, they unhooked the battery while the top was up and the windows were up. When they shut the doors, the windows did not go down and up slightly (other convertible owners will know what I'm talking about), so the windows were actually outside of the roof at that point and it was left outside to sit for three weeks. During that time it rained and since the windows weren't sealed, water poured into my car, primarily in the front passenger floor. Luckily, the water didn't seem to get on any of the many airbag modules or the fuse box, all of which were located in that area. After a few hours work, I had the carpet out and after several days with a fan blowing on it in my basement the floor was finally dry, so I was able to reinstall it. I am now back on the road. The moral of this story is, don't even bother taking your car to the dealer. Just fix it yourself with forums like this and YouTube videos.
One final note, if you think I'm mad at the dealer, you're correct, but I don't think the whole thing was entirely their fault. Those guys are just parts swappers, so they called MINI corporate and the corporate troubleshooters are the ones who suggested my CAS module was bad in the first place. That would make sense because other all 2014 MINI's have the new style key-fob that isn't inserted anywhere. You just need to have it in the car somewhere close and the vehicle will start. For those vehicles, if the car wont start the CAS module has to be bad (or the key-fob) However, the 2014 convertible was the last model with a key slot and I'd guess the corporate guys didn't realize this when they told the dealership wrong. Of course the dealership could have tried the switch first since that would have been the cheapest and easiest route, but like I said before, they are just parts swappers.