Story begins one month ago....

About a month ago I was driving and my CEL came on.....not a rare occasion with my car..so I pull out the scanner:
P1238 4664 Secondary Upstream Manifold Air Pressure Sensor High Input
P1242 4674 Secondary Upstream Manifold Air Pressure Sensor Too High in Deceleration
Alright, sounds like maybe bypass valve isn't working..Covered under warranty right? I make the call to good ol' MINI of Mt View who has, up until this point, been very helpful with my car. I try to schedual a quick appt, (mind you this was early may) couldn't get in until june 7th!!! "Fine, whatever, put me down for 8am"
I decide I will plunge in and see if I can find anything wrong..tear down to bypass valve, everything seems in working order..checked all vacuum lines. Everything seems to be good. So I am thinking it is one of the two MAP sensor's, I told them at MINI I think this is what the problem is. "Try putting new ones in please"

Today: "Day of Reckoning"
I wake up at 6:15am roll out of bed over to my bathroom, hit the tile and jump into the shower. Get out of the house around 7ish, Get to Mini dealer around 8-8:30.
They ask me to initial the work being done saying that if the problem that occured is caused by my mods (Which only engine mods now are pulley and header and cat back, everything else JCW) that I will pay $140 for them to have diagnose it. I also asked them to "check out" my airbag light..(Put my stock seats back in and took the recaro's out) They had me sign that too, another $140...
I wait and wait and wait....meanwhile I have a person interested in buying the car that's planning on seeing it this afternoon. I call MINI a few times and get no answer...
Ring Ring!! Finally they are calling!!
"We checked the codes, we have never seen these codes thrown before on any other MINI. So we cleared the codes and the car seems fine, they are taking it on a 20mile test drive to make sure it doesn't re-occur"
I say "OK, I will be there to pick it up shortly" ::rock on::
I show up and they say pretty much what they said on the phone and added "They couldn't find anything wrong with the car" (I'm like...uhh...it threw codes...the CEL was on....SOMETHING had to be wrong)
They go on "Since, we couldn't find anything wrong it's not covered under warranty"
Totaling cost $280...
I ask many times about this..."How can this be? Something had to be wrong...the car doesn't just throw phantom codes"
"Whatever, give me the car, as long as the CEL is off I'll pay now and take it up with MINIUSA later (I hope you read this!! You will be getting some letters soon)

I fork over $280 and get on the phone with the interested buyers. They are in the area..Great!
So they drive over, we talk for a bit. Then hop in the car and take it for a short test drive (less than 2 miles) Get back to dealership, they love the car, we talk some more, they leave, gonna call back soon.
I jump in to head home.."Yippee!! car might be sold"....Key in-clutch down-crank crank-running----CEL on!!!!
WTF!?!?!?!?!
I go back into the dealer and tell them the light came back on!!!
They go "ok, well if you would like you can fill out a drop form and leave the keys we are getting close to closing time (6:00) But you will have to sign again saying if we don't find anything you pay another $140"
I say "No way, I just paid $280 after waiting a month for you to fix my car and you didn't fix it!!"
They just keep going over their policy about modded cars with me blah blah blah...They don't seem to understand that I dropped the car off for them to fix it and they didn't fix it after I paid $280!!!!

I call up my parents to let them know what is going on...my mom is furious (she doesn't like dealers)...They tell me to get a rental from them and not sign anything about me paying again, I agree.

Walk back in and tell them "I need a rental car, my MINI is 200 miles away from being out of warranty I can't drive it home and come back tomorrow morning." They look at the clock and say. "Sorry, we are closed now I am packing up to go home to my three kids"

By this time I am ready to punch her in the face..I walk over to BMW (across the street) Talk to Kevin Hagar (service manager) Him and Mark set me up with a sweet laoner car!! Thanks guys!!

2005 x3 woohoo!!

So Tomorrow Morning I am going back over with my mom and we are raising hell. How can they get away with taking $280 from me and NOT FIXING MY CAR!!!!

 

What other forums does MINIUSA monitor?

 

also added note...

it takes well over 150 miles of driving and three full heat cycles or more for the cars sensor's to get enough info to start working properly...not a 20 mile drive around the city...

