Hey Guys, I need some advice.

My 07 MCS with 35k miles has the same start up problems that other threads have mentioned. It takes 5 tries to get it to start, and when it does it idles extremely rough at about 500 RPM, tripping the CEL. Touching the gas pedal does nothing. When it warms up, it runs fine.

I live about 200 miles away from the nearest dealer, and before I trailer the MCS down there for them to look at, I was curious as to what you all think the problem may be.

I noticed it got worse after I put in a third of a bottle of seafoam into the tank. I ran that tank off before I gassed up again, and still had the problem.

So, do you think my High Pressure Fuel Pump is bad, do I have some bad gas problems or is it a result of the Seafoam in the tank?

 

With the mileage you have I would doubt that it is carboned up enough to cause problems. Seafoam doesn't do much in the fuel tank except slightly clean the fuel injectors and lighten your wallet (my opinion). A dose of Seafoam, water or ATF through the PCV line at the manifold while engine is running will remove carbon from the intake valves, combustion chamber and piston top. I really doubt that you have a carbon problem cause it would still run like crap when warmed up. Could be the fuel pump or the valve timing aparatus or a sensor. You are going to have to take it to the dealer. If it were mine I would warm it up and if it drives smoothly I would drive it to the dealer. Remember this is opinion on your problem and I may not even be close to right.

Hope you get it fixed.

Bob

 

Not sure Seafoam will solve your problem, but with that amount of mileage a treatment is probably overdue. Some 2nd Gen MINI's have had carbon buildup after just 10K miles.

If I remember correctly, the SOP is to dump 1/2 the can into the fuel tank, the other half gets sucked into your PCV line while RPM's are kept at about 2K to ensure even dispersal of the fluid. Once the other half has been consumed (takes about 2 mins) turn off ignition, and allow it so sit and soak into upper cylinder head for next 20 mins to half hour.

Then start her up in a well ventilated area, preferrably outdoors

 

I did the PVC Seafoam treatment, and did get a lot of smoke and black stuff coming out of the tailpipe. I did that before I put the rest of the can in the tank.

 

I would do 3 seafoam treatments through the PVC. Do one third of the can at a time. I had the same issues you are having and seafoam cleared everything up for me.

 

I'll do it tomorrow morning. Hopefully it will clear up my problems.

 

For the record, 130k on my R53. Never used Seafoam or any other snake oil. Runs as smooth as strong as it did on day one. Don't believe the hype!

 

Not trying to start anything but your R53 engine is not a DI engine so it is not as prone to carbon build up as the R56 engines are.

 

Question???

The OP stated his car ran fine when it's warmed up. Wouldn't that point to another problem possibly not related to carbon? Just curious.

Bob

 

It sounds like the high pressure fuel pump to me. The symptoms you've described are all symptoms of a HPFP failure.

 

Yeah, the car runs great when it's warmed up. Good power, no stalling and the idle is just under 1k.

I did 3 Seafoam treatments this morning, and I'll check it when I get home. The problem only seems to happen if the car sits for more than a few hours.

 

It sounds like what was beginning to happen with mine and the Dealer ended up replacing the HPFP.

One thing that worked for me in helping to get it fixed, was having some video footage of the issue.

 

That is a really cool feature of the R56 engine: Now with enhanced carbon build up!

 

+1

 

Question here is not wether the HPFP is at fault, but how long the new HPFP will last after replacement.

Mini is buying my car back after 1 new intake manifold and 2 new HPFPs in 5k miles. It sounds like BMW hasn't figured out the problem with the HPFP shared with the 3 series turbo engines in 4 years of tinkering. I am reluctantly replacing my troubled MCS with a MC (no HPFP there).

Moderators should consider making one of these HPFP threads a sticky.

 

I agree that it does not sound like carbon because the engine is running fine after warm up, but my car had the same symptoms as the OP. I took it to the dealer and they replaced the HPFP under warranty, but my problems never cleared up. A few days after the HPFP replacement I started a few round of seafoam treatments. In total I ran two cans of seafoam through the PVC in about a 2 week period and after that the car was fine. Huge amounts of smoke each time. Since then I have put about 5k on the car and all is still fine.

 

Well as another posted stated maybe those carbon deposits develop much earlier than one would think. I am going to do a seafoam, atf or water treatment this weekend. Have to see what I have out there in the garage to use. Looks like maybe these new direct injection engines are going to have carbon issues no matter who they are manufactured by.

 

Just curious, because don't have any problem (knocking on wood), but I didn't know the R56 had any special carbon problems. Is there a pattern to this? I have a week-3 build, now with about 59,000. All of my driving involves highway use, even if I go into a city, because I can't go anywhere without at least 5 miles of highway driving, so the engine's always well warmed up by the time I shut it off. No track use, but we've run a fair number of autocrosses. I burn 93 octane top-tier gas, non-ethenol when I can get it (only occasionally now). Never had so much as a sputter. In fact (and I'm REALLY knocking on wood here), I've had a very reliable car apart from the usual early warranty stuff and routine maintenance, much of which Hubby has done himself.

Is this unusual, or am I just lucky?

 

Oops--accidentally double posted. M-U-S-T N-O-T M-U-L-T-I-T-A-S-K-!

 

You sure about that? The Justa still uses DI, which i believe requires HPFP.

 

I can't be sure, but this is what I was told by Mini service. Most likely the MC uses a fuel pump as well, but not the same as the failure prone one on the turbo engines. Have you heard/read of a fuel pump or HPFP failing on the MC?

I was also recommended to stay away from the present turbo engine and I'm following that advice. The turbo is good lease material, but not the safest bet for someone looking at keeping the car for 10 years like I do.

 

Well, just an update: Still had the problem after my Seafoam treatments. I have an appointment with the Mini dealer near Salt Lake City next week. I'll let you know what they say.

I did take some great video of the starting issues.

 

Here's the latest update.

I put the Mini on a trailer and towed it from Boise to Mini of Murray near Salt Lake City. (next time, I'll just have it towed) I explained the problem to the service manager, and he said it sounded like a high pressure fuel pump. I checked into a hotel and waited.
The next day, I called for an update. The service manager said that it was going to take a few days and I might not want to wait around. I checked out of the hotel and went to the Mini dealer to talk face to face.
The SM said that they couldn't figure out what was wrong. The CEL was gone, no codes were being kicked out, but the car was still starting rough. They were going to have to start changing out parts and driving the car. I asked if they could start with the HPFP, but the service manager said it was based on the opinion of the technician.
I left Mini and started the drive back to Boise. About an hour outside of SLC, the SM called and told me they fixed the Mini. They changed a thermostat, valve solenoid, some other sensor, and then the mini kicked out a code for the HPFP. They changed it and it fixed the problem.

So, now the Mini is fixed and it drives better than ever. Getting better MPG and acceleration.

Funny thing, when I went back to pick up the car, there was another lady there picking her's up with a HPFP problem.