Porthos,

Thats absolute garbage... am I reading you right are you going to pay out of pocket?
do not. I repeat do not pay for this repair. Have you had all of your oil changes on time? how far out of warranty are you? This is a known problem, and the major point to note is that those who take care of their vehicle will only get the effects down the road IE out of warranty. if you mistreat the car and slack on your oil the problem prevails quicker and you get it repaired.

Here is how you save yourself 1500 dollars.

Take the car to where you boght and serivced it. service>bought. (just in case)
ask to see the service manager. explain to him what I just told you. and that your aware its a known problem. he will most likey try and split the cost. (which means he will submit to have it covered half and half by the manufacuter, then hit you with the bill) DO NOT STAND FOR IT. if he says sorry cant help you. then simply ask for the contact information of the "regional Rep" if that doesnt get the job do explain the situation to the regional rep. again tell him what I told you good guys finish last and all that jazz. then use scary words like "better business bearu " and " lawyer" what ever. this is not your fault "unless it is and ive wasted my time . but if you played nice like they ask and you can provide service records out side of your maintaince warranty. then your golden. dont be a sucker .... fight

 

Never hurts to try...

But I will tell you BMW/MINI USA has pretty much come to a zero tolerance policy regarding goodwill outside of warranty. This includes "known issues" like the timing chain.

 

I will agree that they are stringent. and yes they have tightend the reigns hard over the past couple of months. but they are not dumb, and they are incrdible sensitve to their customer satisfaction rating. you would be suprised what they will and will not good will. it really comes down to ther service manager and the regional rep. as well as the relationship with the customer

 

^^^^seriously???.... to get the best oil level reading? that seems like like one of the most impracticle ways of checking. I'm not saying your wrong. I'm just saying.

I just purchased my Camden MCS a week ago and have been studying the car as much as possible, but the dip stick reading was baffling me. All this talk about busted chains and tensioners make me grateful my warranty dont expire for LONG TIME

 

I've found the best way to check oil level is in the morning prior to running the car. Overnight the oil will completely drain down and allow an accurate reading. When the oil is new, it is hard to read, however if you take the dipstick out, wipe it off, then reapply it, then pull it out and lay it on a paper towel, you can see where the oil is on the dipstick. Not a problem.

 

Now when I and others use the word accurate in the above "quotes" this does NOT mean you'll get an absolute accurate reading, it simply means you'll get a more easier to read measured reading on your dipstick, if you do read your oil content this way, you could be anything as much as 400ml short (nothing to worry about) of the absolute maximum mark on your dipstick, if you take into consideration that if you were able to read your dipstick as recommended, it could differ by as much as what I have stated above, due to re-filling the oil galleries and coating the component surfaces when at normal working temperature!

As overnight most of the oil that is otherwise held in/on the various oil galleries/component surfaces, has the time to drain back into the sump, this is why your handbook and dealer tell you to check your oil level with your engine at working temperature, let it stand for 5 mins, then check the oil level, but as many of us find the dipstick difficult to read, when following the recommended instructions, this really is the correct way, as your engines oil will be in all it's oil galleries, and on all the engines components, and what is left in the sump is your engines actual oil level, and this is the important and correct working level.

 

Makes sense.
Point to emphasize is CHECK IT AND CHECK IT REGULARLY.

 

Well I have an 07 with just over 70k on the clock. I have brought it up before but that was about a year and a half ago and they said that if I can't reproduce it they won't look at it. At the time it was not bad it would make noise for 30 seconds or less. It started rattling constantly about 3 months ago and now it is to the point where I can see it is showing up on the tach. I know I have should not have let it get to this point but, since getting back from Afghanistan I am busy as hell and don't have very much time to breathe. I finally have a DD so that I can take care of things that I have let lapse on the MINI, none of which have been neglecting the oil. The last dealer done oil change was June/July of 2010 and since then I have changed the oil 3 times and maintained it. I am not paying $1500 for this fix, I have some that will do for $900. Yes it is expensive, no I don't want to pay but, I am not going to go through the headache of arguing with MINI to fix something. I could spend months arguing with them about it. It doesn't help that I did not buy my MINI from the local dealership and it also does not help that I bought mine used from a non-MINI dealership. That is pretty much all I am going to say about that.

On another note that has been beaten to death in this thread is regarding the oil level in the R56 S and JCW being that this problem does not affect the Cooper or at least not yet, it might be a longevity issue that we might start seeing in higher mileage Cooper. The oil level might be the problem in newer ones, late 09 and newer, but in the 07 and 08 the problem was and MINI has stated it the chain was too small. I have heard from multiple sources it was becuase the distributor of the chains were giving the chains that were too small. Being too small they were causing premature wear. The oil might have affected it a little bit but that was not the sole problem.

rant/

 

Well I had it fixed over the weekend. The chain and tensioner were a little loose whic was causing the rattle. It rattle enough that it broke the guide rail and that is were I was getting the majority of my noise and and my car running funny. I also found out the thermostat housing was cracked and that the oil pump is on the way out. I had the housing replaced and will be doing the oil pump in the coming days.

 

Bummer man. Had my chain, guide, pulley, the whole ball of wax done last week. Dealer even submitted the majority of it to Mini USA and I paid $500. Car was out of warranty. Also, about 2 months ago had thermostat replaced. At least all the work has 2 yr. warranty and unlimited miles. I guess there is a plus having the dealer do it. Thankfully, I trust my dealership.
07 MCS now with 62,700 miles on it.
Maybe after all your work you'll be trouble free for awhile.

 

Ya I plan on having the parts sumbitted also. Oh I forgot there was a friction pulley replaced too. I plan on doing the oil pump myself when I find out how to and get the parts in.

 

so just reading this here.. and my car in the winter just started making a slight ticking noise only when i don't let it warm up for a while.. i don't notice any difference in performance but this "tick" is getting worse.. i just changed the oil last month.. but the thing that i don't know is the tick does not speed up or anything when i hit the gas. It will also stop after i drive for a few miles.. any thoughts i had read a previous thread about this timing issue.. but i don't know what this "rattle" sounds like.. I'm calling it a tick but it could be a "rattle"

 

A slight ticking noise is probably only the lifters at start. Takes a little while for the oil to disperse into the lifters. Also the injectors are a little noisey as well. This is normal. The tensioner issue is a loud rattle like rocks bouncing around in the upper left part of engine.
If you go onto 'you tube' and search for "sound of tensioner issue on mini cooper" there are videos out there that displays the sound.
Mine had over 62K miles before it started then within a week it did it almost every morning I started it (when the temp was around 45 degrees).
Good luck. I was lucky my SA submitted most of the fix cost to Mini USA otherwise to replace everything, guide, tensioner bolt, chain, seals, sprocket, etc. would have been about 1700. I ended up paying $500 of it. That I can deal with. My car was way out of warranty.

 

yeah mine definitely does not sound like rocks rattling but thank you thats makes me feel better lol.. if it gets worse or doesn't stop doing it I'm still going to take it in