This morning I thought I heard some weird engine noises, didn't really zero in on them because I figured it was due to the first freeze we had last night. It sounded like my engine was trying to rev itself up on its own, almost like it was idling too low at points. Not a loud sound, much less not blatantly noticeable, but the entire car felt different and I knew something was up. Well, I come out of work tonight and my car made the noises again and then had a hard time getting up and moving, then whammo! Check engine light came on. After a few tears I carefully drove home, never crossing 3k RPM incase it's the turbo. Got it over to my local MINI dealer tonight, the guy is guessing it's my high pressure fuel pump...go figure. He said at worst it's my turbo, in which case, not good. At best, it's something leaking.

On another note, my loaner is a justaCooper, auto, with nothing more than the sunroof. Damn I'm so glad I got the ClubmanS. The ride is so much smoother, the noise level is WAYY less (all '11s got some dampening though), and I really feel no difference in handling. In fact, the steering on Clubby is so much sharper and in no way do I notice the extra length/weight. While these are two vastly different cars and CooperS-es can probably show a noticeable difference, I really am VERY happy I have the extra room without sacrificing any fun. I don't want to bash Cooper owners, I'm just glad I now can firmly believe I made the best choice for myself out of the MINI line-up.

 

At least they're taking care of you, but still, it sucks.

 

I drove an automatic equipped 10' clubman for a week, and found it to be quick, agile and a terrific ride. Has better turning radius than my R53.

Now driving a 2011 Cooper. Love these new tail lights. Has red neon like wavy tubes top and bottom. Ride is like a larger car, but is very nimble still having the "go-kart" like handling. Best of both worlds.

I like the interior of the 2011's too. More BMW'ish ala "Black forrest" car interior styling.....

MINI's HPFP has been an issue for some time. It recently caught up to BMW with a voluntary recall on some of their models from 2007-up.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...placement.html

 

The auto isn't actually that bad, I see why many enjoy it. The paddles though...whoops. I thought one side was up, the other down. I downshifted once by accident and shot to 5k RPM...sorry Mr.Cooper :( I think the 11s overall are a huge upgrade, which is very noticeable too. The radio controls are killing me haha the 2011 layout is pretty nice and I got used to it real quick. I wish I had gotten my USB cable out though, although I doubt this car has the plugs.

Maaaaaannnnnnn the new car feel was just starting to wear off, but this experience has made me fall in love with Clubby all over again LoveLoveLove my car. The biggest problem is I waited so long for him and he got yanked before I could even spend a full month enjoying him (tomorrow's our 1-month ) I'm not a happy camper right now, I get up every morning knowing I get to drive and I smile every time I see him waiting in the parking lot for me. He was also supposed to get some BG on Wednesday..gah.

The service guy seemed pretty certain it'd be the HPFP, hopefully I'll hear something tomorrow.

 

that's terrible news about the hpfp when bmw just announce a recall for this problem. i assumed that hpfp problem will be behind us but now this...

at least the dealer is taking care of you and didn't give you a hard time. best wishes

 

Yeah they let me drive it right over and took it, so hopefully it'll be looked at pretty early tomorrow. They didn't hassle me at all really, I just showed up and said "the light's on, something isn't right, I want it fixed" and they agreed. I did get asked a few times if my gas cap is on I've only filled him up once in the past month and we checked it, so no dice on that. Hopefully this trend continues tomorrow and all is fixed with zero hassle. The car being less than a month old and just over 600 miles shouldn't be broken unless there was some manufacturing defects, so I doubt they can hassle me at all.

 

Hey Wahoo, I got a check engine light at 32 miles! spent the day at service, when I got back home the fan wouldn't go off, so the first 48 hours were kind of a downer for me. Hope all is well for our future motoring

Cheers!

 

hahhahaha you win mate. Next time maybe we should buy cars we don't think of as our own. Me driving him to the dealer was probably similar to a parent driving their kid to the doctor knowing they're getting a bunch of shots. Painful

 

Not to butt into your post about your '11 problems "right out of the box",but you would think the issues with the hpfp would be resolved.and I hope they have figured the cure to the sludge problems (carbon build up) they have through '07-'10/s

 

Sadly it sounds like they haven't figured it out at all.

 

Not to bash all the MCS owners but I love my Cooper and the 130k problem free miles of my daily redlining(to squeeze all the power out of it's minuscule Briggs and Stratton powerplant) without any worries about HPFP's, carbon buildup, limp modes or frequent trips to the dealer

 

Makes me wish I would have purchased a Cooper - but at the time of purchase I was living at higher altitudes in Denver and well, the NA Cooper is a dog up there :(

 

Agreed!! I'm thinking of an R60, and it will be a justa!!

 

 

not sure if i agree. most people come to this forum for help and vent out their frustrations about certain issues.

 

I had a similar incident with my '07 MCS. Second day I had it the CEL came on. Talk about heart-broken. It ended up being the variable valve timing controller. Once that was fixed, I had zero issues with it. One year on with the '10 now and have had no problems whatsoever.

I know it's a horrible feeling to have something like that happen on a brand new toy, but hopefully the stealer fixes it quick and that will be the end of it.

Good luck ...

 

Well, good news! It's not the HPFP or the turbo, but a leak in my gas tank/line valve. Bad news: they don't stock many '11 parts, and especially not the obscure ones that shouldn't break. Good news, again: they let me have it back today because they said it wouldn't cause any harm to the car/part if I drove it. Otherwise, I would've been in the crummy loaner for almost two weeks (the car isn't crummy, the loaner part definitely is though!). So I'll have to take it back again probably next week and get a loaner for the day. Woot.

The nice thing is, this was a bit of a learning experience. I tried to not get overwhelmed (even though I was terribly bummed) and I never, not once, got upset with the dealer or demanded the fix or quicker service or whatever. MINI of Sterling was quick to take my car and quick to give me a loaner. Although it did suck that I dropped it off Monday night and didn't get an answer until this morning, a bit slow if you ask me, but there wasn't a huge inconvenience and they gave me zero flak about asking for a loaner at 6pm on a Monday night. It is a car, it isn't the dealer's fault it broke, and this has been a positive experience

 

I was actually down at Mini of Sterling the other day looking at the 2011's. They seemed really nice and helpful there. Would you recommend them over other MINI dealers in the area?

 

I'm glad to hear that it isn't a serious problem, Wahoo. I guess this one falls under the "never saw it coming" category. I'm sure it still put a little scare in you, however. I'm still waiting to pick up an MCS myself. I drove my cousin's 2007 MCS a little bit over the weekend and she hasn't had any issues with hers so far. Just a couple tire replacements but otherwise all is good. She claims the 2007 engine was a great year. Do any of you Mini history experts have an opinion on this?