Hi I picked a 2012 Countryman SAll4 as a project. Guy I got if from said came out one day just wouldnt start. Timing chain was done 4months prior by his mini dealer Prestige MIni In NJ. Car cranks normal and will try to start and run for a few seconds. I installed new plugs and coils, No differance. Had codes for throttle body and i replace it with a spare one i had. I swapped the HPFP With A good unit to see if it was starving for fuel. No change. I replaced the low pressure Since I wasnt hearing it run when unlocking the car and while cranking. Also tried a used JBE to see if the fuel pump relay might be bad. I know it needs to be coded to the car. Made no difference. I feel like something is either turning off fuel or spark right after it tries to start. Reduced power light is on. Any thoughts where I should try looking. I plan on doing a compression test and check intake valves for deposits this week.

 

I had a similar issue like this. Turned out to be an intermittent main relay that couples the DME modules or what not. It would crank all day and no start sometimes with a page worth of codes that made no sense. Other times it would start and run like nothing was ever wrong. Ultimately, I was able to find and play with a main (R1) relay when the car was running, just to touch or slightly move, and the car would shut off. I thought it was a connection issue and hence got a used fuse box, but in the meantime waiting for this I simply swapped some relays (as they were the same for the cooling fans) and got the problem to go away for good at that point, and so the root cause was the relay itself... Weird. Once I got the used fuse box it was loaded with relays and fuses so I swapped the intermittent relay out permanently and knock on wood that issue has been gone.

 

Update:

Issue has been found. Compression reads were 115, 60, 50, 90. Pulled valve cover to find end of vacuum pump that fits in end on exhaust cam had snapped off. Also exhaust cam is 180 degrees off. So who ever did the timing change for the last owner did not do it correctly. It did not break the cam bolt off or the timing chain, like when a vacuum pump locks up. The vacuum pump turns normal. I guessing when the valves hit the piston the coupler broke.