sorry,sounds like bad set of circumstances. good luck w/ your baby

 

Wow, I haven't bought my Mini yet, but this is making me think twice. I always like to Mod my cars. First I have been reading about all of the problems with Vendors and bad business practices, now this?

 

I would doubt if this is peculiar to MINI/BMW only...

 

any car you mod or drive improperly is going to get scrutiny from the dealer, it doesnt matter if you're driving a mini or a ford.
and just because some whining people post their bad experiences about businesses doesnt make that person a bad vendor. all vendors everywhere in all industries have their problems, people on this forum just like to ***** about stupid things and make it a public hearing.

 

millions of mini's few problems.rocket science ?

 

Careful with generalizations, not all mods have an affect on warranty. If you change your tires, that is a mod, warranty affect no, unless they are 100% inappropriate for your car.

All dealers walk a fine line on mods, some dealers are better than others. I am under the impression if you do ECU mods or play with performance chips as many have done in the past, you are on your own, if you blow the motor.

As stated many times, you pay and play you might pay.

I feel sorry for the OP, but reality is dig deep and enjoy your MINI. Get it fixed and if you cannot stomach the pain, put it back to stock.

 

Now this nothing... it doesn't matter what brand it is, the same rules apply.

Mark

 

I feel bad for the original poster, but at the same time feel he made his bed and now has to sleep in it. This forum is full of warnings about screwing around with the MINI's inner workings. It's no different than if I were to buy a Dell or HP computer and overclock the processor. If anything goes wrong, you're screwed as far as the warranty. The same applies for cameras, TVs, homes, lawnmowers, any other make of car and women - mess around with trying to change the stock version and you are screwed (or maybe not anymore in some cases). I'm technologically inept so I've always been happy with the factory version of most things I use.

 

Well said. I too am quite happily inept. I managed to change my CAI, inlet tube, and modified my MINI keyfob holder, but even those were a stretch

 

I am an aftermarket specialist at a Porsche dealership and sell aftermarket re-flashes on customer cars. We have every client sign a waiver that explains that you would be voiding your warranty on items damaged from the re-flash. Our 997 turbo motors are about $50k to replace. So far we have never had a problem that was caused or refused due to a re-flash but we have to cover ourselves anyway.

 

Won't the key show the over-revs too?

I'm told it records everything from RPM's to top speed driven and so on.......constantly.

 

all Porsches and I am sure most modern cars have black boxes. We have a rev range history in ours that we can see. Tells everything that the engine has done.

 

And you drive a mini??? Very nice....

 

alright so i have the car back in my garage..all stock except for the flash...any1 willing to donate an ecu for a week or so lol...

as soon as i get another ecu or a reflash then try another go..

 

Contact Jan (RMW) for his R56 flashing tool, it is still being final tested.

Perhaps he can provide you an image of the original tune that can be reloaded. It never hurts to ask for expert advise from Jan.

Call him, no PM, email or public posting, take it private and good luck.

 

thanks old81

 

There seems to be a few people who believe that a few over revs on a modded MINI can cause the timing chain to break. If that's the case, I guess the MINI engine isn't as bullet proof as a thought...

All those people with the RMW tune and mods better not over rev their cars then.

I agree with the guy above. Talk to Jan. See what his opinion is since he did the tune. Good luck on the fix OP.

 

Well let's put it this way.... I've never seen a timing chain break on a mini. Here's a kid that has admitted to over-revving, missing gears on a modified engine... what would be your guess??

It's not impossible that the timing chain is the culprit, it's just not probable.


To the OP, I don't think you can use anyone else's ECM, they are probably vin coded... may be wrong but I know that's the case on the JCW's.


Mark

 

I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt.

-The service manager doesn't sound like he knows what he's talking about.
-While abusive driving can cause the problem, I'm not sure if a few over revs and some misshifts can cause the timing chain to break; especially since this engine is always raved as a "bullet proof" engine.
-There's also a chance his ECM was stock at the time of incident, because one of the OP's older threads was where he claimed the dealer reflashed him ECU during a routine checkup.

Of course this is just my opinion... you can always disagree. I'm simply offering my sympathy and wishing the OP good luck because I can't imagine being in the same situation.

 

thank you all for the good and bad opinions, especially the good..

im really crossing my fingers this time. And yes the service manager was seriously a know nothing..comparing a flash to nos to a flashed 335i..he said that he didnt know what caused the problem, even if he took the whole engine apart into pieces, he still wouldnt know...he also assumed because of the parts that i had a flash.

they were also saying how if the factory rep came and diagnosed the car that he would see every little detail on what was done to the car. is that true?

when i had my 03 sentra spec v..it had a turbo kit and a tune on stock internals..i missed a shift a couple of times with no problems what so ever..and thats like 200hp+ above stock.

 

Fair enough....

I agree, I feel sorry for him but shiet happens. It's 500 bucks, not a $4000 engine so it's not an overly big deal.

Now, the thief that stole checks out of my office in the last week and have written out over 4K dollars at stores and still has 4 checks left, that's getting to be a big deal...


Mark

 

The R53's Tritec motor is the one raved as "bullet proof."

As far as the R56 Prince motor....it has yet to be decided...not enough people have pushed the limits on them and blown them up yet. From what I've heard...they are no where near as strong as the R53 motors were.

 

Interesting...

 

It's $500 only for the diagnosis and tow truck. It is known that the timing chain snapped, valves are bent, and who knows what else, so the repair might very well run into thousands.

 

I got quoted 7200$ wholesale from the dealer for the engine. Plus labor, I'm looking into what? Tens of thousands.