Not 100% sure and not close to the car now. BUT DuckDuckGo says there is an ECU that controls the 2006 R52 Mini S convertible's system and it looks like the R50's have the "Ignition Control Module" that may be the issue you are speaking of.

Am I thinking about the right thing?

In the semi old day's that kind of a failure was usually caused by a potted electronic component opening after heat soaking, then after a overnight cool down, reconnecting and working again. What's used as an ignition module or coil driver in your car?

There's nothing wrong with pulling a coil, sticking a spark plug in it, grounding the plug and coil, to see if it sparks or not. A noid light is still a good test of the injector drivers as well.

Yes, the pump is in the tank, I have run it low and believe it's about 1/4 tank on this fail. I cannot say I know what the level was on the other failures. Never ran it dry, but have been down to the trip computer saying I have 5 miles. 

 

With that ... since the car has 165k on it, the pump is stock, it sound awful and I have not changed the fuel filter in the 30k miles I have put on the car ... sounds like a new pump and filter is in order.

is the fuel pump in the tank?  Do you run it close to empty??  Overheated fuel pumps will give same symptoms you've stated. Car quits, won't restart.
Never run it past 1/4 tank. Fuel cools the pumps.

Let us know what you find.

Thanks ... on the intermittent sensor issue, would that not give us a code?

The grounding sounds logical, but the car cranks and sorta fires initially, but cannot run for more than a few seconds. Then hours later, it runs

Assume a fuse would be a hard failure ... the relay sounds logical since it could be temp related. Now the question is which one would kill ignition but everything else seems fine? 

I don't want to willy nilly change things out ... I still go back to the pump since it was loud and I cannot remember it being noticeable before ... maybe I was sensitive to any noise as well. 

I assume the gas smell was because it was cranking with no fire for a while ... then when it hit, it had a bunch of unburnt fuel.

Since you smelled raw fuel from the exhaust - I would lean towards an electrical / ignition issue...  since it is a total and immediate shutdown, it is probably not the plugs or coil.

relay or fuse?
intermittent ground?
crank sensor?
other sensor?

Just my 2 cents.

fyi

fuel pump with level sensor is in the left side tank (drivers side in US MINIs)

fuel filter with level sensor is in the right side tank

Was thinking ... could this be a fuel filter issue? How does it work? I notice in many "videos" it looks like there are two access panels to the tank, one for the fuel filter and one for the pump, although when I looked at the pump video it looks as though there is a screen at the bottom of the pump and the filter is elsewhere ... 

Also, I may be chasing my tail on the fuel pump/fuel issue ... it still may be electrical. Again any ideas on random stalling then refire hours later?

I'll take a look at that, but wonder if that would cause it to stall out completely without any fire? I doesn't sputter or stumble, it just shuts down while at freeway speeds (no fire coasting down as well, manual tranny). I did notice the car would catch for a few cycles when I initially tried to restart the car (wait 10 minutes between starting attempts) and then die again. I would assume if one of the injectors was leaking the other cylinders would lite up and at least fumble around.

 

Oh another note ... while the fuel pump does sound like crap, it never just kept running. When I would turn the key on it would start, come up to pressure and then stop as expected (unless it justs runs a few seconds before stopping and does not go off fuel pressure in the line)

A shot in the dark: (I had similar experiences with a carburetor that would badly flood my classic Mini.)

Your pump or pumps pressurize the fuel injectors, which release fuel at the appropriate time. If one or more injectors fail to shut off properly, they could be spilling fuel into the cylinders, resulting in eventual flooding. It could also explain the excessive or unusual pump sounds.

Check your oil level and what it smells like. If it has indeed been flooding and the excess fuel seeped down past the piston rings, the level might be higher than normal and the oil would definitely have a strange smell.

Hooked up the computer last night, no codes, the thing runs, the fuel pump is still noisy ... so not sure if this is me being over sensitive?? Is there anyone who has experienced random failures with no stored codes? Datastream looks good as car is running, nothing looks out of range.

Have you tried using a code reader to see what fault codes might be recorded into the computer? The codes 'might' help narrow down the cause...

The car is a 2006 Mini S Convertible.

This is the 4th time this has happened. Details on what happened. Driving along and we lose power, completely, and need to pull off the freeway. Granted most of my driving is Freeway miles at speed, but it's never happened on city streets. We do not lose electrical and can crank the vehicle after it's off the road, will not start for hours. Also, the first two failures had a few thousand miles between them, when I replaced the belt it has been a week of daily driving to get to where I am today.

The first two times it appeared to be a low battery, charged it once, and replaced it the second time (tested bad). The alternator is pushing out around 14volts.

Thrid time we thought it may be a slipping belt causing it to go into limp mode, but in all instances, it failed and would not restart immediately. Anyway, the belt was cracked and way out of specs for tightness. Replaced with new.

This last time it failed, I noticed a buzzing from the fuel pump when trying to restart it. I removed the cap to ensure it was not vapor-locked, no start. 


Based on what I am seeing I believe I am dealing with a failing fuel pump. Has anyone else experienced these "gremlins" and if so what was the ultimate culprit?