Hi,
My name is Walt Edmondson, and I (used) to drive an 2015, F56 Mini Cooper S. It's not totaled or anything, it just has a bad turbo.

I had originally bought a 2014 Mini Cooper S back in May. This had the JCW tune as well as the exhaust... All the bells and Whistles. Heads up display, LED head lamps. Beautiful pearl black with white stripes, and an almost Grabber blue stripe across the front to complete the BMW look. I drove that thing for 3 months, until some idiot ran a red light, and I T-boned him. There was a suburban to my right, and because of how low I was, I couldn't see. We were crossing a one way street going left, getting on to an interstate ramp. I gunned it to pass this SLOWW SUV, and WHAM. After a black flash (actually a toyota corolla) my front end was smashed to bits, fame bent, and I was left with a totaled car.

I was destroyed... My dream car was gone. I hunted and searched for another just like it, but nobody wanted to get rid of that HUD... I finally found one in September, after two months of driving a car that was polar opposite from my mini: A chevy sonic... It was a blue, (yeah that beautiful MINI blue) 2015 F56, all the bells and whistles, just no tune or exhaust. I was relieved that I was back in a great mini, and began driving it as my daily driver.

After three months of absolutely no issues, I take it in for it's first oil change since I bought it, and then later that day, I start it up. It's loud. Not just loud, like, LOUD LOUD. Sounded like it had 6 cylinders in it... Not anything that made me hop out of the car and be like "woah," but I noticed it. I continued driving, as I had a full day ahead of me. I noticed that my engine pops were not as loud, nor were they sounding as far back as they used to. When I stopped to get gas the next day, I wanted to check and see if my exhaust tips were hot, just to check if there was a hole in the exhaust. I got to the back, got down on my hands and knees, and to my amazement: No Tips! No exhaust period. Axel back. Gone! I assume I "double downshifted" on someone on the interstate and it flew off somewhere in Middle Tennessee... Everyone I told was convinced it was stolen, but I really don't live, or hang out in rough areas of town.

This was right around Christmas, and I had just bought gifts for everyone, so I was going to have to save a little bit to get my safety net back so I could buy this exhaust. I took it in to my family mechanic, and after raising the car up and us looking, I think, because of the scorching around the area, that the 3rd party exhaust installed by the previous owner had a bad weld job, and had broken off after excessive use. I drove the car for about 3 weeks to a month with no exhaust, axel back, and then, one morning, when I started the car up, I go this weird warning. "Drivetrain Malfunction: Drive Moderately. Maximum drivetrain output not available. Consult service center." This freaked me out, as I was on my way to work, and did not have the time to stop and see if everything was okay, nor have the time to baby the car on my way in. I drove moderately, but I was still in sport because I wanted to feel what the car was doing,(I normally drive sport) and on my gauges, the car would not get above half HP or half torque. When I got to the city, I turned off my music so I could listen to the car, and I noticed 1 thing out of everything: No turbo noise. See ever since I had bought the car, whenever asking the car to give any decent amount of torque, and then letting off of the gas, the turbo would "flutter," as the air hit the turbines inside. This sound as not present, nor was the constant waste gate hiss. I drove it in to work, parked, and started my shift feeling sick to my stomach.

When I came back down for my break about an hour later, I started up the car, and lo and behold, No Message! I took the car out for a spin, and everything was fine. Turbo worked, everything performed. I continued my shift, and drove my 25 minute drive home, same status. However, when I woke up the next morning, and started the car, I got the same drivetrain error. This continued for about a week, at first, only for the duration of the first drive of the day.