Thanks K for the kind words. Unfortunately I really feel like I made the wrong decision only because I ended up on the short side of the stick. If I had switched out the plugs, they never would have known they weren't in when it happened and would not have even hesitated to cover it under warranty because the writer said specifically they won't cover it because they are aftermarket plugs. You know there is this thing called "goodwill", every dealer has it. When someone buys a car from you, brings it for all its services and then when something goes wrong, you "goodwill" it. You do it just to make the customer happy and continue a positive relationship with the customer. Now I probably won't ever buy another Mini and if I did probably wouldn't buy it from my dealer, but they don't know that and they should treat me like I might some day. The last dealer I worked for as a parts manager, we would warranty cars that had aftermarket parts all the time. We'd warranty cars that were over in mileage etc, just because you don't want to **** off a customer and possibly lose them forever along with any of their friends and family who could be potential customers. Its all very very frustrating and will not recommend this dealer to anyone I know ever again. Thanks again though for the kind words but you know as they say "nice guys finish last", and I'm dead last on this one

Steve

 

And Paul that's BS too! It's almost like these Mini dealers are looking for ways to get out of doing warranty work!! SHEESH Man at my old dealer our mouths would water when a car broke down and it was still covered under warranty. Its a guaranteed sale! You know the customer is going to go ahead with the work and in these economic times that's a blessing!!!!! The dealer will make a ton of money on it and it keeps the customer happy. Now look, they deny your warranty, tell you ya gotta pay for it and look you're not doing it. Surpised? I'm not.....business lost for no reason!! I'm really really confused here guys I'm sorry, what's up with this manufacturer and its dealers???

 

The Ultimate Driving whatever does come at way too high $$$$ at the dealer, unless you happen to be an AIG employee. For the rest of us, the war on stupid is loosing.

When my son & I were shifter kart racing we found the Denso plug needed several re-torques. I believe it's the washer. With our KT100 kart the washer was replaced with a copper piece - no problems. This is not to say all aluminum heads are created equal, I've had IK24's in my car for 3 years.

The dealer, really, has no business saying that the after market plug was the cause of the failure. SHOW ME. They can measure the plug all day & if it's within BMW spec. it's good. They can recomend their product but if it's not written in stone......

I could rant on & on about BMW service ( that would be Biggest Mistake Worldwide ) but I'd rather be at your service department with you and the D10 in my sig.....

 

hahaha that would make quick work of that dump they call a dealership!! I'm thinking about going in there this week and tell them "this is how you thank me? I could have secretly put my stock plugs back in my car before having it towed but I didn't....I tried to be honest and this is the thanks I get??" I wonder what their reaction would be?? HEHE

 

LOL... ethics has nothing to do with dealerships...sorry!

Seems the spark plug washer( seal) will loosen up on these spark plugs and they the need to re torque!! This is with most sealed plugs, and seeing on how this issue has been addressed more than a few times.. thus the need to advise drivers to check their spark plugs!! Boost and RPM will remove a loose plug from the aluminum head pretty fast. ( this happens on the aluminum 4.6 and 5.4 heads also..)

Dealerships .. they work with rules set forth by the company they sell for!! The Mfg company is ALWAYS on the Dealerships for their high warranty costs. Therefore the dealership has the right to void any warranty repair if the component is modified or parts other then the MFG parts are used!!
Here in Jax, a Mopar dealer voided a engine warranty cause the owner didnt use a Chrysler oil filter and chrysler oil!! ( After a day in court.. it was reversed) the point being, the Dealership can be good to us or bad to us!!
If you feel the need to be straight up with them ... this is the good and way it should be. yes?? Just know going in.. you changed something, and they can decline the warranty repair!! Sorry for the advise to cheat the dealership!! Bad me!! ( 15 years in Ford Service)

Just me................................

Thumper

 

Most use the JCW head as it is installed at the dealer and is COVERED under warranty if the head failes... if a spark plug blows out , then the story is different if it was over 12 months later.

Power increases are not good vs the cost of the Head. Actual numbers?? do no maybe a JCW guy will help on the numbers!!

Just me.........................

Thumper

 

You can use someone elses airfilter, oil filter or the like, and the dealer can't void warranty. Equivalent parts are allowed. But some dealerships/marques seem to fight more than others.

