Same here.

 

7300 miles used maybe a 1/4 of a quart of oil.

 

engine breakin techniques and driving tendencies will all effect consumption. Just cause one uses some oil and another doesn't isn't cause to think that oil consumption means something is wrong.

Also, if you take it in for oil consumption, and it's less than a liter or two a year, they'll just send you away unless there is evidence of leaks.

Matt

 

Here's something I'd like to know: how many cars with the rattle have been serviced with something other than the MINI-branded or Castrol 5W-30 engine oil? Changing brands could effect oil flow, and changing viscosity will change the flow (by definition). That will have a big effect on how the tensioner works.

 

but I'd bet that it has NOTHING to do with the problem. This has happened to brand new cars with little mileage on them. Best description is the root cause is the valve lash adjusters, and all the work the that BMW/MINI has done is to work on the consiquences of the problem, not the root cause. I'm betting we keep hearing about it until this is addressed.

Matt

 

So far, nothing but MINI brand 5W-30. Rattle fixed in August 2009.

When I next do my own oil change, I'll probably use Castrol 0W-30 European Formula.

 

If the tensioner/lash adjusters/whatever have oil in them, you can think of it as an incompressable liquid so pressure at one end of the system is pretty much what's at the other end. If it's really viscous the pressure will be lower, but only in the presense of flow. If there's no flow, there's no frictional losses and no pressure drop.

If they don't have oil in them, the relevant issue is how fast the air escapes the oil resevoirs. If it's fast, no big deal, if it's slow, this is where the problems come from. An easy fix would be to increase the escape route diameters out of the tensioner and lash adjusters. But make it too big and too much of the oil goes through these passages, shorting out the oil delivery to the bearings and the like.

Matt

 

according to an SAE engineer out of Michigan whose 07 S has the rattle pretty bad, changing the oil to 0-30 from 5-30 made the problem worse.

I should email him to see if there are any updates. he also believes, like my mechanic, that poorly-designed and engineered HLAs that cannot retain oil when the engine goes dead-cold is the root cause, and everything else like the tensioners, vacuum pump, etc. are ancillary symptoms of this much larger problem. Problem is these ancillary problems, like the vacuum pump failing, can result in CEF.

Me? After Rev3k-Hold-Kill procedure on tues 12/1, car sat 5 days in uninsulated garage during the latest cold and snow spell while I drove my beater truck (with its sweet new top-end job), nitetime lows below zero, daytime highs in the teens. Fired it up yesterday, 20 degrees in garage. No rattle, just the normal DI noise on startup and idle. Rev3K-Hold-Kill is working in extreme temps.

(Im actually having more problems now with my TPMS going off every AM, despite cold-inflating my tires to 36 lbs each on the warm day last sat. Why did this not happen last winter??)

 

Well my timing chain was replaced with all of the other components under the SIM last week... and already I have heard the rattle... it is MUCH quieter than before but I have already heard it on seperate occasions...

Sequence - sitting for 5 days was never my problem as long as the last drive before for a good one (>15mins) with the car coming up to full temp... try taking a 5 minute drive on a cold car and then let is sit for a day and start it up... I think that is the worst case scenario...

 

Yeah Ive heard that, but I tend NOT to do things that help manifest the rattle, unless of course its at the dealer, and we need to reproduce it.

 

I started up today (1st start) and the rattle continued for the entire 3-4 minute drive to my end destination at a local store. 5 minutes later, the car re-started normally. I'm going to leave the car at the local dealer for as long as it takes until they hear the noise. I've taken it in for service 3 times so far to get fixed. The following is the exact start up noise and I thank whoever captured the sound:
http://s161.photobucket.com/albums/t...Outsidecar.flv

Is this what others hear?

 

That's what I heard. Rassmusen MINI has been an excellent dealership to work with on this issue. Mine was worse in the cold weather... and we have some cold weather (for us) right now. Good luck.

