[furby69]

Thought it might be me being simple as I have gone back to my MINI a couple of times and it has been unlocked. I am really in love with my car and always lock it, park it safely, hate people touching it etc so know I always lock it but thought maybe I forgot twice.
Anyway my better half is borrowing my car this week and she said when she got back to it after work it was unlocked. Now I know she would definately lock it as she knows what it means to me.

Has anyone else had the mysterious unlocking MINI syndrome??

I did a forum search but couldn't find anything else on this.

Help?? Am I losing my mind???

[cmt]

I too have come back to an unlocked MINI a couple of times, but as you did I just assumed maybe I had forgot to lock it/the remote hadn't worked and I'd not noticed. Maybe that's all it was in my case.

[ScottyHP]

I used to forget to lock my old car (not very last but the one before) and found it was down to getting out of the habbit of sticking in a key to open/lock. What I mean is you actually physically lock the car in that instance but as soon as you have keyless entry it is easier to forget.

However to be on the safe side I would get your central locking system and your key looked at, better to be safe than sorry

[furby69]

I oo have a black cooper, white roof and red half leather, easily the best combo, perhaps this unlocking thing is unique to this colour combo

[monsta]

There was a thing a while ago where cars were opening all windows and unlocking randomly. I tried searching but can't seem to find any relevent threads.....

Thought it was fixed by now though.

[cmt]

Quote:

Originally posted by monsta
There was a thing a while ago where cars were opening all windows and unlocking randomly. I tried searching but can't seem to find any relevent threads.....

Thought it was fixed by now though.

I too wondered if this was related. Also, my car does not open its doors and sunroof if I hold the key in the unlock position, so an unlocked car is far less obvious than one that is unlocked with all its windows and sunroof open? I thought this setting (or lack of it) a little strange? Isn't it supposed to be a standard feature. I daren't have it switched on, just in case.

NOT COMPLAINING, JUST PASSING COMMENT

[furby69]

Quote:

Originally posted by cmt

I too wondered if this was related. Also, my car does not open its doors and sunroof if I hold the key in the unlock position, so an unlocked car is far less obvious than one that is unlocked with all its windows and sunroof open? I thought this setting (or lack of it) a little strange? Isn't it supposed to be a standard feature. I daren't have it switched on, just in case.

NOT COMPLAINING, JUST PASSING COMMENT

I'm glad mine just seems to unlock, it would be great fun if I cam back and the roof and windows were also open, and it was raining!!!

[Fullonloon]

Interesting, I came back and the car was unlocked. I presumed I had pressed the wrong button on the fob. I'll keep an eye on it.

[Fullonloon]

Oh and to keep it even more interesting, I too have the black/white/red combo :-) LOL

[furby69]

Quote:

Originally posted by Fullonloon
Oh and to keep it even more interesting, I too have the black/white/red combo :-) LOL

hmmm

[cmt]

Maybe because that combo looks so good they thought they had to put a fault in so that other owners don't get as jealous?

[Varse]

My previous yellow/black Cooper had this problem, with the windows dropping as well and thats why it was rejected finally.

Try searching under 'magic windows and doors' maybe. There are a load of threads on this. I really thought they'd solved this problem though.

[furby69]

Varse, I see you are from Bracknell, not seen the 'velvet beauty' going around. Looks great in that colour.

I like the white one too, always thought they should do a white and black one, as well as a pale blue, very italian job.

[Varse]

Hey, my parents live in Wokingham, and I spent 21 odd years man and boy there. Still around there a lot. I'll send you a PM.

Can often be found terrorising the back roads of 'The Ham' and Crowthorne!!

[MiNiGuY]

Hi,
It is easy to double click the key fob so its best to look at the door lock pegs to make sure the car is locked rather than just look at the lights.
Also there are two other reasons your car will unlock itself.
1, if the doors and tailgate are not firmly closed the mini will lock,check and unlock to warn you that a door or the tailgate are not firmly closed. If you've walked away by then that's why its unlocked when you come back. (if doors/tailgate are shut firm and the car locks,checks,unlocks then the system may be over sensitive and need dealer adjustment.
2,if the spare key is in the ignition then the car cannot be locked from outside with the main key fob.

Just a note to American/Canadian MINI owners also,

Your car may have the secure entry system in place which means the key fob does the following..
First press - unlocks drivers door.
Second press - unlocks passanger door and activates tailgate.
Third press - Locks all doors and tailgate again.
It's to stop unauthorised entry through the passenger door or tailgate when you get in.
If your car has this system and you press the fob once when you get in and once when you get out and walk away, you could be fully unlocking the car rather than locking it!!

As I have said, its best to use the door lock pegs as your guide, rather than just walk away and watch for the lights to flash - at least until you are 100% familiar with your cars locking system.
I'm sure most of you already know what I've just written here but maybe the info will be useful to someone.
All the best.

[mr.bill]

Do a search for "Christine." This is in reference to the Stephen King movie about a car with a mind of its own. As I recall, one MINI owner was called by the security guard in his housing complex because his parked and locked MINI had suddenly gone bonkers and was flashing its lights and rolling the windows up and down. Others have reported locking their cars and going into a store, only to come back and find the doors unlocked and the windows down. They expressed concerns about the insurance company not honoring a claim for stolen items because the car was not locked. Some owners have become locked in the cars when the doors refused to open, even though the buttons were up. In most cases, the dealer claimed it was a fault in the ECU and replaced the module. It could also be caused by moisture in a sensor.

[Varse]

Ahhh, the Mr Bill 'MINI fault radar', never fails.

Yes thank you Mr Bill, indeed do a search on Christine. In fact replacing the ECU in most cases did nothing to fix the problem, certainly didn't in my case. Then they started saying it was water in the door lock mechanism. Who knows!!

[Crashandburn]

Christine has been behaving since the ECU was replaced.

At least the windows haven't been winding themselves down, nor have the doors been unlocking themselves or the alarm going off.

I did subsequently have another problem, with many symptoms, amongst which was doors which refused to lock. the Body control module (BC1) was changed that time.

If the magic opening windows syndrome is still affecting people I think they should take them back to the dealers. Just one note - it appears to be intermittent at first. The dealers might need to keep it for a couple of days to actually spot the fault, and I don't think there is a short cut.

[badgersettuk]

My wife's mini1 started opening the windows and unlocking itself. It went back to the dealers and they replaced something, I don't know what it was but it wasn't the BC module. Everything was fine for a month and now it's started doing it again. The dealer says he's never heard of this fault and that no other customers have had it. I think he's bull********. Has anyone bought a MINI from Frank Sytners of Solihull and had this fault or something very similar?

Regards, David.

[Varse]

He is lying through his back teeth, either that or he is very stupid!

Just print off this thread and any other related ones to the magic doors and windows and shove them down his throat.

If you need any other help, let me know, I've still got the mails I sent to MINI customer services and my dealers about this very problem. This is the problem that finally made me reject.