I have a 07 cooper S. I started getting this fault code a few months ago. comes and goes. but past week or two it has been on solid. theres no light next to millage in rpm guage. just a yellow engine light in the speedo. I do hear a brief whistle sound when I turn the car off sometimes. I also hear more exhaust noise when I first got the code, I notice it when I first turn the car on. it could be my imagination, or maybe the hatch door seal is wearing out.

theres oil on my valve cover, which has been there since I bought the car 2.5 years ago. theres oil on the pcv tube connector that plugs into the valve cover. could a cracked pcv tube cause the code? I could pull it out tomorrow. I put a k&n drop in air filter in before I started getting the code. I can't remember how far apart the two were, at least a few weeks. when I got the air filter I blew it out a little with a air compressor. in case there was alot of oil in it.

I feel like sometimes my car pulls hard in 2nd. and sometimes it doesn't. its been like that for awhile, way before the fault. like the power kinda cuts off for a fraction of a second 2 or 3 times during the pull.

from researching this fault. seems like it could be a number of things. valve cover. maf sensor. I could spend several hundred trying to fix it. may be better to just leave it be and wait for whatever it is to fail completely.

 

I don't know if I'd say you have a vacuum leak, because you would notice a lumpy idle and have unmetered air codes with possible O2 sensor codes as well.

Is your intake tube fully fitted on the air box and Turbo inlet? The intake tube is known to crack and cause problems.

Are the hose clamps on the tube tight?

 

everything was tight but I took the intake tube off the turbo and looked it over. didn't see any cracks but there was oil on it, more near the turbo end. also discovered a drop of oil on the turbo inlet. I posted a photo of it and a couple others, I partially wiped away the drop.

I cleaned my maf sensor and that may have fixed it, I think the car isn't loosing power now and the engine light went out and theres no fault. the light and fault did come and go before, so hopefully its gone for good but we'll see.

it looks like that hose that goes into the valve cover is leaking at the valve cover hole. I'm missing the hose lock. but I'm not sure if I need it. the hose seems to stay in. I want to clean the oil away so I can see the source of the leaks but I'm afraid if I spray water in there something will get screwed up.