I think it is probably protocol for the dealer to check/fix/adjust the shifter cable, unfortunetly this is not the proper fix. They don't want to spend more money/time than they have to but in the long run, since this is a more common issue, they should just replace the part up front. It could be different things wrong with each car but I wouldn't think so.
Like I said a few posts back, if you have this problem it won't go away until MINI replaces the part(gear shift mechanism). Also I doubt this will turn into a "Lemon" issue as mine seems to be okay after they replaced parts but it may turn into a recall??

 

Hey Otra,

I actually e-mailed a link to this entire thread to my SA so that he could see that this is not a unique issue and what other dealers were doing to fix the problem. I also told him when I dropped it off that they would probably need to replace the shifter mech. He told me right away that they will try several things first but ultimately would probably end up replacing the shifter which they did. Sounds like once they decided to replace the part that it was FedExed to them because he e-mailed me the next day to tell me they had got it.

BTW My SA at Mini of Concord said he goes in NAM regularly and he thinks this is a great forum.

 

That's wonderful that your SA is open to all of this info. According to my sources, my SA (who I am personally very fond of) does not deal with the Internet boards and will only take it from MINI. My loss, at this point.

I'm sure my guys will get it together and I am going to copy some of this and print it out and bring it with me...and perhaps hold my loaner for ransom?

 

Me too, me too. I think MiniEnvy may have it right, at least for my wife's '08. She first noticed it on Friday which happened to be our first 95+ degree day here in Little Rock. The primary symptom is that the car doesn't seem to realize that it's in Park. The indicator says P on the shift lever, but nevertheless the gear icon shows and the nav system complains that the car isn't in Park. Also the key may or may not be easily released from the dock. It seems a bit random. The P lamp on the shift lever will continue to glow red long after the car has been turned off and exited.

I picked her brain yesterday and it seemed to match the symptoms MiniEnvy described, i.e that it only manifests when the car is actually exposed to high temps. On all three mornings of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, it was fine. After the first drive on all three days it exhibited the problem. Once it was allowed to cool off in the garage, it would always go back to working fine.

We're 130mi from our dealer, so I'm not liking all this talk of leaving the car overnight waiting on parts and futile diagnostics.

She hasn't named her car, but its name will be "Mud" if this sort of thing continues.

kd

 

The shifter cable is not sensor related...DUH!! It is amazing what the Dealer's are saying is going to FIX the problem, but doesn't!! And it is kind of FUNNY that they (in my situation) ordered parts basically before they even saw the car. She did set off a code, though, so at least they knew something was up. Oh well...off to an enjoyable visit with my Mom and tomorrow we are flying to Alaska to see my Daughter and Son-in Law for a week!!
I'll be away from the computer during that time, hopefully all of you will have the opportunity to get your Babies to the Dealer to get this problem fixed.

 

Got my baby back from the dealer on Friday. I'm happy to say that they resolved the amber gear light problem. According to the service invoice, it was quite a job. Glad it was under warranty. Here is the SA's report as written on my invoice:

Tech inspected and verified that the yellow gear indicator light is on. Connected to GT1 and interrogated fault memory. Tech found relevant fault code A0B6 - selector lever interlock signal or value above threshold, currently not present, stored in the CAS module. Tech adjusted shift cable as necessary and cleared fault memory. Road tested and re-checked fault memory. Fault reoccurred, again not currently present. Tech placed order for SOP shifter assembly. Tech removed airbox assembly to access shift cable. Removed exhaust system to access heat shield. removed heat shield to access shifter assembly. Tech replaced complete shifter assembly due to internal sensor issues. Re-installed heat shield. Re-installed exhaust system. Re-installed airbox. Connected to GT1 and cleared fault memory. Road tested and re-checked fault memory. No CAS faults at this time. No gear warnings present at this time.

The part # ordered and replaced was: 1 25-16-7-577-589 Gearshift Assy, Steptronic:251030

I could definitely tell the work had been done as the transmission was tight and needed to be broken in again. Car is perfect now. Hopefully this info will help others having this problem.

 

Wow, Russ - great details, many thanks! I am going to print this out for certain.

Quick question - when this issue was going on..was it intermittent at all? Mine appears to be related to how long I drive the car....as in after they "fixed" mine (not truly fixing it but I want to believe they thought they did) and drove it a couple of miles to the dealership from the shop (don't ask they are not in the same building!)...the warning light didn't show up... I drove back my way which was about a 30 minute drive, turned the car off and voila - it was there again....and stayed as showing for the rest of that days' starts and stops. The next morning - gone, drove a mile and it still didn't show...but as soon as I drive a longer amount of time (which will of course heat things up) it seems to come back on.

Does this sound familiar?

