[GAJ]

I have a 2003 Cooper which has no 12V socket in the boot. I was given a very cool MINI electric coolbox by santa but have nowhere to plug it in!

Has anyone had a socket retro-fitted?

Is the wiring already in place as part of the loom?

How much did it cost?

Cheers!

[diverse]

Had mine retrofitted at the cost of around £170 plus VAT!

[2nd Mini]

Another inexpensive option for occasional use is an extension cord from the front socket.

2

[Wul]

Gaj - a few threads on this one
http://www.mini2.com/forum/showthrea...+soc ket+boot

but it looks to me like you are struggling without stripping the interior to run a cable to the boot - i'd go for the extension cable option, you could run it carefully round the perimeter trim and under the back seat if you didn't fancy taking it out all the time.

[jlivingood]

So, other than a cooler for drinks and such, what other creative things can this socket be used for? I've got one but, never having had one before, am at a loss for all of the things I can do with it.

Jason

[diverse]

Charging mobile out of sight (bluetooth)
Charging/Using PC with 12/240V adapter
Using the latter you could be limited by your imagination (and fuse load!)

[Bonnie Scotland]

One usefull thing is a tyre inflator complete with light, also for the woman in your life, an iron and tea maker
Only meant as a wee joke so no disgruntled anti men campaigners

alan fae bonnie scotland

[zoooooom]

I have retro fitted it to my Cooper

The socket from BMW is less than £5.00 yes thats right less than a fiver

You can fit it easily without stripping the car to a bare shell.

If you open the flap bellow the hole for the socket you can get your hand up the back to fit it.

If its a cooper's'then the battery is in the boot

If its not an 's' then pull the seal off at the passengers door (or drivers if its left hand drive )

then feed something in through the hole behind the trim (I used a nylon rod)and use this to feed in the wire.

I did not connect it direct to the battery,I used a relay so that it is only on with the ignition

[zoooooom]

Quote:

Originally posted by diverse
Had mine retrofitted at the cost of around £170 plus VAT!

Ripped off or what?????????

[GAJ]

My dealer just quoted me £130 plus VAT plus parts! With a straight face!!

[diverse]

Quote:

Originally posted by zoooooom
Ripped off or what?????????

I have issued a County Court Summons to get back this (as it was part of the spec of the car i ordered) + the cost of other repairs my dealer did not sort out, totalling £1300 that I was charged by another Mini Dealer!

Ripped off is one word to describe the nightmare that my Mini ownership has been to me, with the gear linkage and handbrake failures on my (old rejected) Cooper!

NEVER WILL I BUY BMW AGAIN!

[lightbody]

Mine is handy for my wee car vacum cleaner, and has just been handy for my wee fibre-optic xmas tree which was on the back shelf!

[monsta]

I charge up my digital camera using the socket in the boot, as well as powering my 12v fridge

[Ziggy]

All the literature I was given prior to ordering my MINI said I would get the boot socket. I thought it would be pretty useful. On the basis of a few comments on the forums, I queried this with my dealer. She had no idea but raised it with MINI who replied:

"from a recent MINI bulletin:

SMOKERS PACKAGE OPTION 441
As from production week 36/09.02, option 441 Smokers Package will no longer include the 12V socket in the boot compartment."

My dealer says they can retrofit it for £58.75 including VAT. Seems a pretty good deal compared to the £170 quoted above, although obviously more than the £0.00 cost I expected it to be! Could be because it's a Cooper S so has the battery in the boot.

I'm probably not going to pay for it now as I can always get it retrofitted in the future if I think it would come in handy.

However, my dealer is going to get a letter from me making it very clear that I will not be happy if any other such items are deleted from the spec of my MINI. Does anyone have any other experience of such arbitrary changes by BMW/MINI? Another thread in the Cooper S forum mentioned that the interior trim spec appears to have been changed. (The first sign of this was upon delivery.)

[gvl]

Ziggy,

My MCS didn't have the boot-socket either when it was delivered.(We also like to use a cool-bos and other stuff.)
It also lacked the metal foor-rest which should be in the "S"-version.
I wasn't told these would not be in our MCS, so I told the dealer:

- WE Ordered it with these thingies.
- WE payed YOU for it (YOU did not tell us WE would not get it).
- So now YOU make sure it gets in there fast!

So he did as he should with no charges of course ;D
Isn't there some law in your country that makes companies do exactly what they promise at sale

Success!

Ger

Quote:

Originally posted by Ziggy
All the literature I was given prior to ordering my MINI said I would get the boot socket. I thought it would be pretty useful. On the basis of a few comments on the forums, I queried this with my dealer. She had no idea but raised it with MINI who replied:

"from a recent MINI bulletin:

SMOKERS PACKAGE OPTION 441
As from production week 36/09.02, option 441 Smokers Package will no longer include the 12V socket in the boot compartment."

My dealer says they can retrofit it for £58.75 including VAT. Seems a pretty good deal compared to the £170 quoted above, although obviously more than the £0.00 cost I expected it to be! Could be because it's a Cooper S so has the battery in the boot.

I'm probably not going to pay for it now as I can always get it retrofitted in the future if I think it would come in handy.

However, my dealer is going to get a letter from me making it very clear that I will not be happy if any other such items are deleted from the spec of my MINI. Does anyone have any other experience of such arbitrary changes by BMW/MINI? Another thread in the Cooper S forum mentioned that the interior trim spec appears to have been changed. (The first sign of this was upon delivery.)

[Ziggy]

GVL

Thanks. I had a chat to my wife before I sent the letter (she's a lawyer) and she said exactly that. I'll let you know if that does the trick.

Cheers.

Ziggy.

[diverse]

What happened to the post I put up yesterday?

Mr Moderator?

[Casey]

We used the socket to power a TV and VCR while out in the woods camping...so we could watch Italian Job...worked great.

[scott321172]

Just found out that if you specify the smokers package the 12 volt boot socket comes as standard on the cooper not to sure about the min one though.
The smoker package is optional i think, you need to specify this as it does not cost extra on the options list.

[nulltty]

You can buy the socket adapter, orange ring, and cap from the dealer; was about $8-10US total. The more expensive item and harder to retrofit is the wiring harness for the 12V outlet. If you have a MCS, you could try to hack a wire to your battery, or perhaps tap into one of the wires behind the panel.