You guys are too much.

There is a big difference between a problem and being not reliable... Not reliable is when the car leaves you stranded, won't start, catches on fire, (aux water pump not withstanding). Think 1973 MG Midget. That was not a reliable car...lol

Heck, my supercharged BMW E36 M3 is the most reliable, and problem free car I've ever owned. In 17 years there has only been 1 part that broke. A brake light switch on the brake pedal. That's it! (which is not to say that I haven't replaced a lot of parts before they had a chance to break...lol That's what mods are all about.)

The 2010 Mini looks to be about the same. Maintenance and inspections are the key.

OBTW, the MINI is more fun to drive. Almost makes me think of selling the M3. In fact the MINI is more fun to drive than the E46 or E9x M3's too. It's not as fast, but it's way more fun...

 

Pheatton,

I wanted to bump this thread because I haven't heard from you regarding which dealer is experiencing a lot of 2011s with timing chain problems already...as I thought thought this issue was finally resolved in late 2010 or 2011 after a number of revised parts, etc...or least is pretty rare now...

Can you provide a little more evidence about all of these 2011s that are having timing chain problems? I am in the market now and would greatly appreciate to know if this is still a major problem even for 2011s, 2012s etc.

thanks.

 

Go to the General Mini Talk forum, page 2 date 3-8-12. Reads 'timing chain, timing tensioner recall afftect 500,00'. Start reading and pull what you can out of it but it is NOT a recall.

 

If anyone is having issues with the chain/tensioner after the revised part, my guess is that they are not being attentive to oil level, or improperly reading the dipstick, which is very easy to do. The tensioner is powered by an oil-pressurized piston.

 

this is making me feel better, but if you read phaetton's post above he says his deal is seeing plenty of 2011s with the timing chain problems.

He says his car suffered it with only 13k on the clock, and he checked and changed the oil religiously.

So according to him, this problem is still very prevalent in even 2011 models and cannot be avoided simply by closely monitoring oil levels.

So which is it, has this issue been sorted out with the latest, revised chain tensioner parts or not?

 

The dealer I bought mine from was Crown MINI in Richmond VA. They never told me if they have had to repair any 2011s, yet. My MA did tell me once I bought the GTI I have now, that he had heard grumblings back from service that owners had started to complain about this noise.

The first three times that I brought it in for this I was told that it was either the DI system or that they checked the oil and it was low. For me I don't buy the low oil excuse. The last time was for its first free service and told them to check it again. They said again, after changing the oil, that it was low. I made sure that I waited over night so the car sat. Picked up the keys and went outside to leave. Started it up and heard it again. Left it running and had the SA come out and look. He said it just needed to warm up.

Im not saying the MINI isn't a good car. I had a blast driving it and loved the handling and the pop-burble. My reason for getting rid of it was three fold: 1. These reliability issues and 2: I was putting too many miles on it and 3: I missed my GTI to much. I could have lived with the reliability issues if I wasn't putting the kind of mileage on it. It was just so much fun to drive.

 

Not to discount phaetton's experience, but as far as I know, he's the only one reporting this on 2011's and beyond. As I recall he had other issues with his MINI and was looking to move on. Possibly this was just an additional reason to do so. I think he got his about the same time as I got mine. My personal experience is 17K miles and no (zero) symptoms to suspect a possible issue with my timing chain. I just put 1K miles on over the weekend and the trip was perfect. My only issue was averaging 34-35 mpg, rather than the 37 mpg I average the last time I made the trip. The only difference was this time was March and last time July.

 

Hmmm...well, not sure what to say, but would be curious to know myself. Do we know for certain that the new models come with the revised tensioner; or is MINI not admitting to a problem? These cars also have little tolerances for low oil and, if you haven't already came across it, do a search for reading the dipstick and you'll find a lot on it. It's easy to think you have the correct amount of oil. I'm not saying Phaetonn is wrong, just brainstorming. I personally think MINI should recall this part or extend the warranty on it.

 

Correct, I had other complaints about it. They all culminated and then the dealer I used to work for traded the GTI I now have. It was the perfect opportunity to jump ship.

Again not saying the MINI is a bad car but be prepared to have your fair share of visits to the dealer when its under warranty or you could be like some and never have an issue. Hell the GTI I have is at the VW dealer that auto group owns for some warranty work. The difference here is I personally know the master tech who works on the car and instead of talking to the SA he calls me directly. He got some items covered under warranty they normally wouldn't be. Plus he lives like 3min down the road so I have him work on it sometimes on the weekend. I have some things planned that I need him to take care of hehe.

 

This is what I've told my friend who is looking at MINI's...there are good ones and bad ones. Seems like some are constantly in and out of the dealer and there are those that go the distance with nothing but regular maintenance. If you're buying new, you have 4 years of warranty, so I wouldn't worry. That's 4 years to decide which one yours is and with the high resale value, you'll still get your money's worth (grin factor) if you dump at warranty-end.

 

Thanks for clarifying these points. I'm gonna be 40 soon, have been working very hard in my career, raising kids and a family, and want to treat myself soon to a "fun" mid life crisis car for around $30k. that gives a lot of options, used and new, including used Porsche Caymans etc.

For some reason (you guys get it) the MINI has always been near the top of the list...I have had 4 BMWs in a row and can tolerate BS reliability issues like sensors, window regulators etc.

But a lot of these posts lead me to believe there may be a real achilles heel design defect with the prince engine (yeah, I know we don't hear about the happy customers who probably don't know this forum exists, and this is only a very small percentage of owners, etc)....

So hopefully these problems are sorted in 2011/2012. I have been slowly building a small war chest of cash and convincing my wife of this purchase. Wonder if I should just wait until the end of this year to see what the 2013 F56 is going to bring....i.e. a 3 cylinder turbocharged engine...release date?

Or get one of the last R56s....potential timing chain issue or not....

of course VWs have reliability issues too.

I know we can all agree on one thing, why can't German automakers build fun AND reliable cars?

It seems you are forced to buy a reliable but boring Asian make, or a fun, stylish and exciting European car (take your pick, BMW, MERC, Audi/VW, etc etc) but will be subject to reliability issues...

 

I will agree with you on that. German cars are some of the, if not the best, driving cars in the world. Just not the most reliable per say.. As for VWs the MKV are the most reliable the VW has ever made to my knowledge.

 

I have owned Toyota, Mitsubishi, Honda, Ford, Mercury, BMW, Audi, Volvo, Mini and Lexus.

Japanese cars were the most reliable. I never ever have any major problem with any of them. My niece is still driving my 2000 Mitsubishi with over 300,000 miles on it. The Audi and Volvo are next and they would give minor troubles every 3 or 4 months. Like window would not open or close and little things like that.

BMW, Ford, and Mercury, all had some kind of mechanical problems, fuel pumps, water pumps. Ford and Mercury are much cheaper to fix. The BMW will usually be about $1000 to fix every year after the warranty is over.

The Mini S is a load of trouble after 50,000 miles. It has all the problems of all my previous cars + other ones: water pump, fuel pump, engine rattle, carbon built up, melting hood scope, .... And they are as expansive as BMW to fix just more often.

If it was just my Mini, I could write it off as bad luck. But there are 5 people in the office who got Mini S.. from 2007 to 2010. All of them said that Mini is the worst in reliability in any car they have owned. We all have been telling everyone NOT to buy Mini. Owning a Mini is a love/hate relationship.... fun to drive... expansive to own.