This is unfortunate. I'd make some changes to my auto and go some place else.

 

In your opinion the warranty is no longer valid. Myself, and probably one or two others here still feel in our opinion it is valid, for the reasons stated in the prior posts. Don't confuse your opinion for gospel. Another dealer or even another tech may have the opinion it is not the pulley.

I have tried to explain this, but as you are my moral and logical superior I seem to have failed. If you think BMW will honor your radio warranty with a 15% pulley you may be right. You also may be seriously wrong, as a dealer may take the position this alters the load on the alternator and thereby damaged your entire electrical system. Is that fair or a reasonable explaination??? I don't think so, and I would be fighting for you in that case. Would you just fold if one dealer told you that silly story? Based on your prior responses I guess the answer is yes.

"We"? Who is this "we"? Is this the same "we" that is saying the OP in this thread should fight for his warranty? I thought I was a part of this "we" if you are refering to the NAM members. Or at least the last time I checked...

Well if you take the position that this dealer is voiding the owner's warranty for an invalid reason, where is it lying? In "YOUR" opinion it was the crank pulley. This dealer just happens to agree with "YOU". Another might not. A lot of NAM members, with a lot of mechanical know-how, do not. I consider myself part of this "we" as I have done one or two small things to my car myself, and happen to have spent one or two days studying, learning, and absorbing engine design, theory, and function.

It's obvious there is no way to convince you that the OP may have, and probably does have,and IMHO most certainly does have a right to warranty coverage in this case. And if that makes me a person who has no morals so be it. In my lifelong pursuit of amorality, selflessly burning bridges with people who make it their goal to step on the every-man has been one of my personal values(though in your opinion I may not qualify for those either). If I am doomed to burn in hell for that, then at least I'll have other selfless bastards who told a few lies trying to support the little guy, to hang out with for eternity. Enjoy heaven, you and all those BMW lawyers, as bastions of honesty and morality, will enjoy it.

Peace.

 

Whatever dude, it is clear that you don't understand a thing that I said. This isn't about the "fight" for the little guy as you would like to think. It is nothing more than not trying to lie or cheat your way to get something fixed. Pullies can damage other parts and this is one of them.

It is theft and he has voided the warranty. You pay to play, own up to your mistakes.

However, I would try to find a more mod friendly dealer and maybe they would be willing to help dig a little deeper but the original dealer can simply look in and void the warranty based on the pulley alone (Mag Moss does not protect you from this). Modding is a risk (one that I took as well) but I am also fairly comfortable using a wrench if I need to do it myself.

Also, I just have to ask... Why do people like you immediatly think that I am some God loving person just because I have morals and values? FYI friend, I don't belive in God so you are barking up the wrong tree.

 

Does that mean that if the AC is not on the compressor is not going to be rotating when the belt rotates? Seems obvious I guess?

 

Also, simple a 15% SC pulley does not change the belt speed at all right? It only changes the supercharger speed. Sorry for getting off topic.

 

If the a/c is not on, the compressor does not rotate. The electronic clutch disengages the compressor from the pully. As to your other question, if the circumfrence of the pully is different than the belt will travel faster/slower, just like the gears on a bike make the chain move faster or slower for the same peddle effort.

 

You know, another bit that I might throw out there is to see if you can get an independant mech to look at it and maybe try to recharge it as that might be all it needs.

It is "possible" that the dealer is trying to get some change out of you. I had this happen on a Ford that I had when it overheated and vented all the coolant. The dealer told me it would not take any (high pressure) and the compressor was probably bad. I went and bought a conversion kit (just to give it a try) and was able to fill and use my AC with no problems.

 

These personal attacks are unnecessary. The facts are: The car was modded. The mod does have a direct impact on the a/c compressor's function. The mod may or may not have caused or contributed to the failure. The warranty states mods can invalidate the warranty. The dealer is in the strong position. If the OP wants to fight it, he has an uphill battle because he will have to produce evidence the a/c would have failed regardless of the mods. Can he do that? What will it cost? Bottom line is, he will probably have to eat the cost of repairs. He may or may not be right. The dealer may or may not be right. So, someone's gotta lose. Anyone who mods had better understand up front that he/she takes this risk.

 

Agreed...

 

FWIW, my unmodded 05 MCS' ac failed too in the middle of the heat wave last summer around 23k mi. Dealer replaced it under warranty. I did hold off on the mods for a year in fear of voiding the warranty. I bought the car used.

 

Yes, A/c's do fail and your decision to hold off on the mods most likely saved you big bucks. Had you made mods which would have impacted the a/c compressor and it failed, you would have had no way to know that it would have failed anyway.

 

FWIW my oiginal jibe was not at the origianl poster but at the folks telling him to convert it back to stock and then try to pass it off on another dealer.

LynnEL made some great points on the matter and I consider my points covered.

As for the original problem I still think that I would try to get it serviced at an independant before I tried to go toe to toe with MINI. You might save a few bucks.

 

TY, daflake. And I agree it doesn't hurt to try another venue. My reference to personal attacks, though a general comment, was inspired by a poster's unnecessary antagonistic attitutde in his line-by-line response to one of your posts.

