Just purchased my 07 MC/S. When I press the start button, the car will spudder and die. I can try to start it again, and the same thing will happen. After three to four attempts, it will catch, rev to about 1200RPM and then run normally from there.

It is generally parked on a flat surface, and it has been between 60-80 degree fahrenheit whenever it has occurred. It has happened first thing in the morning and after work. It has happened on different tanks of gas. It does not do it all the time.

Car has 45600miles.

Any experience this?

 

Hmmm ... I just started searching the forum, as my '07 MCS is doing the exact same thing. My scan tool is showing multiple cylinder mis-fires, however it can't read the BMW-proprietary codes.

Anyone out there had this problem? Cause?

 

Just talked to the Portland, OR MINI service rep. He sez these starting problems describe a failing high pressure fuel pump perfectly. The good news is it's now covered by the extended warranty fuel pump bulletin , bad news the dealership is 4 hours away .

 

It's almost surely the fuel pump.

 

P.S. You may be able to get a free tow by calling the MINI number.

 

I've heard that. It really seems like the car is losing fuel pressure as it sits then it runs ok once it's started. I've only had the car a couple of weeks, I wonder if the car may be a little quicker if the HPFP is replaced.

 

Hmm . . . my '11 MCS with ~7300 miles did something similar this morning. It was coughing badly when I first started it (no driving this weekend and I had driven ont he same fuel for two days Thursday and Friday). I shut it off and restarted and it did it again for a few seconds then evened out. No problems on the way to work after that. I will monitor closely and report if anything rears it's ugly head.

 

My dealer just replaced my HPFP yesterday and it fixed the problem. I posted in another thread in this section about this.

 

How did the car know? After talking with the MINI tech rep, the engine has been flawless - perfect "cold' or warm starts, no mis-fires. Guess we'll hold off on dragging it north to the dealer until it finally blows up or something.

FYI - the scan tool shows a fuel rail pressure of 720-850 psi, depending on rpm. A tad more than the 3 psi fuel pump on the '51 MG ...

 

Well, the starting issue finally got to the point where we had to take the car to the dealer. It was taking 4-6 start attempts to finally get it running on the first start of the day. After the starter cut out, the engine would slow down and die in a second or two. Once it finally started, a couple of mis-fires, then everything was just fine for the rest of the day.

Bad Hi Pressure Fuel Pump, no cost to me. '07 MCS, just over 40,000 miles.

 

this just happened to my car a couple of weeks ago. according to the dealer, it's because the direct injected engine cannot efficiently burn up the gasoline and caused carbon to build up in the intake valves and cylinders. they had to take off the intake to hook up a blast machine to clean it. the work is covered under warranty.

but after cleaning my engine, the car still stalled one more time the day after I picked it up. so it's going back to see what else is wrong

 

This issue is the High Pressure Fuel Pump. The reason you are having these issues on cold start is because the pump is not holding the fuel at the rail under the pressure needed to start the vehicle. In other words its pretty much leaking so when you go to start the car after it sits for a while there is not enough fuel pressure to keep it running. After you finally get it running its fine cause it has built pressure back up and everything would be normal. MINI has extended the warranty on these fuel pumps for 10years/100,000 miles which ever comes first. Hope that helps. If your having this issue take it to your nearest dealer. Keep It MINI!!!

 

Having the exact same issue, I appreciate the previous posts. Good to know I'm not alone but sucks nonetheless

Q: If the fuel pump failure code isn't triggered however the car is showing all the signs of HPFP problems how do you ask/convince the MINI dealershp service dept to replace the unit(s) under warranty? (Car has 46,500 and I have extended warranty)

Q: Aren't there two HPFP units? One in gas tank as well? Is it SOP to replace both?

Q: Maybe dumb but do MINI's have fuel filters? If so, has that ever been the culprit?

Thanks, Chris

 

If there is no code they can hook it up to diag. equipment run a cold start test and see what the output of the pump is. if its not acceptable they can replace the pump.

There is only 1 HPFP. there is a normal fuel pump in the tank that sends the fuel to the HPFP.

And yes there is a fuel filter in the tank as well. They are never an issue on these cars unless you have come across bad fuel somethere.

 

There's on HPFP and another lower pressure one (in the gas tank I believe). Mine did stall on start up first try of the day, just like the OP described. Finally it just wouldn't start at all and that's when it threw a code. I had to have it towed 100 miles to the dealer and they replaced it under warranty. There have been quite a few of these failures. Some dealers will just do the thing based on your description and some will make you wait until it's a total failure.