Stock Problems/Issues Discussions related to warranty related issues and repairs, or other problems with the OEM parts and software for MINI Clubman (R55), Cooper and Cooper S(R56), and Cabrio (R57).

Engine struggles to start in morning, rough idling for a few seconds

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Old 05-29-2007, 10:28 AM
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Engine struggles to start in morning, rough idling for a few seconds

I believe this is a common problem, I've seen lots of messages about "engine stumble" but I'm not really sure. And I've found no consensus as to whether there is a fix, and my dealer didn't seem aware of any common problem... they said to bring it in to look at, but I kinda wonder if I'll just be wasting my time.

But my problem is that over the last month my 2006 MCSCa (with 3000 miles) struggles to start in the morning. It will get going after I turn the key, but the RPMs will at first vary a bit and it sounds like it's going to stall, but it keeps trying and eventually idles normally. After that it's fine. I can stop and restart immediately and it'll be fine.

Since this started so recently, my guess is that this is caused by the crap 10% ethanol summer blend gasoline in the area. (I'm all green and eco-friendly but this ethanol blended gas seems like a big scam by a clueless government and the ethanol lobbyists). I think my Z4 at startup was also affected by the ethanol blends, but not to this extent.

So I guess my question is, is this common? Is it because of the gas or something else? Can the dealer really help?
 
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Old 05-29-2007, 10:29 AM
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Whoops, I see I posted this to the 2nd gen thread... Ugh. Sorry.
 
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Old 05-29-2007, 10:31 AM
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Old 06-06-2007, 08:06 AM
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there are SOOOOO many threads on this subject that you should really do a search before starting a new thread.
 
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Old 06-06-2007, 09:05 AM
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Yes, I know. That's the problem. There are so many (very long) threads that it's hard to tell what is current consensus on this problem. And given the many variations of the problem it's hard to tell if everyone is really having the same problem or slightly different ones.

So I've come to my own conclusion that the cause is the summer blend ethanol gasoline, that BMW/MINI is never going to acknowledge or fix the problem, and that I have to live with it and maybe hope to find someplace nearby that sells non-ethanolized gasoline.

Having had 3 BMWs in the past, I'm used to having to live with some very stupid and annoying issues like this. But sometimes I hate BMW/MINI.
 
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