My 07 R56 Cooper S is about to hit 60k miles. So far I have done the following

• Oil/Oil Filter
• Brake Fluid Bleed
• Coolant Flush
• Checked Pads/Rotors - All good
• Replaced Oil Feed Line @ 53k

I plan on replacing the spark plugs next. From everything that I've been reading, I guess I need to prepare to do a thermostat replacement at some point. Is there anything that commonly fails that I should look at or need to get checked out?

Thanks!

 

If you hear noises on start up, have the timing chain slack measured. If you suspect loss of power get a walnut shell blasting of valve backs then follow up with a catch can and block the passenger side PCV.

 

im in the same boat as you! 07 MCS getting close to 60000. thanks for the thread this will be helpful to me. from what i have heard, spark plugs and serpitine belt at 60000. it seems like you have already covered everything else i would say. i have not really noticed any issues with carbon in my car but i have heard that around this mileage it can become noticeable. I seafoam my car often so im hoping i dont have those problems.

 

At 60k I'd recommend:
New Drive Belt
Engine Air Filter
A/C air filter

 

Thanks for the reply! How would you approach the "Jarvik 7", aka the Thermostat Housing replacement? Should I do that preemptively or wait until some symptoms are seen? I assume the symptoms would be leaking coolant and the P0597 error code?

During the coolant flush I was doing the last round of bleeding via the bleed screw (which is plastic) and the head snapped right off when I was tightening it. The threaded body of the screw is still plugging the hole. Luckily the screw is in the closed position, but unfortunately I will need to replace the screw, if not the whole housing at some point.

 

I wouldn't worry about the thermostat until it actually goes out. But since you broke the screw off you may need to do it sooner.

 

My thermo and water pump went out on my 3 series last year (I now have a new MINI - unrelated). I did the swap of both myself. It took me an entire day with a few interruptions. Now that I've done it (it was my first time, and by no means am I a mechanic... just a weekend garage warrior)... I could probably knock both of them out in a few hours.

I got NO errors at all until mine actually fully failed. Car went into limp mode due to overheat... if it was me, I'd keep pushing past 60k but if you approach 100k I'd replace them prematurely before the actual failure. I made it to 130k on the 3 series... I'm not sure what the "fail point" is for the '07 MINI... but the 3-series is pretty much guaranteed to go out at 100k... I pushed it and could have possibly done damage due to the overheat.

If it was me, when you get to that "failure point" I'd think of replacing it before it fails. Again, just my experience off my 3-series debacle. Maybe the MINI's throw a code or something... but again, I got NO code until it literally failed.