Dear friends,
Proud owner of a Cooper hardtop, which I purchased new in September 2013 and have cared for continually at the dealership since, including its latest service in January. The car has only 22,000 highway miles on it. Upon hearing the engine rattling on cold starts (but otherwise performing fine) a couple of weeks ago I brought the car into the dealer and was informed there was nothing wrong with it. A couple of days ago as the noise was not getting any better, I brought the car in again and now they reported that when they drained the oil they found metal pieces and shavings in it. This is incredible to me. In all my years of owning cars and driving I have never experienced or heard of an engine failure at 22,000 miles! The dealer has informed me that they have contacted MINI/BMW and are awaiting a decision, since the car is out of warranty. I obviously feel strongly that MINI should replace my engine free of charge. I realize MINIs and BMWS don't enjoy a tremendous reliability record, but before starting a new thread I have searched this forum and have not found any reports of engines needing total replacement at such low mileage. I would very much appreciate any advice or opinions.
Best

 

Need to know specifically what is wrong. Where did the metal come from? They are going to just want to do the entire engine, and I predict they will offer you a discount to what will be a hefty bill. Very possible that the engine is repairable but probably not by the dealer. A couple of posters on this forum would be able to help you better with more details.

 

Had a similar issue years ago with a Renault LeCar. Great little car that I took into the dealer for service. Picked it up and drove four blocks and it was overheating. Back to the dealer to find out they had left the radiator hoses unhooked and the car without coolant. Bottom line, they called back to let me know that the head was warped. "Of course, it is" said I, "since you left the hoses off and put no coolant in the car." Well, of course, the dealer claimed absolutely no responsibility for the damage (go figure). After going through the Renault regional manager who also refused to accept responsibility, I decided not to play that game and wrote a letter to the President of Renault U.S.A. Lo and behold the dealership fixed my car at no cost. I recommend you do the same. Stealerships will jerk you around constantly -- just go straight to the top.

 

Thank you both so much for the prompt and helpful responses. I have not yet heard from the dealership as to the resolution of this issue, since reporting that the MINI "field engineer" had asked them to strip the engine to find the cause of the problem, whereas they were recommending a replacement engine be authorized. In the meantime, I am composing a letter to MINI USA as we speak, and as you suggested. A colleague also pointed me to the Auto claim feature of the Better Business Bureau, where I intend to lodge a complaint. Hopefully MINI will do the right thing, stand behind its product and give me a new engine at no cost. I am aware that even with a new engine I will probably suffer some drop in resale value when the time comes, as it will be a red flag to a buyer, but at least I would not be getting a big financial hit immediately.
Best regards

 

No Mini experience but my 2nd hand experience with other cars, Porsche for instance, is sometimes the techs knew an engine was toast but the factory had various things it wanted to done before it signed off on any replacement.

Actually, I did go through something sort of similar with my 996 Turbo. Transmission leak. Selector shaft seal. Car was under CPO warranty. Techs contacted the factory to ask repair or replace? Days passed. There was some back and forth. Finally the factory said to replace. But it took several weeks for the new transmission to arrive from Germany.

My advice is to be patient. The factory wants to as best it can probably check for any signs of abuse, misuse, modification, or someone else having been at the engine.There is nothing you can do to speed this up.

You may still not get a new/replacement engine as the car is out of warranty, but sometimes there can be a well, "secret" warranty if the factory has found a problem that justifies this. If there is no warranty you might still get some goodwill.

 

Damn, sorry to hear about this. I hope they err on the side of customer satisfaction and replace your engine. 22k is hardly broken in.

 

This sounds like dealer maintained could be the worst case for such a low mileage Mini. Please tell us it has had more than 2 or 3 oil changes in those 5-6 years? Most dealers are sticklers for the 10K mile changes. I know it is supposed to be "or every 6 months" or something like that.

 

Has had 5 oil changes, roughly every 4,000-5,000 miles, with the first one at 2,000 miles, even though according to the manual the MINI system is supposed to tell you when to change the oil. I have never waited for that (old school, I guess!). I have also done all other service items strictly by the manual (brake fluid, air filter, etc.) as well as brakes and tires (plenty of thread but 5 years old). Just don't see what else I could have done to look after the car.

Following the advices here I have also written to MIN HQ as well as the CEO of the dealer. Just heard from dealer that MINI USA wants them to open up the engine and find the cause of the failure and they are waiting for their Master Mechanic to return next week to do it. So far the dealer has been nice and I have a loaner car, so can't complain about that.

Many thanks to all for reading and advising.

 

Update:
Thought might be helpful to post this update. After a couple of weeks of waiting, MINI USA agreed to replace my engine free of charge. I had a free loaner in the meantime. The was done last week and the car is now running fine with the new engine. I wondered what the autopsy of the engine had showed but the dealer informed me that in the end they did not open up the engine but shipped it back to the factory.

So I guess I'll never know what the exact cause of the engine failure was but a happy ending to this story, under the circumstances, and in the end a positive feedback for MINI USA customer care.

Thanks again for everyone's help and suggestions.

 

I'd say that MINI got a good deal, great PR for the wholesale price of an engine!

 

Glad to hear that it worked out for you. Motor on!