Has anyone ever had an issue with their warranty being void due to an oil catch can installed on their Mini. I am in the process of installing a BSH OCC in my 09 MCCSa which is still under warranty. I'm just concerned that if the dealer sees it on my car when I take it in for service, they might flag it as being modified and void my warranty. Anyone been in this situation?

 

I had one of the duechie shop formen at my dealership tell me that it can, but then I asked the other one and he said no. According to the people I've talked to at a couple dealerships, there are three main things that can void your warranty. (NOTE: the dealer can pretty much void your warranty any time it seems obvious that you are the cause of the problem)

1. You do something to modify the emissions output
2. You tap in to the engine, drill any holes in any engine components or modify INTERNAL engine parts
3. You modify the ECU (tune your car)

 

It is all dealer dependant until the regional reps get involved.


I am modded to hell and have had no issues with my local dealer as they(dealer) goes to bat for you when your claim is made to mini/bmw.

 

Magnusson Moss warranty act. It basically states that you can modify your car all you want and your dealer can void the warranty ONLY if they can prove that your modification is the direct cause of the failure.

The problem with this is that even though it gives you a legal leg to stand on, you sometimes end up having to fight the dealer and getting a lawyer involved. But, legally you are definitely allowed to modify your car without it voiding your warranty. And if your modification does directly cause a failure, it does not void the warranty on other parts that were not affected. For example, if you modify your turbo and blow the engine, your engine damage would not be covered but the dealer can't use that and void your warranty on say...a malfunctioning power window motor.

But again, that's the law on paper. In practice it can be a pain to get dealers to abide by that law.

 

The shop forman at my MINI dealer said that he has seen a few Oil Catch Cans on customer MINIs and has never see any problems caused by them.

Dave

 

One of the service techs at the dealership I frequent told me of one car that was brought in with serious issues (don't recall the specifics off the top of my head) that they found were due to a catch can that pressurized the crankcase because its ports restricted flow far too much (they were 1/4" ID, while the OEM lines are all 3/4" ID ... nearly a 10-fold difference in cross-sectional area).

It's not something you hear very often, but there are ways that a catch can might bork an engine. In fact, the particular can from the story above is still on sale and being advertised as R56-compatible.

 

Yeah, 1/4" is pretty small! Also, if the can isn't emptied, it could overflow and cause problems.

Dave

 

Yeah just a hair under 9 times the area is a big difference that someone might not think about when buying a cheap ebay can or a DIY unit.