CPO bought 07/22/2010. Chain Tensioner part #11-31-7-597-895 changed 10/23/2010 @ 21,465K. MINI is now at 45,450K and (keeping my fingers crossed) no engine clacking sound. Oil changed every 5K.

 

That is uncanny. On the way home from having SIM110207 done there was also a vacuum leak of sorts. My revs dropped to just about nothing at the first traffic light. Limped back to the dealer, got a loaner and they fixed things up properly. No problems since.

 

In wake of the nasty rattle, I dropped my MINI off at the dealership this past Saturday for the diagnostic: low oil and bad tensioner. They kept it until yesterday and were able to get it back to normal operation. Didn't have the entire bulletin done, just the tensioner and rails. Rattle's gone, but I won't contribute to the poll until I get a few more miles to validate. I'm definitely happy to have my baby again after garaging it for two weeks (couldn't get an appt.).

I'll update in a month or two. Thanks for all the input guys 'n' gals.

 

Hammy can you post the symptoms of your rattle? When it happened, how long after starting, cold outside?? etc.

Thanks!

 

Yeah Smalls. It started a couple months ago when I would get the rattle clearly coming from the engine bay on cold-start. We had a fairly warm summer in CO so we're talking ambient temps of no less than 80 degrees. It was loud on startup and initial ignition turn-over. A few seconds later the engine would come down to resting idle and the rattle was barely noticeable, if at all. It would come back when I'd throttle between 1500-3000 RPMs. Under load it seemed worse, but at the same engine speeds. After the engine got up to operating temps (+/- 10 mins) the rattle would cease completely. Again, that was a few months back. Then about three weeks ago it became constant. The rattle didn't stop after it was up to temps, but still happened at the same RPMs. The worst was when I would slow from cruising speed to ~5 MPH, then clutch in and bring it to idle; it would sound like a diesel with Grade 8 fasteners dumped in the cylinders. I (mistakenly) drove it for another day but the noise didn't stop. Nothing major happened, but I learned after the fact that I could've faced catostrophic engine failure if the timing chain came off track (duh!). I creeped and crawled to the dealership when I should've had it towed, but alas we made it.

Again, so far so good; she sounds awesome and all seems well. Had to shell out a few hundo for the repair as I'm not under warranty, but it was worth it. Hope that helps.

 

Excellent info thanks.

One question...... How long after the first turn of the ignition did it rattle on a cold start (in the beginning)? I ask because I get a rattle for about 1.5 seconds then goes away. But I'm trying to dismiss that as something else.

Thanks.

 

That's about the length of time the rattle sounded off; maybe 2-3 seconds. Dismissal is futile...probably wanna get it in soon.

 

Haha thanks. I just want it to be easy to prove at the dealership. Seems like I'm early in the stages that they might try to dismiss it.

 

The rattle for the first 2-3 secondas when starting the engine is considered normal. This has to do with the oil-pressure which reinforces the spring in the chain tensioner. With that being set, when I changed my tensioner to the longer one it did make the sound go away (the 2-3 seconds one).

I have been itching my head, trying to understand why they the longer tensioner was not there from the beginning...

My explanation: the tensioner has a softer spring than normal, which is backed up by varying oil-pressure. Tension therefore varies with oil-pressurre, depending on the engine load. In the process to transfer the tension from the tensioner to the chain, the guide rails are pressed on the chain, causing parasitic friction which consumes both engine power and fuel.

By varying the pressure excerted on the chain, parasitic friction is minimised leading to reduced fuel consumption. But they either got overzealous with minimizing parasitic losses and/or did not consider chain manufacturing tolerances, which should have been stricter for such a design.

Just my 2 cents....

 

With this being said, will the dealership tell me its normal?

I would like my tensioner changed before my warranty runs out.

 

@alexs, yeah that's what I had surmised as well; I pawned it off as normal, but it steadily got louder and more abrasive-sounding over a short period of time insofar as to indicate something was wrong; with all due respect, the sound I was describing, even before it was constant, was not normal. I agree, since the repair (a cool 24 hours now) I've noticed the sound is gone at startup. Good idea on the changes too, as that would explain the lack of the rattle @ startup. Thanks for the info!

@smalls, I've heard there are ways to replicate this for the dealership, perhaps in this or other threads. Until mine was constant it most certainly had to be a cold-start after sitting in the garage overnight.

PS alex, PM me on your thoughts of the FISCON plz and thx!

 

I dont think they will accept to change anything if your rattle lasts only 2-3 secs. The official SI M 11 02 07 explicitely states in [2]:

But the tensioner you can DIY and it costs a mere 20$!!! It took me about a couple of hours to remove the hoses, but an easy job overall. (There's a thread on it on this forum).

 

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/do...11036-3222.pdf

Mini and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have announced an investigation into certain Cooper S models after reports of engine fires on at least 12 vehicles, five of which resulted in a total loss. Interestingly enough, Bloomberg reports that in eight of those cases, the fires occurred while the vehicles were parked and turned off.

At this point, the investigation covers around 36,000 2007 and 2008 model year Mini Cooper S models. A spokesperson with NHTSA said that the complaints indicate a growing trend and that most of the reports have occurred within the last year.

