I just recently bought a 2004 R53 Cooper S from a guy in New York, it had the check engine light on which was a p2096 code. That code is for too lean or too rich? im not quite sure which one it is. but i brought the car home and had it looked at at my normal car shop and the car had no catalytic converter in it! just a straight pipe welded in its place. I got a new universal cat put in for about $600 and had the O2 sensors checked and everything is working but that darn p2096 code is still on. I am now being told that i need to bring it to a mini dealership and have them diagnose it then flash/reprogram the ECU if necessary.

My question is, is there any other way to get rid of this code if there is actually nothing wrong with the car? ive heard that having a dealership do that kind of job is around $500. I had a temp registration which expired and i can't pass the emissions test with this light on. I really want to get it fixed and get back on the road! thank you for any input

 

p2096 is lean condition found in sensor 1, so theres a leak in the header allowing air in, o2 sensor is bad, or something fuel related isnt quite running right, check your spark plugs and see if they look golden, if white, you may have clogged injectors, clogged fuel pump or filter. if they are golden, there could be a leak in the header before the 02 sensor, this is ussually loud

or the 02 sensor is bad

 

Alright thanks for the info, I haven't noticed any unusually loud sounds so it looks like i'll have to check the spark plugs before I do anything else. hopefully its just an issue lke you mentioned and i dont have to mess with the ECU

 

what the dealer would do is reset the ECU for you, and prolly charge you $200 for about 15 min of work, you can find instructions how to do it through the ignition, or just unplug your batt for about 10 min, dont forget to keep your doors open, but i doubt any of this will help

 

Well thanks a bunch for the input, why don't you think it will help though? i did end up making an appointment with the dealer in Warwick RI because im just not sure whats up with it. I'll go try and reset the battery now though