I went for a drive to get breakfast, nothing fast or spirited, and the Mini threw 2 camshaft codes and went in to limp mode. The exhaust was much deeper. Luckily I was less then a mile from my shop. They stated the tensioner on the chain broke and there was no compression in cyl 3. They are usually very reasonable on price but said this would be about $2-4k.

I did a quick search and found a few recalls and lawsuits related to this. My car is around 80k miles. Some places say that it extends the warranty up to 2010 models, others say its up to 2011.

Does anyone know if my 2011 would be covered or have experience getting this paid for by Mini?

Mini Cooper 2007-2013: Recalls and TSBs | Northamericanmotoring
Mini Cooper Timing Chain Recall: What You Need to Know | Morgan & Morgan Law Firm (forthepeople.com)

 

Some sources say the lawsuit includes up to 2011. Mini of course is not budging even though this includes the same exact wear and damage associated with the lawsuit. Maybe I should look into a new one because they never fixed their problems? If anyone has an R56 with relatively low miles and would like to look into getting reimbursed DM me.

 

I am pretty much done with Mini for good. After $18k in repairs over a 6 year (low mileage) period of time I don't think I will ever be a mini enthusiast. Mini USA service is terrible and the car is by far the least reliable and poorest performing that I have owned.

 

Could it be, that the extended warranty only covers N14 engines while yours is an N18? One of the links you posted lists models up to 2010.

IIRC, Mini started fitting N18 engines sometime in March 2010, a few months before LCI models started being built (IIRC August 2010).

By the way: In Europe, BMW/MINI has not committed to any such extended warranty, neither in respect to the timing chain, nor the HPFP. Affected users are/were left mostly to themselves after the initial period of seller (not Manufacturer!) liability. Nominal duration is 2 years but effectively limited to 6 months back then (12 months since last year) ran out. BMW/MINI did not provide any manufacturer warranty (not sure if that has changed since).

 

I have owned both and only discernable difference was intake hose and valve cover configuration. It is strange they do have the same failures....

 

You can't possibly refer to N14 and N18 engines. But if you don't, what do you refer to?

N14 and N18 engines have many more differences among them. Both in terms of design (e.g. the N14 engine has one VANOS gear, the N18 two) and parts.