hey guys new to the forum been searching for the last 2 days. very informative

here is my dilemma. had a whining sound coming from under the hood for the last two weeks. used a mechanics stethoscope and in my opinion was really loud when i put it on the idler pulley bolt. my wife daily driver so i sent it to local mini dealer for the 60,000 mile tune up. mini has 68,000 on it. they said it is the supercharger bearing and charger needs to be replaced for the sum of $1200 FOR S/C AND ABOUT $1400 LABOR. i was not satisfied so i bring it home and used the mech. steth again and put it @ the supercharger pulley sounds pretty smooth. put it on the idler pulley and loud noise. the idler pulley is $55 and can be done by myself. has anyone had this problem. i just ordered the belt ten tool and am going to check each pulley individual. does anyone have any suggestions. should i call mini h.q.. for $2600 thats lots of mods. any other troubleshooting i should do? thanks in advance

 

why not just replace the idler pulley and see if that's it? Heck of a lot cheaper than the other alternative and worst case is you've "wasted" a few $$ on a new pulley.

 

$1400 labor for replacement of s/c is insanely expensive.

seriously.

 

Yea no joke... it only takes about 4 hours to replace it!!!
Make a day of it, BBQ and have a few beers and friends over... It helps to know whats going on under your bonnet!!!

 

Definitely start with the idler - cheap and relatively easy.
When SCs (gears) fail, it's usually accompanied by more of a grinding or growling, vs. whining.

 

thanks guys. waiting for the tool. what gets me if idler pulley is how it was misdiagnosed my mini or worse trying rip me off. Do i make a issue to mini? will keep you guys updated.

 

Ask them if they are "sure" and if the replacement of the supercharger doesn't make the noise go away, it's their dime. And then offer to pay the difference and get a new JCW supercharger. And when the noise remains, change the tensioner assembly yourself.

That said I doubt your dealer will go for the deal.

Rich

 

Here, they just charged me $140 to remove my fog lights on the front bumper so they can replace my radiator fan. Their reasoning was the fact that I added aftermarket fog lights that removing isn't part of the warranty work...


Oh, and anyone ever had them quote you for windshield replacement?? Mine was $1400, so I went to safeautoglass and did for $250.