I can'r believe my water pump is out already. My car is a 08 with low miles. I had the tensioner failure, which they covered all but the $250.00 towing bill, and replaced the circuit board on recall. They know these water pumps are failing and there is no recall yet. I have to get it towed in to the dealer friday to get this repaired at my expense. Plus towing. This is my first Mini and probably my last. My porsche never gave me any trouble. This is the worst car I have ever owned due to the recent failures. I love the damn thing but it's getting untrustworthy. I will keep it until the next failure. Anything else and i will have to sell it and find something more dependable as my daily driver.
I can't believe BMW understands that their reputation for fine automobiles is on the line here. If I get rid of the Mini I sure won't buy a BMW of any type. It's a shame that so many people love these cars yet they have many problems that will nickel and dime you to death.
Brokenhearted in the Deep South !

Yep. The water pump is a weak point. $700 fix for me. That was the second one in 60,000 miles for this '07 MCS. The first was at 37,000.

Make sure you get it done by a MINI/BMW specialist.

Short Version:
Joe Blow Mechanic can cause bigger problems... Stick with a specialist.

Long Version:
The mechanic that replaced the second pump tried to take a short cut. Rather than properly removing everything, he used some kind of pry bar to lift the engine, which smashed and tore the starter/alternator wiring harness. That caused inconsistent voltage and the car wouldn't start after I got it home. The mechanic kept it for 4 days trying to figure out what happen, then finally admitted that he couldn't figure it out and didn't have the right code reader.

I got it towed to a specialist who found the damage, but the ECU was damaged as well. He says that MINI told him repeatedly that the shorts in the wiring harness couldn't damage the ECU. In fact, MINI mentioned that they were aware of ECUs that fail after the battery is disconnected. The ECU normally costs $2000. That would be on top of the $700 to find and replace the damaged wiring harness. He's a good guy so he sold it at cost and MINI got involved and programmed it for free. The ECU ended up costing $1,400.

Water pump + wiring harness + ECU = $3100

Now I'm about to go into arbitration with the Joe Blow mechanic to recoup some of the expenses.

It's going to Mini and a certified mechanic who I know and trust. Thomas is a great mechanic at Brian harris mini in Baton Rouge La. and I have his cell for any time I have a question. It just breaks my heart to have a fun driving car and not feel as thoug I can trust it. I spent lots of extra money fixing it up to my taste and would hate to have to selll it. Hopefully my repair bill will not be a rediculous as yours. I could do the water pump myself since I own a Collision Center and have the tools and skills to do it. I just want to make sure it is done at the dealership si any other problems would not arise if I did my own work. I did the brake job,exhaust, cold air kit, and seat belete myself. When it comes to the engine I would leave it to the proffesionals. Knowing what I can do and what i SHOULDN'T do is the key.

Failed twice on me as well... R56 with 125k miles. Certified mechanic or not, this is not a service problem, its a manufacturing/design issue, as are most of the R56 problems.

We live in the same area. I was just at Brian Harris and had the timing chain replaced under warranty. They found my water pump was leaking at 73K, but I have an extended warranty so my out of pocket was $300. You and are I driving distance from WayMotorWorks in Atlanta Georgia. Hands down, BEST service EVER. Plus he races MINIs, so if you want performance... I went to his shop for my 60K maintenance to meet the staff before saving up for a performance trip later on.

There are a few guys like him around the country working on our car (they're famous on these forums) but he's the closest one to us. He accepts my warranty too, but my car was already at the dealership, so I let them do it.

If my car is ever undrivable I'm going to have it trucked to him for service. His prices are good too.

+1. The R56 has a number of known bad design flaws [not all of which Mini will own up to]
- chain tensioner
- high pressure fuel pump
- intake sensors
- turbos
- intakes
- throttle bodies
- cooling fans [for turbos]
-

All of which reminds me of a quote from the movie Armageddon, which was, in turn, a paraphrase of something one of our astronauts once said:

"You know we're sitting on four million pounds of fuel, one nuclear weapon and a thing that has 270,000 moving parts built by the lowest bidder. Makes you feel good, doesn't it?"

My suspicion here is that BMW, like any manufacturer, goes with the lowest bidder when choosing suppliers, and occasionally we get dud parts as a result. Unless, of course, it's a BMW design that's at fault... that's a different matter. Is this what happens when BMW builds a car down to a lower price point?

Whatever the case, you'd think BMW would be a little more choosy when their reputation's at stake.

Spridget