Just wanted everyone to know that after having the software fix installed approx. 2 years ago, it has never stumbled since. Yay!

 

we have 2 cms all4 in the family, my dad's has the 205/55R17 all-season tires, mine had 225/45R18 summer tires, now has 225/50R18 michelin pilot super sports and/or 205/70R16 winters

on a tight on ramp, dad's car would stumble under full throttle ... after a few trips to the dealer with NTF (no trouble found), i took it for a drive ... turns out the DSC light in the tach would light during the stumble ... one (or more) tires were slipping and the DSC was reducing power until traction was restored, i turned off DSC / turned on DTC and POOF, no more stumble!

my all4 with the wider, stickier summer tires has never done this on the same ramp

both are 2012s, his 9/11 build, mine 3/12 build

scott

 

Solved my issue with studder and codes and limp mode. After researching the endless possibilities someone mentioned Air leak? turns out that was my problem. It was the rubber seal under the compression clamp, last soft part before the Turbo. Need to order a new seal, but just tightening the clamp solved the cough and mis-fire. I did replace plugs which I assume was not necessary or part of my problem.

 

Attachment 113201Hi tonsabe,

thanks for the hint on possible air leak.
Can you please confirm on the turbo graph what seal have you changed?



This week I'm going with my 2011 Countryman Cooper S for sw update to try to fix the stumbling issues. In case it will not work - would be good to have a backup possible root cause for the accelerating problem

 

mine is a 2012 countryman S, i replaced all coils and spark plugs because it was spureting, but now that i replaced those i just simply dont have any more go after 4000 rpms on any gear..

 

Well my 2012 Cooper S with 39,000 miles just started the bucking routine under acceleration with no codes thrown. Have an appointment with the dealer Wednesday. I hope they get it right the first time because they are a 3 hour drive one way.

 

My 2012 cooper had the stumble with no codes showing with my reader. It was cured by dealer with one new coil on one cylinder number 4. The mileage was 29000. The strange thing is however hard you revved the engine it sounded ok, but as soon as you drove off and needed to accelerate the stumble would randomly happen. The car would be worse in 4th fifth and sixth gear under load. One other thing I noticed was the exhaust looked damp to wet at the tailpipe , sooty looking.

 

Started having this problem about three months ago in my 2014 S. First time was on a flat road going with a Civic, Countryman gave me one burp, real quick but noticeable. Since then it has gotten worse and the car has lost a lot of power I feel like, I can't pass anyone anymore and it feels like all acceleration is gone. I can basically force the car to replicate this on command if I'm going anything above say 20mph and just put the pedal to the floor it will fall on its face. Has anyone had this issue with a new build? Read the whole thread and it seems pretty rare these days.

 

I dad the exact same issue in my 2012, 60K miles. I could replicate it 100% of the time by mashing the pedal. Turns out it was spark plugs. Car runs like new again after changing them.

I would suggest to take out the spark plugs and inspect them. Mine were really bad and all had different gaps due to wear with some having double the gap. No wonder it stumbled on hard acceleration.

 

I would tend to agree with ball , change the plugs, they and the coils have to be in good order to get the high tension spark to ignite the fuel efficiently.
You mention new build, did you rebuild the engine? New parts can sometimes be defective. I once changed a head gasket twice on a 1970s 1275 gt mini first generation. The reason was a faulty NEW distributor cap.
I didnt spot that the carbon centre contact was missing

 

I'd bet the house this is my problem. I'd say it started around 55-60K(yes this poor baby has 70K on it already).

There was only one instance weeks ago now where I really need the thing to get going trying to take a left and when it "stumbled" i kept the pedal down and it thru an engine code and drove worse than anything I've ever felt, almost beyond limp mode, stuck at a max of 35mph there was also a very loud noticeable ticking like a chain, but it did make it up and over a mountain like this. In my mind I thought misfire or clogged fuel injector. When I got home I restarted the car an hour later and it ran fine, with the stumble that is.

How easy are the plug swaps on these motors? We just got ethanol free gas up here in Vermont so I'll be switching over to that exclusively too.

 

Plugs are very easy to change. You just need the special socket and a long extension. Couldn't be much easier. I did have a bit of a hard time trying to find the right gap though. In my research I found a few conflicting reports. I cant remember what I landed on, but it seems to be working well.

 

If I'm still under warranty, would plugs be covered? 2013 MCS All4 just started having this issue a month ago. I can now reproduce it 100% of the time.

