Very interesting, thanks!

 

Add my 2011 Mini CM. A little over 17 k miles. Last night, 100 degrees out driving up the 57 incline on the way to the Rose Bowl. Just like everyone else, trucking along and then a shudder and a little whine from what sounded like behind the radio and the dreaded message. Going in on Monday.

 

Turns out it was a spark plug in cylinder # 4.

 

My wife and i have been having the same problem with our 2012 CM. it started with the engine light giving us codes for the thermostat temp not being the same as engine tem. this is a intermittant problem and the light seems to come and go whenever it feels like it. a couple of weeks ago i got the reduced power message on the nav screen and I assumed I had run out of gas even though it had 2 bars. my wife had read that there has been simalr issues with the fuel guage not being accurate on the CM.so i put some gas in the car and it started and the message went away. today leaving work the message came back, i had 3 bars on my fuel guage so i stopped and filled it up, no luck the message stayed. i would have stopped by my closest mini dealer but unfortunately the closest dealer is 6 hours from me in Murray Utah and the last time i had to leave our 07 cooper s with them i got a call the next day and the window had been smashed and our personal belongings stolen. The dealer apologized and politely told me that it wasnt their problem and i would need to call my insurance company. Needless to say i dont really want to have to go back to that dealership since they had my car for 3 weeks and didnt even re tint the window before i had to pay to get it shipped back to me........the next closest dealer is 11 hours away in colorado where we bought the car, we like that dealer and have always tried to take our car to them for service ect... we only have one car and i cant be without it for weeks while they try to figure out what is wrong with it. I have been on the wrench end of things trying to get warranty approved from the manufacturer so i know what its like, i just wish i didnt have to deal with this. We have never got mor than 22-23mpg out of our car and i thought it should be better but i figured it was becaue of our high altitude. definately rethinking the whole "mini ownership" thing.

 

Bozeman is beautiful, And I would love to live there (been skiing at big sky several times), but having the closest dealer six hours away is simply not practical. can't blame you for rethinking if you should be a mini owner.

 

This seems to be true!

While she was driving my wife called me to tell me the engine malfunction lit up and reduced power. Lucky for her I wasn't working so we swapped cars and I monitored the coolant temps with the Scangauge II, the coolant temps constantly fluctuated back and forth from 418F to 157F. Dealer replaced the temp sensor, wiring harness, coolant hose and refill coolant.

Drives fine for now but I'm just waiting for the other engine issues to occur with only 13k on the odometer.

 

Hey thanks! So, I got the car back after they replaced the "Air Mass Sensor" according to the print out they gave me. I assume that is something different than the "Map Thermostat" you mentioned? They ran all sorts of tests on it and two weeks later, the Engine Malfunction/Reduced power light is on again!!! Of course they are closed on Sunday, so I'll drop it off again at the dealership on Monday morning. I hope it's ok to drive for a day! The mechanic, Shawn, at Checkered Flag Mini in Virginia Beach seems really knowledgable, but geez...this is the 3rd time it's been taken in just in September!!! I'll keep you posted! BTW...the fan runs excessively after I turn the car off?!? Attached is a photo of the work performed. Thanks a bunch for your input!!!

 

I have had this issue on my 2011 countryman s. I just got a call from the dealer saying my issue was a bad fuel pump, I also had a warning light in red of a car on a lift. Hoping to get it back next week.

 

Yeah...this is not what I expected from a $35000 car. I had a 2002 Volkswagon Jetta and NEVER had an issue with it until after 100k miles. This is very disappointing considering I went to the factory and ordered it in Germany and waited 6 months for it to be delivered in the States. I just hope this isn't going to be happening for the life of the car!!!

 

Fully understand, this is my second Mini, never had a problem with the first one, now a month into owning this one (I purchased used) its in the shop.

 

2011 CMS with 13k miles. Sitting at a red light this morning on the way to work and yellow CEL pops up. Scared me to heck. Driving like the turbo is not working; there's no juice to the engine if you know what I mean.

Hoping to get it in to the dealer today...

 

Lol no problem bud, I knew it would come back on. The fan excessively running is DEFFINITLEY your Map thermostat, and you are correct. They installed a different part and that is in no way related to the thermostat. Im sure your MINI mechanic is very knowledgeable, but sometimes certain dealerships find out information a little bit faster than other dealers. You will be absolutley fine driving it for the day, if you can stand the lack of power .

 

I know it is VERY frustrating guys, but please try to work with us here. We (the technicians) are just as frustrated that the MINI Countryman has had this many problems. Once we work out the few bugs (which I know, should have been done before they put the vehicle into PRODUCTION! lol), you will be able to actually enjoy your countryman. I think they are great cars, I love the all4 system and the N18 engine. Just bare with us guys! Thank you for being patient.

 

I don't think there's much correlation to the price of a car versus the number of repairs. If anything, there might be a reverse correlation...inexpensive cars are more simple, and there's less to go wrong. I know that's a very broad, simplistic statement, but I think it has some merit.

 

Any word on if these issues have been corrected for cars being produced in 2012 and beyond?

I just ordered a 2013 that's scheduled for production next week.

I just KNEW I shouldn't have checked the trouble shooting portion of these forums...

 

Guess who is at the dealer because the engine malfunction light came on while leaving work early to go have fun? Meeeee!
Good thing I read this thread way ahead of time; I wasn't shocked.
10,500 miles-75 miles r/t Mon-Friday and one haul to Chicago over the summer. She is only 6 months old :(
My baby just got serviced last week and I said that my car just stopped moving. They gave it the 10k mile service, said we were good to go and well you know the story.
I was smart enough to drive to Dealership before heading home today. Hopefully they have read this thread too and know exactly whats wrong
Well-I will keep you posted on what they say. It better not be spark plugs from Germany as I am in DC area and that would be poor form from MINI.
Lawd-let this be the last issue of 2012.
Happy New Maintenance free issues Year for 2013!!!

