I just had convenience opening shut down on GBMINI#3 after finding for the second time my windows open and wet seats after overnight rain - thankfully my (hardtop) roof didn't open!

The '05+ keys are a much worse design in this respect.

 

See next post - oops

 

There is a Technical Service Bulletin to have this work completed. On All Vehicles from March 22, 2005 on the convenience open function is "not active" from the factory.
YOU SHOULD NOT BE CHARGED FOR THIS WORK!
THe Bulletin specifically says:
"At customer request, the function can be changed to "Active"..."

Note the 'At customer request' part.

 

I do like your color as well. What color is Emma's top?

 

IMO, the dropping the top via remote takes too long. Most times I am already by my MINI while the top is still dropping. I don't use this feature at all. I agree with the prior post re: it is quite hard to accidentally drop the top remotely.

 

Black Top. I thought I had that in my sig. I do now.

I had a tan top on a 97 Miata and it tended to show dirt and wear realativley easily. Even though the green top is darker, I choose the black top hoping it would show the least wear over the long run. Besides, it will be down most of the time.

 

By 05+ I assume that your indcating that the 05 and 06 keys are similar? I don't carry my keys in my pocket at home and park way to far from my car for this to be a problem at work. Besides, Rain in Southern California? I may try to get into the habit of carrying my keys in my hand until I'm well clear of the operating range of the remote.

I assume that when you found your top down, that your doors were also unlocked? It seems that there would be a lot more reports of owners finding there doors unlocked when returning to their vehicle as well if keys in the pocket is the issue. Any one have any thought on this?

Phil

 

The '05+ MINIs will relock automatically if no door is opened after a couple of minutes - so that's not so much of a problem. It's just a poor key design.

 

I'm not sure in what circumstances that you're referring to where the car automatically re-locks itself. I leave my car unlocked in my garage every night, and it's never locked in the morning. Perhaps it was something that I opted out of when I had the key fob programming set up.... Certainly I would never want the car to lock itself under any circumstances.

 

If you leave your car unlocked, it will stay unlocked.


If you lock your car, walk away, (give it a couple of minutes) and unlock using the key fob, it will automatically lock itself if you don't open a door or the boot after a couple of minutes. THAT'S when it relocks itself, and that's what they are talking about.

 

It is not unusual for me to go out to the garage and find my '06 all locked up (I ALWAYS carry my keys in my pocket). I now leave the keys to my wife's MINI on my dresser after she found her '05 locked one too many times. I had the same problem with our 2001 and 1/2 Passat (only VW would be so clever as to introduce a new model in mid year and not call it a 2002 ).

 

Have any of you heard of this or tried this? YOU HAVE GOT TO TRY THIS.

Did you know us MINI owners have our own Mini "OnStar" type system. What is that you ask? Well, lets say you lock your key in your car, and assuming your spare is somewhere else (say with your spouse or at home). You can call your spouse (for example) on your cell phone, while on the call, tell the person with the key on the other end of the line to hold the key up to the phone at the same time you put your cell phone close to the drivers side door and then ask the person on the other phone to hold down the unlock button on their key. What happens? Well, I don't know the complete technical details but the phone network acts as a huge antenna for the remote key and your MINI UNLOCKS! It may be because the key sends a digital signal through the phone line and the cell phone at the car side of the call acts as a channel for the key code. Unbelievable but true.

Let me know if any of you get a chance to try this.

 

Not quite. Your leg has been pulled. Remote key systems do not work off of sound but rather radio frequencies like your garage door opener.

 

Tell him to pound sand and program you car the way YOU want. He didnt fork over the 20-30k.

 

rameeti, have you actually tried this to confirm it DOESN'T work? I never said is was "sound" that makes this work. Since cell phones are basically radio frequencies this makes perfect sense why it works.

 

Cell phones work by having an analog frequency (your voice) be heard by the microphone. The circuitry of the cell phone converts this analog signal into a digital signal and that get to the other end where the phone converts the digital signal back to analog (sound). Thus, the phone can not hear the radio frequency that is being transmitted by the remote. Just can't happen.

And no, I haven't tried it. I don't have to try everything that I know won't work.

 

Come on rameeti, you don't actually think cell phones DON'T transmit radio frequency signals do you? A simple Google on how a Cell phone works explains why this works, and I quote from www.electronics.howstuffworks.com, :
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
The Cell Approach

One of the most interesting things about a cell phone is that it is actually a radio-- an extremely sophisticated radio, but a radio nonetheless. ....
In the dark ages before cell phones, people who really needed mobile-communications ability installed radio telephones in their cars. In the radio-telephone system, there was one central antenna tower per city, and perhaps 25 channels available on that tower. This central antenna meant that the phone in your car needed a powerful transmitter -- big enough to transmit 40 or 50 miles (about 70 km). It also meant that not many people could use radio telephones -- there just were not enough channels.
The genius of the cellular system is the division of a city into small cells. This allows extensive frequency reuse across a city, so that millions of people can use cell phones simultaneously.

And as for digital:

[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
Along Comes Digital

Digital cell phones are the second generation (2G) of cellular technology. They use the same radio technology as analog phones, but they use it in a different way. Analog systems do not fully utilize the signal between the phone and the cellular network -- analog signals cannot be compressed and manipulated as easily as a true digital signal. This is the reason why many cable companies are switching to digital -- so they can fit more channels within a given bandwidth. It is amazing how much more efficient digital systems can be.

Interesting reply anyway. You keep telling yourself that....good luck with that.

 

Yes, of course they transmit radio signals. The problem is not they can not transmit radio signals but that they are not designed to receive radio signals at the cell phone via the microphone and then retransmit those frequencies over the cell network. Cell phones are designed to 'hear' analog noise and convert that to digital signals and then transmit that over the cell network.

I did a bit of research for those that just wanna believe. It is always rather difficult to prove something can't be done and that is why it is accepted that the onus to prove something is on the person stating something can be done.

Remote Control

Urban Legends

 

rameeti, I can see your point. Hmmm, have I been duped? I'll have to retest this. In the mean time, I think my research on the phone technology proves that cells do transmit radio signals.

 

Why would you want them disabled? They get you more visibility and a lower insurance rate.

Paul

 

Yes, cell phones do transmit radio signals. But they are not designed to receive a radio signal and then retransmit that same radio signal. If they did that, they would be called 'repeaters' which is an entirely different type of radio. Up high on top of mountains are 'repeaters' and their purpose is to receive a radio signal and then retransmit it onward to the next antenna.

 

If you haven't tried it already, point the key up and press the metal to the bottom of your jaw while pressing the unlock button. Your body effectively works as an antenna extending the range of the key. I find that this often works from far enough out to have the top down before I reach the car.

 

That link shows the programmable checklist up to '05. In '06, there is a new form that has 3 signature lines.

 

The part about the dealer having you sign for the non attached license plate holder is a CA requirement. They are supposed to either attach the mount, or give you all the mounting parts and hardware and have you sign a waiver saying you know that you are required to have a front license plate.

The waiver for the convenience opening is just MINI covering the rear which is understandable.

 

Do both keys have to be programmed? One of mine works fine, the other won't operate any of the functions.