So my car died on me, running like crap and smoking like crazy. I dropped it off at the dealer and they got back to me today telling me a piston failed and they're going to be replacing that one piston and the associated ring.

After I get this back with only one piston and ring replaced, should I bother doing any break-in on it? I typically don't baby it or anything during new car break in, but I don't drive like a mad man either.

Any advice?

 

I would go easy on it for a couple a hundred miles. May not require the full break in period.

 

On my car a ring on cylinder 1 destroyed itself and warranty has been denied. looking at about $7800 worth of work and I definitely plan on fighting this case with MINI. 08 Cooper S with only 20,500 miles. MINI made a bad decision on the "new" engine in the R56 and now they need honor their warranty and not look for every little excuse to deny
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Sorry for your news MCS9211. Does an engine problem not fall under the 4 year 50K mile warranty ?

 

I have a aftermarket CAI and exhaust that they claim increased the boost and blew it to pieces...I call bs. The computer regulates boost the CAI and exhaust only aloows the turbo to maintin boost pressure in higher RPM's. This being said, My headgasket blew about 6 months ago which was fixed with no questions asked under warranty with the same exact modifications that the car currently has. Simple bolt on parts, never been inside the engine. Also MINI claims the work on the headgasket was not warranty work but was paid for out of pocket by the dealership...which I also call bs on. I am currently gathering all service records in order to take the case farther.

 

Was cylinder 4 for me. I'm planning on getting a JCW or a GTI pretty soon to replace this car. It ran perfectly when I got it back almost two weeks, but now the car is pretty shaky at idle.

On another note, they replaced my clutch pedal since it was making a clicking noise. The replacement is now doing the same thing! Sigh.

 

I can't believe they didn't replace the whole motor....

You can damn well bet you have cylinder wall damage given your failure.

 

BMW & MINI don't care about the problems with the cars.
They got your money already and the will take more of it to fix your car.
Gen 2 cars seem to have a lot of issues.
Engine design is very poor.

 

This scenario is why I tell people to talk to their dealer first and see how they are about mods before jumping in. I've been through this back in my Honda days.
There's always people on the forum that are telling people that they have done this and that, and they are still under warranty. Big deal. it doesn't apply to everyone. sometimes they just happen to have a lenient dealer or have mods that the dealer hasn't discovered yet, or they just haven't had a problem where they had to find out if they are in warranty still.
So for those out there who mod, don't blindly listen to others' on warranty and modding. Talk to the dealer first and then decide.

 

Unless you get it in writing, talking to your dealer means very little when it comes to a major failure. I talked to my SA, and he's aware of most of my mods and he's cool with it as long as I don't touch the main cat and the ECU. If a piston suddenly flies out of the block, and some manager is looking at his bottom line, will he suddenly fight for me to get a new motor? I hope I never have to find out.

 

Here is my advice: forget all these dealers/stealers. They won't do anything except run oil consumption tests. I did 2 tests with my 07' with 49K miles. All repair history on the car was sent to Mini USA, 3 weeks later Mini USA bought my POS car back...now I have my 11' STI and very happy... no more Minis for me, ever. It has been nightmare experience for me.

 

Congrats! I'm leaning towards a GTI autobahn right now,