 

Hi Otra and others with this problem,

Yep that is pretty much the way mine was. Started occurring about a month after taking delivery which was around the time the weather here in the Bay Area started getting in the +90s. At first it was intermittent after turning off the car after driving in hot weather but then started occurring more frequently after car had been driven for extended periods. The first time I took it in, they couldn't duplicate the problem because the weather was mild. The tech cleared some fault codes and thought that did the trick. When I went to pick up the car that day it had been sitting in the sun. When I stuck my key in the ignition, the symbol appeared and I ran in and got the SA. Since he was able to see it he scheduled another appointment. In between that time and the time I took it in to finally get it fixed, the symbol was showing up everytime I turned the car off no matter how long it was driven or how hot it was. I think by that time the shifter assy had failed. I was also able to move the car out of park on a couple of occasions without putting my foot on the brake. At no time however did it affect driveability of my car. I'm hoping that Mini or Aisin made some improvements to the new part. Good luck with your repair and by all means show them what was done to my car successfully so that they get yours fixed properly without wasting your time performing useless adjustments.

I do have to say I was more than pleased with how I was treated during this whole process. Mini of Concord service is great.

 

Will do and, again, many thanks. It all sounds so familiar. Here's to getting it fixed completely on 7/30!

 

I got my baby back today, they replaced the shift interlock. I haven't seen the icon since the first time I took her in.

Good luck to everyone else!

 

Yea I did one of these today, required a full shifter console and pieces on the transmission. BMW's fix is that shifter cable but that doesnt do anything. The car I had couldn't tell the difference between R and D and would switch randomly while driving causing the car to shut off and buck to an halt.. not good at all on a car with less than 2k miles..

 

That sounds disastrous. What if you are driving on a highway? Windows not rolling up or down is not good. Car not differentiating between reverse and drive is an accident waiting to happen.

I m wondering if Mini needs to initiate a recall on this?

 

I've got this intermittent amber gear icon, too (at 2,700 miles on the clock). So far mine hasn't exhibited any other symptoms, so I was happy to wait for two weeks to bring it in when my dealer next has a loaner available. Here's hoping that it doesn't start switching gears on its own before then....

 

I bought my Clubman in yesterday for this and they replace the shift mechanism and problem solve. They will mail me the paperwork by mail (not ready yet when I went to pick up my car) and I will report back in details regarding what did they change.

Great service for Long Beach MINI, took them less then 4 hours to fix my problem. No more light ever since

 

Excellent - that's what we like to hear!

 

I just got mine back today. The paperwork says they replaced the shifter assembly. Drove it around this evening in 93 degree weather, and yay, no more gear icon or key-eating madness!

However, this apparently replaced the shift **** too. The new one has a much bigger button that sticks out further towards the front, and it has black plastic surrounding the button that wasn't there before. Overall I have to say it now feels flimsy and awkward when pressing the button to shift gears. Do not like.

I'll be interested to see if anyone else has a noticeably different **** after the assembly replacement.

 

still awaiting parts

 

All my parts are back ordered from germany.. so I've had loaners out for awhile now

 

I wonder why my parts only took 3-5 days and no backorder, while others are waiting so long.

My **** is still bugging me so I looked at some pictures of my car when I got it. The old **** actually did have the black plastic as well, but we never noticed it because there seemed to be less of it. It sounds nuts but my husband and I both could tell the new **** feels different. Yet it doesn't look much different from the picture of the old one. We'll try to ask the guy who replaced it what's up. If it's not just our imagination I suppose its possible that MINI changed the part slightly.

 

I had to wait 5 weeks for the shifter assembly to come in and they are installing this today. It must be a big job as they will not be finished today and I will pick it up tomorrow afternoon. The service person indicated mine was the third one they have done this year so it sounds like a wide spread issue based on the posts. Hopefully no new rattles or noises after all the teardown of the exhaust system, etc that was described above.

 

My car has been solid after this repair I've put about 400 miles on the car since getting it back last Friday. Tranny will be a little tight at first but it loosens up after 100 or so miles. BTW, my shifter **** wasn't replaced as mentioned in a previous post. My dealer had the part overnighted after they determined it needed to be replaced. Not sure why others have waited 5 weeks for the part as there are obviously available shifters assemblies in this country.

 

Thanks everyone for reporting back in w/details.

 

I am so thankful I found this thread. My mini is in for the third time with this issue and all they have done so far is tighten the cables etc.... I am going to email him with this information and hopefully they will replace the shifter mechanism. I will check back in. I have only had my mini for three months.

 

Mine occurred after only two months of ownership. The shifter replacement solves the problem though.

 

I think there might have been problems with the MINI built around the end of March and end of April. I notice a few people that were the same (week10) or close to the same build week as me. Maybe just a bad batch of this particular part or maybe just a coincedence.