Hello friends,

I'm just wondering if anyone here has had their motor replaced under MINI's warranty and what my chances of that might be.

Some background:
I have a 2010 R56 S Camden. Bought it used in Sept, 2015 and it has been breaking left and right. I'm not writing to complain as I do love the car otherwise; just trying to get your guys' opinions and see if a new motor under the extended warranty is likely.

Items in 2015:
- Coil pack
- HPFP
- Rear speaker
- Radio
- Valve cover (replaced before my ownership)
- Timing chain tensioner (replaced before my ownership)

2016:
- Thermostat
- Turbo oil lines
- Turbo inlet hose
- Leak, replaced head gasket and oil pan gasket
- Leak again and motor was consuming lots of oil, replaced valve cover and PCV (just today!)
- Another leak in oil filter housing, getting replaced next week
- Squeaky clutch spring, getting replaced next week

My car is going out of extended warranty in July 2017. So, has anyone gotten a replacement motor under warranty? If so, what did it take? Also does my car's history look roughly in line with other R56's, or is mine breaking a lot more frequently than usual?

Any opinion would be much appreciated.

 

None of those defects warrant and engine replacement.

 

The oil consumption does but it's pretty hard to demonstrate that the engine has failed prematurely while all the required maintenance has been respected. Then there is the discussion on how it was operated that is so subjective. I wish you the best of luck but this business of patching up an engine that has poor compression (oil consumption and blow by) is just a waste of money.

 

I had my 2010 MCS motor replaced under MINI extended warranty in July this year. Bought the car in Feb 2016 and had a similar list to yours.

-HPFP (before ownership)
-Thermostat leaking
-Water pump leaking
-Entire timing chain assembly replaced (broken guide rails, intake can off timing).
-Car was blowing blue smoke at idle (reving it a bit after idling). Turned out to be piston rings.

I had to bring it in 3 times before the dealer finally acknowledged the issue. First time dealer denied seeing any smoke (BS). Second time I made sure to get a service advisor out to see the car before leaving it. It was like a cloud machine and they witnessed it. The dealer replaced valve cover but that did not solve issue. Third time dealer found the piston rings in cyl. 4 were shot. Engine was then replaced.

I sincerely hope the car gives me at least a couple years of problem free driving now.. Car only had 89 000 KM (around 55K miles) when the engine was replaced. Unreal.

 

Thank you. Just to clarify, why is patching up an engine this way a waste of money? (I'm definitely no mechanic myself and sometimes have trouble understanding what may seem very obvious other NAM users.) Are you referring to a piston ring issue potentially?

You've reminded me with your comment regarding poor compression. After they replaced the head and oil pan gaskets, a compression test was performed. The service advisor noted that compression in cylinder 1 was "kinda low but within specs."

 

Wow, and I thought my case was bad. Sorry to hear and I hope your new engine will fare better.

So just to clarify, it's the shot piston rings that warranted a new engine? Is this unrepairable? Did they take your previous records (blue smoke, timing chain, etc) into consideration? I ask because, I figure they would just keep trying to patch up whatever they can until my warranty runs out, seeing as how a new engine is not exactly cheap. Probably have my head in the clouds on this one, but I wonder if an N18 as a replacement is possible, might be nice since it's supposedly more reliable.

Thanks for your reply.

 

Hey Brian,
If your engine is consuming oil, leaking and low on compression it means that the internal components are in need of replacement. Probably in need of new piston rings, valve guide seals and possibly more. If this isn't done first, you will be constantly fighting leaks and replacing parts such as the valve cover and oil filter housing gaskets that wouldn't be leaking if it the engine was healthy. It's like treating the symptoms as opposed to the root cause of the issue.