I really think people are not posting that they have had the issue because they are afraid that if they try to sell the car, here or elsewhere, the purchaser will find out they had the issue. I took my car in for an oil change in January and I asked my SA if they had any cars with the issue. He pointed to a car in the service bay with the issue and said he had 3 other people that week had complained about it.

Can an anonymous poll be posted where the only option is yes?

 

That's part of the reason why I suggested the poll be limited to owners with more than a certain minimum mileage. You're correct to point out that a given owner's situation could change, but as I stated in an earlier post, this poll sugestion is only intended to give us a snapshot of the extent of the problem at a certain period in time. The poll could be repeated a year later to see how things have changed in the event BMW hasn't developed a fix before then.

To the other poster who points out that only 12 people have responded that they DO have the problem - is this 12 out 10,000 likely respondents, or 12 out 24? Until you give people who DON'T have the problem to explicitly supply feedback into the same poll, you simply won't know for sure. It doesn't matter if 2000 people a day read this forum - to extrapolate any conclusions from the small number of respondents who report the problem, you have to make assumptions about the willingness of posters to supply all the information that is being asked in the other thread, and how many people would have responded the other way had they been given the chance. Why not give them the chance and find out for sure?

 

So do the non-S motors do this as well?

 

I'm trying to decide whether or not to buy a mini. This has me seriously concerned as I'll be doing some mega miles in a relatively short period of time.

I'd love some stats on how prevalent it is in the MC. I want the MCS, but I don't want the death rattle or melted hood scoop

 

I dont have stats for you, however I can say lots of early production R56 MINI S with the completely blocked scoop have the melted (really warped) scoop. This was solved when I opened the scoop which took only 3 minutes. The newer models are relatively open. The death rattle is a bit vague as Everyones MINI has a click clack sound. If you watch videos on Youtube, especially of the Cold Air intake ones you will hear that the engine sounds a bit like a diesel on tape. Of course this sound is exaggerated by the recording. I personaly feel that a true death rattle is not very common, people tend to just confuse the two for the same. Besides the MINI has a Warranty, Ive owned mine for 1 year, only used warranty 1 time for Windshield. I have driven about 8,000 miles and rather hard, its a good car.

 

There are about 2000 unique visitors to NAM a day, let's double that cause not everyone posts every day, so 4000 active users. Of that, lets say 10% of visitors have the R56. That would mean about 400 R56 owners post. If you have 10 on the list, that's 2.5%. That's freakin huge!

BTW, the two choises aren't just have a poll for those that have had the car for X miles who have the knock or don't, or a long thread. You can have a poll that just lists when you got the knock at what mileage. That would give you the total number, and a distribution of engine ages when it showed up. Seems that would be more usefull than one that is even more flawed by it's very construction.

But what do I know about numbers. I just have a PhD in experimental applied physics and used to work in multivariate analysis for fault detection in the semiconductor industry....

Have at it folks!

Matt

 

Is there an option on this forum for starting a poll that provides a running display of tabulated results? I'm not talk about starting a new thread that asks a question and having to read through 20 pages of answers and tangential debates, but an option wherein participants select from one of several choices and a simple counter is displayed and updated as people submit responses.

 

No.
bimmerforums.com has it but northamericanmortoring.com doesn't.

 

No it seems to just be the S...I have the non-S and it was in the 30s this winter and the engine was the same as any start up

 

but you may have to PM a mod to help set it up. Check out the one on strut tower deformation or on how much you've spent on your mini....

Matt

 

Mine did it again this morning. Terrible sound with non-rhythmic tapping noise....
Yesterday, I had pulled the car out to make room for some work in the garage and drove the car back in after I was done, and left the car overnight. This morning it was making terrible noise with the normal diesel truck noise and occasional tapping noise.

 

I am disappointed to see a 2008 MCS owner post (tonyeck) that he has the problem especially when his car is so new. I've gotta tell you that it is not confidence inspiring to those of us who have not had the issue. We feel like this noise is just a time bomb waiting to happen.

 

Interesting - this fits the pattern I was pointing out in my earlier post:

Extremely short run time (< 2 minutes), sits for hours, then restarts.

