1st Gen R53 Cooper S Most liked posts in thread: Starting Issues, gremlin junk.

Either bad battery (could still be flaky, even with the tests you've done), or wet / corroded general module / body control module in the passenger footwell. Pretty confident.

 

All good suggestions from the folks who've already posted. Just a question... This is a used vehicle from what I've gathered. It's very wet inside as well it sounds. Normal car detailing does not introduce or leave behind the amount of moisture you've described.

Could this car have been subject to a flood somewhere? I once looked at an '06 JCW that had been (I believe) in a somewhat famous flood and showed signs of corrosion in some strange places. It also showed signs underneath, in the form of an unexplained reddish color/tinge coating which covered the otherwise normally painted components.

Not saying this car you purchased is a flood car, but it could be... Just planting a thought, maybe more out of curiosity than anything.

 

I think if I had the option, I would return the car and let the dealer bite the bullet. There are plenty of Minis out there for you to choose from without these headaches from the get-go.

 

If you have water in the trunk you probably have a leak somewhere....

Check around the tail lights, check the rear sunroof drains and the radio antenna.....

 

Boxman, a load test will not always indicate whether the battery is the issue in a MINI. Not trying to be difficult. Where are you located? Even if the battery tests okay, I would put another battery in your car to see if that cures the problems before buying one. If you current battery is more than 3 years old, it probably needs replaced.

 

They are the most battery-finicky cars I have EVER seen. Seriously.

 

How did you test the battery? MINI's are very temper mental about their batteries.

Gauges flickering, starting issues, etc.....are all signs of a wonky battery.

 

You do NOT need a "new" BCM from the dealer. Someone with the know-how and software tools (NCSexpert) can code a used BCM to work with your car...

 

^^^ And your play money!

 

Thanks for keeping us updated on this.

This is one to add to the troubleshooting library.

 

Let me add to your list. If they shampooed the carpets and filled the floorboards with water, you may have a Body Control Module (BCM) problem.

 

Sounds like you have might have resistance happening somewhere. Do you have a multimeter? if you do, google starter problem diagnosis. There are a few basic checks you can do. It is basically the the same for all cars. Did you check all of your grounds and the connections to the starter and solenoid. Unfortunately the starter is not easy to get too.

 

I didn't mean that the starter or solenoid was bad, just that it was hard to get to the connections to check them and by resistance i meant in the circuit.

 

yea.......or a shop/person with the program.

 

Requires NCSExpert and expertise on what you're doing... but lots of people have that now... I can make any BCM work in any car, no problem... but took a while to learn to do that. You read the options configuration from one of the other modules, then code the replacement BCM to "factory" settings based on the options config. Easy Peasy, once you know how. Cryptic and German, when you don't.