Hello all.

I recently took my 2005 JCW MCS in to Bob Smith Mini in Calabasas California for my scheduled service and the issue of the air conditioner blowing nothing but hot air. They told me, at the end of the day when the technicians were on there way home, that is was a faulty air compressor. They wanted me to bring the car back to have it diagnosed, for $225, and said that if the problem was due to my aftermarket mods, I would be responsible for the charges as opposed to being under warranty.

The only things I have done to the engine are: Alta 2% crank pulley, Nology Hot Wires, M7 DFIC, M7 OCC, Modded JCW airbox with K&N filter and a Samco air hose from the air box to the throttle body.

Would any of these be seen by the dealership to cause the air conditioning compressor to fail?

Thanks, Doug.

 

I could see where they could claim that the 2% crank pulley caused the compressor to fail by changing the speed at which it was turned.

 

Hard to say but if they want payment just to look at it I would not feel good about their view of mods causing the problem.
I can't see how your mods could impact the AC, but who knows what they may say. The crank pully does cause the AC compressor to spin at a different speed. Not that I agree with this line of thought just some place they may come from.

The dealer I have gone to, MINI of Nashville, mostly does the work without saying anything about my mods. They just pretend they are not there.

 

but if they want to stick to that, then you are hosed, as it takes way more effort to "win" the fight than to just pony up and pay. Sucks, but that's the way it is. An other thought is to try another dealership, if one is near by....

Matt

 

anything that overdrives the belt system, i.e. air conditioning. I can see why they may deny a warranty item over that. I am very careful not to run the AC when i am planning on revving pretty high. Keep that AC clutch disengaged.

 

The issue is not whether or not they will cause it to fail but if the dealer says they did. Then it is incumbent upon you to prove otherwise. See https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=49580

I have been trying to find a single person who won a MM case based on performance mods (there are cases won based on other issues) and can find none.

 

There are some cases where the MM cases were lost simply because there were mods which "may" have contributed to the problem.

 

Exactly. The honus is on the consumer to prove otherwise and the MM law was never intended (from what I have read) to protect the consumer from using performance parts. Rather, its more for the consumer being able to not use OEM branded parts, like oil, plugs, or whatever ... so you can buy cheaper (or other) parts from auto stores. I do not believe (from reading the law and court cases) it says anything about parts that increase the power of the engine (or any other aspect of a car) than is beyond OEM specs.

 

theres no reason why the smaller pulley would had damaged the air compressor. good luck.

 

Excuse me if I am wrong, but isn't the 2% over drive pulley 2% larger in diameter?? If so then the belt will be driven fast for any given engine speed versus the stock size pulley. At high engine rpms that can be a significant difference in the speed that the belt is moving.

"Choose one of the ALTA Performance over driven crank pulleys and increase your boost levels at the same time. Our 2%, 3% and 4% pulleys will artificially increase your supercharger size by 2%, 3% and 4% too! Ex. If you have a 15% pulley on you MINI now, you can add The ALTA Performance 2% over driven crank pulley and make you 15% pulley perform like a 17% pulley."

There is a quote from the Alta website itself. They even sell an underdrive pulley for you alternator to compensate for the faster belt speed. The fact is with a 2% crank pulley you are spinning everything else faster.

Do I think this is the cause of the failure?

No!

Do I think it was a contributing factor? Probably.

That being said I think you are going to have a hard time fighting MINIUSA on this one. The truth is that a 2% increase at 6000 RPM is only 120 RPM, but as others have said the burden is place on the consumer to prove that the aftermarket part did not cause the failure. Even a small deviation from the operating specs of the compressor could be viewed to have contributed to the premature failure of the part.

 

#1 They may have been giving you a way out, by not diagnosing the problem then and having it on the computer history. I would replace the Alta pulley with the stock and take it to another dealership....

 

My suggested plan:
Take pulley off
Place stock pulley on car
Drive to another dealership
Get covered
Put pulley back on if you want.


Good luck.

 

Theft and deception are always the way to go...

 

Think about the 2% pulley this way: Would the air conditioner compressor fail because you choose to drive at 60 mph in 4th gear all the time instead of 6th gear? Nothing in the owners manual that says you have to be in a higher gear for the highway to preserve your compressor warrenty. 60 mph in 4th ilo 6th gear certainly runs the compressor faster than a 2% pulley does. Do the rpm caluculations on paper and show them. Take it to the factory tech rep.

 

Once you take the car to any MINI dealer, your complaint and what they found are entered into the computer system. As soon as you go to another dealer, they pull your service history, and there are no secrets.

Besides, putting the stock pulley back on is virtually impossible without damaging the supercharger.

