I took my 06 Cooper S in to an independent shop in Southern California about 2 months ago for a hesitation on cold start up. The car would start fine, but sounded like it was running on 3 cylinders. Shut it down, start back up and it ran perfect. They could could not troubleshoot, and after 2 days gave the car back saying, drive it for now, we cannot figure out what the issue is.
Fast forward to early July, I take the car back and ask them look into this same issue once again, as this cold hesitation seems to be getting worse.
After 1 week, I get a call from the shop that I have a head gasket leak in one of the cylinders. I have an extended warranty that I purchased back in March, so I did not worry, that is what warranty is for right? Shop tells me that the warranty direct guys are sending out an inspector, and we should have approval in a few days. Come to find out, the cylinder head is warped and I need to replace it. Warranty Direct denies coverage "Due to Continued Operation". This all happened Friday and I was on vacation when I got the news. So Monday morning I am calling the Warranty folks to inquire, and ask them if I need to hire an attorney to continue. In the meantime, shop tells me, the cost to do the job is around $3,500.00
Not feeling good this weekend. So in case I cannot get warranty to cover this, seems like $3500.00 is a little excessive. I am headed to the shop tomorrow to get a breakdown on labor and parts, but from what I have seen on the net, this price is high. Second, if I get stuck with paying, I would rather upgrade my cylinder head then pay all this money and gain nothing more then a functional vehicle again. Thoughts?

 

3500.00 is a lot when there are many options out there. Call a Mini specialist for more options. There are a few on this sight that many people will sWay you towards.

 

Sounds like you are getting the shaft by the ins company....
be sure to post their name.

 

Mr. K,
$3500 is less than the parts alone quoted by my local dealer.

Cylinder head- $1968.33
Head Gasket- $79.03
Head Gasket- $283.92
T-stat- $51.09
(8) Exhaust valves- $69.58/ea - $556.64
(8) Intake valves- $50.57/ea - $404.56
(10) Head bolts- $10.50/ea - $105
(2) Head bolts- $2.37/ea - $4.74
Stud bolt- $3.18
(5) Oil- $7.45/ea - $57.50
Coolant- $37.13
(4) Spark plugs- $22.81/ea - $88.52
(4) Fuel injectors- $133.58/ea - $534.32

Of course, I can't afford that, so I have found a shop to check and clean the injectors, and I'm currently looking for a rebuilt head to do the work myself. But remember, those numbers are WITHOUT labor. I'm still in the research phase, but I don't think $3500 is bad at all compared with what I am seeing.

 

You are being robbed. Please take it elsewhere. You don't need all this unless you blew the motor apart. You will hear from lots now on this issue. You can get a complete head cheaper then the head and all the other parts they claim you need. What shop is this?

 

I'm not being robbed, because I couldn't afford to pay for all that stuff if I wanted to. These are dealer bureaucracy prices, and this is also worst-case scenario, as I didn't let them take the motor apart. (compression lost on all cylinders to varying degrees, no oil/coolant mix) Everyone at the dealership has been very nice and helpful, even after I told them that I wouldn't be having them do the work, so I'm not going to bash them; I'm just going to do it myself.

 

You can get a better cylinder head for the same price "Complete" no extra cost for valves.

 

Well then, if you say so. But why come on and post on this forum showing Mr. K these ridiculous prices when there are many other options?

 

Oh, my point was just that the numbers he got were not insane, or at least were not outside the norm. I don't know if the other options are better, or just cheaper. There tends to be a difference. Also, I'm in the middle of a similar problem, so I came on to share what information I've been given so far.

 

I'm open to suggestions- most of the shops I have seen require a "good" core, and I'm not sure I have a good core or not. Considering a used head, but not sure how wise that is.

 

http://www.madnessmotorworks.com/mad...nder-head.aspx
http://www.outmotoring.com/mini-coop...ance-head.html
http://new.minimania.com/part/NME600...2-53-COOPER--S
http://www.autoxcooper.com/thumper_heads.php

I know there are many others. Just do a search on this forum.

 

Here is some good info for you.

http://minicooperheadporting.info/

 

Back to the op...
is the ins company saying the head was warped from misuese....like driving an overheating car?
So even if the issue is fixed, the orgional cause of the issue will need to be found/ fixed.
Good luck with the ins company, keep us posted....maybe you can get a % of the fix covered....

 

Thanks for the replies fellows. I went down to the shop after work yesterday and worked a deal. Got it down to $2200.00 labor and parts. Which is acceptable. Obviously not ideal, but much better then before. The cylinder was warped from supposed overheating, but it did not happen under my watch, I did have a small waterpump leak, which the insurance company replaced, as well as hydraulic motor mounts, lower control arm bushings, and a power steering return hose leak was fixed. So all said and done, the insurance company picked up a 1700 dollar bill. I am paying 2200 for the cylinder head R@R. I also threw in a 15% pulley, while I am spending all this money, its been on my list, so at least I get some fun out of this debacle. Add another $450.00 parts and labor. I am happy with the way the shop handled this, I hope the quality of work will be as good.
The crazy thing, I called 4 Mini Dealers on my drive home yesterday, and asked for labor estimate to replace the head, ONLY labor. I got 4 different quotes from 12 hours to 28 hours, all claiming to be from the BOOK. Insanity, how can a Mini/BMW dealer be so out of touch, that they quote twice to three times as much from one another.

 

Mr. K- my dealer quoted 12 hours, just FYI. Glad to hear you got it taken care of- I'm going in for a diagnostic at an independent shop tomorrow for a similar problem.

 

You can't diagnose a warped cylinder head until it is removed. A good trusted mechanic who will work through these sorts of issues step by step. This is a better approach than a bunch of "remove and replace" mechanics guessing on what's wrong and working with an insurance company looking for excuses to refuse coverage.

Third-party warranty coverage is mostly a scam.

- Mark