Friends,

I just got a call from my dealer saying my car (2014 S 6spd) is part of a "recall" for the Crankshaft Guide Bearing Shell Collar (ya know, the CGBSC's...). Seems pretty intense as it requires 4-5 hours of labor. I have an appointment scheduled for next week. Anyone else get this notice and/or have the work performed? I did a search and found a few people having engines replaced due to crankshaft shavings in the oil but I'm not sure if it's related to this. Should be interesting.

Matt

 

I received same notification. Booked mine in for tommorow. Will update after service.

 

I just received a phone call from my local Mini service center. I hopped on here to see what everyone was saying about it. My appointment is for the Monday coming up.

 

Anyone know what time frame/build dates are affected?

 

I'm a BMW of North America employee and I grabbed this info Straight from my BMW/MINI help desk.

Vehicles Concerened:
F55 F56
B46 B48 according to VIN selection.

(Engine damage is only expected in isolated cases)

 

 

This applies to F55 and F56 produced from January 2014-February 2015. Mine is apart on the rack as we speak.

 

I dropped off car yesterday and they have not started any of the work. Waiting for a part. Worst case scenario is a new engine. Supposed to get an update this morning.

 

parts not at my dealer yet but i just checked and my car is affected. will probably be taking her next week.

P.S. parts not arriving from germany until the 7th, so might want to confirm with dealer if you already dropped off...my friend works in parts and checked for me.

 

I hate that crap. If the parts aren't even available then why bring people in for the service? Waste of time. I'm glad mine's going in on the 9th.

I assume you took yours to Bill Jacobs? Mine will be there too. I refuse to go back to MINI of Chicago after the abhorrent service I received. It's worth the hour drive to Naperville.

 

.

 

Yep, car is at Bill Jacobs. When I dropped car off yesterday they did not say anything about not having the parts. The called later in the afternoon and said they were waiting for parts. I was told that there are some on back order but what I needed was not. Have not heard anything yet today. They gave me a loaner so not too fussed but would prefer to drive my own car. I live and work within a few miles of Bill Jacobs so while it is annoying it is not a huge hassle.

 

Just got an update on my car. They only needed to replace a bearing. Not terrible. I did not have any issues with the car before the recall. I drive a 2015 F55 with a 11/14 build date. Will pick up car later today.

 

Well that's good to hear. Mine is a relatively early build (5/14) build with 20,000 miles on the motor. Should be interesting to hear the result.

 

Any chance of getting a TSB number? Mine falls in that time frame, but when I had it in for the side impact recall last December they said that was the only thing that concerned my car.

 

My F56 was built in June/July 2014. I checked my VIN in the MINI owner's lounge recall section and didn't see anything.

Does the recall apply to the 3 cylinder?

 

No, it apparently does not. I too have the B38 and an excellent dealer relationship and this TSB has not come up.

Cheers,

Charlie

 

couple updates from my friend @ parts:

1) yes, this is the same as the OP's search where engines were replaced when CS shavings were found.

2) so far 2 cars have gone into the dealer for this TSB and both have needed new engines. he's asking me to bring it in...so i may go ahead and just do it.

 

I just went in for an oil change this morning, and they informed me of both the side impact recall and this crankshaft one that needed to be done to my car. I have 20k miles.

My car was ordered in March 2014, and I got it in July 2014.

 

Irvine MINI called me last week, and I'm scheduled to come in tomorrow for the crankshaft recall. I have 22k+ miles on my 2014. Did anyone else get their engines replaced?

 

My dealer called me on Friday about this. They say they have the parts and so I went ahead and scheduled the appointment for a week from Friday. Set up a loaner, so they can keep it as long as the need to. I haven't had any issues with my 2014 MCS to date and have racked up around 23K miles. I did go to the miniusa site and put in my VIN and it said that there are no recalls, so I thought that was a bit odd. Next stop was here and found this thread. Hopefully, it will just be a "simple" bearing replacement. Although anytime you need to go that deep into the mechanicals of the engine, it isn't good. Fingers crossed....

 

My S was a June 2014 build. After complaining about soft clutch problems dealer found excessive crankshaft endplay and metal particles in engine oil. Car only has 3200 miles on it. Dealer replaced engine, turbo, clutch/flywheel, and transmission. I've had it back for a couple weeks now and its running fine.

 

I'm pretty sure the recall look-up on MINI's website lists mandatory recalls only (i.e. safety defects as deemed by NHTSA). This particular issue isn't safety related so it should be classified as a voluntary recall or, more likely, a TSB (Technical Service Bulletin).

 

I've been seeing posts from other websites about crankshaft bearing (thrust) problems for more than a year now. Most early reports are from UK where it is more noticeable (I believe) while driving because of left side driving and their many roundabouts. Soft/sticky clutch operation is most noticed after making long hard right turns. My dealer wasn't aware of any problems by looking it up in the system. They were good enough to call the main office to describe my problem and after they checked my VIN immediately told my dealer to check crankshaft endplay. After that, check for metal particles in the engine oil. Since mines a stick shift I don't know if automatic trans. would notice anything while driving, but they would have the same crankshaft bearings. If I had a 2014 or early 15 with auto, I would get my oil checked for metal.

 

Yikes that's a wide swath of build dates. A local friend of mine had his Cooper S's engine replaced from this. His engine didn't even have any thrust bearings in it and the crank wore itself to death. A tragic and major oops by Hams Hall.