Electrical/running issues (not the usual I think)

[relive]

Hi

After much umming I bought my wife an 03 cooper which she loves and by coincidence I have to drive it now and again We have had the car a couple of months now and it is going in to our local dealer for a few issues. A bit of forewarned is forearmed advice would be much appreciated.

These may or may not be related but as I am not up to speed on new minis yet (and searches turned up nothing) I don't know.

After the dealer said that the battery was below charge on a quick check I have tested it several times. Yesterday 12.38V off 14.04 running seems about right..is it?

1. Randomly the headlights will dim for a few seconds NOT related to speed gear other equipment or steering....... a straight line at say 50 plus and blink then two minutes and again or maybe a few seconds and they will noticeably dim then unnoticeably brighten again...? Weird

2. When cold, too much clutch slipping or throttle is required to stop the revs dropping off and a stall in first or reverse, the idle seems a shade slow or could be elec again.

3. Is this chipped or another elec fault? When accelerating the car is slow then picks up goes crazy then flatish then picks again up as you would expect once the revs come up around 5000rpm. Hard right foot on the flat areas makes no difference and it almost seems strangled. Another approach is to be very light on the gas and then it seems to pick up very quickly but still has the tendency to have a mid bit of sudden speed which can be very unexpected and alarming yet the rest of the time its fine. I'm sure that the other coopers I tested didn't behave like this. Experiences anyone?

Switching on all electrics does not seem to affect things so perhaps it is engine management although BMW said no fault codes first time round.

I'm a bit lost and don't want the old fob off esp while I have a 12 month warranty.

Thanks

[oldmots]

I think the problem you are describing is often called surging. The Mini is a drive by wire car, and the throttle pedal is not connected to the throttle body by cable, only the engine management computer. The throttle plate is opened by a motor, not your foot. This is probably the reason when you stab the throttle, nothing happens. More than likely, you have a software glitch. You need to get to the dealer and get the ECU reflashed. This is fairly common on these cars, especaily the 03's.

[relive]

Thanks for the reply I will press the dealer regarding the remap

Does anyone have any ideas on the headlights?

[MiniBimmer]

Quote: Originally Posted by relive (original)

Thanks for the reply I will press the dealer regarding the remap

Does anyone have any ideas on the headlights?

Hello
I had this problem in my BMW 318IS E36.

The problem:
- VOLTAGE REGULATOR

Note: For MINI part number - VOLTAGE REGULATOR 12317512174

Best Regards

[relive]

Sorry forgot to follow this up. Local dealer insisted that it was a battery issue (despite me doing both cold and warm tests) and replaced it making a very very small difference (not surprising when you consider that the voltage and amp readings were good on the original battery). I can understand this as an obvious starting point but they clearly went no further.

I pressed the issue and took the car back to Cooper Cobham where the car was bought who did a great job and amongst other things rebooted the computer (They said but I assume they meant remap). This transformed the car. No more stalling much better and smoother response in all gears.

The headlights also improved a bit but still have a minor dimming issue......but never mind it is going in for two new headlights on Wed. because the adjustment has just failed and they now point at the floor making night driving tricky! Still under warranty until Feb. I'm glad to say.

Hope this helps.

[colinthecooper]

I'm having this headlight issue on my MY02 Mini Cooper... do you feel it's worth investigating ? I'm suspecting the regulator, but since the lights are held in a constant state of brightness irrespective of the other loads (e.g. rear screen heater / fog lights etc) I'm beginning to doubt this now.

Any advice - most welcome

[relive]

Hi

Sorry I took a while, crazy time of year for me.

Well that Cooper has since been sold but even after the new lights it still had the dimming issue but on a much less regular basis, it was occasional enough to live with (saying a lot for us!). If we had kept the car I guess I would have started looking at earthing/contact type issues with the bulbs/units/connectors as this might explain why there was a difference between the original units and the new. Could be down to corrosion somewhere or simply just seating but I get the feeling if it is this it may just be a case of going through everything methodically regardless of how it 'looks' as I did many superficial checks and never found anything.
Also it didn't seem to relate to road conditions (bumps/smooth) . I never managed to determine properly if there was some correlation with outside temperatures and the frequency of dimming because it still occurred hot or cold. Even if there was this could still leave you with either contact issues due to expansion/contraction OR electrical load issues! Not much help that one!
Sorry I cannot shed any more light on this one (couldn't resist)

Another thought...it may be worth having a fiddle with the switch gear (not too much mind you don't want to carbon up the contacts) I never tried that. Wouldn't relate to the light unit change but interestingly I now remember that they also switched the steering wheel at the same time (due to dodgy leather repair). If you ever sort it post your findings.