So 53k miles roles around and the MINI consistently is throwing CELs and starts having issues starting and idling pretty rough when cold. Finally decide to take it in. Diagnosis? Bad mass airflow sensor and carbon buildup on the valves. Early on in the purchase of my mini I was told to put an oil catch can on my car, didn't do it now look where I am. Also read about the trouble oil type air filters can cause with MAF sensors but put a K&N air filter in anyway. Moral of the story, you think you will not happen to you but it probably will. It's going to cost me $1,002 to get it all fixed. Doing the right thing this time and spending an extra $300 for a "dry" high performance air filter and an oil catch can.

 

$300?!
that seems a little high... do you have a CAI?
i got a dry nano filter from amsoil for like $45...

FWIW, with those KNs, after you oil them and let them sit for 30 mins or so to let it soak in, a trick i learned from my friend, is to wrap the whole filter in paper towels, and let it sit, like overnight. the paper towels soak up the extra oil, and only what the filter needs is left on it...

 

$300 for the filter cleaning kit and the oil catch can.

 

I'm guessing most of that is going to your OCC?

 

Ordered from www.Defendersofspeed.com

BSH OCC $169
BSH DUal Boost Tap $56.99
Dry Panel Filter $75.72
Filter Cleaning Kit $12.00

 

Honestly I've used K&N filters on three different vehicles, including my MINI now and have never had a problem with it gumming up the MAF.

 

You don't have to buy a dry air filter, what I did with my K&N is cleaned it and left it dry. No issues and still get good gas mileage.

But I definitely agree on getting the CEL light more often around 50K miles. I got one today at 48K miles, for about 20K miles I had no CEL. It only showed up on my tach not my middle speedometer(has disappeared in four hours). I have pondered to trade the car in but who know's, I might just bite the bullet to see where my MINI leads me. I have looked at two other cars but will hold on til next week to see whats up.

Good thing you got a catch can, the N14 guys need it more than anyone, that's for sure! Good luck!

 

What kind of codes were you throwing?

 

Just weird reactions that the car would make. First couple were because of my thermostat and the other time I lost boost and my car wouldn't turn on after a few cranks.

Today was random, I just heard it appear on the board and lost boost again. I didn't understand why because I tried to check the CEL with my scanguageII and nothing appeared on it, no codes. It went away after I left work. Full power was back and no jerks or anything. Just seems fishy and it could be a lot of things. I really don't have time for my MINI to be acting weird right now because I'm almost out of warranty and I need it to be my daily driver for a while.

 

Are you sure it was a CEL or was it the half-filled engine with the exclamation point that signifies that full engine power is not available?

 

Nope, never had the exclamation point half filled engine icon on my board. Only CELs. I should have taken a picture of it, next time it happens I will!

 

Wow. I set up a groupbuy for SoCal guys to get the walnut shell blasting done for $350 but no one bit, it's too bad you ponied up $1k for that service.

 

I'm not sure exactly what codes were being thrown, but whatever it was it was making my A/F ratio go all wonky.

 

Too bad I don't live in SoCal anymore.

 

:( damn that sucks.

 

It has its positives 93 octane fuel is everywhere here and the mini just loves that, cheaper too. Registration is so much cheaper here $65 a year compared to the $200+. Biggest negative is Texas roads are so flat and boring. Ethanol free fuel is also easy to come by as well.

 

Where in Texas are you getting ethanol-free fuel from? I'm from Austin and travel to the DFW area weekly and have never found a gas station that doesn't have up to 10% ethanol in it.

 

Greenville

 

Yeah, that's awesome. Hated paying the registration and wish we had 93 here.

 

If you want some twisty roads head towards the Texas hill country. Plenty of them down there. Visit Austin, San Antonio, Fredericksburg etc. Also check this link: http://www.motorcycleroads.us/index.html

As for finding ethanol free gas check here: http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=TX

 

I noticed there are no big cities in Texas selling ethanol free gas on the pure gas website!

 

Top Tier Gas lists the only brands Recommended by BMW. Anything else will cause problems Including many of those mentioned by the OP. (The voice of experience).

http://www.toptiergas.com/index.html

 

My perception of top tier gas reccomendation is to limit engine deposits. Can anyone help me understand what contribution the use of these fuel brands makes to limiting intake port & valve deposits on our N14 engines?

 

That's basically it. Cheap gas has unknown deposits and detergents in it usually, which are harmful to engine components, whereas these Top Tier gas stations have had their gas tested and shown to exceed the EPA levels for how little deposits are supposed to be in the gas.

For me personally it's a matter of mind security, because I know that in all liklihood these gas stations won't contribute to any engine problems I may have, and helps swallow the crap that is 10% ethanol that has been put in the gas down here in Texas (but that's another debate entirely lol).

 

IMHO, none whatsoever. (If I am remembering the N-nomenclature correctly.)

Remember, the main reason that the MCS gets carbon deposits is because there is no longer any fuel in the intake ports to wash the carbon into the cylinders where it can be burned! So fuel will have absolutely nothing to do with intake port and back-side-of-valve deposits. The fuel never even touches those areas.

Poor-quality fuel may cause other problems--but not those.


Justas and 1st-gen MINIs are port-injected instead of direct-injected, so poor fuels can indeed cause deposits in our intake ports and on our valves. That's because the fuel is getting sprayed into the ports and onto the back of the valves.