Hi I am new here, and coming from BMW X5 4.8i...hi everyone, nice to meet you all

I am still in the dilemma whether to buy or not to buy a 11 CM S with 65k km All4......... Automatic, still under warranty till August of next year

Any advise?

 

Call MINI and give them the vin. They will tell you if it's got any record of weird issues. If the aux coolant valve has been replaced. Thermostat. Chain guides and tensioner. Valve cover gasket. Just the standard stuff you might have dealt with on your 4.8. The bushings take a beating because folks just whip these cars around. Hope it all checks out.

 

Can the bucket seats at the back be replaced to a 3 seaters bench like the 12? I prefer the 5 seaters

 

Picking up my first Mini later this afternoon...how can you know if it needs a timing chain guide? Its seems like loud when the car just started, is it because of the turbo? Quite down when it is warm up, any suggestion?

Thanks

 

In my experience people seem to think they are hearing that chain rattle when in fact it's lots of other things. Valves. Injectors. Vacuum pump. They all kind of clack and rattle. Especially at cold start up. If your chain is too long it will rub and slap against those guides pretty hard much like a loose bicycle chain does. The only way to be sure about the diagnosis is to have the chain length measured.

 

You mean the loud noise is normal when starting up?

 

Loud is not good, but these engines are not silent either. Especially when building up compression and temp at first. Loud compared to what? My old 4.4 BMW v8 was a different sounding engine, loud in a different way. Sometimes posting a video will help folks chime in.