This is going to be a long post and i apologize in advance, just want to give you guys all the facts so maybe i can get pointed in a right direction. I have a 2007 Mini Cooper S Hatchback with the sport package. It's and automatic and has 63000 miles on it. I bought it used and have had for about 7 months.

About a week ago i noticed i had and exhaust leak, right around the catyilitic converter, not sure if this has anything to do with my current problem but is the only thing i noticed going wrong. The exhaust leak was very evident for about the first five minutes, then when the car warmed up, the leak would seal itself and go away.

Then about 4 days ago i was driving home from work and a guy pulled out in front of me. I hit the brakes hard but not unusually hard. The car just flat out died right there. The lights and radio still worked but no engine. I pulled over to the side of the road and tried to crank it and it would turn over once but would not start. I tried again and i noticed that it was smoking so i popped the hood and saw the smoke coming from around the ECU. It smelt like electrical component burning up. I'm not sure the smoke came from the ECU but definetely something on that side of the car. I had a tow truck tow the car home and went out the next morning to try and crank the car. It would turn over several times but still would not crank.

I thought that i had a bad alternator so i unplugged the battery from the car and charged it. The battery wasn't really low, it read like 12.4 amps before the charge, hooked it back up and the car will not even attempt to turn over now. I have checked all fuses with a volt meter and all are good. Battery is good, i'm getting power to the alternator, power to the starter, and power to the solenoid when i try to start the car. The radio and lights all work but it will not try to crank. I put a code reader on the car and it says there are no drive train or trouble codes to read at this time. The car has plenty of oil and no belts are missing.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm not opposed to taking it in to the dealer, it just seems like i'm missing something simple and thought you guys might be able to point me in a direction, or tell something im overlooking.

Thank you so much.

 

Depending on the leak location, besides fumes in the cabin it also spews molten hot air at parts it shouldn't which are not designed to tollerant those temps...

 

The leak seemed to be on the front engine side of the catalytic convertor, but facing the ground.

 

How old is the battery?

You say 12.4 amps but i beleive you mean 12.4 volts probably as a normal volt meter will not measure amps as high as the starter would need unless you have a special balast resistor to use with it.

I would take the battery out and have it tested at the autoparts store. If it tests good then it is possible the smoking was from the starter and it is bad.

 

Bite the bullet and take it to a shop. Any advice you get here is pure speculation.

 

That is a pretty **** poor attitude about all the great folks here and our knowledge.

And BTW although there is some speculation in what the problem is ANY tech that works on the car has to "speculate' to start their diagnosis.

 

That will certainly be my response to your questions from now on.

OP, there could be several things that you need to look at. If your car is turning over but not firing, either you have no spark, or you are not getting fuel. Knowing these cars, I am wondering if the fuel pump bit it.

As for the leak, if it is on the CC, then you may still be under warranty for it. Just an FYI, but a CC can be expensive and figured I would toss it out there.

 

It might be poorly phrased but I kind of side with BMC_Kid, its very hard to diagnose a car over the internet, and it could be a number of items.

IF you have the tools to check a few different parts I would say definitely try the following (in this order)

Battery / Ground connectors (you said that you get nothing now -- its a pretty good place to start -- also make sure when you put the battery back you clean off all the terminals and wires. You mentioned it happened after a jarring (hard braking) -- to me this sounds like something got loose.

After that:
Starter
Fuel Pump
ECU
Alternator

However, if you don't have the diagnostic tools -- I would not recommend replacing things in hopes of figuring out what is not working, that becomes highly costly very quickly, and would likely cost more than having a reputable mechanic take a look at it. Diagnostic cost is $100-150, towing if you have roadside assistance could basically be free.

If the mechanics diagnosis is something you feel like taking on yourself, then you could tow it home and go at it.

 

You guys are right... Nobody has ever gotten mechanical help on these forums. We should just shut it down...

The idea is to lead him in the proper direction which is what most mechanics will do. Also, there are many mechs on this forum and having turned wrenches myself I know that I can can at least assist. Telling someone to just take it in because it is speculation is crap.

 

I still offered him advice...as you see -- however I don't want him/her running off and just replacing parts on a whim. Pictures, a video or something else to go on would be helpful. Heck people do surgery over the internet with cameras and robots...

 

BMC_Kid's response was crass.

That being said, it was (I bet) closer to the truth than any of us would like - least of all the OP.

I get the feeling this is either a catastrophic failure (sorry) or a very pain in the butt type electrical fault (my bet actually) from a loose or damaged wire or connector... Both of which often need dealership/shop help to fix for the catastophy and diagnose otherwise...

Good luck...
E

 

I know a lot of folks that should never own a car without a warranty. Sheesh!

 

Smoke coming out from around the ECU that smells like electrical components burning up.

That sounds very bad indeed. Check that area for wires that look burned or melted. Check the housing of the ECU for discoloration, especially anything that looks burned.

 

The electrical burning smell is bad news and you probably have some wiring issues you haven't run into yet. Electrical burning stench is one of those things that makes me frustrated to no end.

Here is some non-speculative stuff If you have a multimeter in your toolbox (essential tool IMHO) you can check the starting circuit.

If you did have a bad enough exhaust leak near the primary catalytic converter the only wiring you'd burn through is the post-cat O2 sensor harness. If that got wiped out it won't inhibit a start condition. This is the only harness that's between the heat shield and the exhaust downpipe. Everything else outside of the heatshield will be protected from burning.

Before you do anything. Take the battery to an auto parts store and have them do a battery test on it. This is different than checking the voltage with a multimeter. If the battery is bad you need to fix that first.

