We live in Hong Kong but spend 4-5 weeks each summer in the UK. My wife bought a 2005 Mini Cooper (not the 'S' model) Automatic 1,598cc with 47,000 km on the clock earlier this year (trouble free so far, fingers crossed!).

I usually disconnect the batteries on our cars (I have a 2008 Toyota Camry) over the summer months to avoid arriving back to cars that won't start because of flat batteries. Both cars are kept in an open car port whilst we're away. When she bought the Mini I mentioned this to the garage and they said it was not a good idea to disconnect the battery because "of the computer".

What do you think they meant? We're not worried about the service interval read-out, because we have the cars serviced (not by the dealer) once or twice each year. Surely you'd have to disconnect anyway if you had to change the battery? Do you see any problems on the Mini if I leave the battery disconnected for 4-5 weeks? Hope you can help.