It was a fuse

Turns out there was a secret, non-Mini standard, fusebox hidden behind the glovebox. Even took a bit of effort for the resident old-car-electrics expert at the garage to track it down. Will have been added when the car was spruced and altered about 10 years ago (about 7 and a half years before I got my hands on it). And yep. Simply a blown fuse.

That fixed, I must be doing something right at least as it flew through the rest of the MOT (including some great figures on the emissions test). From the phonecall (they kept me chewing my fingernails till 3.30pm) I thought there weren't any advisories, but there were. Just two. So I can add them to the list of things I now want to do to the car....

First up a few simple jobs for a change - the grille has never quite had all of the screw holes aligning, so I'm going to get that sorted; a few switches and bits of interior trim need refreshing; and the window trim replacement will be fiddly, but is basically a simple process. Oh, and I need to get the replacement wheel arch I put on resprayed - I'll most certainly not be doing that myself.

Pleased though - it's a weight off, and I can concentrate on those cosmetic issues before our first rally of the year towards the end of April.