Please post if you have the newly designed 2010 engine in your car. Mini said March/2010 production.

 

If it happens...you won't see it around until April. Too soon...

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...w-engines.html

As posted before it is ot a new motor. It is the same one with valvetronic added and slightly beefed up internals

 

I guess redesigned is more appropriate.

 

From what I've heard, they aren't going to be used in production until closer to the end of March.

Plus, it's the 2nd. It wouldn't even be through paint yet

 

actually, the current turbo Princes have Valvetronic, it's just that they are "half-breeds" and only have it on intake valves, unlike the non-turbo engines on the Justas that are all Valvetronic.

strange how the Justas dont have the cold start issue, eh??

 

And I just placed an order too, damn this seems to be cutting it close

 

I guess I jumped the gun a little.

What was your source for end of March production?

When will the first cars be delivered in the US if production actually starts in the end of March? How much lag time between ordering and production? I want to order as soon as production is confirmed. It took about 2 months for my last MCS but the economy was better and there was a lot more demand for cars then.

 

From my MA (which, to be fair, who knows if she knew what she was talking about, but she *tends* to be right).

In theory it takes about a month from the start of production to delivery. Depending on which coast you are on, that can add a week or two.

I would say if you want to be SURE to get the new engine, to place your order now, but ask your MA for production in the first week of April.

 

You know the cold start was not MINI's fault? It was the supplier of the chains. They were either too long or too short. But as posted before and will be continued to be posted it is the same block. They updated the internals and added valvetronic.

 

if this is true, I knew it! prob in some 4th world country where engineering standards are none too precise, and where the term QC is completely unknown.

but HEY they're cheap and that's the corporate bottom line.

 

Highly debatable. They redesigned the timing chain tensioner assembly 2-3 times and still couldn't get it right. If the chain itself were the original cause of the problem, they wouldn't have needed to do this. It's pretty clear that there's a design issue there. They think that the last fix is the "final" one that got it right. There's probably a good chance that it's been redesigned in the new motor (or incorporates the last change of the outgoing one), and there are probably a lot of minor refinements to go along with the new ones we're reading about, such as full valvetronic/VANOS on the S motor.

 

http://www.motoringfile.com/2010/01/...problem-again/

 

Do we have any reason to believe that MINI will change engines mid model year in North America? All the press I read talks about the UK and Europe.

 

Are the current euro engines different than the US versions? It doesn't make much sense in my mind to take something that's the same on all models and only change for one market unless they want to make the markets different. If they're making the change for everyone eventually why wouldn't the change take place all at the same time?

 

MINI is responsible for every part that goes into their cars. All parts are designed and developed to their specifications, and the quality-control measures used to ensure that each part is up to spec is also MINI's responsibility.

 

If the problem truly was the fact that the chains were sometimes too long or too short, redesigns to the tensioner are a logical workaround although I would expect a big powerful company like BMW to make the supplier do a better job before trying to fix it themselves.

 

If that's truly what the issue is/was - inconsistency in the length of the chains - then the supplier is at fault, but Mini is culpable for not holding their feet to the fire and either making them resolve the QC issue, or just dumping them for another supplier who can deliver consistent quality.

 

That makes a lot of sense. At least they found out the problem and corrected it. And they have made multiple attempts to fix it. This is not the worst thing I have heard wrong with a car. The Nissan Sentra Spec V had a problem with the catalytic converter that was in the exhaust manifold breaking down and getting sucked back into the motor and totaling it. Nissan said they fixed but no it was never fixed it was covered up.

 

Ha... I remember that problem from reading the Spec V forums back then. Yeah, that's a pretty big problem, I'd say.