Well I'm coming up on my first year with my 08 S Clubman and past the initial issues I had with it (VANOS solenoid and water pump failure) so far things have been going well with it.

However, in the back of my head I'm thinking about "what else could go wrong" and so I'm wondering if I should be planning on replacing anything prior to failure (I'm at 71,000 miles now).

Last year the head was off (in an attempt to diagnose the issue that turned out to be the VANOS solenoid). The shop checked my timing chain, and said it was within specifications and not stretched. I have a small oil leak (a drop or two on the garage floor every now and then) that is likely a turbo leak, but I'm wondering now if it's related to the vacuum pump, so I'll be inspecting that further. I put a BSH OCC on in an effort to reduce carbon buildup and extend the life of the turbo, and that seems to be working okay. I may run some Seafoam through at some point before my next oil change.

Aside from that, am I forgetting anything else to really keep an eye on? I'm comfortable with a wrench to the point of getting into the valve cover, but not getting into the engine much further.

EDIT: Just realized I posted this in R56 instead of R55. Sorry 'bout that.

 

Be watching for the thermostat housing if it hasn't been replaced yet. Mine started leaking about 50k, which is the norm.

 

Yep, mine got replaced when I had the water pump replaced.

 

All these issues at 71,000 miles, these cars are something else aren't they :/

 

It hasn't been fun, but it could be worse... I just want to make sure I'm doing everything I can to prevent the small issues from turning into big catastrophes, you know? It's a little nerve-wracking sometimes, especially because it's my daily driver and I honestly don't make enough to really justify the amount of maintenance these cars need.

 

HPFP comes to mind. And just think in another 40k miles you'll have to do everything again!

 

There's a thread titled something like "just another oil catch can thread" and the last couple pages have some extremely good information on your catch can, the vacuum system in general, and the fact that seafoam is a really REALLY bad idea...

Think about it, what seafoam "cleans" out of your pvc, throttle body, turbo, intercooler intake valves and all the pipes between is going to be, or attempt to be combusted through your engine and through your catalytic converter. There are far better ways of cleaning (most) all those components without trying to kill your engines combustion Chambers. These methods mostly involve taking it apart, cleaning it with mild soap, solvents if you need to or in the particular fun case of the intake valves scraping or blasting the carbon off.

The last of which, btw, is what I would recommend. I recently made a thread (in case you live in the new England area and need your valves blasted) you can see what my intake looked like at 90k miles AND how they looked after soda blasting.

 

keep an eye on the rubber hoses that come with the BSH oil catch can. Hoses on mine dried out, became brittle, and started leaking.

 

I really hope to be out of this car by then - next year is my target.

Yeah, I can see seafoam not being so good for our engines. What does that OCC thread talk about? I can't find one by that title.
EDIT: I think I've found it. I understand that a OCC is not a cure-all, but it can't hurt.

Thanks for the heads up, mine seem okay for now.

 

Have you changed spark plugs? Auto trans or manual? If auto, change the fluid. The oil leak is likely the oil filter housing. That is a pita to fix, do the turbo oil line at the same time. Get the intake ports cleaned.

Sorry its a long list, but your car is 7 years old and this is the stuff that i've done to my 08.

Mike

 

Just changed the spark plugs this week, got the trans (auto) fluid replaced last year. I'll have to look up the oil filter housing leak - I haven't heard of this before.

I appreciate the feedback from someone with a similarly old model.