 

And my line by line antagonism was based on an accusation that I lack morals. I consider that antagonistic baseline. Enough of this thread. Enjoy.

 

"Lying to another dealer to get it fixed is not the way to go unless you have little or no morals." Sounds like a reasonable statement to me.

 

The BMW/MINI techs purged and then pressurized the system with freon and this did not solve the problem.

I will not change back to the stock pulley to try to 'trick' the dealership. However, I may apply the logic mentioned earlier in this thread regarding the situation of someone driving at highway speeds in 4th gear - essentially creating the same scenario as adding a larger pulley. Does driving in 4th gear at 70 mph void the warranty? No. I know its a longshot but, considering the number of failed AC compressors I am hearing about, they might be willing to do the fix under warranty.

Wish me luck.

 

Also have a chat with them and try to buddy up. They may be willing to "cut you a deal" so to speak and eat some of the labor costs if you can't get it resolved under warranty. Dealers are flexiable this way and would rather have you business as it is money....

 

You obviously haven't met any southern california dealers. $3.5k for a clutch job. Trying to blame EVERY issue with the car on things like intakes. I've seen dealers void warranties on cars because it has a JCW intake that wasn't installed by them. Get a clue if you think the dealership is fair.

On that note, i've NEVER been back to the dealer. I purchased my car, drove it home, and haven't been back since. I've paid for my own oil and done the changes on my own. I have an independent mechanic that I pay to work on my car. I don't trust them to work on my car.

If the dealership is saying they won't cover the AC compressor under warranty i'd cite the magnason moss act and advise them that you're seeking legal representation against the dealership. That usually gets the ball rolling on issues like this. If they still deny the claim, escalate it to MINI USA. An alternative would be to find a good indy mechanic and have him do the work (It'll cost 1/4 of what the dealership wants for it).

 

Been to SoCal and many other places (including Europe) in my life and they are all about the same; out to make money. That being said, they do have lots of wiggle room but you have to be nice..... Walk in with an attitude and chip our your shoulder and you will be met with resistance. You want no service, threaten to sue...

Am I missing something here that my USA brethern all think that threats, trickery and force are the only way to get what you want in life? :(

 

You have some valid points, along with Daflake, but in the end, it does not matter what anyone here thinks.

The ONLY thing that matters, in the end, will be MINIUSAs position on the warranty ... and if the OP does not like, it take it to court based on MM and see where it goes.

Lots of luck and please post the results because I am still looking for a single case where ANY consumer has one against a car company ... any car company, using MM and the case based against the consumer addind performance mods

I really want to find one

 

You're correct - changing the diameter of the *supercharger* pulley and nothing else will only change the speed of the supercharger shaft (and the water pump, since its driven by the supercharger shaft. The alternator and A/C compressor will be unaffected.

 

You and me both, but I'm not holding my breath. I think a lot of people don't realize that MM has no teeth to it. Here's how the conversation could possibly go:

Owner - Please warranty this repair on my car.
Dealer - Sorry, your mods contributed to the failure.
Owner - But, but - the Magnuson-Moss Act says you have to *prove* that my mods contributed to the failure!
Dealer - Sorry, we're not going to cover the repair under warranty.

At this point, you can't put a gun to the dealer's head and *force* him to fix the car for free, and if escalating the claim to the higher-ups at MINI doesn't work, your only other option is to sue. If you sue, the judge will NOT grant a quick summary judgement - it WILL go to a hearing unless MINI decides to settle (not likely), so unless you have the time, legal knowledge and qualifications to file all of the paperwork and make all of the appearances yourself, you will quickly spend more money on the lawsuit than you paid for your car in the first place, never mind the repairs.

 

How about some geographical diversity? As in taking the car north (to the S.F. Bay Area). If the SoCal dealers are acting like Delta Hotels, I would think you have nothing to lose by taking the car to one of the dealers up north. You would also have a great ride if you took Hwy 1.

 

Unfortunately, there are some other issues [they] need to repair which they did not have time for. So back I go.

 

Everyone has missed the BIG point here. This whole thing boils down to one thing. QUALTY CONTROL. A $23,000 car shouldn't have these parts breaking on them in the first place, even with simple mods. I have a 1996 Suzuki Sidekick that I bought brand new. 11 years later after beating the crap out of her, the engine still fires up and runs like the day I bought the truck. Now the exterior and interior look like Baghdad, but she still runs great. She's heavily modded, and the sad fact of the matter is this: I paid $11,000 for it brand new and the only thing I've done in the 11 years I've owned it, is general maintenance ie. tires, brakes, oil changes. I even still have the original coolant hoses on.

I fought BMW to have the strut towers fixed on Lilith. They cried abuse. I cried poor quality, because that's EXACTLY what it was. BMW didn't have the sense to make the shock towers thicker. I told them I purchased the car like that and it didn't have one single mod on it. They fixed them. So, why can't a $23,000 PREMIUM car be as reliable as a boxy, tinny, cheap Japanese econobox? The world may never know. But do know this, mod or not, the a/c shouldn't have gone out.