 

Whatever you do dont change the plugs if the engine is hot,you can destroy the thread in the alloy head.
I beleive the gap is one millimeter. Thats what mine are set at.I think the the plugs have to have done 60000 before dealer changes them . I change them ealier every second oil change, thats not a lot of miles 20000.
You can get the stumble with one coil going down. I had one renewed and car goes like a train, after having the stumble under load and could replicate at will

 

This problem has taught me that having a top notch code reader is the way to go. I am renewing mine as it did not show the misfire on one pot. A freind lent me theirs and it showed cylinder four misfire. Did not say anything to dealer as the car has a few months waranty left and tlc till 2017 service free. They changed the coil on that clyinder free under the waranty. At one point it was so bad I considered it could be clutch related, but remembering years ago when I had a clutch go it was different symptoms. something ignition related was what I had my money on.Even though the engine did sound good no hint of a misfire when revved

 

SIMILAR PROBLEM: My 64k-mile '13 HT S started to stumble on hard acceleration shortly after filling up the tank - at least that's when I noticed it.

THE FIRST IDEA: My guru (the ever-awesome Mike at Helix in Philadelphia) felt fairly certain it was the plugs - time to replace them anyways. He almost totally dismissed the idea of fuel contamination. Replacing the plugs was a do-it-yourself for me - the biggest problem being finding a local place with decent compatible plugs and getting a decent torque wrench. The car ran very smoothly after they were replaced but - alas - still bucked on hard/quick pedal-to-the-floor acceleration.

THE SECOND TRY: So then I acquiesced and took it to Mike. He rechecked the plugs and the gaps and then quickly focused on the ignition coils. But when he replaced a coil, the problem continued. No codes were thrown. He replaced another coil, but the problem persisted. At this point, he was starting to believe - hmmm - maybe it could be the fuel???

THIRD TIME'S A CHARM? I went back to the Mini dealership looking at bigger expense but hopefully a definite fix. They again focused on the coils - narrowed down to a single cylinder. They seemed quite certain, but their test drive proved the car was still in disrepair. So they replaced a second coil (just like they did at Helix) and again the problem persisted.

FOURTH TIME'S THE CHARM: The problem turned out to be all four coils needed to be replaced. The proof? My Mini runs smooth now and no stumble.

LESSON LEARNED: If you think it's a coil and that doesn't fix it, then pluralize your suspicion and think coils. Even all four. And Mike is still awesome, by the way - his suspicions were spot on but he - and even the Mini dealership service techs - had to really work through this problem. Nobody got it on the first or even second try.

RED HERRINGS: The timing of the stumble being right after a fill-up at the cheapest gas station in New Jersey was a tempting suspicion, but running the tank down and filling it with a totally different brand did nothing to reduce the symptoms. By the way, it's worth mentioning that this tank has not once seen anything less than the highest octane available at any given station (91 or 93) since the car was new.

QUESTION TO EVERYONE: What would cause all 4 coils to die like that?

 

Did it ever throw any codes? Did the new coils perhaps cover over another issue for the time being, like fuel pump?

 

Well the fourth time wasn't the charm!

The stumble started again - four new plugs, four new coils and two tanks of petrol later. Very perplexing! And it turned out to be the plugs! The plugs were Denso SC20HR11 Iridium Long Life Spark Plugs and I purchased them from Advance Auto Parts. Going on the site, they claim these are an "Exact Fit for your 2013 Mini Cooper S."

The problem is that the diameter of the ceramic insulator is narrower than the original plugs. Even though the coil snapped in place on the plug, the gap between the two allowed a short circuit to occur, especially apparent at higher RPM (such as hard acceleration). The plugs were replaced with MiNi OEMs and the problem is definitely gone (I road tested the heck out it).

I thought it was important to update the thread with this information.

LESSON: One thing to compare with Denso or other replacement plugs is the ceramic insulator diameter. They may meet every spec but a narrower insulator will cause problems at least with the OEM coils.

PS - For Minnie in the preceding post - no codes were ever thrown. That perplexed the people trying to figure this out. KUDOS to Wayne, Mini tech at Princeton, for his diagnostic skills.

 

Hi all, add me to the list too. 2012 cm s all4. 45ishk on the od.
has happened to me a few times. The first few times it was in sport mode, 5th gear, accelerating 60ish MPH (no note on the rpm). Happened again yesterday, sport mode, 3rd gear, 51 mph, 4k rpm. I called mini mt. laurel (southern NJ) and broke it all down. Mind you I'm a noob when it comes to the mini world. But not so much in the car world in general and these people think I'm an idiot. "We need to still try and recreate it, even if you think its the computer, we need some sort of indication to show us that its the computer" #Facepalm So here i am, taking it in next week, getting a loaner car, and hoping they can recreate it. fingers crossed ya'll.

 

Hi everyone, I have an All stock, 2013 All4S stick, 64k miles (2 weeks new to me). I got the stumbling issue when the car is in SPORT mode. There's a favorite on-ramp that I full throttle the car up to almost redline. Today for the first time it stumbled half-way up the on-ramp. At about 60 mph, ~5000rpm. Car acted like it was going to stop. Let-up and coaxed it onto the freeway. It finally evened out when I got onto the freeway. Has been doing it in SPORT mode at up throttle in 30mph range. Just ordered a Veepeak OBD2 and will be testing when it gets here.

