Since a week or so after I bought this car I started having trouble with it not wanting to go into gear. Had it checked out and was told it was a small part in the transmission. Going to cost over $1600 to fix it. Was told to drive until it stopped and just replace the transmission. I drove out of town a couple of weeks ago and all of a sudden the "PF", if I remember right, code came up where the D, R, N, etc. should have been. I was in a panic. I could find nothing in the manual about this code. Apparently not even mechanics know what this means.

I looked on line and found many people have had this problem with Minis from 2002-2008, I read that others found that their battery was bad or the battery needed water. I checked mine and the cells were nearly dry. I bought a $2.50 bottle of water and filled them. For the first time since I bought the car it drove like a new car. It only lasted about a week though. My battery was the original battery and was 14 years old. I am now getting a new battery since he drinks water like a camel. Some of the owners got a new transmission before they realized it was their battery.

WARNING: if you are having any type of problem with your MINI check your battery first. It less expensive to buy a battery than pour out hundreds or thousands of dollars for other repairs. When I told my mechanic, he was shocked then said since the car is electronic, everything runs off the battery. I thought I was having a steering problems until I put water in my battery, now that problem is solved. I'm just saying it worked for me and several others.