I bought an 04 mini cooper s, 6 spd manual..about 6 months ago..no problems..I had some paint work done..brought it home and putting on front bumper cover..I think maybe not completely shutting door ran down battery..discovered dead battery..pulled battery to charge..reinstalled battery..now no crank..only high pitched humming from under car..stayed no crank for 24 hrs..called tow truck to tow to mechanic..mechanic says mini started right up..so I got the mini and next day went to play golf 20 miles away..after golf..same issues ..no crank, same humming noise..towed to mechanic again..I rode with tow truck to mechanic..unloaded..started right up again....did diagnostic..determined bad starter motor..changed it out..test started 10 times 11 th time fail..same noise..removed new starter.installed my starter...now trying to re-create fault..no fault codes..checked all fuses..ok..all relays.ok.battery ok..clutch switch ok..ignition switch ok..ECM ok..mechanic is afraid to give me back the car..is there anything you notice here that could disable starter..thanks for any help..mechanics are stumped completely

 

Ignition switch can also be an issue. I believe the contacts may be having a difficult time and may be failing causing the 10/11 times.
also are there any codes being triggered? You'll need a ODB2 reader with advanced diagnostics for the mini.

 

no codes...I have a consumer ODB reader..not advanced by any means..no diagnostic capabilities.. but I will pass onto mechanic..right now they can not reproduce the fault..so nothing to fix..mechanic did ask me if i had another key..can keys loose their programming??? I appreciate your time, and reply..thank you

 

Mini seems to be fixed...I'm humiliated to admit...the problem was a key..battery in key was almost dead..(buttons did not work anyway) and would not engage the starter..switched to spare key (without buttons )..starts everytime.. car starts and runs great..ran it for about 30 minutes today..going no where , just driving..kudos to Midas mechanic..took him 5 days to figure out the mystery.. could have been years, if left to me..