So i know 1st gen mini`s had a serious problem with carbon build up. from my understanding they fixed this problem with the `11 up. But how bad is it really on the N18?

 

I think you might be a little confused. 1st gens 2002-2006 R50/53 and upto 2008 in the R52 had zero problems with carbon build up since they were not direct injected. I think you meant 2nd gen and it was mainly on the N14 engine because of the direct injection. They switched to the n18 in late 2011 and it is too early too know if they will have as bad a problem. They still will have it though.

 

I would suggest doing the Carbon Clean up every 60k miles.

 

The marketers really use the fear tactics well on this issue. Like your car is going to die of carbon poisoning

The issue is not really fixed on the N18. It's supposed to populate slower, but the verdict is still out. I'll say it time and time again the catch can for the N14 and N18 engine is a huge waste of money. They band aid the problem! Learn to clean out the ports by hand or invest in a blaster if you've got an air compressor handy.

 

This is what i meant.

do you mean running Seafoam or physically taking off the head cleaning the carbon buildup?

 

Seafoam won't do it. You don't have to remove the head either. You go thru the intake ports and remove the carbon from the valve stems. They have a machine to do it or you make one yourself. The usually use walnut shells to to this. there are some videos on YouTube showing how this is done if you really want to see it.

 

I performed carbon blasting on my old N14... You can build it for about $75. Takes a few hours to perform the cleaning, but definitely easier than trying to hand clean and obviously cheaper than the dealer price.

I just placed a BSH Catch Can for good measure. Whether its even helpful, after burning a valve on my 07 MCS it's cheap prevention.

 

theres a thread if you search for it about the carbon problem for n18 engines. and no one yet had a problem with theirs, and the people who got scared and installed catch cans barely caught anything. not saying its not going to happen, but i myself am not worrying about it. just put good gas in it and change your oil more frequently than what your mini tells you

a lot of people will complain about carbon but almost if not all are from n14 engines, make sure you check sigs

 

thank you all for the info. I'm only at 31k so i'll probably make that walnut blaster in a year or two. I put maybe 12k on a year at the rate i'm driving.

 

Would you be willing to post a "how-to" re: how you built your own blaster and how you did the blasting?

 

Media blasting the intake. I did mine at 90k and that was way too long. I was having a bunch of problems. Now it is all good.

 

Does the DOS seafoam port fit the N18? I think it can be beneficial if done early and often, otherwise, I think walnut shell blasting is the way to go.
There is a write up in the how to section for it.

 

I followed these instructions. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ss-3-27-13.pdf