 

I posted on your other post about this too. But I left something out. I am willing to bet you need new plugs. Possible coil problem too, but I’m betting on the plugs. Since it’s new to you, you don’t know what’s in there. Did you get service records with it? If so , you can look and see if they have been changed or not. I know what Mini claims, but I never go over 25k on my plugs or this starts to happen. If you were tuned I’d say to use NGK 1422 plugs, but being stock, you do not want to use anything but OEM plugs! Trust me on this. Cheap plugs will misfire.....different brands will misfire.RealOEM.com is your new friend! I know at some point Mini switched to NGK plugs, but mine came with BERU 12ZR-6DPP2-1 plugs in 2012. Those are probably what you will need to buy. For coils, if needed, use oem as well. Delphi makes them, and you can get the exact same part# coils without the MINI logo for a quarter of the price on Amazon, and they ship straight from Delphi.
I forgot to mention in my other reply the importance of using OEM quality parts on these cars.
I have no clue if this is your first Mini or not. But if it is, one thing you will certainly need is a good scan tool to read and clear codes. It will save you time, money, and sanity. They are a must for diagnosis on these. And you need to get one with the software to read the proprietary BMW codes. Most scan tools will not see all of the codes. I’ve had mine scanned while it was in limp mode and the tool showed no codes. But there were really 5 that it could not read or even register. I have a Schwaben scan tool from ECS Tuning and would recommend it all day long. It has seriously paid for itself ten times over. Just ask Mini how much to register a new battery..... it takes less than 5 minutes with a good scan tool. I think Mini wants a few hundred bucks for that!
Ive had my Countryman for a couple of years now, and have torn into it pretty good a few times, so I’m happy to help out any time I can... feel free to pm me if you need to.
Enjoy, they are a blast... and when you start to decide it’s a little underpowered, that’s where the fun starts! And Mariokart steps in, ha ha!

 

Hey Mr. Grumpy! Thanks for the advice. This is my first MINI. I've had several BMWs and still have my E46ZHP. Will stick to the OEM parts. I was thinking maybe it was the spark plugs because at 43k miles Mini Dealer took the spark plugs out, cleaned them, regapped them and re-installed. I need to find out the symptoms that they were attempting to solve by doing that. Nothing on the Carfax about HPFP. The Carfax does show it was eating tires there for a while...seems like the dealer changed the tires out several times (one here, one there, and there).
I just ordered a Veepeak BLE+ but after what you are saying maybe I should get a Schwaben too and just use the Veepeak for Torque to watch my temperatures or do logging. Just before I purchased the car the Mini Dealer changed the Battery, Serpentine Belt, Oil, Air Filter, and Brake pads. It looks like it has its original thermostat, coils. I guess I can go to the local Mini Dealer and ask them to pull a report on the car. At 64k miles I know its right there and may need new parts for its next 64k run. The car is in really clean condition. The clearcoat does look like its had a bit of a run in with mechanical car washes but for most part its really clean.

Register a Battery? Why do you need to register a battery?

Underpowered...I do like to drive in SPORT mode most of the time. Like why can't the default be SPORT mode ? Was thinking it needs new shocks or rear sway bar or something too (body roll argh!) . I drive lots of twisty mountain roads (body roll argh!)

Its too funny, I found another Countryman in the parking lot yesterday and was like "why does it look so small"??? Then I pulled up along side it... What are these? Tardis?

Thank you again! Looking forward to the Mini addiction.

Like this? https://www.ecstuning.com/b-assemble...222936972ktkt/

 

Yeah that will work!
As far as the battery, we have BMW’s intelligent battery system or whatever they call it. When the battery is replaced, it needs to be registered to the ECU. Mini charges an outrageous fee to do it. But the Schwaben and a few others will do it.
Give it time... after a bit you will want to start modding it! Ha ha. And an ECU tune is by far the biggest improvement you can make power-wise

 

Ok updating results on this thread. Ordered the spark plug and coil pack kit as Mr. Grumpy suggested and installed it yesterday. The results... a totally zinging peppy car! Even the turbo sounds better. Thanks Mr. Grumpy!

 

Ok stumble has happened twice since new spark plugs and coils. Mind you the old spark plugs were fried (see https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post4511902 ) car is now brighter and peppy. Throttling onto the on-ramp and then *cough* *cough* like a throttle limiter bogs the turbo? Changed out the air-filter that the Dealer left dirty (see link above) and replaced with K&N panel. Turbo seems to spin up faster. Am still getting the *cough* bog turbo effect when throttling onto the on-ramp. Do these turbos hit a wall? Also noticed that there is a inch around area of build-up of oil "blow-by" at the top of the fat hose... (see picture below) What is that? (Marked location on photo from internet, will get actual picture in daylight. Yes I have a JB+ installed also).