 

+1

 

I don't think anyone has adressed this, but something to consider: The a/c compressor has an electronic clutch. Would not that clutch disengage if the rotation was too great, i.e. take-off accelleration 1st and/or 2nd gear? I know the compressor clutch is designed to disengage under stress conditions to provide engine power when needed, but not sure if it is rpm-sensitive.

 

I'm not trying to say that the crank pulley caused the failure. I'm pretty sure it didn't, but I can see the reasoning that they will use to deny the waranty claim. At that point it is up to the consumer to prove that it was not caused by the aftermarket part. Good luck on that one. MINIUSA and BMWNA have very deep pockets and probably have some top lawyers on retainer. They will probably be willing to spend more than it would cost to replace your compressor just to avoid setting a precedent.

 

And how do you make it to that opinion? It has been shown and shown over and again on this board and about every BMW board on the planet that if given the narrowest crack BMW/MINI service will get out of covering anything under warranty. In all practical sense there is no way the 2% pulley caused the a/c compressor to fail, but it will be the scapegoat for service to NOT cover him and void that part of his warranty. I am simply suggesting returning the car to stock and getting covered. If you want I can look up the multiple posts where this has been suggested by a dealer so something can be covered under warranty. Are they being dishonest then? Are they stealing??? Who loses when he gets covered? Does the money comeout of your pocket?

 

Point 1-Only in the sense that the part is faulty. RARELY is a comment ever actually entered by a tech to state it is due to a modification. it can be done, but there is NO certainty that this is true in this case

Point 2- Since we are not talking about a SC We are talking crank pulley. Even if we were talking SC pulley, you my friend are still talking out your ***. Most of the SC pulleys on the market can easily be removed without damaging the SC.

 

Wow. A post with actual information backed up by logical thought.

 

It isn't an opinion, it is more like fact.

The guy told him to remove the mod parts and go to another dealer. This is deception and theft as the part could have been damaged by the mods and the other guy is telling him to try and lie to the dealer to get it fixed. Theft of parts and labor….

You can argue the mods part all day long, but if you mod, you take the risk. I accepted that fact when I modded my car (an 06) and I do go to the dealer if I have a problem but if something breaks that could have been caused by my parts, I'll step up and cover it. I have integrity.

And yes, the others you mentioned are being dishonest and stealing.....

And, once again, yes, the money does come out of my pocket and yours. Do you think the company eats this? Nope, they pass it on by raising prices on parts and service.

This is why I say that the USA is in the "era of ME". Because most don't think about the repercussions of their actions, as long as they get what they want for themselves. It's all about me.

 

FYI, before I get slammed for the post above.

It is possible that he had a weak compressor. Parts do fail over time. However, it is also possible that without the mods, the weak part may have never failed in the first place. Just within tolerance.

The point is that you have no way to prove that it didn't fail because of the mods and they can't really prove that it did. You moved the car off of its baseline thus "possibly" causing the premature wear and that is the bottom line. I can think of about thirty different things to say to make it sound like it isn’t my fault, but I have no real proof on the matter.

Sorry, but this is just the case.

 

And so because it could possibly be caused by the mod, he should have to pay for it? It is just as possible that he had a weak compressor, that the guy who built the compressor at the factory was having an off day, that some fault in the electrical system surged the unit and caused it to fail.

You're right, there are a TON of reasons why the compressor could fail, only a single one of which is the pulley. Seems far more likely that it was not the pulley and was one of the other myriad of possible causes. Just the law of averages.

I guess after being on the receiving end of MINI's extended efforts to weasel out of legitimate warranty coverage over and over it has begun to chafe. I have as many stories as the day is long of friends with bimmers and MINIs who have had reasonable issues and one way or another they have been screwed by the system out of coverage.

 

That is the problem; the warranty is no longer valid as the owner changed the configuration of the car. If the car was not modded he would have been serviced with no problems under warranty.

Why should a company have to pay for something that you possibly damaged because you choose to mod the car? Please explain that to me as I truly don’t understand that thought….

I'm all for standing by a legit complaint. In fact, we recently had a guy that had the transmission of his MINI break and the dealer was saying it was the clutch. However, from the description of the problem it sounded like the transmission main shaft broke, not a clutch plate or bearing issue. The dealer was trying to weasel out in this case blaming the clutch and normal wear. We told him to fight it...

The point is that as a consumer, you take a risk in modding and unfortunately this guy is going to probably pay the price for that. You can argue it all day long, but legally and morally the dealer and MINI are in the clear as "YOU" made the decision to take a warranted car and change the baseline. Lying to another dealer to get it fixed is not the way to go unless you have little or no morals.

When his OEM radio dies and they try to blame it on the pulley, then I’ll back him.