New mini S owner. What did I get myself into.....
 

Picked up an 08 s 6spd a few days ago with the intentions on driving it from Tampa to vegas in a few days. This particular one has 100k but it's from the original owner and always dealer serviced. Confirmed with the dealer today that the entire top end and timing system was replaced by them a few months ago along with the full fuel system. Cooling system was replaced last year. This gave me some peace of mind. Current known issues are a check engine light (dealer said previous owner was quoted $4500 to replace entire exhaust system due to a clogged cat but declined) and a non working speedo unit (previous owner says relay)

Is the yellow half engine light an indication of half power? Assuming the akrapovic delete r will remove the light but I don't want performance negatively affected for my drive. Car feels like I believe it should but I don't feel the turbo at all. Getting ~35 mpg

Speedo cluster being out a common issue or did the owner remove a relay to avoid warning lights?

If it makes it to vegas I'm going to do a full exhaust, full ic system, and a bigger turbo and tune. My background is turbo supras, Hondas, eclipses, etc. the gf wanted a mini so I figured this May be an easy one to get into. Thanks in advance guys!

Yes, the half engine light is reduced power also called "limp mode" by a lot of people if you want to do some searches. It should be preventing use of the turbo.

I have not run across the instrument clusters going out, so it could be something done intentionally.

The car needs TLC and it sounds like it found a good home.

Good luck to you.

Any way to get rid of limp mode without replacing the exhaust? Dealer said the entire system was the only option. Doesn't make sense to me to put that much money into Oem stuff if it's to be swapped out shortly. When I read limp mode I assumed low mph and very sluggish... That's not the case here but I definitely don't feel any spool up

Independent mechanics are much more creative than the dealers service group. IF you can obtain a high quality cat, have a muffler shop put it on.

Was it a MINI mechanic that determined the problem was with the exhaust?

I find it kind of hard to believe the entire exhaust would cost $4500, but I haven't had to replace any exhaust components. Hopefully someone who knows more about the subject of exhaust replacements can chime in.

And ditto - why not just start with a cat replacement and go from there?

This is your best option. Take it to a muffler shop and have them cut out your old cat and put a new one in, don't see why you would need to replace your full exhaust system but if that is the case this would be a great time to upgrade into a performance system. Again a good muffler shop can do this for you also.

Down pipe. Nothing past it will clog up.

FYI , if the cat is clogged it will KILL your turbo.

actually, on a 2nd gen turbo, the cat is completely bolt on. I had mine off last month when i replaced some other stuff on the front of the engine. Put it in service mode for decent access. Is the dealer actually saying he needs to replace the resonator, pipes and muffler because the cat is bad? find a diff. dealer.

We need a like button on here.

Dealer (ferman mini in Clearwater) said replacing the entire exhaust system, down pipe back, was the only option and that was quoted at $4500. Seems ridiculous but I just sold my BMW 545i so I'm aware of the BMW family pricing

So I have to replace this cat at minimum to get it out of limp mode? Only asking now because I'm scheduled to head to vegas either tomorrow or Sunday so my time is limited. Does the akrapovic delete r tell the comp the cat is ok and let it run as normal?

I had a 535i with a bad U joint in the driveshaft. The BMW dealer/parts guy said the u-joint is "non-serviceable" due to the fact that it was peened in, not using the usual c clips. I needed to buy the entire driveshaft.
I then went to a driveline guy, who said "yeah, we do those kinds of driveshafts all the time". He did the job well.

Without more information it's impossible to know what the problem is, but you at this point, you can't trust anything that dealer says. (1) No reason to replace entire exhaust. That's ludicrous. (2) Even the entire exhaust would be no where near $4500 (like, not even close).

With all that said, the limp mode could be a sign of a serious problem. You need an honest independent shop. There must be a local that specializes in german cars and can diagnose the mini. Even just getting the codes read would help us diagnose it. You could start there.

Purchased it from the original owner who had it dealer serviced. I called the dealer to verify service and they told me about the $4500 exhaust quote.
I picked up a low mileage downpipe/cat last night that's going on this morning so we shall see. The only code was for the cat, not sure of the exact #.
Upon popping the hood last night the latch was a bit hard. Pulled a bit harder and the plastic around the ball (inside car) snapped. Luckily I was with a guy parting out a mcs so I grabbed his latch but still... Things are not off to a good start

Mostly this ^. Not to mention IDK how they managed to clog a cat in only 6 years. If the cat is actually clogged it's really bad to be running the motor. Exhaust gasses can't escape which backs pressure up into the turbo and causes lots and lots of heat to be contained in the turbo/downpipe/cat area.

your car is covered under the fed emission warranty....

I was about to tell you about getting a used OEM Cat from someone who's parting a MCS out as you'll need it come inspection/smog depending on how strict your state is. Akrapovic Delete R does not tell the ECU that everything is ok, it will only block the signal that lights up your (CEL) Check Engine Light. You need to take care of your exhaust problem ASAP, like many have stated back pressure will kill your turbo!

The ECU will still register the fault, if you plan on installing a cattless down pipe when it comes time to smog you would need to re-install the OEM down pipe and drive it 30 miles for the CEL to disappear. For $2500 you could buy a very high-end exhaust system that's much higher quality made from 304 stainless steel, the Akrapovic exhaust system is under $2000.


+1 ^^

Didn't really have the time or patience to deal with trying to get anything warrantied. Picked up a low mileage cat from a wrecked mcs and it should be installed by tomorrow. Will update thread with results... Still no word on speedo though