 

Mini of Mountain View is towing the company line.

Look, there were several dealers in the Bay Area that were fairly mod friendly. From what I have gathered, about 16 months ago, the local PUMA rep passed through the area and noted that warranty repairs were routinely being made on cars that had aftermarket mods on them.

I have it pretty good authority that at least one dealership was severely threatened, to the point where at least two techs lost their jobs and also that corporate began auditing just about every warranty repair they performed for a period. Since then, several people have reported that their cars are being "tagged" by the dealerships.

Once a dealership notes that your vehicle has aftermarket modifications, the VIN is noted with the mods and becomes part of BMWs database.

I have heard from one Service Manager that due to the TSB that deals with the BC1 harness issue, that dealerships have been instructed to even note aftermarket radio and gauge installs in an effort to avoid doing the BC1 repair if it raises its ugly head (and it is the most expensive issue going).

What does this mean? It probably means MiniUSA won't do jack shib for you. I have found them to be more argumentative and frustrating than the dealerships.

Best of luck and I sincerely hope everything is settled to your satisfaction.

 

Sorri about the bad news,
have u had previous problems with the Mt. view dealer?
i just got my 06 MCS and i want to do a few mods, but now reading your story, i am having second thoughts.

 

I had my harness replaced under the service bulletin covered by my warranty when my car was still HEAVILY modded...but they knew as well as I did that my mods were NOT the cause of the failure of the harness...

And I am 99% positive the little amount of mods I have now are NOT causing this problem...The way I interpreted the warranty was that "It's covered as long as it isn't in direct link to an after market part" ie. Seat slider stops working (somewhat known issue, requires new bottom half) They can't say they aren't going to cover that under warranty because you installed an intake.

 

Will, sorry to hear about your dealings with MOMVM. Let us know how things go tomorrow . Good Luck

 

Count yourself lucky then - they refused further work on my harness after the rep told them to stop due to the mods.

There is a backstory on why they fixed a prior problem but are refusing to troubleshoot this one. I'm sure more will be revealed to you the harder you press them...........

 

I have a 2004 MCS with JCW. Made an appointment to bring the car in on Tues Jan 6th, which I made on Thurs June 1st. Had about 7 items to be checked/repaired including headlight adjustment, seat rail problem, exhaust rattle in JCW rear unit(s), spongy brakes, and the dreaded rust (just starting)on the doorsills under the rubber molding. The car was due to be finished this afternoon.

About 4 PM today, the Service Advisor, David Savell, called to say that all of the items had been addressed, but the car wouldn't be ready because they were waiting for a replacement for the exhaust from MINI; that it should be ready Thurs afternoon the 8th. I had already made a second appointment for our 05 MCSCa last Thurs for a roof issue tomorrow morning and was going to swap cars, so I asked to be transferred to their Appointments secretary who changed my Thurs appt to Saturday the 10th at 9:20 AM.

Why do I drive 60 miles to Concord MINI? Because:
1. They have a separate MINI Service Dept in their own building
2. They have a dedicated (and I truly mean dedicated) Service Advisor in David Savell
3. You can get an appointment several days out, not weeks from now
4. They're closed Mondays, but open Saturdays
5. They have a great customer waiting area, free coffee, and courteous employees---from the person who receives your car to the one who takes your money in the Cashier's Office.
6. They're family-owned, not a national chain dealer.

I don't go to MINI of Mt View for the very reasons you listed in your post, even though this dealer is just 10 minutes by freeway from my house.

MINIUSA also reads mini2.com, but when you're dealing with an independent entity like an auto dealer, you're often on your own.

 

I won't rehash my less-than-pleasant experience with MOMV but I will say this... even the BMW side treats its customers pretty poorly. My ex-bf had a 540 that we used to take there for service and they treated us like we were lowly pond scum.

I'm with Chief Charlie -- I will be driving to MOC from now on even though it's 60 miles away and I live less than 2 miles from MOMV. David Savell ROCKS!!!

