I'm new here and I joined for the sole purpose of getting a second opinion.

My brother and I both drive Euro cars, mine's a 2015 Volkswagen Passat and he picked up a 2012 Mini Countryman S All4. I'm kind of the unofficial mechanic in the family.

His R60 has been a bit of a nightmare. He bought it with around 68k on the clock, a year or two back. We've had a myriad of issues but just recently the oil light went on and we decided to have it towed to the only Mini dealership in our area. They sent us a video detailing what was wrong with the car, but in the video they did not address the light at all.

Finding this odd, we chose to have a local Autohaus check out the car instead. The diagnosis was that the timing chain, guides, and oil pump needed replaced but they wouldn't know until they pulled the oil pan on the car. Fast forward a few days and they've pulled the oil pan and have found pieces of timing guide. They go ahead and replace the timing chain, guides, and both vanos solenoids (one had actually been replaced 8 or so months ago).

After 2 weeks we pick up the car after paying quite a large sum. My brother follows me home and right as he's pulling into my driveway his car goes into limp mode, check engine light goes on. He turns off the car and starts it again only for it to take quite a few seconds to actually fire up. We call the auto shop, they give us the number to a towing agency and the towing agency comes and picks up the car to take back to the Autohaus.

Today my brother gets a phone call and they're saying that the vanos need replaced again due to engine sludge clogging them up. They're going to do it free of charge but if it happens again they claim the engine will need flushed. The car only has 88k miles on it now and the total number of repairs alone have summed up to close to half of the cars worth.

My question is, how likely is this problem? Can the car seriously have that much sludge after only 88k miles? Wouldn't they have noticed the sludge when they dropped the oil pan?

My brother is about ready to set the car on fire at this point because financially he's struggling with it.

Any advice is appreciated!

 

Sorry to hear your struggles with the car. Sounds like the previous owner did not take very good care of the car.

I agree, they should have seen the sludge when they removed the oil pan, but who knows. Might be worth it to purchase a BMW/Mini code reader to have on hand for future issues. If it is just a dirty engine, a few quick oil changes can help clean it up. Do maybe 3-5 drain and fills every 1000 miles or so with a quality oil, and it should help clean out the internals. When you are satisfied with the results form a few of those, change the filter. After that, change the oil every 5000-7500 miles regularly to keep the engine insides happy. Also, make he checks the oil level at least every other fuel up.

 

Thank you for the quick response! I'll relay the information.
Yeah, I'm afraid it may have ruined his love for Minis, but we will see.

There has been an update: Per my brother "The timing chain was all messed up also. it wasnt 100% engine sludge. This is just what supposedly caused the "New" issues."

 

They must have replaced the timing chain, and installed it incorrectly... Nice shop. Hopefully, they get it right the second time. Just an FYI, the crank and cam bolts must be replaced when performing timing chain service. If they didn't replace them, the bolts won't torque correctly, and the chain will slip.

 

I gave my 2011 CM to my son several years ago. The happiest day for him with the car was the day he traded it in for a new VW Alltrack. The CM was a constant source of limp modes and trouble. Earlier on (30K) I had the oil flushed and some cleaner used to get the gunk out. The engine oil was changed on schedule with first owner and I changed it every 5K when I owned it. Replaced the Vanos Solenoids, etc.

If you can't DIY, it is going to be a long term money pit in my experience.

 

I talked with the guy who owns or works at the shop, his wife has a 2012 Mini Countryman S All4 as well and he did the timing chain on theirs around 70k miles. I hope he knows what he's doing... there was a Porsche, a few Audis, and other Euros in the bays of the garage and the parking lot when we went to pick up, so I'm hoping.

I'm a huge DIYer mainly from being brought up without the money to pay for vehicles to be repaired or trusting mechanics. We decided not to tackle this job specifically because money is still owed on the car and I don't want to be responsible for this exact situation (and my garage is currently full of a Sportsmobile Pop Top). I think my brother does plan to get rid of it as soon as he is able because he drives about an hour every day to and from work and he needs something reliable.

As for the Volkswagen, my Passat has been absolutely wonderful. My brother is currently driving it because of his Mini issues and my mother previously drove it when her 2011 Malibu was being worked on. (Oddly the same repair, timing chain, guides, and water pump). I've driven my Passat since 43k and it currently has 111k and not one hiccup.