 

yes, yes,.... My wife's car doesn't do that.

 

Yeah, it kind of answers the multitude of "are 2008 engines subject to this cold start rattle" questions, huh? So that means pending some major changes, it could effect both upcoming Clubman S's and Cabrio S's, too.

I can't imagine that at this point MINI aren't HIGHLY motivated to fix this if that's the case.

If it's an oil starvation/oil flow issue, I still believe/hope (wish?) that a solution will be found before it comes back for me. I think some combination of thinner oil, an ECU tweek to make the oil pump work at a higher pressure on start up or an auxillary oil primer pump for the head (somthing similar to the fuel pump that turns on when you unlock the doors and insert your key). There is an answer out there. It's just a matter of identifying/acknowledging the issue and working towards a siolution.

We will see. That 135i is so tempting. The MINI (when it works right) is just so much more fun. The tail happy high-torque FWD is just a hoot.

 

How many active members of this forum actually have R56s? How many of them live in climates where the temerature regularly drops below freezing in the winter months? How many of those are willing to admit they have a problem with their new Mini? I think you should check back in this thread... sure, there are lots of the same people people posting multiple times, but every day or two there is another member, new to this thread, posting that they just experienced this issue.

There was a poll on Mini2 (a very small one, mind you) in which out of 23 respondents, 19 stated that they have the problem, with only 4 claiming they did NOT have the problem. At least one of those stating they don't have the issue is an R53 owner.

Also, given that the Peugeot 207 model based on a variant of the same engine is also experiencing this very same issue, with one owner even posting in a Mini forum, leads me to believe it is very widespread indeed.

 

Has anyone tried adding some Marvel Mystery Oil to the engine?? Its really no mystery; the stuff has been around for decades and was invented firstly for overhead cam/valve engines. The stuff has bonding properties and is slipery enough to help slick oil passages; it can also be used to lubricate fuel injectors when added to fuel.

It works but as I stated before it has kind of been outdated since everything now runs Synthetic oils.

Anyone want to go put about 8oz in the engine oil and report back???

 

No, but EventHorizon has recommended 0w-40 and has claimed that the noise stops after using that. Is there a reason more of you don't just switch to 0w-30 or 40?

 

Don't put that in your oil; it's made of graphite, mineral oil, & solvent. My friend's dad used to own that company. You don't want to introduce solid particles like that.... ....not even PTFE...

 

So my MINI is currently at the dealership getting the MINI fix for this. Basically they are putting a drain hose in that will let any condensation drain out instead of freezing up in the engine. The dealership was fully aware of the problem and MINI is also. I don't if this means there will be any kind of recall or anything just they know the problem exists and have something that should help it.

 

47 Degrees this morning - Happened again. I did move it up the driveway yesterday - engine was on less than a minute

 

Interesting to know... How long will your car be at the dealer for?

 

I think they said it took about 6 hours to do. I took they car in on Saturday, and they should return it to me today or tomorrow. I was having them do a couple other things to it as well.

 

Funny, considering that some people have the noise above 32 degrees. Where does this "drain hose" go? Where does it "drain" too? Does it drain to the ground, or back to the oil pan? You would be in some bad shape if you had enough water vapor in an engine to "freeze" the engine up.

No offense, but it sounds like they're blowing smoke up your ***. Didn’t you think that sounded ridiculous when they suggested this as a fix? They might as well have told you they were installing an oil catch can off the PCV Valve system.

The only fix that I’ll bet money on, is running 0w-30/40 weight oil.

My car was parked all weekend long from Thursday night till Sunday afternoon. It started up without a hitch. Castrol 0w-30 FTW!

 

I've been following this thread and issue ever since I got my car on 9/1/07. I only hear the noise at startup and then it goes away immediately. Kinda sounds like a heat shield rattle. It usually happens in the morning on cold days after I haven't started the car for a day or two. My car sits in the garage and is never outside overnight. I have yet to hear it when I come out of work after the car has been sitting outside or 8 hours. I'll keep everyone posted if I start to hear more.