 

Will sorry to hear about your problem. I think the standard minium fee at MOMV is $280.00 for anything they san attribute to a problem on a modded car. That’s what they charged me for the bad Pilo coil pack I had. They wanted to shaft me another $1300.00 + install for a supposed bad cat, caused by the aftermarket coil pack which turns out not to be bad. At this point I’m glad I almost out of warranty and won’t have to deal with these rip off dealers. It’ll be Bay Bridge Motors or Edge Motorworks for my service needs.

Sorry to hear your gonna sell the Misfit mobile, hope to still see ya on some Nikki runs in your M3.

 

thanks guys, I am going to talk with the service manager again tomorrow...calmly and try to work things out...if I can't I will give MOC a call for sure.
I appreciate the responses, and I will stick around NAM for sure after the MINI sells.

And Edge Motorworks rocks!!! That is the place I will end up going if I can't get any dealer to fix the car under warranty =P

 

I've had hit or miss issues with MINI of Concord.
Always have to bring my car back at least twice every time it was in for warranty work. I'm not talking about squeaks or such, it was xenon light failures, door flying open under braking, dreaded limp mode...

But we have a mutual understanding:
I get to keep the tools they forgot and left under the hood, while they keep all the parts they forgot to reinstall.

 

Sure seems like they're jerking you around, that DOES suck....

But, you're taking your Mom back with you???

 

Actually I'm not taking her yet right now. I am gonna try to work it out with the service manager this morning.

 

But MOMV has Elvis! That guy's great.

 

Unfortunately his sphere of influence is limited to sales; and while he gives the best test drive in the state, can show you how to drive Thunderhill like no one else, etc, he doesn't wrench on cars!

 

Plus he's gone.

 

You mean "Elvis has left the building!" as in he's moved on; or he's taking a "dirt nap."

 

The bring mom comment strikes me as um.. well sissy..

but for all I know, your a kid who has a sweetly modded MINI. Good luck to you. MOMV tried to shaft me on my new MINI. I told them to screw it.

One thing, it seems like you have a decent amount of time dealing with the service dept there...dont you have a bit better relationship with someone there than can maybe get you down to brass taks? I made it a point to find a service advisor at EBM once I got my car. "I can work with you always right?" "Sure, we can work together" "Great, I want you to know me and my car and not have to explain X Y & Z everytime I come in"

So far so good...

best of luck, hope it gets sorted and you get the sale done and from the sounds of it, your new M3. Then we can all chase you at the track!

 

oh...so I got my car back...another $280....they say its because of putting a cooper s intake on a JCW, cuz jcw tuning can't understand why there isn't enough air...and they tried to tell me my OCC was messing it up too..oh and my bypass valve vacuum line still had a tee valve in it from the JCW intake and it was screwing everything up...

They reflashed my ECU with a new JCW tuning...then I told them I would take care of the rest. I put a regular vacuum line on the bypass, I'm leaving my OCC on, and ordering a HAI.

 

unless anyone in bay area has a HAI sittin around for me to take off their hands!!!

 

what is occ? I think the map sensors are interchangeable. Try swapping them an see if the code changes locations to verify the sensor aspect.

 

Oil Catch Can...The sensors are fine. The problem is they are reading outside the JCW tuning parameters...cuz the stock cooper s intake doesn't pull in enough air and the problem with the bypass valve..

 

This thread reminds me of the choices we have. Instead of bullying a MINI dealer into trying to sort out a heavily modded aftermarket car, wouldn't it make more sense to spend that $560 with a local MINI tuner like Edge or Bay Bridge Motors? The benefits would be:
1. No sneering or hassle about your mods.
2. Competent and affordable tuning (and body shop) work from people who love and race modded MINIs.
3. You would be supporting your local MINI tuning entrepreneur just like you support the aftermarket part resellers.

As plentiful as modders are here on the boards, remember we are but a small drop in the bucket among MINI owners. The vast majority never open their bonnets or even know these websites exist.

It's a little unreasonable to expect a MINI dealer to support any but factory stock machines since that's their stated policy, that's the majority of their base and that's also the commandment from BMW AG. Luckily, we have other options.


SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL INDEPENDENT MINI TUNER!