Cars up to April 11th 2007 eh? Well we know this isn't the same problem then.

 

but thinking about this, I'd think that the plunger change just makes the noise go away faster, but does nothing to address the root cause.

This one isn't over yet.

Matt

 

bad news fellas. I am one of the ones that changed my oil to 0w-40 and guess what.. I got the noise. I actually took note of what happened this time and as others have mentioned, it was after a short drive ~ 10min, then starting it a number of hours later. I will say that the noise was a lot quieter this time, but still noticeable, also, it was about 45 degrees in Chicago, so not that cold.

 

Mataku, That really stinks. I am curious, is the sound so apparent you can hear it in the cabin with the windows up, or do you hav to pop the hood, like the vids on MF?

 

0w-30 oil here, no noise since oil change in early Feb.

 

Hey E-H, Castrol Syntec German? EDIT: Strike that ... read your posts and saw that's what you used. So did I @1500 mi.

 

So it takes about 2 minutes for the engine to stop making the noise... Can people try and do somethings proactive and informative here?

1. Has anyone checked their oil level?? My car used about 1/4 quart since new (1700 miles total), which is about right for seating loose rings on a new engine.

2. Will our engines run with the oil cap removed? You can see a whole lot under there and in my expirience with most vehicles oil should visibly be spraying all up inside there. Check it out, you've got two minutes, and then do things flow better once the engine isnt making any clacking noise??

3. Try adding about a cup of appropriate motor oil to the engine WHILE ITS RUNNING and making the noise; This should help lube up the top cyl area and might demonstrativly stop the clacking for that one start cycle; this may help in proving lack of top cyl lubricant and is a relativly simple test to perform.

 

You can still hear with windows up, but it is very slight. I tried to get video of it, but by the time I ran in and got the camera, it softened up quite a bit such that it's VERY hard to distinguish between the "chatter" and the ticking.

 

I have this noise constantly. Cold day, warm day, morning, night. I had a new TBE installed about 2 months ago and this seems to have started roughly around then. It sounds like knocking to me, however I've been checking like every day to find a rattle from my new exhaust, to maybe rule the engine out. I just can't find anything that's rattling, and when I put my head close to the engine, the noise sounds like it's coming from inside the head. I'm afraid to take my car into the dealer though, because I have a catless TBE and I'm afraid that this will screw me over with any chance of repair. What do you think??

 

Lewis made another noise this morning. It was different though, in that it didn't get bad until I started moving. I slowly backed out of the drive (mostly in N - it's downhill) and started off down the street, which is when I heard "it." I kept it under 2k rpm for a while and after a couple minutes it went away, but it was the same death rattle I've heard before.

 

Thx. I'm trying to keep an ear out for it when I start it each morning.

Anyone heard lately from the Peugeot 207 crowd that seemed to be pursuing the same issue in their cars with the same engine?

Anyone write to or call MINIUSA?

 

I took mine in for service today , "It's just the way they are " . At least I have it in writing .

 

I got the "normal!" thing from one person, and the "MINI is looking into it" from the SA, but they didn't do anything to the car.

 

Yeah I got one thing last weak and a differant thing today .

 

going in for the second service on this issue, i too got the "normal in these type of engines" and "we fixed it" type of answers. but still happens regularly. so i will continue to bring it in until it goes away. but still have hope that something will fix the problem. i will report what is done when i get it back.

 

Any idea about whether I'd be fine taking it in with my catless TBE? I don't want them pawning it off onto me and ignoring the problem.

Additionally, will they make note in the future that I've had aftermarket parts on so that even if I remove it in the future they will be able to say "but in the past you had the exhaust so blah blah"?

 

if you're worried about warranties, the modding life isn't for you! It's pay to play for the world of high performance.

And catless on a street car? That deserves a spanking....

Matt

 

Click for answer.

 

Thanks, smartass.

I'm aware of the risks you take when modding and I'm also aware of the Magnusson-Moss Act. My question is a technical question, not one of knees-quivering fear. I'm wondering if you guys think my new exhaust can be in any way blamed for the noise coming from the block. I don't want them to pull some technical card on me and give me reasons running catless could be causing this noise, when it's really not. Thing is, I probably wouldn't know if they were right or not, since I'm not a mechanic, so I just don't want to get screwed over.

Spanks.

 

That's the point, they can try and argue whatever they want and void warranty for any issue they think can even remotely cause the problem. It might not be right, but unless you're willing to put the time, effort, and possibly money into it, you put yourself at risk. Your best bet is to rather check with your regional forum and see if your dealer is considered "mod friendly"

 

This thread has become a worthless rant on how BMW should attempt to try harder at fixing these things. Does anyone care to even try what I posted up above?? I did tonight and found some interesting results.

