Well our 2005 MCSa was just put on the flatbed headed to the dealer. Car would not come out of "limp" mode. Tried starting, shutting it down and waiting, restarting etc. No luck. Mini roadside carted it off. Like a lot of people we have been having the cold start issues. It went to the dealer and they installed v43. Initially it felt like the cold start was better. That lasted a day. From there it has been progressively worse. 2-3 starts and shut offs in the morning to get it to run out of limp mode. Taking longer for the cold start throttle delay to go away. A couple of near misses pulling out into traffic and the car falls flat on it's face. So far no help from the dealer or Mini. Considering our options at this point. One of which is dumping it and looking for something realible. Cute & fun car but not worth the headaches we have been dealing with. This time it left my wife stranded for over two hours. That won't happen again.

 

Sounds rough. I hope my 05 MCSa doesn't follow the same path. Good luck

 

I thought the 2005 MCSa problems were solved. This is a significant safety issue. Mine had to be towed once, but no problems since.

 

British sports cars have so much character! Don't ya love em?

 

hehe, manual transmissions havent had to have any problems stalling into traffic yet.....





i'm starting to think the whole "Auto MCS" this was a bad idea to begin with....

 

That goes without saying. I'm sure Paddy does not approve.

 

Hmmm.... this sounds disturbing. I'm curious how this works out. Have any other MINI owners had similar experiances? Is this a purely automatic tranny issue?

 

Many problems. Many threads. Automatic S car some time not go. Big BMW chiefs no care. Sell anyway.

 

...then get 6 spd.

 

I also agree. Sell or lemon the MCSa and get a new MCS 6-speed manual. I have owned 2 of them (2004 and 2005) with ZERO problems. My '05 MCS 6MT currently has 6K miles and the car hasn't been back to the dealer for anything since I took delivery in Late March. It runs like a champ in any traffic situation and doesn't miss a beat!

Most of the MCSa performance problems are related to faulty ECU programming. This is pretty much the situation that early Cooper CVT adopters experienced back in '02 and '03 until MINI fixed all the issues with the CVT's ECU software. Our '02 CVT with 33K miles is rock solid and reliable and haven't had any problems with the ECU programming since early 2003.

Don't lose faith in the car. MINIs are solid and realible vehicles. Don't let this one taint your overall perception of the quality of the car.

 

Unfortunately 6mt is not an option. Either it gets a difinitive fix or it's down the road.

 

Perhaps the newer build MCSa no longer have the issues present in your current car. I see that you have a January 2005 build and that was the first production month of the MCS automatic. Ask around and see if owners of recent build MCSa continue to experience the same problems. It may be worth moving up to a new MCSa and letting go of this one.


Just food for taught.

 

I had my MCSa in for service last week and they did the engine wiring harness recall. My SA said he didn't upgrade my car to v43 because there was no change for the MCSa from v42.

My car is a 04/05 build.

 

Oh crap! This is not what I wanted to read! I have an appointment to see an orthopoedist on Monday. Somehow I've got a shoulder injury and my regular doctor told me it may mena having to sell my 5 speed and opt for an automatic. Arghhhh!

 

I'm not convinced this is a wide spread problem. I have only read of 3 or 4 cars with problems. I see no reason to raise so much fuss. And yes my car used to trip the SES light and limp home mode all the time. Its been SES light free for 1 week now *crosses fingers*

 

It does sound like the engine wiring harness could be at least part of the issue, which Mini has recall on it now. There have been software issues on both automatics and manual cars though that can cause stalling, SES lights - on manual cars it seems to have come up on cars earlier then 05 too*.

I do not know how widespread the harness caused issues have been prior to the recall since part of the issue seems to be caused by wear on the harness due to how it was wired (the recall is just to move it and repair or replace it if damage has occured) but clearly it is a significant issue so at least they did issue a recall. I did not have problems with my Jan build MCSa and when they did the recalll they found no damage so it seems just to be luck of the draw.

Talk to your dealer and make sure they are aware of the recall on the harness and check for any others (there is a coolant hose one too). Best of luck.

*For example this is someone with a MT - https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=54117, and a search will show problems going back for awhile. Seems like Mini has had software glitches and such coming up for some time, so getting a manual is not an assurance of not having these problems.

 

Just FYI, if you are talking about a Cooper the CVT is another transmission, nothing like the auto on the MCS and I do not believe they have the wiring harness or similar issues. That said I would not hesitate to recommend the MCSa, its a fantastic car and the incidence of problems like this is should be weighed against the numbers of them out there - and besides, at this the problems are being pinpointed and addressed. As with any car though, lemons do get made unfortunately, over the years on forums I've seen those people who have the bad luck to get stuck with them go through the ordeal; there is just no way to predict it though.

 

Wiring harness recall was done on 10/10 when is was last in for this same problem. I am thinking it's either an O2 sensor or possibly an injector issue. Getting Mini to actually do something is proving to be a chore in itself. Rest assured if they cannot/do not fix it will not be replaced with another Mini.

 

yeh, the MC's CVT is very cool..and have not heard much issues on that one.


The MCSa for some reason, some people have very bad luck.
I too would probably just trade it in on a good day and get something
else....(like a MC CVT if automatic is preferred).

 

If they don't get the Auto problem sorted out and you want more power than an MC..and you HAVE to drive an auto......there are many brands out there that make VERY good autos....ACURA, Honda, Toyota spring to mind and and RSX is a nice car.... Sorry, just not a fan of European automatics..

Cheers

 

Pretty sure it's not just a MCSa problem. The problem is also happening with 6MT cars as well. Cold start rough idle/no power. All is well if it reaches operating temp. We did have some auto trans shifting issues. Some were cured with v43 and some were not. The cold start is the biggie. 3-4 times a week it is so rough (2 cylinders) that within 5-10 seconds of starting it goes to limp mode. Have to shut off and restart (some times more than once) to get out of limp. Yesterday after many attempted restarts it would not come out of limp. The firt 2000-3000 miles were trouble free. After that it started with a slight rough idle at start up and a milisecond delay in throttle until warm. It has gradually been degrading to where it is now.

 

But if it worked perfectly all the time, you'd lose that great quirky British-ness that we all love! You paid extra for that!

 

I would happily trade the Brit quirkiness for a little Japanese drivability. Very disinchanted at this point. So far dealer is scratching their heads on what to do. No new software available and they are unwilling to replace mechanical items in an effort to solve/identify the problem.

 

Dealer just called. According to them the throttle body is bad. Could not define what bad meant. Did not know if it was the TPS or drive by wire. They ordered a new one and should have it tomorrow. We shall see. It's plausible that the T/B could cause the symptoms. Hope they are correct this time.

 

The Trial and Error Approach to Automotive Repair!