My daughter bought this car about 3 months ago and other than some timing chain noise (I didn't realize that was the issue at the time) it ran and drove great. After a bit it started to intermittently misfire on 1 cylinder right after you shift into 2nd gear, then a week later it was 2 cylinders and always misfiring. Then it just wouldn't start at all. I took it to my local mechanic and he verified the timing chain guide was broken to bits and the timing was off. He said it wasn't off enough to keep it from starting but we agreed to go ahead with the timing kit, have the head redone, etc then see if the no start issue is there. It wasn't, the car started right up and ran great after they replaced the timing kit, repaired the valve seals etc. 2 days later it wouldn't start again. Cranked but nothing else, I could tell by how it was cranking evenly with a steady rythm the timing wasn't off at least not much. We waited an hour then it started and made it home. No misfires, ran great, the check engine light was on, but it had been since we got it back from the shop. Once she got it home it wouldn't start no matter what. We had it towed back to the shop and I let him know it had code P15E8, and P0014 since we got it back. Also the cooling fan kicked on a few times randomly when the car was off which relates to the P15E8. After it died and wouldn't start it also had P0015, I had cleared the codes before I took it to him. He said when he tried it the only code he got was 285E - valvetronic adjustment range. The next day he said it started throwing random vanos and valvetronic system codes and even a few that didn't pull up what they were on his snapon scanner. He couldn't figure out the issue but just for grins he adjusted the torx screw on the back of the valvetronic actuator motor to the opposite of what position the motor was already in and the card fired up and ran perfect. He had us take it home to see what happens and it made 2 trips then back to no start. Adjusting that motor again had no effect, maybe a coincidence. The only other odd thing is when it died this last time sometimes the driver window would go down 1/2" and holding the window up button would only move it a slight bit, you had to keep hitting the up button to finally get the window up. I know this is usually the sunroof drain dumping water in the footwell module so i thought I wonder if that could cause a no start condition. I removed the frm and all of it's plugs and didn't see any corrosion or water. When I checked the passenger side the carpet by the door was actually wet, I pulled the entire fuse box, removed every plug and inspected them. No signs of wetness or corrosion. Anyone ran across this before and can point me in the right direction?
Thanks

 

My recommendation would be to find a reputable mechanic who knows Minis. The current mechanic clearly doesn't.

 

Nobody around me will look at it. I live in a small town, the nearest Stealership is 90 miles away

 

Code 285E (https://bmwfault.codes/) suggests that the valvetronics settings may require clearing and relearning.

You'll need a scan tool. My Launch scan tool cost ~$120.

 

That's not bad, I though the scantool would be much more expensive. Thanks, do you know if an issue with the valvetronic system will cause no start?

 

My Launch scanner came in today. I don't see anything about Valvetronic relearn in the menu. Any idea what it may be under? Thanks

 

For my Launch X431 pro elite v2.0 for BMW/MINI:
Main menu>Special function>Drive
My recommendation: Run middle highlighted feature first, followed by bottom highlighted feature second, and top highlighted feature last.

 

Thanks very much for the reply. I can get the Vanos ones to work but no matter what the valvetronic limits one says Learning Limit Positions Cancelled. Terminal 15 off/on check memory for varoabl3 valve gear

I know terminal 15 has to do with the igntion being on or off but im confused if I start the test with remote im but not hitting start or with it running etc. Any help would be appreciated

 

Can you post pictures of the scan tool screen so that I can see the instructions and error message that you are seeing?

 

Also, because the information you provided suggests that the valvetronic motor may not get battery voltage, you may want to test the valvetronic relay, which is shown below for my 2012 N16.

Also verify that the valvetronic motor connector is firmly seated.

 

Thanks, the valvetronic motor is getting voltage because it changes position, it just changes so far sometimes that the car won't start until you manually turn the 4mm screw in the back far enough to get it back in range. Right now there are no codes but I also haven't driven it because it has a ping/spark knock kinfa sound and the idle races up and down. Here is what my scanner shows when I try to reset the endpoints...

 

The instructions for removing and reinstalling the valvetronic motor are shown below. The final step is to reset the ECM memory. Therefore, use your Launch scan tool to reset the DME (DME: Delete Adaptations command). Then retry the Learn Valvetronic Limit Positions command.

If after the DME reset you continue to get the "Learning Limit Positions Cancelled" message, then my recommendation is to recheck the engine camshaft timing as codes P0014 and P0015 suggest that the exhaust camshaft timing may be off.

 

Thanks, that's very helpful. I will try those steps tomorrow and see how it goes

 

It's finally running again, thanks so much for all the help. I removed the valvetronic motor and it was hard to turn, I also noticed 2 cracks in the back plastic. I got one from Ebay for $88 shipped brand new. I put it in and went through the steps you gave and it set the limits in like 2 seconds. The car is running great now other than a different problem that has popped up but not a big one. Once in a while when you first start it and take off it bogs down really bad for a few seconds and will barely move and throws a code P2414 for the o2 sensor before the cat. It only does it once in a while which is going to make it hard to find, but after the first few seconds of it happening the car runs fine so that can wait. I really appreciate all the help. It's nice to have it running again.