I removed the oil filler cap on a cold engine, and although the engine stumbled to stay running due to loss of vacum; I could tell oil supply to the valve train did not seem to be a problem. I also observed the chatter noise getting louder with the oil cap removed, which tells me its definatly something internal.

These engines have Roller Rockers which run in a small stream oil passage lifting oil up and around the cam shaft lobes. It works, I saw it, and am pretty happy about that. There is plenty of lube for the cam/rockers on cold startup; you can literally see the roller sitting in standing oil when cold, and I saw oil pumping and draining oil from the upper cyl fairly well.

I believe the problem may lie elsewhere; perhaps a chain tensioner or something scrubbing. Next time I get a chance I'll take a stethescope to the engine to hopfully pinpoint the loudest area.

All you ******* need to stop whining; 25 pages of rambling and noone actually trying to do any good. You think BMW is realy reading your cryouts and calls?

 

Yes - I know that they are reading the thread.

This is a really important thread - many are very concerned about the longevity of their engine versus warranty term. You're right there is some hysteria and inaccurate posts - but if you sift through all the information a pattern seems to emerge. Projections indicate that the problem is widespread and that the reports we see here are probably just the tip of the iceberg.

I don't have a dog in this fight - but I do have an interest in how MINI/BMW handles "damage control". They stepped up to the plate when they had a problem in the M3 - I hoping to see a similar response for the MINI.

The information you're collecting is focused and revealing. Keep all of us up to date.

Thanks for posting

 

[FONT='Courier New'][/FONT]

Quite an arrogant post in my opinion. If you think this problem is the responsibility of owners to come up with a solution, you’re wrong. BMW owns 100% of the responsibility to develop a fix (and I believe they will). If you think that some hack with a stethoscope poking around in his garage is more likely to come up with a correct diagnosis than the applied resources of BMW’s engineering department, you’re out of your mind. I have no issue with people evaluating the problem and/or speculating on the underlying cause, but it's crazy to think that path is more likely to lead to a resolution than increasing the visibility so BMW can give this a high priority to develop a fix. If you’re simply b****ing because you don’t like reading posts from owners expressing legitimate unhappiness about this problem on an internet forum, there’s an easy solution for that.

 

News flash: WELCOME TO THE YEAR 2008!

-Where the dollar rules everything and even engineers get thrown to the curbs. In a cyclical downward spiraling world Accounting for all hard earned dollars usually overrides what an engineer has to say.

I don’t doubt BMW/MiNIs' technical design engineers so much as I do in quality control of building machines on an assembly line with parts built by lowest bidders. You know, most mechanical engineers will design an engine using HEAD STUDS rather than head bolts, even crappy car companies get initial designs using the best parts. Head bolts are an accounting decision because guess what: they cast about 10x less than head studs! Another news flash for you: OUR CARS HAVE HEAD BOLTS! And you THOUGHT you were buying BMW 'engineering' (YA RIGHT).

Why do you think these cars have a poor to average reliability rating?? Its a classic case of supply and demand; people want the car at any cost, so the manufacturer pushes them out the door with as little as possible cost to them. People buy them because they are 'cool' cars which seem cheap, and believe me they are! I could have bought a less 'cool' Honda (I know, boring) which would have more engineering than my mini for probably a lot less money!

You bought a fad, a fashion statement, and Porsche, a desirable performance vehicle BUILT BY THE LOWEST BIDDER! There are going to be problems.

It is less costly for a company to under engineer and then come out with one or two fixes along the way than it is to over engineer every part to an utmost quality control. Did you know that most companies consider 95-98% proficiency a great success? Its a bell curve and the closer they aim to 100% the more dollars they have to spend, EXPONENTIALLY.

I don’t consider myself an expert, but sometimes I get completely baffled by engineers.

1. A motorcycle I used to own. Why didn’t the manufacturer put a thermostat inline with its radiator? -Cause it cost too much in the design. Solution: I had to retrofit a thermostat housing to get the engine up to proper operating temperatures.

2. Mazda with its Rotary engines: They DECREASED the thickness of their apex seals (weakest point of the motor) to reduce rotational mass and increase power at the cost of guess what... BLOWN ENGINES after the warantee period expired. Solution: Retrofit thicker and stronger apex seals upon a rebuild.

The best case I can remember for an auto manufacturer’s greatest success for an over engineered vehicle was a 1960's Volvo 1800 with a straight 6 built by who I can barely recall. Those dang cars have some of the HIGHEST reported mileage of all times! One car to date has almost 3 million miles ON THE ORIGINAL MOTOR!

Try that with our poorly under engineered Mini.

 

A nice rant. It's also misinformed and irrelevant. Contrary to the common mythology, manufacturers don't have stuff built by the lowest bidder. They have stuff built by the lowest qualified bidder. Problems do sometimes show up when a new product is put into real world use. What is relevant is what the manufacturer does once the problem shows up.