I bought my 1st mini dead. PO told me it had thrown #2 rod.

I started by checking timing, The top guide had cracked and found a chunk in between the cams. I poured coolant in the bottle and it poured out of the engine. The engine was very hard to turn over.

We pulled the engine and trans and began disassembly. I found several things which are new to me. Under the cams near the oil port we found plastic on most of the oil galley ports. The vanos solenoid filter was packed solid with plastic. I pulled the head off and found the bottom end moved fairly nice. The thermostat housing assm. was melted and I found plastic in the head. The crossover pipe had a broken o-ring at the pump. I found guide material in the oil pump cover and the bolt had snapped off the oil chain sprocket. I tried to move the pump and found it seized. The intake for the pump had a bunch of small and medium size pieces.

The cylinders look good, rods are good, pistons look ok and the block looks decent. The bearings showed signs of minor oil starvation.

The damage looks like heat and oil starvation related. I went to the machine shop and the owner suggested I buy a complete used engine rather than try to save this one.

Has anyone else seen this extensive of damage before?

I have found a Clubman with a bad trans. When I saw the car the engine was missing, shaking and making timing noises. Is this engine too far gone to save?

Thanks all.

Rich