Hi all,

I have a simple question for 3-cylinder F56 owners: how rough is the start sequence in your car? Is it buttery and effortless or rough and shaky or somewhere in between?

The reason I ask is I'm a new F56 owner and when the car starts it feels like it's working harder than it should, and harder than I remember when I took one for a test drive, but I don't know if I can trust my memory on this one.

I'm having a weird issue with the auto stop/start feature and I suspect it's related to a "hard start" issue (I don't really care so much about the autostop but if it's pointing to another problem I definitely want to deal with it). The service dept at my local Mini is treating me like I'm complaining about nothing and I want a solid footing before I come back at them.

I understand that the autostop won't cycle under many conditions but I'm fairly sure that I'm not in that situation (ambient temp at 20C, car at operating temp, A/C off, steering on center, manual trans in neutral, foot on brake and off clutch, no stop & go traffic, new battery).

Autostop only cycles when in "green" mode, and will go through at most 2 or 3 cycles (each restart being usual, which is to say fairly shaky and noisy). The "Stop/Start Diabled" indicator then lights up on the dashboard all by itself (I'm not touching the enable/disable toggle) and then it no longer cycles (the car never autostops again, at least until the next trip).

I'm thinking there's a problem with the ignition that the car is sensing and then self-disabling the autostop. Maybe HPFP or ignition coil? The car idles perfectly smooth at 1000RPM and there are no issues with power, just the shaky start.

Am I on the right track here? Do I have a good case to show up at my service dept and make a nuisance of myself?

 

Sounds like you need to take your service manager or technician for a ride. That's the only way I got my suspension noises taken care of. They can't say "could not duplicate the problem" when you show it to them in person.

 

I agree with Vet. Sometimes you have to grab them and throw them in the car to go for a ride. I had to do the same with my seat problem I am having. The Tech was cool but the Service Advisor i kind of had to push the subject a bit. I have a 1.5L myself and it's a bit rough on start up. I don't use the auto start stop feature much but it is noticeably rougher than a 4 cylinder.

 

I wouldn't call the start rough in my 3-cylinder. Very quick and quiet, but not so quiet you would forget the car is on.