I recently got a great price on a JCW sound kit for my 2003 Cooper. I only have 26,000 miles on the car and I plan on keeping it. The kit consists of a stainless steel catback exhaust, air filter and ecu remap. Well, after waiting over three hours I jump in the car and get ready to drive. The check engine light comes on and stays on. I go back in to tell the service guy and he says, when the tech did the ecu remap the sensor showed a malfunction. He thought resetting it might correct it. Well it didn't so I had the 02 sensor replaced. I asked the service guy why the sensor would fail now. Prior to this I never had the check engine light come on and the car performed fine. My car is in great shape with no corrosion issues. He really had no answers. I can't help thinking that the sensor was damaged by the tech when he installed the catback exhaust. There's a sensor after the catalytic converter in front of where the exhaust pipe is removed. The service guy gave me a discount on the 02 sensor and didn't charge me any labor to have it installed. Has any one had a similar problem? Am I off base thinking a tech damaged the sensor either knowingly or unknowingly?

 

This conversation will go nowhere without first telling us what OBDII code was generated when your CEL came on.

 

Do you have a 2003 Cooper or a 2003 Cooper S? How much did you pay for it? ECU remap for just an air filter and an exhaust -- seems unproductive. If you are running the JCW tune for your car with just those mods you are running the wrong program. The JCW tune is designed for 12% reduction pulley and also the JCW larger injectors..so I hope that isnt what you are running.

As far as why you got a check engine light -- we need to know the specific code that was thrown.

I don't think any dealership maliciously intends to break stuff so they can fix it. Free labor on an 02 sensor is great except for its just screw in and plug in so it isn't like they did you any favors.

I am a man of principles but lets just say you find out that the tech nicked the wiring or fouled the 02 sensor while installing your exhaust - it will be your word against his..how many trips to the dealer, phone calls, etc.. are you willing to put in to get back 100-200 dollars?

Did you get the catback exhaust new? Did you buy it from them?

We need a bit more detail to help.

 

I purchased the JCW sound kit from the dealer. It's for a Cooper not an S. I have a Justa. The kit consists of the JCW catback performance exhaust air filter which is basically like a K&N filter and an ecu remap. This is not the tuning kit that includes a reported head. As far as the code I don't know what it was the dealer didn't tell me. All I know is that the check engine light stayed on and the service guy said the 02 sensor was malfunctioning. I don't think the dealer would intentionally screw up the sensor but I wonder if it was damaged during the exhaust install. The car has low miles and is in mint condition. I realize it's my word against the tech but the dealer knows my car and the condition I maintain it in. As far as the sound kit, it adds about 3-5 hp. It has changed the car. It is much smoother in the low gears and torque has improved greatly.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

I have an R53 Cooper S -- so I know nothing of this kit. Seems like a lot of money for 4 HP...but to each his own.

O2 sensors generally last about 20-35k miles....so I don't know..maybe it was ready to go and the ECU remap just exacerbated the issue.

http://www.mini2.com/forum/lloyd-bla...t-1st-r50.html

 

An O2 sensor better last way more than 20-35K.
I bet something happened to it during the service, but who knows for sure.
Only 26K on it, but after all, it is 9 years old.

 

http://new.minimania.com/part/NME602...Mini-Cooper--S

 

The sound kit originally retailed for $1100 uninstalled. I agree that that is way too expensive for what it offered. However I bought the entire kit new for less than have that. My muffler had two rust holes through the outer casing and would be needing replacement soon. I got the kit for less than what a quality stainless steel exhaust would have cost me so it was a no brainer for me.