Hi all. New to minis bit got an problem i can figure out.

Getting a weird code on my wife's countryman. P13c0 glow plug on a gas engine. I know it's because I am not using a mini scanner but I have seen where this could also be a vanos issue. Anyone have any experience with this? How hard is it to replace both of these?
symptoms: stuck in limp mode, rough idle, harder than normal start.

Recently replaced throttle body, oxygen sensors, most hoses (finally found all the oil leaks), new battery, recent oil change, air filter, new brakes and rotors. Not sure if any if that is relevant but worth noting maybe.

 

Should have mentioned it's a 2013

 

Do you have any symptoms to go along with the code?

 

Yeah. Half power light on won't go off. Rough idle but not quite like misfiring rough. Little hard on the start. Still drives and switches gears (auto).


Had a check engine light that I reset and hasn't come back on.

 

Some likely culprits could be low oil, camshaft position sensor, or VANOS malfunction. From how often VANOS problems come up on this forum, the vanos solenoids would probably be where I would start.

They aren't that hard to get to. And that code is going to be intake/exhaust cam-specific. So you may be able to swap intake vanos for exhaust vanos and see if the code switches camshafts. I suppose the same applies to camshaft position sensors, I could be wrong but I believe they are functionally identical. If you opt to just throw new VANOS actuators on, a lot of comments in the forum encourage buying OEM quality, allegedly lots of problems with 3rd party aftermarket.

if you aren't familiar, the VANOS actuators use oil pressure to change phase angle of the camshafts, it's BMW's method for variable valve timing. With 10k mile oil change intervals, oil gets dirty and can clog the actuators. End result is camshaft position isn't where it is commanded to be and you get a rough idle.

There's also a chance it's a stretched timing chain issue, depending on cars mileage, and I think some later years weren't as susceptible to this common problem. It would help if you were using a mini specific scanner to get the bmw code, might be more informative, suppose equally might not be.

R60 S All4 is an N18 engine. you might be able to spend some time here or on google with searches like "N18 vanos problems" or similar and see if it makes sense with what you're experiencing.

Don't take my word here as gospel, I only know as much as my own car has forced me to learn.

 

Thanks. I will check into that to see if any of it matches up with what we are seeingwith it. Car has 140k miles on it.
I have shop nearby that will at least pull the info for me. I won't be able to have them do any work as I just paid through the nose tracking down oil leaks, turbo repair new o2 sensors and throttle body replacement, etc, etc.... So I may just come back and post what they find for me.
Been debating on selling it, but I have dumped so much money into this thing I really want some kind ROI.

 

Oh, I see now you had symptoms in your first post. My apologies for missing that.

 

No worries. Thanks for the help

 

I feel for you my friend. We have the same year and submodel. I rebuilt (well, mostly rebuilt) my engine in fall of 2023, got a year out of it, and now it randomly leaks and or pukes oil from somewhere yet to be determined. In my 4 years of owning mine, I've spent a couple grand more in repair parts (and some labor when I couldn't do it) than I spent on buying the car. I've given up on it until I can afford for a pro to figure it out, or I sell it.

Don't give up on it over this. At least not yet. The VANOS actuators, if the problem, are right up at the top of the cylinder head, one in front one in rear. And aren't terribly expensive. 2013 MINI Cooper Countryman S ALL4 Hatchback L4 1.6L Engine Timing VANOS - 11368610388 - Solenoid Valve (SOLV) Vanos 7.06117.02.0
^I'm not advocating buying that specific one, just an example.

You're most welcome. Welcome to the forums.

 

If you can at least pull the code, this site is a good reference:
https://bmwfault.codes

Looks to me like the intake vanos solenoid. They are pretty easy to change out, just have to make the intake pipe out of the way.

 

Might be worth it to invest in a scanner capable of MINI specific codes. Dumping that fault code into ISTA shows 2 options for the N18 engine:
VANOS intake: control fault, camshaft stuck
VANOS solenoid valve, inlet: Camshaft jammed

 

Whoops. Palm on touch pad, not where I meant to be... don't know how to delete.

 

Well everyone thanks for your help. It was the vanos but also the timing chain. Shop wanted 6k to fix. I don't have the setup for that. Originally bought for 12k. 14k worth of work done so far before this and still need a paint job. So we traded in last night. No more minis for us.

Thanks again for the responses and may all your timing chains stay tight, oil leaks be minimal, and your o2 sensors not crap out.