short story.

purchased a used 2010 MCS with 45,500 miles on the 1st of June. oil last chanced 12,000 miles ago so decided to swap it out even though the dealer said it was not needed. a week later brake service at start up flashed at me. along with a spot of oil under the car that didnt arive till after oil change.

Dropped car off for brake and drive belt replacment, dealer calls and said leak was from the vacuum pump and they noticed rattle at cold start up.
Got approval from extended warranty I purchased from USAA to get things going.

46,000 miles. 500 miles of ownership and already

Vacuum Pump, Lines filled with oil and soaked, vacuum resivore needs replaced because they found oil in it.

timing chain streatched 1.5mm from a broken timing chain guide.

was told everything is going to be covered by warranty CO. but damn. timing chain, and other bits broke at 46.000 miles


I have searched around and these are both common problems, my question is are these proboblems that have updated parts that fix the issue or is this going to be an ongoing issue.

 

The good news is that once you get those issues taken care of under warranty... I wouldn't expect any more major headaches aside from regular wear and tear.

BTW: Change your oil at 5k. The vacuum pump and timing chain issues signify that the previous owner ran extended oil change intervals.

 

previous owner gave me all the service paperwork and there had been 3 oil changes in that time and a timing chain tensioner seal recall. all by BMW/Mini and at saposid "required" intervilles. Mini Service told me 15K oil changes is all that is needed as long as the oil is kept top off. the day we purchased the car it was 1.5ltr low when we had the dealer do a pre purchase inspection the car for us. service Rep said that was normal oil consumption and nothing to worry about.

 

Good you got the warranty. My warranty already paid for itself. Can't own one of these without warranty.

These are great cars as long as you take care of them.

 

Yeah, 15k is a normal interval by BMW/MINI standards - they adjusted that to a more reasonable 10k after experiencing a rash of chain, tensioner, and vacuum pump failures.

Change the oil every 5k - it's cheap insurance.