Hey all,

So, I've been looking around and have found some good info about the problems based on service bulletins but I guess I'm here to see if anyone else has run into anything I'm about to post and if you had any idea about what it cost you to fix it.

First, the car has been running oddly the last month or two and seems to be getting worse. I've commented in a couple other threads that seemed to have similar issues but haven't gotten much additional assistance so here goes. I took the car to my mechanic and asked him to run diagnostics on it and got back three pages of codes haha But, I really only care about a few. Some are leftover codes from my brakes and stuff so whatever.

The biggest issue is that I feel a pretty serious jerking motion from the transmission when it downshifts as I come to a stop. Seems to occur from 3rd to 2nd and it seems worse in this godawful heat SoCal is going through now. Anyway, this also coincides with the yellow gear icon with the exclamation point in it showing up. According to the manual, that has to do with the selector lever interlock. I've found a ton of info on it and the codes were A0B1 and A0B6. Since this seemed to be kind of well-known by MINI, would the dealer cover this out of warranty? (Does MINI ever do anything out of warranty outside of the recalls?)

Second, and I think the codes the mechanic pulled and the one my code reader display are related, there appears to be something wrong with the "Torque Converter Clutch Pressure Control Solenoid Control Circuit Range." That is code P2762. But, the mechanic pulled 4E54 and 4E2C which have something to do with the electronic pressure control valve. I could be wrong in assuming they're related but can anyone confirm?

The other one that the mechanic thought was important was 287D, VANOS inlet actuator movement.

Anyway, anyone have any advice for me? Light it on fire and call it a day? Call MINI and see if they can help me out? The damn car is a 2008 with only 54k miles on it. But, I think the guy that I bought it from (at 38k miles) drove it like a real jerk and may have done some damage to it that I'm not stuck with. Anything you guys can offer is much appreciated!

 

Well, it was a short lived love affair but based on all the transmission work that this was going to need, it wasn't worth keeping. Traded the car in over the weekend for a new Accord. Not nearly as fun to drive, obviously, but I'm not going to have any problems with it. I looked up all the work I had done in the year I owned it and the total was near 2 grand. Not a good look. Oh well. Fun while it lasted, hope you guys find the headaches worth it. Peace out and thanks for the help when I needed it those couple of times!

 

I understand what you went thru. I'm fortunate that my '13 Justa Hardtop has been 100% fool-proof so far but one thing I know for sure is I will have it traded off for something else before the factory warranty runs out.

 

I did the same thing with my 2008 MINI Cooper S...an offload via a trade.

I recently purchased a 2015 MINI -- MINI Next CPO with a warranty until Oct 31, 2019. Therefore, I am safe for the next 4-years.

I hope to see you back here again.

Good luck to you!

 

Yes, the warranty + MINI = much less of a headache. Maybe you'll be back one day with a new one so that you know it has been well maintained and doesn't have gremlins. Sorry about your issues and good luck! Cheers.