New member, and am looking for some advice as to next steps. i have looked through several threads here, and not sure where to go next.

Car:
2009 JCW (purchased used with 96K, Carfax was clean and showed "Engine Service" at 70K+)
6 Speed Manual
115K miles
120 miles/day for work (mostly highway; 63-80mph)
Average 34-35mpg

A week ago, coming home from work, the engine light came on. Car did not stumble, hesitate, or seem to lose power. Check mpg while driving and noticed a significant drop (was getting 36mpg and was now only 29mpg). Drove the remainder of the way home (15-20 miles), and park car in garage, figuring I would check codes in the morning. Next morning to go to work, and the car cranks (rather slowly), but will not turn over. Ran codes and received the following;
A0C1 CAS: Output, teminal 50
2B32 DME: Throttle-valve actuator, control range
2B2B DME: Throttle-valve actuator, positioning monitoring
2745 DME: Multiplicative mixture adaptation
273D DME: Ignition coil, cylinder 1, ignition-circuit monitoring
2773 DME: Combustion misfires, cylinder 1
2B64 DME: Intake manifold, unmetered air
2AC4 DME: Oxygen sensor before catalytic converter: Plausibility

1. The A0C1 code had me thinking that I have a grounding issue. Checked the ground strap from passenger side motor mount to frame. No corrosion, rust, fraying, and everything is tight. Not sure if there are any other ground straps that I should be checking (ideas?). Checked battery, and that was reading 12.86v, so battery should not be the issue.
2. 2B32 and 2B2B codes caused me to pull intake/throttle body off (noticed passenger side manifold nut missing). Removed throttle body and found a small pool of condensation/oil mixture in elbow of down tube, throttle body, and bottom of intake manifold. Cleaned everything and re-assembled. Replaced missing nut and attached intake/throttle body assembly back on motor. The intake was leaking at missing nut location. This should clear 2B64 code. also noticed where the valve cover outlet plugs into the intake manifold, there is another smaller port, but has nothing connected to it, and could not find any miscellaneous tubes back by fire wall that would connect to it (is this port supposed to be open, or have something connected to it?)
3. While removing intake manifold, noticed the valve cover was starting to show signs of losing its seal. Pulled valve cover off (middle bolt by timing chain was loose), installed new gasket. Inspected timing chain and guides while cover was off. All guides were intact, and chain was tight (have never had the death rattle on start up). installed valve cover gasket. Not too worried about timing as the car ran normal for last 15-20 miles home, and chain is tight and guides are in good shape.
4. Replaced all spark plugs and ignition coils. Verified spark on cylinder 1. Old plugs were carboned up showing a rich mixture. This should clear at a minimum 273D code and possibly 2773 code.
5. Changed Oil and filter as had 8k on oil and 5k on filter.
6. Replaced Air Filter as had 14k on it (Still very clean, so that was not causing any air restrictions)

Cleared codes, and tried to start car. No change. Car cranks, trying to start, but does not start. Only code that came back was A0C1.

My thoughts;
As the plugs were showing signs of the motor running rich, and I have 2 throttle body codes, I am thinking that the throttle body is not functioning properly, so a rich mixture was being used. I am thinking that this could have caused codes 2745, 2773, and 2AC4. I do not think the alternator has anything to do with this, and my battery should have shown less then full if the alternator was failing. Have visually checked the starter electrical from underneath car, and nothing looks out of place. ground strap is showing signs of a little green discoloration.

Is it possible that the throttle body would stop the car from starting? I am not concerned about the HPFP as I was able to cruise home as normal (shifting through all gears as normal). the fuel pump in the gas tank I am a bit concerned with as it does not seem to be priming as normal (usually hear it prime either when I unlock the car or open the door). I am going to see if I can watch the fuel pressures with my scanning tool.

My biggest issue is the A0C1 code. this could have set off a chain reaction, and don't want to spend a ton of cash on parts I may not need.

 

Alright, got back to the car today. tested starter and battery. Starter checked out good, battery needed to be replaced.