Neither Mini nor the automaker's parent company, BMW, have commented on the investigation at this time.

It's hot no?

 

Having lived in Southern California for the first 3 years of my Mini's life, I have not experienced this problem. Now that I moved home to Colorado, this winter I am now hearing this rattle which everybody is talking about. Clearly I would like to dealership in Denver to have a look/see, but I am WAY out of warranty (85,000+). Does anybody know if their fix(es) are warranty only, or will they charge me MINI hourly rates of one arm & leg? :-p

 

Depends on the dealer. Some may take care of it for you (as a warranty fix), but with it that far out of warranty you may have a tough time finding a dealer that will. Otherwise it will cost you around $1500.00

 

For the last two weeks, on mornings colder than 50 F, my CooperS stalls a few seconds after starting. The engine jumps to about 1500rpm and then decreases to a stall. I can start the car by depressing the accelerator to 2000rpm for a few seconds after which the engine settles at maybe 800rpm. Takes me a few tries and seems to be getting worse. Is this related to the tensioner or is it something else? What would you recommend?

 

Perhaps a vaacum leak somewhere?

 

Do you own a scan gauge or accessport or any type of device that would allow you to check coolant temperature? I had a similar issue which wound up being the coolant temp sensor thinking the car was hot and leaning the fuel mix when cold. Its definitely worth making sure the temp matches ambient after sitting overnight

 

My 2019 MCS was really loud on cold starts for the first minute. Two timing chain bulletin repairs about a year apart reduced but did not eliminate the noise. I just bought a 2012 MCS and it has a rough idle and bogs on a cold start. Three times it's stalled, twice backing out of a parking space and once pulling out into traffic. The dealer says it's a common problem but no known solution...but it'll be winter soon!

On another subject I've sent two e-mails to MiniUSA with no response. They are fun, but I'm starting to wonder if I made a mistake since my car is my daily transportation.

 

I like the coolant sensor idea, but wouldn't that flag the check engine light or be read out on the computer. I brought it to a mechanic who read the error codes, the only reported error was a low battery which could have been the result of the hard starts. Could a 4yo battery be responsible? Seems wacky, but several people have recommend that I put in a new battery.

 

My 07 MCS developed the death rattle finally after 62,600 miles. Dropped it off at Mini of Pensacola Sunday at 11am, they checked it this morning to confirm my belief and YES, it is the chain tensioner issue.
Going to replace everything, chain, guide, sprocket, seals, new tension bolt, etc. Cost of $1700.00 but my SA said he's turning it into Mini for them to pay $1200 and me to pay $500. Car is out of warranty and guess what? I didn't even have to ask if they'd try and get Mini to pay for part, they volunteered it. Great staff at Mini of Pensacola.
Now I'm a very happy camper. Car will be done tomorrow.

 

Congrats - good service. Probably the biggest fear I have with my JCW developing this problem...

 

Rough idle like it is noisy like a diesel, or the RPM speed varies? Also haven't heard of easily stalling when the car is cold. Since when is that "normal"?

Edit... saw your earlier post:
I'm no mechanic, but this doesn't sound normal at all. My 2012 JCW rumbles all the time, but more so the first 30 seconds of start up. Also a little bit 'clackity' and diesel sounding for a few seconds (if you can hear it over the exhaust ) but the idle RPM is rock solid always.

 

My tensioner issue didn't affect my idle at all. Just noisy like rocks bouncing around in the left part of the upper engine. It did it this past Friday and Saturday morning but not Sunday morning. It did it this morning which was good (I suppose) so that my MA could actually hear it. I suppose if a tensioner gets bad enough or possibly looses some pulley teeth it could affect the idle. My SA said they haven't had any 2010-2011 cars with the tensioner issue. If you're not sure bring it in and have 'em listen to it. If left and chain, pulley, or guide breaks you're gonna suck some valves and whatever else.

 

Unbeilable!! The Wife took her '08 S in because of the awful rattling sound. (35k) After speaking to the service advisor he stated that the engine was 1.5qts low and that caused the sound. I am sorry, the car was just in for service 5mo ago, if it was low on oil wouldn't they have mentioned that? He stated that the cars "drink" a lot of oil!? My tuned 135i doesn't drink any thing near that much ...and I am running at 18+psi??? Also, the mini needs brakes, right after the service contract is over. Hmmmmm No biggie I can put some better aftermarket ones on, but really, they could of said something. Purchased 2 cars from them and was soon to be a 3rd.

After watching the youtube videos it sounds like the real problem is the SIM110207 fix. It has never been changed, surprised they did not even mention this. Car is still under warranty so I am going to demand it be replaced. I think they just stated the oil as being low to cover up the real issue. Does any one else have a problem w/ oil?

I would like to see BMW dump Mini, or at least put a BMW motor in the car. If this is a know problem then they should cover the repairs for 100kmi like the BMW HPFP and injectors. We have always been big Mini fans, but after reading this thread not anymore. Ok, so it might not be Mini's fault that the French motor has design flaws, but what is Mini going to do about it? Has the new belt driven design cured the problem?