I've searched around here and found similar problems, but I haven't read any threads that answer my question...About two months ago, I turned off my '04 Cooper and the radio stayed on. The car was also sluggish to start. A few days later, the battery was dead, though it would start with a jump. I replaced the battery, but the problem resurfaced in a few days. I took it to my local BMW certified mechanic, where it stayed for a month. The mechanic found a short and ended up replacing the ESU and several fuses. $900 later, it worked just as before, no problems and the radio turned off when you turned the car off. It's now a week later and I'm having the same problems. The radio stays on unless you turn it off, and the battery is draining after about a day. I drove it several hundred miles this weekend (back and forth trips for work) and so there should have been plenty of charge to last a day, but after not driving it yesterday, it's dead again today.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Obviously something is keeping the radio on and allowing the battery to drain when the car is off, but I can't afford to spend more money on explorations. I really need help, I love this little car and this is the first problem I've had in 3 years of ownership!

 

pull fuses f10 and f27 and drive without radio cd changer for a while and see if draw still there. or you can put an amp meter in series with neg pole on batt. and pull fuse f10 then f27 watching each time to see if draw goes away . with meter on amps and in series with neg term of batt. if there's a draw it will read on meter . series is taking the wire off the neg pole and connecting meter to it other meter lead then goes on neg pole of batt .

 

also if there's still a draw after these fuses are pulled you can pull and replace all fuses one at a time with amp meter hooked up till you find the one .

 

The drain should not exceed 50ma with the ignition off; however you may have to wait a few minutes for all the systems to go to sleep before the current drain goes down to a minimum.

The radio should time out after about 10 mins and shut itself off.

 

@herbie hind - please pardon my ignorance, I'm a pastry chef with no mechanical inclinations (though I'm a fast learner!); if one of the fuses is the culprit, does that mean that the fuse is somehow faulty? I know that my mechanic replaced at least one fuse during the last repair because he failed to notice it and the first time I picked it up, all sorts of things were going crazy. I do have someone who's capable of helping me check this out, just not sure exactly what I'm checking out.

@frenchie - the radio doesn't time out, ever. In fact, the first time I noticed the problem, I'd been away from the car for several hours and came back to find that the radio was still on. The battery drains enough that the car is dead within about 24 hours of not driving, less if I've only been driving short distances. Last week, I drove at least 50 miles each day and had no problem starting it each morning, but then it was parked all day Saturday and wouldn't start on Sunday or today without a jump.

All the usual suspects have been tested, the battery is brand new, there's no issue with the alternator. My mechanic suspected the ECU and replaced it, and that "fixed" things for about a week. I'm taking it back to him this week, but I just don't think he has any idea what the issue is, and I can't really afford to have him spend another month working on it. Also, unless there's simply no other option, the dealership is prohibitively far away.

I truly thank anybody who gives me advice on this, I know I'm not a regular poster, but I do love coming to these boards for MINI tips and information.

 

it's cool frenchie is your guy . finding the fuse is just a way of finding the circuit responseable from there it gets hard . sometimes a draw is before the fuse box ,. it's all process of elimination . one thing you can check on your own is grounds . coopers are notorious for corroded grounds . make sure all connections you see arte free of corrotion . the grounds of small gauge will be brown wires going to ground blocks under hood . seems to me though that the radio is not getting the input that the ignition is off . dont know where the timer is though but i'm sure frenchie does . radios dont draw alot . so you still gotta get the amount of draw checked . pick up a cheap multi meter at auto zone and we'll walk you through it .

 

I have seen radios stay on before causing the battery to fail. I would definitely start with replacing the radio. But as stated befor, pull the radio fuse and try that, but yeah it happens.

 

Here is a link that describes the process...http://www.tomorrowstechnician.com/A...parasites.aspx

 

I had a battery go dead last week. Put a new battery in and it fired up. However, right away the car acted like it was possessed!!! The electrical is all messed up and they say it will cost $6000 to fix. I love my car.

Hope they can figure out your problem.

 

This may not help, but I had a VW Golf with similar problems. The problem turned out to be the ignition switch, which wasn't turning off the radio when the key was withdrawn.
As a much cheaper, temporary solution, consider something like the Priority Start device, which disconnects your battery before a mystery drain can flatten it. It starts right up when you turn the key.