 

Sorry MissMia, same thing happened to me. I couldn't go out in New Year's Eve for the same reason. Two days later, I'm waiting for my dealer to answer the phone and tell me what to do.
In my case it started on Dec 24, the car didn't start after I try several times, then while I was on the phone with Road Assistance it did start, it sounded like it was "coughing" but I was able to drive, then on Dec 29 same thing happened and I went to the dealers. They gave an appointment for Thu Jan 3 and of course on Dec 31 my car just died. Same issue when trying to start, but now the infamous " engine failure" came on my dashboard, kept trying and obviously I killed the battery, right before dying also the ABS failure showed too. So now I'm waiting for the dealer to give me an appointment (and a loan car) before calling road assistance because my car has been death for 2 days now.

I'll tell them about all of you and your findings, I'm sure they will think I'm crazy... you know that dealership guys don't listen to women when is about cars... Good luck to you and everybody else on this post! This is my second MINI and I do have hope... we will see how it goes.

 

PM_MINI07-

Its okay, they will hopefully take care of it correctly the first time and I wont have to return until my 20k check up. It is actually the first time I have had a problem with a MINI sooooo....I will give them the benefit of the doubt on this one.
I wish MINI would be honest though. Or do a recall and fix everyone up with 2013 parts. Makes them appear shady.
And it is pretty entertaining when they think a woman has no clue too

And then when he said, I am really sorry-we have to keep it, we have to order the part from Germany, I chuckled. I said I thought you might say that; why dont you have known problem parts on hand? He said this isnt a known issue.
I then said really, all of these people know about it.
I showed him the thread. I think he felt dumb because he knew I wasnt the first one in with the issue.

Its allll good. My Happy New Year came anyway

 

The saga continues. If "misery loves company" and you are a CM owner, this is the place to be. Mine is a 20ll All4 , manual with 41.9k miles. Ive had the engine light on numerous times, with the hesitation, shuddering, etc. I've had all 4 plugs replaced (cracked insulator), the fuel rail, fuel pickup, thermostat, oil pump gasket, etc., and that was just in one visit. But until recently, I'd never had it stop and not restart. About a month ago, it did just that. MINI sent a flat bed and took to MINI of Pittsburgh. I was ~75 miles from home and my wife had to leave work to come and get me. MINI called the next day and said they replaced the high pressure fuel pump. (Sound familiar?). They would put it on a flatbed and return it to my home, since I live over 100 miles from the dealership. Unfortunately, I live in a rural area and don't have what MINI recognizes as a "street address". So, they couldn't take it to my house. They agreed to take it to my employer which is 50 miles from my home. My wife had to take me to work, another inconvenience and expense for us. The CM was running well, with no apparent problems. I commute 100mi./day over a mountain (twice). No cell service and not a good place to be stranded. Rather disconcerting. On March 1, we started on a 10 hr. trip to visit our son. About 1.5 hrs. we stopped to get a snack. When we returned to the car, it wouldn't start. It took 3 times, my heart sank. But, no engine light. We drove another 45 minutes and stopped for fuel. It wouldn't start again, the engine light came on. I got it started and pulled away from the pump. and to an area where I could call our son to tell him we couldn't make the trip.The car stalled and wouldn't restart. MINI Roadside, sent a flatbed and wanted my wife and I to pile into the wrecker with our luggage. I told her she must be crazy. So, they arranged for an Enterprise rental (Mazda 3) which is OK by me except that it has its own issue. I'm supposed to get a call from MINI of Sterling VA, tomorrow. Our son is a Mercedes-Benz Master Technician . He told me to look into lemon laws and to see if MINI offered a buy back program. Other than this engine issue, I really like the CM. It is wonderful on snow and ice, and really fun to drive. Although not as much fun as my MCS'06 was, but I expected that.

 

UPDATE--CM returned to me on Tuesday. "In the tank fuel pump" replaced. Car running well now. Of course, it did the same thing after they replaced the high pressure fuel pump. Finding it difficult to have a lot of confidence in MINI and my CM now.

 

I too had "bad spark plugs." I was going uphill and it sounded like a piston shot out of the engine block. My countryman has not felt the same since. Months later I had the same issue.

 

My 2nd trip to the dealer for this issue (1st one was in September, see previous post). I'm waiting to hear back from them to see what they're going to do this time. If I remember correctly, last time it was a tensioner (?). Sigh.

 

High pressure fuel pump replaced...

 

Do you know if this problem was fixed for 2013 Models?
The Warning Light for Reduced Power Popped on, during our Return from the Mini In The Mountains Event Hosted by Mini5280. Its very discouraging. I will be taking it down to Ralph Schomp in the Morning.

My Current Expectation is I will be without my car for a few weeks+ (Based on what I'm seeing in this forum)

 

I have had this issue too and my 2011 Countryman S has been in the shop now for 77 days since May 3, 2013. Since then, the problem has been diagnosed as a leaking fuel injector, a bad pressure sensor in the turbocharger, and bad overall turbocharger, worn eccentric shaft in the Valvetronic system, and an overtightened bolt on the Vanos component causing it to get jammed. My car just exceeded the mileage limit on the power train warranty when all of this started. So far, over $5,000 worth of parts have failed. Has anyone else had this issue?