Since its rebranding, different models of Mini Cooper have attracted more enthusiasts than many of its market and industry rivals. The car’s unique shape complements its amazing legroom, spacious storage, and headroom. These attractions make you not worry because they’re pretty good attractions. Besides, the Cooper’s longevity and fuel economy add to its fantastic perks.
But as your Mini Cooper ages, you may have to start to deal with service light reset issues. Mind you, age isn’t the only reason the Mini Cooper service light message will pop up. I’ll explain those causes in detail shortly, but first, what does the service light mean? How can you do a reset if it keeps popping up? Let’s take the issues one after another.
What is Mini Cooper Service Light
The Mini service light isn’t just there to send you into a panic. In fact, it’s your car’s way of communicating with you. It’s like a gentle tap on the shoulder, saying, “Hey buddy, something needs attention.”
Before delving into the causes, let me take a few minutes to explain what the Mini service light on a dashboard means. The service light appears to notify a driver that the car’s front brakes are low and need changing. The dashboard will display the mileage left before the brakes wear out.
However, for MINIs that use diesel, the service light notification on the dashboard means the car’s diesel particulate filter is full and needs regenerating. Meanwhile, it’s possible to continue driving a Mini Cooper with the service light on for two weeks or 500 miles before it develops a real fault.
It’d be very unwise to do that because it can cause other parts of the vehicle to malfunction if you don’t fix it on time. It can damage the car’s engine or even lead to an accident. Now that we know what the service light means, let’s talk about the different types.
Types of Service Light on Mini Cooper
- Orange warning Light: The orange light assists vehicle owners while driving. For example, it glows whenever there is a car ahead at intersections
- Yellow Warning Light: When the yellow light comes up on the dashboard, a problem needs attention. One common fault it displays is the tire pressure monitor. This indicates that the tires are not well-inflated. It also includes the steering warning, which shows that the vehicle’s power steering wheel is faulty, making maneuverability difficult while driving.
- Red Warning Light: The red light often signifies danger, and when it comes up, the car most certainly needs repairs. However, sometimes the red light comes up for minor issues. But it is always best to stop the car as soon as possible. One fault that brings on the red light is the coolant warning light. It is very damaging to keep driving with this light on because the vehicle has a low air supply to the engine, making everything hot, and can cause irreparable damage to the car engine if not checked.
- Green Light: This indicates that all is well and the car is in good working condition.
Having said that, let’s look at some of the reasons the alert light will illuminate.
What Causes the Mini Cooper Service Light
Bad or contaminated engine oil
As the engine in your car stays longer than normal, it gets bad. Bad high-performance oil in your car can destroy critical components, including the engine. You must avoid driving a car with overdue, contaminated, or bad engine oil.
Bad cabin filter
The cabin filter in your car helps remove gunk, dust, pollen, contaminants, and other harmful substances. You’ll find the filter right at the back of the glove box. As it changes position around the car’s HVAC system, the cabin filter cleans the air.
Faulty air filter
The air filter, like the cabin filter, helps filter the air that comes into the engine and other critical parts. Once the air filter is bad, debris, sand, particles, and insects might mix with these parts. As a result, you can be sure of poor quality air-oil mixture and low engine performance.
Misaligned wheel
If one wheel of your car doesn’t properly align, you may see the service light pop up. A road accident, bumping a curb, or hitting a pothole can cause the wheel to misalign. Again, jarring worn parts due to wear and tear or hitting heavy-impact objects can also cause wheel misalignment.
How to Reset the Mini Cooper Service Light
Now that we know what the service light on Mini Cooper means and what causes it to come up on the dashboard, let’s discuss how to reset it. However, for DIY fans out there, it is important to follow your car model maintenance schedule for smooth running.
2006-2013 Mini Cooper service light reset
Here are the steps to reset the 2006-2013 Mini Cooper service light:
- Turn the ignition key to the “on” position without starting the engine
- Use the buttons on the turn signal stalk to scroll through the instrument cluster menu to get to the service menu
- Press and hold the button on the right side of the instrument cluster until the icons start flashing
- Release the button
- Press and hold the thumbwheel on the turn signal stalk until the small clock icon appears on the display
- Release the thumbwheel
- Press and hold the thumbwheel again until the service icon resets back to a high number or negative number
- Turn the ignition key to the “off” position
- Turn the ignition back “on” to verify the service light has reset
- If it has not reset, repeat the process of accessing the service menu, holding the buttons to flash the display, and holding the thumbwheel again to reset
2015 Mini Cooper service light reset
Here are the steps to reset the service light on 2015 Mini Cooper.
- Turn the ignition on, but do not start the engine
- Press and hold the trip reset button on the left side of the instrument cluster
- Continue holding the button until a menu pops up
- Use the button to scroll to the “Reset Service” option
- Press and hold the button again until a prompt appears asking if you want to reset service
- Hold the button again to confirm and start the reset process
- A “Reset in progress” message will display
- The display will then show the new service interval
- Turn the ignition off and back on to confirm the service light reset was successful
However, for MINIs that use diesel as car fuel, you only need to drive the vehicle at motorway speed for an hour. This will help to burn all the dust it has accumulated. If it still doesn’t work, you may have to seek professional help to carry out DPF REGEN on the car using diagnostic tools.
Final Thoughts
If you are a vehicle owner, a service light coming up on the dashboard does not necessarily mean something terrible has gone wrong with your car. Nevertheless, as discussed in this guide, it is important to give prompt attention to your vehicle whenever the service light comes on.
Leaving it unattended for too long can damage other car parts. Also, this guide covers the possible causes of the problem and how you can reset it in a few steps. Therefore, I believe if you follow these few steps, you will be able to extend the lifespan of your car and keep it in prime working conditions.
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