Alright, I'm not sure if I need advice or just commiseration, but my 07 MCS just got out of the shop Labor Day. Timing chain rattle. I was super super impressed with MINI USA because despite the fact that the chain had been replaced at 37k miles, and I now had 126k, they were willing to goodwill a good portion of the repair, and I ended up only $640 out of pocket. I am originally argued that since it was replaced in 2010, it was still probably the old, defective, recalled part used to replace the original. They asked for oil change records, which I provided, and we settled at the much lower number, yay! Fast forward two weeks later. I'm leaving my office, start her up, and notice a slight rattle. Shoot. I tell my husband who thanks I'm crazy and paranoid. This is quite possible, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong! :-P anyways, within a couple of days it progressed fast and now I'm fairly certain it sounds way worse than it did. I even think I can hear it while I'm driving, which is really terrifying. As soon as I realized that, I parked her, and have been driving a spare vehicle.

I originally took my MINI to a dealership that is 3 hours away. When she was under the "Next" program, she was in the closer dealership (2 hrs) nine times in 2 years for CEL, and it seemed to me that they had no damn clue what they were doing. I had heard good things about this dealership, which is why I went there. Now, my husband has told me there is no way I should be driving it there, so we are looking at towing it. The dealer will cover at least half the cost if it is related to the timing chain work they just did. Now I'm fretting because we are having to trust the dealership to be honest about this whole thing, and especially if there is engine damage at this point. It would be so easy for them to just say, oh there was engine damage from the original, and we just didn't realize it, here's an $8k bill. :(

 

Here is a link to the video I took:
http://youtu.be/sVmhBXRP9B8

 

Could anyone comment on whether this sounds like the timing chain for sure, or if there is any possibility that it's the vacuum pump knock that is considered normal?

 

I just took my '07 MCS in this weekend because it sounded like a tractor at start-up all of a sudden. It's the timing chain issue, and on top of other service I needed done, it looks like a $1200 bill. My dealership called today to tell me that the car was really low on oil and that my oil filter housing was leaking, which is where all the oil went. Fingers crossed you don't have any engine damage.

 

Does not sound like the chain to me. Overall sounds normal except for being loud. Hard to say whether it really is louder than normal or just the way it was recorded. There does seem to be a pretty distinctive knock sound, but hard to say what it might be.

 

They are saying it's the turbo, and is completely unrelated. :( $3400. We are looking at other options to maybe get it done for less.

 

If you're going to do the turbo take a look here:

http://www.jmturbocoopers.com/default.html

Also be sure to replace the catalytic converter too. If the Turbo went, then the Catalytic converter is gone as well.