BMW/Mini seem to fall into the camp where they are really tight on this issue. And that's too bad.

Matt

 

Hey, you're a straight up guy. The dealer could have given you a straight up solution, a compromise of some kind. There is NO warning that says that any replacement plugs will cause, heart failure, dizzyness, hives, blindness or the need to replace your cylinder head.

After 10 years of Kart racing using 100's of plugs we discovered that the Denso had a problem. This was not a problem with all we used, just enough to know they needed special attention.

In all fairness to BMW service, they do have rules. BUT.... they are not the manufacturer of the engine, it's an outsource & as such, can BMW say, without any doubt, that all of their outsourced produntion meet the same standard as the Denso plug that blew out of your head? Also these instances of failure are not common ( we have some posts here ). I, personally, know of only 1 person that has had this happen.

Bottom line, IMHO, the dealer is obligated to be a part of an equitable solution. You may not get a free head & labor, but they better give you something.

 

Let me emphasize that there is NO reliable data linking the Tune as the root cause of failure. As far as I know the cause could had been the fact that I spun out at the track without 2 feet in or just that the plugs failed .

However, I really miss the added power that came with the tune, that is why I will wait a few more weeks to install a cam and then re-tune. The tune and the pulley were the most noticeable mods that I've done so far and IMHO it was well worth it.

On the other hand, I'm sorry you are having a few problems with your car...I know first hand that it SUCKS but the MINI makes up for it on the fun department.

 

Unfortunately this behavior is a consequence of the bad economy...everybody is concerned and on a mission to improve their bottom line at any cost even risking pissing current and potential customers

 

Oh well first I had a pretty funny phone call with this genius service advisor. First is he keeps calling the plug wire a coil. He says to me "well the tech looked quickly at the car and it seems at the very least you have a damaged coil." I'm like: "what a coil!? how is that possible?" and he goes "uh no not the coil, excuse me I mean the spark plug wire and boot" so I'm saying to myself, my god this guy is a retard!!! So after a week or so he calls back and says that they can't cover the repairs under warranty but he words it quite idiotic. He goes "well steve I have some mixed news for you. unfortunately we won't be able to cover the repairs under warranty but I spoke to the service manager and the parts manager and we were able to lower the price on the parts needed as well as the labor and we can rebuild your head for $2400 parts and labor." I go "well that's not going to happen. I'm a mechanic and I'm not going to pay you to do the work when I can do it myself so I'll be pulling the car out of your dealership later today."

And that's what frustrates me so much. The car really is troublesome, like many German cars, and at times I really want not part of owning it but damn when I get in that thing and drive it, its just tooo much fun to walk away from!!!!

 

IMHO Cucho had a plug failure, the dealer fixed it.

$2400... RMW head & cam time.

I can't realy complain too much about German cars, BUT, BMW's are, and have always been expensive to maintain. At least the Mini is an easy car to work on for a somewhat experienced mechanic. My first total rebuild was a 52 Singer 50 years ago....

 

yeah well when I heard $2400 that's all I thought of....RMW! Unfortunately I dont have that kind of money right now to burn on toys so the helicoil will have to work for now. Alot of that was partly due to the fact that they are getting $130/hour there! Same labor rate for BMW and Mini but the price difference is at the very least 15 to 20,000 dollars right? My gf works at a porsche/audi dealer and they're getting the same for their Porsche labor! Pretty ridiculous and only supports my idea of using your D10 dozer on their building!!

Steve

 

Something to look into are inserts.

Some years ago... I would use steel inserts on aluminum heads, especialy "bow-tie" Chevy to insure the interference for the plug. I believe these were a helicoil product but for the life of me I can't find the where & who.They worked great on all of our 2 cycle kart engines as well.

 

The beauty of the aluminum head is that it IS repairable!! The Heli-coil is the correct repair for the Head.. there are Inserts that can be done also.. however if the shop advises the Heli-coil.. it should work great!! Just keep in mind this isnt a new platform.. aluminum heads have been blowing out plugs for years in every style or mfg. Some even loose their valve seats... and they are ALL repairable!! Just a thought

Thumper