OP - I personally wouldn't worry too much about this. There is no perfect car.

I think I know where you're coming from. 7k miles is nothing and so in a perfect world the car should run perfectly, but unless you've got a real issue, that is really minor

Actually, it's less than minor - I wouldn't classify that as an actual problem.

Plus I doubt you'll have better luck with a FIAT (talk about going from the frying pan and into the fire!)

No car is perfect—I have a Honda CRV (supposed to be a very reliable car) that has major ($1000 or higher) front end problems almost every 6mos

On top of recurring door lock issues - the list goes on and on. And I baby this car - still a POS.

 

Thanks to all the nice guys here. I'll deal with this "normal" behavior for now and keep watching. If things get any worst I'll report here.
I'm sure this post will help others if they notice similar problem and wonder if this is normal. After all, at least I posted two videos, instead of poor description of the issue.
No reason to be acting like a jerk here. This is forum to talk about stuff!

Btw. I'm from Europe and used to drive fiat. I love European cars. This is my first mini though. Love driving it. But would prefer if it wouldn't do all these UNEXPLAINED things like most brand new cars.

 

I bought my MINI with some trepidation, but both my wife and I really loved the car and considering the many problems with our so-called "reliable" Honda, we figured we'd take the risk.

I have only 4k miles on my 2012 and it has shown it's quirks already.

Driver's seat doesn't always flip forward cleanly (handle catches and won't always release), a slight front-end vibration occasionally is noticed when taking off, the satellite system is DOA and MINI won't respond to the issue.

But I do take these things in stride as long as the car behaves itself where it counts.

The darn thing is a blast to drive and I appreciate driving it 100 times more than any other car I've owned before—so at least for now, I'll accept its quirks.

 

Yes it is a huge blast to drive. I even think to myself how great idea it was to go with S model for fun of driving it. I hope you won't have any major issues.

 

Here's wishing you the same.

If I ever come into money, the JCW may be next on my list!

 

Haha you're going to hate anything you own if you're constantly looking for problems that aren't there. It's normal, just drive the car.

 

So says the "1" post.... Cub, I love your nick. Perhaps you should join QOC!

 

THIS IS NOT NORMAL!

The reason for this is a failing timing tensioner. Your timing chain is getting stretched. This will result in misfires, valve problems, and your engine will seize.

Have you checked your oil recently? MCSs burn oil like crazy. According to MINI this creates the condition, but truthfully it's poor design that causes the issue.

Seriously, this is nothing to brush off. I just had my second timing chain replaced under warranty. Parts are about $100-$400 depending on what needs to be replaced, and labor is easily $900.

I was curious how bad this problem is, and I found some threads that indicate it's pretty bad:

http://www.michiganmini.org/forum/in...p?topic=3115.0

DO NOT LET THIS GO UNATTENDED. You will be very sorry.

 

 

OP, have you shown the video to the service dept. or left the car overnight for service to reproduce? I have very small idle fluctuation when I first start my car when cold for less than 30 seconds, like many previous cars, but yours is pretty extreme.

 

That 30 seconds is the problem!

Each time the car starts like that the timing chain is being stressed. Over a years time that chain can get stretched from 68mm to 72.00mm like mine was.

4mm is significant.

 

I haven't showed videos yet.. Did not take my car there either.. it is 110miles away and I can't just take a day off JUST to drop off car to dealer.. and then hear that they can not duplicate it.. They seen other videos before and agree it was not normal but since they couldn't duplicate it ... it was never fixed..

Anyhow.. I am kinda in mood of F this car and let it break all the way.. if thats what it takes to have it fixed.

 

If they tell you anything less than they are replacing the timing chain, rails, and assembly - throw a fit.

 

I will admit - that it didn't seem like much of a problem and still may not be—but I can understand your worry.

Part of me would love an S, especially a JCW, but I am very gun-shy. I've read too many things about early timing belt failures, oil issues.

Think I'll stick with my justa!

 

When an elongated timing chain starts ripping teeth off the drive gear and spitting them into your cylinders only to be mashed up inside your engine... yeah... kind of a problem.

 

My 2011 has 13,000 on it now and it doesn't sound like that when first started. It idles faster for a short period of time but doesn't fluctuate and then settles down. In light of the other responses I don't know if I would make a special trip to the dealer but point it out when you are in for other service.

 

Maybe this is why the owner's manual states, under the heading Starting the Engine:
This way you don't notice the irregular RPMs to warm the engine up.

PS - this doesn't sound like the timing chain issue I've read about.

 

You need to keep the engine under 2000RPM to ensure you don't stress the drive system... good luck doing when it's 10F during a Chicago winter.

 

Really? So we should disregard what the owner's manual says, and instead listen to some random person on the internet that is regurgitating some other random person's theory and take it as gospel?

 

The owners manual also says to change the oil when the computer tells you to... and the maintenance contract won't cover an oil change unless the computer is calling for it... common sense is you change the oil every 3K, the computer went 9K before "requiring" an oil change.

I've got 48K on my MCS, and the pressure to trade in and buy new is significant. MINI doesn't want you keeping the car for the term of the loan, they want to get you on a perpetual cycle of buy/trade.

Go ahead... don't listen to me. When you are shelling out $4K for an engine replacement instead of making MINI cover issues or "quirks" like this its not my pocketbook that will suffer.

Little things like this add up over time. MINI is not synonymous with quality.

 

Here, want some info from someone not on the outside of this:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...842-post3.html

And if you want to see the TSB:
http://www.mediafire.com/?z68sxty4f6a46ga

 

Everything you are posting is in regards to older MINIs with the N14 engine. 2011+ have the newer N18. Furthermore, his video just shows the RPM's varying a bit, there's no death rattle. Stop flaming a fire that isn't there.

 

So you know EVERY difference between the N14 and N18 engines?

Same can of ****, same problem.


It starts off slow just like what the video has. In 2 months you will be stalling out on start up.

 

My 2011 does the samething. It did it this morning and even on the first try it died after about 10 seconds. The idle fluctuating is normal. Its possibly a symptom of the timing chain issues we have seen if you have a N14 engine. So far there are no indication that the N18 has these same issues. We wont know for I would say another few months until we see some 2011's with some mileage on them.

I have right at 11900 miles on mine and I checked the oil Sunday morning, right on the full mark and has been since I changed it at 10k. My MINI does not burn a drop of oil. Also if this is not normal for the MINI then one would think its not normal for any car. If thats the case then tell that to the VW engineers that designed the 2.0T. It does this every time there is a temp change of more then 10-15 degrees once the car has cooled down and I think that VW has sold more 2.0T engined cars then MINI has sold N14s and N18s.

EDIT - Also, as far as I know, no one on these forms is a MINI engineer who has any idea what is going on when these engines are started. The 2.0t has a high idle for a few reasons, first its warming up the cat for emissions, building up oil pressure high enough to protect the engine in cold starts and build up oil pressure for the hydraulic lifters. It also have a secondary air injection pump to aid in all this.