Still slow crank and no fire. Ran diagnostics on HPFP while trying to start and only got ~420psi, and from what I have read it should be around 725 at idle.

Next up is fuel pump in gas tank. Did not hear that when I got in car today. I am hoping that the fuel pump in the gas tank is not working, which is causing the HPFP to not get the the required fuel it needs to generate the correct pressure. I could very well be completely off base with this, but I believe this would be the next logical step.

Also, I have read several posts regarding the extended warranty on the HPFP of 10 years/120k miles. Is there a way to find out if my car is part of this plan? Does the dealership have to perform the replacement, or can an indy shop do the replacement? Does the HPFP need to be programmed/synced to the ECM? I am approximately 60 miles away from a dealership, and the tow bill to the dealership would damn near equal 75% of what a HPFP would cost me to install myself.

 

Of course, you have to go the dealer to make sure it is done for warranty data recording.

Just call the Mini Dealer with your VIN or BMW America. For a mostly 10 YO car it should not be a big deal to find if covered or not.

 

Alright. Put car on dolly, and haul the it down to dealership to verify the HPFP was at fault on March 1st. Dealership called today and confirmed HPFP was bad. They replaced it at no cost, under the extended warranty. The techs reported the car started, but idled roughly for a few minutes then died. Started car second time, and it ran for approximately 10 seconds, and died again. They tried to start it a third time, and it would not start. The techs did some more diagnosing, and determined that a fuel injector (or multiple injectors) are leaking and need to be replaced. They want 3500 (6 hours labor) to replace the fuel injectors. Bahahahaha. That is not gonna happen. I asked if they were sure it was the injectors, and they confirm, everything checks out good minus the injectors.

Going down to dealership tomorrow, to talk with techs to get information on whether the car has version 1 or version 2 of fuel injectors. I will then be hooking the car up on a dolly to bring it home. Once I know the injector version needed, will order injectors, seal kits (only need retainer), and hard fuel line) for around 320-350. Will do the injector replacement(s) myself. Hopefully by the middle of next week, I be driving the car again. Can't take driving wife's SUV back and forth to work (ride sucks, and the gas cost is crippling me).

 

Alright, picked car up, and hauled it home. Brothers and I popped hood, and BAM! Ari box missing, strut brace unbolted on drivers side with bolt and nut laying on cowl by brake/clutch fluid reservoir, and fluid spatter all over the valve cover, intake tubes and strut brace. PISSED is an understatement. located air box on passenger side of cabin. Took pictures, and inspected the HPFP. The pump was indeed replaced. Called service manager first thing this morning, and explain what we found. The usual "that is unacceptable... blah, blah, blah..." (No kidding). He asked if I had pictures, and I said I would send them to him.

Attached pictures to email, and then proceeded to state my concerns about the work that was listed as being done. If they started the car, the air box would have been installed, and the strut brace re-attached, as the car will not run properly (if at all) without air box in place. They wouldn't have had to remove the air box to inspect the injectors as they stated they did. they would have gone through the spark plug ports for that. did they even inspect the injectors, or was he making a guess? I also find it hard to believe that injectors would fail like this at the same time without mpg values degrading over time (which I was not experiencing).

Now, I will have new injectors, etc here later this week, but am beginning to wonder is that is the problem. If it is the problem, and the injectors are dumping that much fuel into the cylinders, The oil should have gas in it, and my cylinders are probably wiped clean, potentially compromising compression. the dealer did not state they did a compression test. What should I use to recoat the cylinders? I am going to check oil tomorrow, and pull plugs.

I am off my rocker? thoughts?

 

Replaced injectors Saturday, and BAM!, car started right up. Going to be running seafoam through intake once a week for the next week, to clean the carbon build up in cylinders. Dealer said they do no walnut blast them any longer, but rather running concentrated cleaner through it and it apparently works just as good. As I am not using the dealers cleaner, will just do a couple treatments with seafoam.

Man is it nice to be driving the car again.