 

My car is an April build and I have the cold start issue when I leave it at the auto shop for maintenance. Is there a bulletin later than that for this problem? My understanding was the factory had started building the latest major parts replacements into the cars in March and I havent heard of a "fix" since then. I park nose down all the time and it never happens for me. However, the dealer parks my car nose up and its happened everytime i leave my car there.

 

Nothing but the official MINI oil in my '07 MCS with 32,000 miles. After two replacement tensioners, and the complete SIM 11-02-07 repair, the chain rattle is back, getting worse by the day. I'm right back to where I was two years ago when I first started researching why my MINI was turning into a diesel .

By the way, has anyone heard anything about MINI importing the MINI D to the US? They're all over Europe. I'm interested ...

 

I think the cold weather in Chicago helps to amplify it... besides my normal commute to work is sometimes as short as 10 minutes...

It ALWAYS happens at my dealer... short trip from the service rack to the holding area... then sits... then runs for 30 feet and is shut off again until I turn it on and it rattles like crazy... drives my SA nuts (but he has an S that is doing the same thing)

 

Gotcha, i knew there had to be somekind of catch to it.... still, a good marketing idea for them.

Why? Who was going to pay for it, Ford? Apparently you never had a Ford serviced. You really think a dealership will take the blame for a blown head at 45k miles due to changing the sparkplugs 2 weeks prior?

One of my past Ford trucks blew the Transmission at 35,850 miles. The warranty was good to 35k. Think Ford reinbursed any of the $3,200 replacement cost? Think again. They gave me a "free oil change for my trouble".

 

huh? I've got 25k on my mini, never had to add a single drop of oil. If your not racing your mini and/or haven't had it "worked", you better drop it off at the nearest service center to have your oil leak fixed!!

 

Do a search on this site and the UK site, when this issue first appeared, a bunch of folks tried different brands and viscosity's of oils with no affect on the problem.

 

I agree - with almost 60,000 miles on my two '07 MCS coupes, I've never seen any oil usage at all. Normal driving, no racing.

 

How the ring seat and how the car is driven will affect oil consumption, even in same model engines. Oil consumption isn't always a sign of something being broken.

Matt

 

The gas mileage on the R53 and SC'ed R52 suck for the displacement. It has to do with using a very rich mixture to cool the combustion chamber (using gas like water injection).

My 5.0 modded Mustang gets alomst as good freeway mileage as my 02 MCS! Even though it's got a lot more displacement, I'm only spinning about 1750 RPM cruising in 5th.

Look at the mileage out of the R56 turbo. It's what 30% better than the R53 for the same power levels? It's because of direct injection and variable valve timing.

The add picks it's competition carefully, but with the technology in the R53, it's an easy target.

Matt

 

I dropped my car off at Rasmussen Mini in Portland yesterday without an appointment so they could keep the car until they heard the rattle. This afternoon, I received a call from the dealer that the car cooperated and started with the death rattle. Rasmussen had a service cancellation and replaced the timing chain. tensioner, etc. and the car is ready to pick up. This level of service is quite extraordinary and thanks to BMW for continuing to try to fix the problem. And this kind of effort is why I will buy another car from Rasmussen.

 

It's pretty cold here in central Indiana now. I had the latest repair done about a month ago at 35,000 miles. They changed only the tensioner. I still will get a very slight noise the very first time I get to 2000 rpm in the first min. after start up. The noise is much more quiet and it used to last for 3-4 min sometimes before the fix.

It isn't perfect but seems to be better. If the clutch didn't rattle at stoplights also I would say I was happy with the car now.

 

Well, as the temperature is getting colder and colder, the noise is starting to happen more often. And when I try to drive it when the noise is audible, I cringe because it's such a nasty sound. I just don't have 3 minutes to wait and sit in the car until it goes away on it's own when warming up. So I made an appointment to take my car in to service on Monday. I'll let you know how it goes!

 

Same here. The dealer ordered me a replacement chain tensioner on Friday, and the work is supposed to be finished today. I'll report on the results once I have the car back.