08 Justa Clubman Electrical Gremlins
#1
01-06-2011, 06:13 PM
08 Justa Clubman Electrical Gremlins
Surely some of you will be able to help figure this out...
1) Starting last spring, my alarm would set itself off at inopportune random times... MINI replaced the interior motion sensor, saying it had a short. It's now been replaced twice, and it currently is behaving normally. I often still use the "second click" of the fob's lock button to disable the sensor anyway, out of habit, and to avoid coming out of work to find the alarm sounding.
2) Awhile back, my stereo (hi-fi package, yes I know it's not the greatest) speakers suddenly quit. Might return to normal in minutes, hours, or next day... CD or iPod kept playing, just no sound produced. On one occasion, the headlights flickered at the same time the speakers failed. One service visit indicated "no codes produced", so no actions taken. It's been mostly normal for many weeks.
3) Today I had the bluetooth mic replaced (not moved, replaced), as it failed about a week ago. On the way home tonight after pickup, about 2 miles from home, with stereo off, my headlights flickered, and I thought I heard a faint "tick" noise near my feet. No power surge or drop, nothing but the lights flickering. Then again, less than a minute later, but this time the power steering failure warning light (yellow steering wheel icon with exclamation mark) came on for a moment, with no discernible change in steering feel. This happened about 5 times in 5 minutes, but I still had power steering, and made it home without incident. Warning light does not stay on, only illuminates momentarily.
Now, this could all be coincidence, but does anyone have knowledge of how these issues might be related (aside from the usual "Hey, it's a British car, they're supposed to have electrical problems" comments? I'm going to take it back tomorrow, and any serious hints or actual experiential knowledge would be welcome.
Thanks!
1) Starting last spring, my alarm would set itself off at inopportune random times... MINI replaced the interior motion sensor, saying it had a short. It's now been replaced twice, and it currently is behaving normally. I often still use the "second click" of the fob's lock button to disable the sensor anyway, out of habit, and to avoid coming out of work to find the alarm sounding.
2) Awhile back, my stereo (hi-fi package, yes I know it's not the greatest) speakers suddenly quit. Might return to normal in minutes, hours, or next day... CD or iPod kept playing, just no sound produced. On one occasion, the headlights flickered at the same time the speakers failed. One service visit indicated "no codes produced", so no actions taken. It's been mostly normal for many weeks.
3) Today I had the bluetooth mic replaced (not moved, replaced), as it failed about a week ago. On the way home tonight after pickup, about 2 miles from home, with stereo off, my headlights flickered, and I thought I heard a faint "tick" noise near my feet. No power surge or drop, nothing but the lights flickering. Then again, less than a minute later, but this time the power steering failure warning light (yellow steering wheel icon with exclamation mark) came on for a moment, with no discernible change in steering feel. This happened about 5 times in 5 minutes, but I still had power steering, and made it home without incident. Warning light does not stay on, only illuminates momentarily.
Now, this could all be coincidence, but does anyone have knowledge of how these issues might be related (aside from the usual "Hey, it's a British car, they're supposed to have electrical problems" comments? I'm going to take it back tomorrow, and any serious hints or actual experiential knowledge would be welcome.
Thanks!
#2
01-10-2011, 08:19 PM
6th Gear
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Twin Cities, Minnesota
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It really could be a lot of things, but you will have to blame the Germans and BMW for the electronics. My guess would be water leaking or water damage, bad battery, bad battery connection, bad alternator (or belt), bad battery disconnect (for crashes) or a defective module.
With the lights flickering, EPS (electric power steering) errors and the audio amp shutting down really sounds like a low voltage condition caused by some sort of disruption in the power delivery.
With the lights flickering, EPS (electric power steering) errors and the audio amp shutting down really sounds like a low voltage condition caused by some sort of disruption in the power delivery.
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