When I was about to drive home today, the car started out fine then after manouvreing the car around my power steering failed. And alot of lights were on in the dash - dsc, handbarake, abs, battery, tire indicator and probably some other light which I can't remember. At this point my wondow was down and I could not close it back up, and any other toggle switch function would not work. I restarted the car, all the lights went off and power steering was working again. But just after 5 seconds, all the lights went on again and I again lost power steering. I decided to go home since I'm sure I could make it home without the power steering, so I restarted the car and everyhting was fine again. While driving back with the A/C and headlights on it acted up again, this time it turned off the headlights and the A/C. The speed chime also kept on beeping even though I was only moving at 40kph and my OBC was indicating I was moving at 120kph. My speedometer and tachometer also remained in the position at the time that the problem reoccured.

I restarted the car again and everything went back to normal so I drove again. It happened at least 3 other times till I got home. I noticed that if I kept the revs below 2500 the car would be ok, but once I exceeded that, it would act up again. Once I slowed the car down or put it in neutral it return to normal and all the lights would turn off.

I think the problem is in the electrical system, but I'm pretty sure that my battery is ok since I don't have a problem restarting the car. Could be the alternator but why would it affect the power steering?

I hope someone could help me out!!

John

 

Wow.

It definitely sounds like an electrical problem, something like a bad wiring harness. Can you get to a dealer? What's your warranty situation?

I noticed you're in the Phillipines. I hope you have access to a dealer, because I think you really need one (especially if you're under warranty.)

 

That's the thing, we DON'T have a dealer......warranty? What's that?!

 

What is the history of your car? Ever been damaged or flooded? Ever gotten wet inside the passenger compartment? The intermittent nature of the problem indicates electrical.

Water or moisture and electrical connections do not mix. Thats why I would look for connectors or electrical components that have been soaked. This is assuming that the car has never had crash damage. If crashed, then look for damaged wiring harness, connectors or components in the area of the damage.

Hope this helps.

 

to the BC1 car computer. Don't know how you yourself are going to figure that one out. But I had a global indicator light show simular to what you are describing (IN ANOTHER BRAND CAR 10 YEARS AGO) but never the less.... speed, rpm, overheating, lights galore... the electrical ground made that car's computer spit out all kinds of lights and gauge readings...

When you get it figured out - please post what it was on this forum thread to help others....

Good Luck!

 

Hi John:

In the olden days when I lost power steering I also lost engine power. You did not mention this, but did you also lose power? I also ask because of another NAM thread about the MCSa and ECU42 that has people describing light shows on their dashboards while losing power. You might look at that thread to see if the posts are similar to your experience.

Also you should try posting on MINI2 to see if anyone there can help you.

No matter how much folks on NAM complain about their dealer's bad servicing I can't imagine being in a country where there isn't even a dealer. Because the electrics for the MINI are state of the art I would not trust this to any garage. You should go to a BMW dealer who might be able to link you up with the MINI distributor for Southeast Asia (where would that be?).

When things settle down maybe you could post a photo of your MINI wiith an appropriately exotic (for USA anyway) backdrop. Best wishes on getting this perplexing problem resolved.

 

I think I know what the problem is, it's the altrenator or something connected to it. I found out that this same thing happened to another MCS owner here in the Philippines. All the same symptoms except that his car overheated as well due to not having the auxiliary fan working. He had his alternator rewound and everything went back to normal. I forgot to ask him if the symptom would only arise during heavy electrical load (manouvering out of a carpark) and only above 2500rpms. I say this because I am hoping that my belt is slipping which causes the alternator not to work properly. I do have a 19% pulley and have just come back from a hard drive on Sunday morning, so that might have stretched my belt. I'll try changing the belt and if that doesn't work then the alternators coming off. Thanks for everyones help!!

morknmini,
I'll try to post some pics of good sites here, if ever we get to bring the MCS there! :smile:

I'll keep this thread updated for reference to others.

John

 

Hey There,

I have the same problem, verbatim. I am going to take it to the dealer next week along with this thread. I will post their findings.

 

The MINI is a "black market" item in the Philippines. BMW does not officially import, sell and service the car there. I believe most MINIs there come from dealers in the middle east.

 

myjackrussels,
It's going to be definetely the alternator and/or the voltage regulator. Have those two checked and I'm sure your MCS will be back to normal. I changed both on mine since I didn't want to be driving around in a rewound alternator. I'm wondering what's causing this problem though. So far there has been 4 MCS's that suffered this same problem here in the Philippines. That's from about 20 or so MINI's roaming our country. Something seems to be a problem with the alternator/regulator.

Goodluck to you.

C4,
Yep, your right!

John