My 2012 Mini Countryman with under 80k miles reported an engine fault, which was diagnosed by the dealer as a failing turbo, with a cost of $5700 to repair.
This is a certified pre-owned car from the dealer, with all maintenance and repairs performed by the dealer.
Mini was aware of a problem with some of their turbos from this period and offered a free warranty extension for this part for some cars, but my VIN was not included.
http://www.motoringfile.com/2018/02/...er-s-turbo-faq

Spoke with two people at Mini USA about this and while they were both polite they are unable to do anything.
I have driven Minis for 15 years now and used to love them, but BMW and Mini have betrayed my trust in their brands.

 

I'd get a second opinion from a non-dealer shop and aftermarket turbo supplier. Might require a bit more legwork but will probably save you thousands. A refurb turbo is $700 at MiniMania for example.

 

Premature turbo failures are well documented and not new with MINI's but I'd agree with y8s and get a 2nd opinion.

 

Yup..... had the same thing in my 2012 R60. Told me to bring it in and pay for a diagnostic, even though I already had one from a different shop. Well I paid them $150 to tell me what I already knew, only to have them claim that the warranty extension does not cover 2012 Countryman. Only 2011..... so sorry. I was pissed to say the least.
If they knew it wasn’t going to qualify why did they make me come in and pay $150 under the pretense that they were going to handle it.
I still love the car though! So I started ordering parts up and changed it myself. With the money I saved I was able to buy several mods to go with my new larger turbo, and a tune to boot!
I will never deal with MINIUSA or BMW America again if I can help it.
Good luck, I know how you feel! Hang in there...... and use it as an excuse to get some power out of that dog! Lol

 

Chris Austin, exact same problem for the same make and model countryman and same number of miles!! Took our 2012 Countryman with 78XXX miles on it to the dealership after the check engine light came on and we received the diagnosis a little while ago. the estimate to fix it is approximately the same as what you were quoted. Our car has only been serviced at the dealer since it was purchased. The car has been in and out of the dealership for one thing or another aside from the regular maintecance schedules.. I believe the dealer just replaced the water pump a couple of months ago after the CEL came on (and did not change us) but now this.

Below are the images from the quote provided to us.

Do not want to drop $5K on this car with no guarantees (who knows what will fail next).

Do not know what recourse we have or what to do at this point.

 

It would be nice to know what failed the vacuum test. If the used a borescope and actually inspected whether the wastegate was closing fully or not. If it just won’t hold vacuum, it may only be the actuator that needs replaced. They always want to replace the oil filter housing gaskets. Mine wee leaking too, the gasket set is only about $40, the rest is labor!
Why do they want to replace the throttle? Are they talking about the pedal or the throttle body itself? For what reason do they want replace it? They always tack on extra things that you may not necessarily need for the upsell.
Its a great car and worth fixing. But not at this prices! You can do what I did (maybe not as extreme) if you can turn a wrench, and replace it yourself and save a ton of money. Especially if you don’t buy an OEM turbo. You can still get a stock replacement that’s the same size and everything for a lot less. I’m very happy with JMTC turbos. You can get a remanufactured factory turbo with and upgraded wastegate for around $800 with a 1 year warranty, that extends to 2 years if you replace or refurbish your downpipe too. While you are in there with it in the service position (only takes a few minutes and is well worth it for a few extra inches of space to work) you can knock out the oil filter housing gaskets too. It’s really easy when the turbo is out.
Option 2 would be to order up all of the parts and find a trusted shop to install (still pretty expensive because of labor charge)
Option 3 is to order the parts, and use NAM or your local MINI club to find a guy like me in your area who would be willing to either help you do it, or do it for you for some cash.
If you do it yourself and order smart, shop around and compare prices online. I ended ordering parts from several different sources. You can save a few thousand off that price quote.
There are some parts on your car that should only ever be replaced with OEM parts, but the turbo is not one of them. The oil line either! Never re-use the turbo oil line! And always replace it with a better one. The line from Detroit Tuned seems to be the consensus choice. I’m happy with it.
There are a number of tutorials online and on YouTube as well. Pelican parts has a really good one for the turbo. Lots of terrific info and how-to’s here on NAM too, of course.
Good luck

Edit: After looking again, I see where it says throttle actuator is noisy.
I’m curious about this. Is this something you have noticed previously? Or was it just part of the the repair recommendation? If it is an issue you have previously noticed, what kind of noise was it making?
Thanks again, and sorry for such a long post with so many questions.

 

Mr. Grumpy, thank you for responding to my post. I do not intend to pay the dealer this time around (not at the prices they quote). I will research the parts online and weigh the option of doing it the work with the help of a friend who has a shop (he is super busy though) or try to educate myself with the help of youtube etc..

I live in the Philadelphia area so have to ask around for reliable independent Mini shops. If anyone knows about reliable shops, do recommend.

I am sure we did not complain or notice any specific issues with the Throttle actuator. I will have to reread your comments and try and understand the details so that I can talk to the dealership tech tomorrow.

Once again, thank you for your detailed post. Please do let me know if there are any YouTube videos that address this exact problem. I am more inclined to work on it myself with some (a lot) of help from my mechanic friend.

 

Honestly, it’s not bad. Everything is pretty straight forward. It’s a tight working space, so it takes some time, that’s why the height labor charge. I did mine over a weekend in my driveway, lol.
good luck, feel free to PM me of you have any questions or whatever.
I’ll try to find a few good things for you to read and watch.

As for the wastegate, if a vacuum pump is applied to the actuator, at about 15 in/hg (inches of mercury, how vacuum is measured) it should start to pull the wastegate closed. You can test this simply with a vacuum pump. At 15 in/hg the arm of the actuator should start to move towards the right (drivers) side of the car, pulling the wastegate shut. Pump it up to around 20in/hg and see if it holds the vacuum. If it doesn’t it may just be a bad actuator. If it doesn’t move or binds, the wastegate is probably not closing right. To check the wastegate itself to make sure it is closing and functioning properly, you need to either view it with a scope through the 02 sensor bung, or remove the downpipe and get a really good look at it.

 

We've replaced many of these failed turbos. Sad they fail, but it's not too bad of a job to do. We have the stock turbo that is a direct install
https://www.waymotorworks.com/stock-...8-r59-r60.html

And then an install kit with all the gaskets and bolts you need.
https://www.waymotorworks.com/turboc...8-r59-r60.html

Even if you pay someone $1000 for install you can be done for about $2000 rather than $5700

 

Hey motorana, i know a guy who works on minis in the philly area and not expensive at all, send me a msg for more details if you are still interested.

 

Thank you! I will get in touch with you soon. We need to take care of the car soon. Looking at options on how to get the repairs done or do them myself

I have wrenched on motorcycles but never on a car. Wondering what tools I will need to get the job done.

 

It’s not bad. The usual sockets and wrenches. Mostly 8, 10, 12mm and so on. A couple of torx bits T20, T25, T27 will pretty much cover it.
If only doing the straight turbo swap, for the most part you will need the turbo of course. New gasket for the downpipe, the fiber gasket for turbo/manifold connection. The exhaust manifold gasket is metal, so you don’t HAVE to replace it, but.... I did, they are cheap. New washers for the banjo bolts on the turbo. New oil supply line (absolute must). That’s a about it for a bare bones replacement. I’m sure I left something out, but somebody will correct it, I’m sure.

 

Hey Mortara, i just sent you a pm with the info you requested.