Did you actually check if the starter solenoid is getting voltage when you try and start the engine? Check the voltage drop between each positive and negative connection branch between the alternator, battery, and starter. If you have more than .5V of voltage loss you have corroded connectors that need to be cleaned.

Start here and let us know what you find. We'll try to help you as much as we can before you need dealer intervention. These cars have complex electronics but hopefully BMW didn't decide to turn the standard starting circuit upside down.

One other thing, did you see any burn marks around the fuse box or ECU? You'll have to take the cover off the ECU to check. I really want to know what smouldered.

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-of-money.html

Diagnostics could have helped this person from changing out every part under the sun.

 

If your mechanic begins with speculation, then you've got a fool for a mechanic. A true mechanic will take all the FACTS into consideration, run a diagnostic test, actually get eyes on the car before making a diagnosis. Do you actually truly believe what you wrote? Seriously? When you go in to see your doctor when you're not feeling well, will the doc "speculate" what is wrong, or will he sit down and look at your symptoms, run tests and then analyze them before making a diagnosis. I guess you go into your doc with a chest pain and he speculates, well it could be your heart, or maybe your lungs, you know it also could be your chest muscles, maybe even your ribs...

So far the vague symptoms are:

1. exhaust leak near cc
2. slammed on brakes, car died
3. engine would crank but not start, but lights radio work
4. smoke coming from ECU area
5. possible bad alternator
6. possible bad battery, but checked and seemed good


"Advice" so far...

1. bad battery
2. bad starter
3. bad fuel pump
4. bad alternator
5. bad ECU
6. serious electrical problem
7. catastrophic failure

Since we are all just throwing stuff out there, seeing what sticks, how about this one? Just speculating but maybe your timing chain and/or tensioner failed. Let's see, known problem. You've got 60K+ miles. There, number 8.

Like I said before, bite the bullet and take it in, or if you have time and money to waste start at 1 and check/replace (if you have the knowledge or ability) until it works, you get to number 8 or you run out of time and/or money because at this point all you are doing is guessing based on "help" from an internet forum lacking facts and making WAGs based on vague symptoms. I've seen this happen before on a forum (not this forum) with well intentioned advice freely given and freely taken based on the vaguest of "facts". Many $$$ later, the problem is still not solved and now the advice to the very frustrated person changes to "you should have just taken it in." by some of the very people who gave (well intentioned) the advice!

If the OP had given more definitive symptoms, with good clear photos of the key components in question, then maybe the advice given here would be more than just speculation. But at this point, that is precisely what it is and there really no reason to get so sensitive about it, but oh well, I am the bad guy here.

To the OP, best of luck, I hope it is not something too costly and is something easily fixed but from your description as vague as it is, it does not sound good. Do yourself a favor and have it towed in and a system diagnostic performed. The sooner you know the good or bad news, the better.

 

So, your advice is, "wondering if the fuel pump bit it"? You got this from the OP either has "no spark, or you are not getting fuel"? Wow. Just wow.

Don't worry flake, based on your advice to the OP, I'll never ask for your advice!

 

Forums are fine for assistance IF you go to them with definitive facts. Without those pesky things, forums have a way of sending you in too many directions at once.

Yeah you are definitely R-I-G-H-T! The OP is surely being lead... now in 8 different directions!

So, you've turned wrenches before? Did you turn wrenches righty, tighty or lefty, loosy.

I feel so much better now based on your previous "advice". You know, that fuel pump thing.

 

How the heck did this become such a pissing match?

I think Shane has the right idea. The exhaust leak is bad news, but is likely not related to the no-start. The smoke and smell are almost certainly related to it.

Something electrical got fried. Try to find it--there may be more than one thing, of course. If you can't find the problem, then take the car in to someone who is experienced at automotive electrics. They should have a trained eye and be able to figure out how the "magic smoke" got let out.

 

OK...#9,..just kidding, but;

The exhaust leak could be the first domino in this unfortunate event.

That exhaust gas is very hot....if the leaking hot exhaust gas stressed an electrical box nearby it could have caused the failure....so, what electrical devices are near the point of the exhaust leak?

 

I appreciate all the responses and i'm not opposed to taking it in to BMW to get looked at. I just wanted to make sure i wasn't missing something simple. I have but a new battery and still same result. I have been over every fuse and electrical wire that i can see under the hood and can't find anything that looks burnt or fried. I just can't get it to turn over at all. There is a dip in the power to the solenoid on the starter when i try to crank it but nothing is happening. I can actually even hear the fuel pump kick on as well. I really believe that either the Ecu is gone or i have a short. or the starter is bad. I might be shooting for optimistic but i don't think it's catastrophic. I have actually spoken to MINI of Dallas and they told me the ECu is still under manufacturer's warranty. So if it does have to be replaced it won't be on my dime. Thanks again for all the advice. I will try and keep you guys updated.

 

i wish i had some of these speculators living near me. I have more confidence in them then my local Service Advisor

 

Dang, really feel sorry for you. I have a great shop that I take all my vehicles to and every mechanic is top notch. The only time I ever deal with anyone that is not a mechanic is when I have coffee with the owner (at least he doesn't "turn wrenches" anymore ) and pay my bill with the cashier. I don't deal with Service Advisors!

 

I have a great shop also! It's my garage!

Warranty stuff goes to the dealer. Everything else, I diagnose and fix myself, I haven't been stumped yet!

Dave

 

I used to do this myself when I had a garage. Even now I still do as much as I can on my own.