Hi everyone my name is James and I just picked up a 2009 Mellow Yellow MCS. I'm absolutely in love with this car and see myself driving it for a very long time.

I picked it up with a little over 95,000 miles with a 7,000/6 month warranty from the dealer.

I have been into tuner cars since I was 13 and this is the first tunable car I have owned and plan to enjoy ever last second of it. I hoping to do some auto cross and a lot of back road driving.

Being that the car is a high mileage car I was wondering if there is anything I should look out for. Any help and suggestions would be appreciated.

 

A very nice looking car...it's nice that the dealer gave you a warranty.

In case no one told you...the only advice I have for you is to get into the habit of checking the oil regularly. These things can burn some oil and the stock dipstick can be hard to read.

 

Thanks for the tip. I've been skulking around here for a while and I have to admit that the timing change issue has me a little on edge. So I've been keep an eye on the oil and I plan to do an oil change soon so that I can put some high grade synthic oil and spark plugs in it.

The carfax report shows that the car was regularly serviced at a mini dealership so I'm assuming the chain tensioner issue has been resolved with the recall. I can hear the chain, but no "death rattle" when I crank it up. Also the sound seems to completely go away after I drive it around a bit. I'm not really sure about the noise I hear though because this is the first car I've owned that uses a chain instead of a belt so I'm not sure if it's just the sound the car makes.

It also seems to misfire a little every now and then at idle.

 

Ask a dealer to run the VIN number and make sure all of the recalls have been done.

 

Thanks, I'll do that.

 

Nice mellow yellow. We just posted up the old M7 Mellow yellow MINI on IG:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BD37Uu3L...n-by=ecstuning






Run the VIN at MINI service and see what has been down. Check the thermostat housing, water pump, timing chain, expansion tank, water pipe, and if the timing chain has been done. If the chain was done by MINI it would be on the service records.

 

That mini is pretty awesome. I'm hoping to build my mini into a nice little track monster one day.

I just got off the phone with mini service and they told me my car wasn't apart of the chain tensioner recall. They said the only recalls that have been done was for the water pump and for the turbo heat shield.

I thought the whole chain tenisor issue effected cars made between 2007 and 2011. Is this something I should be concerned about giving that the car is nearing the 100,000 mile mark?

 

Welcome to NAM, James! MINI's make for great track monsters. Have a few members on here with track builds that you can check out for future reference. About around 100,000 miles they may develop a problem where the timing chain guides wear or break. If you haven't done your timing components yet, it might be time. Be sure to keep an eye on your oil level as the guides wear from lack of lubrication and running low on engine oil. Maybe call MINI USA about that as I've seen it for 2007-2010 MCS.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post3595612

 

Thanks for the warm welcome. I can't wait to check some of the track builds up here.

I've been keeping an eye on the oil for just that reason. I think I'm gonna go ahead and look into getting my timing chain and tensioner replaced or atleast looked at to make sure everything is alright. Although I feel like it's fine for the time being.

I was just reading the thread you posted which is why I was wondering why my car wouldn't have been apart of the recall, but if it has been going strong to 95k I'm assuming it's ok.

I was also wondering if it might be time for a turbo rebuild.

 

I got this in the mail recently:

 

Yea, i got that also. Its to 2009 on the R56 R55 and 2010 on the R57. There was a chain tensior update for 2007-2009 MCS, dealers can run the vin and see if the check was done, i had it done on my r56 about 1 1/2 ago.

 

Mellow Moto,

The most important thing is to enjoy your new ride.

 

Thanks for all your help people. I diffintley plan on enjoying this car. I'm already in love with it and can't wait to create lots of good memories in it.

 

Welcome. Mellow yellow is a rare color to see anymore.