Just bought my first Mini! Daughters 16th Bday present and dad might tinker with it. Its a 2008 clubman S auto with 50k on the clock. Not sure what to expect or direction to go yet. Any thing to watch out for or do before any problems arise? Always wanted one! Hope to learn a lot from you all! Thanks

 

Welcome to NAM and Congrats on the Clubman. I thought I did good finding a 2014 Countryman S with 23k on it. But a 2008 with 50k is a good find. Good Luck with it and you will find a ton of great intel on this website.

 

Hi and welcome to NAM!
Congrats on your Clubman. I am sure your daughter will enjoy these little beasts!
Make sure only to use 100% synthetic oil and change the filter every time.
It is turbocharged, so you really need to only use premium (high octane) fuel.
The gen 2 area here will give you insights on your clubman!
Post some pics!

 

Here she is!!!

 

Congrats on a great car. Best thing you can do for her is enroll her in a defensive driving course.

 

Congrats to daughter and dad both! I had an '09 Clubman S before my current MINI. Fun as heck and remarkably practical.

You want to keep a close eye on that engine. Check the oil every time you fill with gas so you can get a sense of how quickly it consumes oil. And it will consume oil.

Check the service records to find out if the timing chain and chain tensioner have been replaced. The tensioner is driven by oil pressure, and when (not if, when) the oil level drops, the tensioner lets up pressure and the timing chain gets loose. Eventually, the chain will get loose enough to slap and break the chain guides and leave plastic bits in the bottom of the engine. In the worst case, the chain will skip a sprocket tooth, and Mr. Piston will meet Ms. Valvestem, have a torrid and messy affair, then self destruct and leave you to pick up the pieces.

If the chain and tensioner has been replaced, great! Keep an eye on the oil level and you'll be fine. If they have not been replaced, then borrow a boroscope (or buy a cheap USB one for $20 on eBay) and look under the valve cover, going in through the oil fill hole. If the chain guides are missing pieces, then you need to pull the valve cover off, lock the cams in place, then replace chain, guides and tensioner. If you like to DIY, kits with parts and the special BMW/MINI tools are available from most of the major MINI parts vendors. (I personally like Way Motor Works. Great service, and the owner is an active contributor to the forums.)

If you hear some slapping or knocking when the engine is cold, but the chain guides are intact, then you're in the grey zone between "ok" and "imminent doom". Consider replacing just the tensioner with the latest part. (MINI/BMW revised it several times; the latest version has a lot more tension than the first one did.) It's not too hard. Remove the air filter box and intake manifold, then you can reach down and unscrew the tensioner. It's nearly impossible to see but you can feel it and get a wrench on it pretty easily.

Note also that this engine is an early generation of direct-injection. This means that unlike older cars, there is no spray of gasoline hitting the backs of the intake valves and "washing" them of build-up. Consequently, there is a lot of carbon build-up which leads to poor valve seating, rough idle, and loss of performance. Like the timing chain, you can DIY this, or take it to a pro. (Don't take it to a MINI dealer. They'll charge you three to four times as much as an independent shop.)

Here are some before-and-after photos of some of my intake valves. (I just stuck my iPhone up to the intake port. Don't laugh, it worked.)

N14 intake valves after about 60k

N14 intake valves, cleaned. Mostly. I decided it was good enough. And the engine ran much more smoothly, so I guess it was!


I don't mean to scare you (…much), but do take the engine's maintenance seriously. The engine was a joint design by Peugeot and BMW. It appears each company assumed the other was doing quality assurance. :-)

Lots of help to be had in the 2nd Gen forums here. But hopefully, nothing I've described here bites you. Good luck, and have fun!

 

Oh, one more thing! Check the turbo charger oil feed and housing. Chances are good they're corroded. If so, its only a matter of time until oil starts leaking there. You can replace the oil line (kits sold by the usual suspects). I found it a sufficient pain in the butt that I paid a shop to do it. The kit will include a heat shield. (In 2011 MINI added a heat shield, too. Remember what I wrote above about lack of QA? )

If it looks like this, it's time to replace it:

N14 engine turbo oil line in desperate need of replacement.