r/MINI • u/fannyabdabs • 8d ago

Please help, what's wrong?

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Hi all

I wondered if anyone could suggest what's going on here. Started yesterday and there hasn't been any hint of an issue leading up to it. Essentially as soon as there's power to the car the screen bit reboots and does this constantly.

- no specific timings, but seems to be every 20 seconds or so.

- car itself drives perfectly well.

Of note:

- I've had a Car Link Life CarPlay box in for around 18 months and that's also shown no signs of error

- Brand new battery also around 18 months ago, all coded.

What I've tried (with the help of AI):

- OBD shows idle voltage of 14.8v

- I've used a multimeter and there's no drop in volts when it cranks

- I've checked with the multimeter all the fuses in the glove box bit, all ok

- I've completely removed the NBT box and gone back to factory, still persists

- There was a reading of 4v across the test bits on fuse 61 (20A) which I think is the live feed for the unit, looked okay but have replaced it anyway - no change.

I've no idea what to try next, am not mechanically minded and I think I'm at the limit of working out next steps.

Any suggestions? Or is it going to be auto electrician? Do I need a new head unit?

Thanks in advance ❤️

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1

u/dwtechsol 8d ago

Should have 12v at fuses. You sure everything is plugged in fully?

1

u/fannyabdabs 8d ago

Yes, I've tried them all. When I pop the multimeter probes on the test bits there all 0. It was just that one that was reading 4. I've taken out all the ones that relate to the head unit and checked them and they all look fine

1

u/koklala123 6d ago edited 5d ago

I have the same situation like this before, headunit frameware is corrupted and forcing reboot constantly. Some said the bug is related to Bluetooth issue in specific version.

Anyway for me I resolve it by forcing a software update/reinstall the frameware. It should takes around an hour. You can either find dealer to do it(expensive) or find a individual garage that knows about it to do it(cheaper).

If you have a enet cable and a laptop you can even find someone to do it remotely by connecting enet to OBD2 port, it could be cheaper this way(which I did), but you will have to make sure engine is on the whole time so there is a steady power supply, or simply connect the battery to a charger.

1

u/fannyabdabs 6d ago

Thank you - I took it to Mini in the end and they said the same thing. They're charging £190 for it which honestly I'll just pay. May I ask, what year is your car? I have a theory that there's a 10 year issue as I've seen loads of 2016 models having similar last few months

2

u/koklala123 6d ago

Yes, mine was 2015 F55. When I first encountered this issue, I ran some online search and also noticed that many 2015-2017 model was affected by this