My 2003 Cooper is in the shop getting a total valve/head overhaul. I brought it into the shop because it wouldn't pass the smog check functional test due to a "misfire" message (though it passed the emissions test just fine). Initially they thought it just needed a new head gasket, but once they got into it they recommended a full valve job. I had a chance to see the head and valves once the got the out of the bonnet, and I don't have a problem with the shop's recommendation.

What I do have a problem with is needing to have this much work done on a car that's only 9 years old (I got it in November 2002) and that has less than 70,000 on the odometer. I realize my short commutes (2 miles each way on city streets) are not good for any engine, but that probably accounts for less than half of the mileage on the car. The car idled rough, like one cylinder wasn't firing properly, from very early on. Of course anytime I took it into the dealership they'd say they couldn't find any problems. I'm realizing now that I should have been much more aggressive about getting that resolved early on - say during the warranty period???

Anyhow, has anyone else had to deal with major cylinder head problems with MINIs with less than 75,000 or so miles on them, or is it just me?

Thanks!

 

At that mileage, and with what you describe about the early rough idle, I'd say that there was a manufacturing error. Perhaps some flake of metal between the valve face and seat that pounded in and created a hot-spot. Not enough to kill the cylinder outright, but enough to lessen that one's performance. Only after enough miles have accumulated did the valve burn through.

Do you have any photos of the valves and valve seats?

 

From all I've learned about these cars, it's NOT the "nature of the beast."
I also find it difficult to believe that your driving habits caused such a profound issue in such a short time.

 

Two mile commute generally does not give the mechanical components time to get up to proper operating temp. I am not sure what the maintenance history is on your car but if you couple that kind of use with 15,000 mile oil change intervals, it could be a troublesome combination as the miles and years accumulate. Your car needs an old style Italian tune up every couple of weeks to clean things up.

 

That's a good point: Short trips put this car in the "heavy duty" service category, and shorter maintenance intervals should be observed.

 

Your coil pack. Check it. Cylinder 3 (i think) terminal gets rusty very easily.

 

Thanks everyone for the input. It looks like there's no consensus, except that I should have taken the short drive cycles into account in service intervals - which, admittedly, I did not. I do wonder though whether there was something inherently wrong that caused excess wear from the get-go. For me, the take-away lesson from this is that would have been worth my while to get an independent bumper-to-bumper evaluation before the initial 3-year warranty expired, especially since I did have some concerns because of that rough idle. Something to think about if I get a brand new car next time.

One thing I didn't mention in my initial post is that the dealership found what they estimated as a minimum of $7,000 worth of repairs... the unknown being the head gasket. They also recommended a lot of front-end work, including replacing the R&P steering. The independent BMW shop that's working on the cylinder didn't think there was any extraordinary wear on the suspension or steering. So for a week or so, until I got my car in to the independent shop, I was thinking about replacing my car. For me the second take-away lesson was that if I buy used, I'd want to buy a car with at least 6 months left on the original warranty... and from there, see above.

 

Dealerships are interesting. They are not in the business of "looking" for faults while the car is under warranty, but the moment the warranty expires they will do a "courtesy safety inspection" and give you a whole list of worn out items. They do it because a lot of people will take the bait since they don't understand their car and how the various components age. I would be OK with the practice if they did not dramatize so much and prioritized the work in a realistic and rational manner. The way they do it is predatory and if the tactic works, they either get income on the repair work or they sell a new car if the owner is on the fence.

I do a lot of the maintenance work myself, but I rely on the word of my trusty BMW / MINI independent shop when the car is out of warranty. We took the Pea to the dealer last summer for an O2 replacement after the independent shop informed us the check engine light was caused by an O2 sensor covered by a TSB. Sure enough, we got our free O2 sensor as well as a free inspection. The report came back with a full list of worn out parts. I had the independent shop review the list and concluded all the worn out parts were still serviceable and replacement could wait at least a year or two. In reality, the car is solid, 100% safe, and reliable. Eight months and 9k miles later we are still motoring happily.

 

Fredo - what you've said about the dealerships certainly jives with my experience and suspicions. I really didn't know what to do with those suspicions before - more specifically, the part of me that really really wants to be liked and not make waves didn't know what to do with them! Add to that the fact that the MINI still seemed kind of exotic even when it was coming out of warranty... which made me hesitant to take it "just anywhere," and I was a sitting duck for the dealership! Fortunately when the dealership sang its song of doom and gloom, some of my friends were both suspicious and knowledgeable enough to keep me from just signing on the dotted line. So far I have much more trust in the independent shop that's working on my MINI now.

Andyroo - I'm sorry I missed your post before. Would you mind elaborating for me?

 

One of the terminals on the coilpack (i think the #3) gets rusty very easily and ends up with a bad connection, causing some hesitation. I've fixed a couple misfiring cars (not necessarily Minis) by simply going through the ignition system. Worth a very inexpensive quick and easy look. I now run the screamin' demon coilpack from Waymotorworks. On my car with 60k miles it solved an occasional hiccuping start-up and with more extreme wear could certainly cause misfires.

It might not be the problem, but it takes two seconds to look at it.

- drew