Coming up on 60,000 miles on my 2011. Hesitation started up (after warranty expired) at anything past half throttle. Also threw a misfire related code. Brought it to my local trusted mechanic thinking maybe some fouling or spark plugs needed.

Turns out it was time for new ignition coils (and they did the plugs while they were at it). They did say there was some pretty nasty carbon buildup on the plugs, so I guess Tier 1 gas alone isn't enough to stave that off.

Labor was twice the cost of the parts. Hope these little engines can push around a big Countryman for well over 100k miles. Time will tell.

 

Doug, how much did the coils cost?

Also, I do not recall anyone else on this forum that has as many miles on their CM as you do. What other issues, if any, have you had in 60,000 miles other than normal maintenance?

 

Coils and plugs together were $330. Purring again.

I have a 50 mile commute and do several road trips a year so my mileage per year is a little higher than average... mostly highway speeds. Had the thermostat thing right away. A blown A/C relay. Not much else. More reliable than I expected. Mechanic said the Bosch training on our ZF transmissions calls for a transmission fluid change every 30k miles (not lifetime). At 20k mikes it was perfectly clean. At 60k miles it was purple-black but not molasses yet. It was just starting to have an occasional delayed shift... so everyone should probably change it every 30-50k. Fluid, filter & gasket were $220. Next time I'm in, I'll ask for fresh fluids for transfer case and differential.

The plugs were a little burned (brown ring) on the base, weren't evenly gapped at the factory, and tips were getting worn... no detonation indication... just running rich... but we all know that from all the soot on our exhaust tips.

 

Hey... I had a black 2003 MCS too! Fun car.

 

We miss our '03 too

Would have guessed the coils and plugs would have cost more.

ZF currently makes the manual transmissions for mini, but the automatics are made in Japan by aisin....the 30k fluid change is still an excellent idea though.

 

Parts only of course. Mechanic said they always price at the MINI dealer and one of their normal wholesale suppliers. This time MINI was a lot cheaper. I noticed the plugs were from France. Hope we're not leaving any countries out in the creation of a countryman.

 

Yeah, it sounds like Airbus… Yikes!

40 years ago BMW had a reputation for having expensive parts because they manufactured most of the parts themselves rather than outsourcing, And that insured that they could tightly control the quality. But the parts were high-quality, so typically you didn't need to buy very many. Of course that was when they were a much smaller company, and it's probably just not cost feasible today. It would probably make the cars so expensive to manufacture that they could not compete pricewise, and they would sell few cars.

Anyway it's good to hear that you have a 2011 that seems to be accumulating significant miles with few problems. The 2011 model year seems to be the most troublesome for CM's, so hopefully your experience is a good sign for those of us that own 2012 and 2013 cars.

 

Oops that reminds me. I did have the 2011 violent bucking problem, but only at high altitude. Scary the first time. They loaded the 2012 software or some other update and that problem went away.

And in the last 20k miles or so when I'm at higher altitudes >9000ft and I first start the car when cold I'll smell gasoline for five minutes. Didn't used to do that. They checked everywhere for fuel leaks when I first complained (and it was under warranty) and couldn't find any, so dealership just said it would run rich when the air is so sparse. I get that, sort of, but it didn't have that problem in its first year of life driving through the mountains in CO and WY.

I have the two piece center rail, and the back rail had a bad buzzing for a while until I put some sealant at a few points. And there's an occasional rattle from the ceiling switch panel, and a few other rattles that weren't there when new.

But it's all little stuff one gets used to (except the lack of Android Connected support). Car is the perfect size, handles well for what it is, has nice ergo/anthropometric factors, drives wonderfully in deep snow, and gets so-so mileage. I'd love to have the diesel here, but otherwise don't know of a car I'd rather be driving in the class it kind of fits in.