Cooper (R50) models built between Feb 1, 2003 and Mar 31, 2004 according to MINI Customer Relations.

 

^^^ mine's a R53 built in 6/03... shitola.

 

R53 07/05 and I was going to use it as an exuse to upgrade too, oh well...

 

My battery is starting to call it quits. I'm probably going to cram an Optima in it's place.

 

I have an R53 built 10/02 No recall letter about a battery.
It's dead and outside my garage.

Running around for a month with a braille battery.
Cute little thing.
I mean the battery. not my MINI. Of course that's cute too.

 

Got my letter a few days ago too. I have a July build 2003 MC. Silly isn't it? I complained of a faulty battery years ago and none of the dealers would do anything about it. Now I'm 60,000 miles and MINI wants to give me a new one. Hmm, maybe I can just take cash?

 

Just had the recall work done on our 9/2003 Cooper. In addition to replacing the battery, the techs have to do some kind of diagnostics.

They had the car for an hour.

 

I have a 02 MCS and the battery died all of a sudden. Replaced it with a Red Top Optima. Fits well with a little addition of the Optima adapter for $3.

 

my 03 MC had the battery replaced about a year ago ... just died on me with no warning.

but on inspection just yesterday, my positive (red) battery cable is baddly corroded and the plastic outer shielding is coming off ... this needs to be changed asap.

 

So is there a drain on the battery while parked? is that why it's dying
so soon? this battery swap only sounds like a bandaid fix until they
find the actual source...

i know my MCS drains a lot vs my other car. when both are sitting in my
garage in the winter time my MCS's power drops quite a bit (noticable
difference on the volt meter) where as my other car (G35C) shows no
measureable drop. both fires fine, but i won't go without a charge over
3weeks on the MCS.

 

We took ours in today and they were out of batteries but they will have more tomorrow. The seatbelt light needed to be fixed also so they gave us a car to drive and said we could come back tomorrow or Friday. They also offered to bring it back to us even though we live 100 miles away. That was pretty nice but we would not want them to be driving our Cooper through the north Ga. mountains.

 

The news of this battery recall is interesting. Early last month (before they announced this battery recall), my May 16, 2003-build MINI Cooper battery died without warning and the car was towed to the dealer. They had it for 2 days and said "we are finding a parasitic draw on your battery, we're trying to locate the source of the draw..."

At the end of day 2 they called and said "We installed a new battery...and also replaced your power steering pump."

I wonder if the source was the PS pump or maybe it was just coincidence...

-boognish

 

Since I got mine used and even registered on the mini site ive yet to get any correspondance from mini. Could someone send me a copy of their battery recall letter?
I appreciate it!
thanx

 

did they find the problem? if not, it's going to come back and haunt you
again.

 

I had not received a recall letter but I found out that my '03 Cooper
was eligible when I had to be towed into the dealership after the
battery died anyway. This is my 3rd battery. My Mini service rep
told me that he thinks the batteries are absolute crap.

 

I ordered an Interstate 72-month Megatron battery from my dealer. It's peace of mind. ;o)

 

My next one is going to be a much better one than the ones that
Mini has been putting in my car. Sounds like you ordered a good one
and, I agree, it's worth the peace of mind.

 

I have an O3 "S" and the battery died on me. it took a 90 mile tow to the dealer in 102 degrees weather without AC tow truck. By the way the truck could not go more than 55-60 mph. I just now notice this thread. They did not told me anything about a recall. They did wanted to check the car and had it for about an hour an a half. Strangely now the car is running so sweet that I am wondering if they changed the code also. It is feeling stronger than ever.... . I did made some changes recently but did not feel the diffence in a long drive before. Maybe is just a reset of the CPU?

Bomboasy

 

A friend of mine just had his '05 MCca die on him and he was told about the battery issue and his is getting replaced. His might be part of the bumper to bumper coverage though not a recall.

 

"Euro batteries" have reverse terminals. Positive and Negative terminals are in the opposite locations compared to "American batteries". Therefore, on the Cooper, the positive cable will not reach the positive terminal, of say, the Optima Red Top battery that's found at Costco. (Optima does have a Reverse Terminal Red Top, which is slightly longer than the "normal" Red Top. It's difficult to find)

Arly-Does this adapter extend the reach to the terminal? Where did you get it?

 

As KENCHAN mentioned, this could be a bigger problem. Is the minor problem of a poor batch of batteries the culprit for all these MINIs or is there a bigger problem of some sort of "parasitic draw" that will short live any type of battery that's replaced.
Any one else had their battery & PS pump replaced?

 

Just before I bought it in July...The servicing dealer replaced the battery (June 06) in my 04 MCS under warranty....(I found out after i bought it)

Guess the bad batch or problem goes further than the 03 MC!! I also had an 03 MC and got the recall letter AFTER 2 CELLS DIED! Replaced it with an aftermarket one just before I sold it! (Batteries Plus)

.next one will be an Optima!

 

you can use a generic battery jumper wire Autozone sells if you can't
get your wire to reach. it's like a 4 awg or something...huge wire and
very short. just make sure to e-tape the conducter real good where
you connect your factory wire to. I used those jumpers in the past
with no issues.

im thinking about swapping my factory battery to the yellow top this
winter since the charge keeps dropping pretty quickly within 3 weeks
during hibernation. I have a yellow top in the garage from my previous
cars. atleast my deep cycle won't die even if discharged significantly.
might even be able to go 2 months without topping it off.

 

My battery died tonight, without warning. (I'm guessing it's the battery from the similar clicking symptons/low lights etc).

I tried to start the car with jumper cables (and another car), and even with those it didnt crank, just clicked.

Will try push starting it tomorrow, to get it to the dealership. Will let yall know if the battery I get is free.

Update:
Jump starting with another car and 10 dollar jumper cables didnt work.
Jump starting with AAA heavy duty battery starter worked.

Drove to dealer (South Bay). Got my free (NOT recall) battery, no questions asked. Was happy camper after that. Thanks South Bay MINI. Back in my good books.

 

The battery went suddenly last night on my '03 Cooper (35k miles). The way the car reacted, with the solenoid clicking and various interior lamps and the anti-theft going crazy, I at first thought it was something much worse. But the AAA guy sent by MINI Roadside Assistance found the battery was barely powering the car -- he got it going by jumping it with his special AAA super-power box, but the power fluctuation was so bad (light strength and RPMs pulsing up and down noticably) he thought it would be dumb of me to drive it home, so it got towed 30 miles to Northwest MINI in Fife.

I get on here this morning to see if mine is a unique experience, and discover that there is a battery issue for R50 Coopers built in a period starting February 2003, which includes me... but I never got a letter ( ) and the car gave up and stranded me with no warning at all. I've never had a car that didn't signal somehow that the battery was about to go (slow crank, etc.)... not happy.