Actual it did get better than 30 MPG, it had two spark plugs per cylinder. The second plug fired slightly after the initial spark, the next year the newer models were the first to have an oxygen sensor. It was also fuel injection and had two coils for each set of plugs.

I'm going to assume you were speaking for yourself in regards to having a car with 35 MPG and less reliable engine instead of a more reliable engine that got 25 MPG. There's no logic in having a less reliable engine in exchange for MPG. That's just absurd!

You also stated that Mini did fix the N14 issues with the F56, are you a mental patient or are you on drugs? In what way are the N14 issues fix by releasing a new car and model, I'm still having issues with my N14 here.

 

my point was, that heavier engines are generally more durable at the price of efficiency. of course your "harley chain" probably never stretched, but it also wasn't helping with overall efficiency. light, cheap, strong; pick 2.

its called planned obsolescence. why would they worry about updating an almost 10 year old power plant? they can just keep selling replacement parts to those who want to do it themselves, booking jobs into dealers for those who don't, and selling new cars to those who are tired of dealing with it. the point is, they are not in the business of selling old cars, or really even of keeping them on the road, they sell new cars, service packages and a lot of fine print. keeping old ones on the road is just stealing from future sales. why bother sinking money into R&D for dead product to keep a few die hard enthusiasts appy? to "fix" the N14 issues would essentially require a ground up redesign, which led to my comment about the F56. its good to see they brought the engine design in house finally, but thats not to say BMW engines don't have problems either.

we're all mental patients for buying a car engineered by zee Germans, with a French made engine, assembled in the UK where there's a pub on every corner and the national motto is "that'll do"...c'mon man. if that's not a recipe for trouble what is? i suppose they could've used an Italian made gear box...

 

The triton engine (R53 Supercharged) was built strong and could handle 400 hp, but BMW sold it's shares of Chrysler where the Triton engine was based off of, yes the Triton engine was a Chrysler part. Mini/BMW put a lot of R&D into the Triton engine, when the N14 was planned Mini/BMW had little to do with it's design except for the head which now had Vanos and twin cams, the bottom-end was French. Most of the parts (water pump, thermostat housing, valve cover, timing chain components) were outsourced to companies that had no business or qualifications to build those parts. Mainly Mini went through two different manufactures in designing and manufacturing the chain tensioner. Since then Mini has updated the chain tensioner at least four times. I really wish Mini had used the Triton block for the R56, haven't had many issues with the head other than running lean burning up the rings and valve faces.

 

known N14 issues:
HP fuel pump fails
thermostat and engine driven water pump fail
auxiliary turbo water pump fails
vacuum pump rattles and snaps off (oiling issues)
oil cooler and filter housing gaskets fail (due to being baked by turbo heat)
oil pan that leaks (due to being baked by turbo heat)
cam timing issues (weak/crappy tensioners, chain stretch, guides breaking due to being hit by loose chains)
terrible PCV system design leading to carbon buildup
valve cover that leaks (or PCV system bonded to it leaks, needing replacement of whole cover)
excessive oil consumption (myriad reasons)

seriously, if someone handed that list to a Powertrain engineer, wouldn't YOU pretty much start from scratch too?

 

Fortunately, no, I did not have to pay twice. The first time it was replaced under warranty and the second time the MINI of Portland covered it as a goodwill repair. I believe any repair parts have a 2 year warranty outside of the 4 year/50,000 mile warranty that it comes with.

 

You forgot carbon build up on the valves.
Rather depressing when you look at it. what's worse is we keep buying them.

 

everything worth buying has problems. the way i see it, its up to you to learn how to fix it.

 

Congratulations on mastering stereotyping.

 

sorry, did i offend you? i just got back from the UK and it sure seemed like everyone over there had a great sense of humor? its just a joke. everything is so globalized now anyway it really doesn't matter.

 

I find it hard to believe insulting all the Germany, all of the UK was just a joke! I call BS that you're just an ignorant person and are now embarrassed and the best you can do is claim it was a joke. Nobody is buying that story and you know it.

 

I find it hard to believe anyone would take it as anything other than a joke.

 

if calling me ignorant makes you feel good about yourself, that's cool. I try not to back pedal when I'm on my bicycle, because that doesn't get you anywhere. and you forgot, I insulted the French and Italians as well

 

Perhaps I overreacted, my apologies.

 

Hehe just bought my 2012 countryman. Already gotta camshaft locking kit on the way. Love to tinker and learn along the way. I've got 18000 more miles on warranty to figure it all out! Love the ride and styling of it. Just hope I don't become a master mechanic along the way having to work on it all of the time!