I've had a few below-freezing starts on my '09 now, and I haven't noticed anything alarming.

What I have noticed is that the engine feels sluggish until it has warmed up a bit. But my MA told me to 'let the engine warm up for about 5 minutes' before pushing it, so I figure this sluggishness is expected.

What I do is, start the car, pull out of my spot, and then drive slowly until my automatic a/c system starts putting out heat. At that point, I figure the engine must be warm, so I switch it over to manual shifting (from 'D'), hit the sport button, and go.

Again, I haven't heard anything alarming from the cold engine on start-up in my 09. I have noticed that it will putter a little if I haven't downshifted appropriately while it is still warming up (if I have violated my no-manual-until-warm precept), kind of like my old standard shift Saab would if I tried to accelerate at a lower in speed in a higher gear.

 

I noticed that once, but all it needs is a bit more warming up.

 

Really sad you have to go through this... I am sorry:(

 

18 F this morning...

Started and ran smoothly.

Using Shell 89 Octane.

 

Started my MCSa.. cold front came in to South Texas last night, and it was about 31 degrees F. Started smoothly, ran smoothly.... no strange noises, no new rattles.... there is still hope. 93 octane Shell.

 

They did. Starting in 2007.

 

We've had a couple of days of zero degree weather here in Northern Vermont, and my 08 MCS (her first winter) has had no problems so far and hasn't made any bizarre noises. (knock on wood.)

 

I have yet to have the "diesel" start (fingers crossed). It was -10 degrees F this morning. The only problem I had this morning was the tire warning light came on because of low tire pressure (I'm assuming because of the cold).

 

Well, it repeated today, around 18 degrees. It's actually normal sounding until around 1200-1300 rpms, then it sounds nasty, tracking with the rpms. Stopped after about two miles of slow driving.

 

Had a different issue last week with the cold. FREEZING cold weather.

At the start the rpms were erratic and the CEL went on. Dealer said it was moisture/freezing in the Throttle Housing.

It also happened when we the first little bit of cold came in, before all this snow. I haven't found any info on NAM about the moisture in the throttle housing or if there is any fixes. Only fix I have found someone posted is that they switched the throttle housing for a new one.

First time it happened it was sluggish with the rpms being erratic with the CEL on. It was able to start up again without the CEL and didn't go on again till last week.

Second time it happened was last week when it was freezing cold. Wife let the car warm up for about 5-10 min, but still the CEL went on with the same symptoms (erratic rpms), but this time the CEL on the center speedo stayed on. I came back to try to start it at lunch time the car started fine, but the CEL was still on. I was able to drive it to the dealership to have it checked out.

Both times the car would not shift out of 1st gear (auto btw).

Anyone else? If you find a link to what might be causing this or if there is a TSB out for our Mini's please let us know.

 

Had mine in for the same issue. Dealer said that they've seen about 25 cars with the same problem. He said that it only happens on the S models and that the factory is working on a redesigned intake manifold to correct the problem. For now they're cleaning out the intake.

08 MCS, Sport, LSD JCW tuning kit

 

It happened again to me today, well to my wife. Car was fine in the morning then when she got off work it threw a CEL

Waited for it to warm up but now the CEL is on, hope that it will go away tomorrow...who am I kidding

 

So you can't get out of first gear? Holy crap that's a major problem.

 

Well, I'm glade my car is not the only one that has the death rattle. I was kind of prepared for the rattle (does anyone actually know what it is?), but I was not prepared for the strange noises coming from the manual transmission. It idle in neutral it almost sounds like a bad throw out bearing. Is anyone having issues shifting into second when the tranny is cold?

 

^^

It is not the death rattle that I have but it is what is here in this thread https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ailable-4.html

I almost wish it was the rattle instead of the cold weather CEL (freezing moisture in throttle housing). At least with the rattle the car can still be driven.