So my Mini has been driving sort of jerky lately. Cold or hot the throttle just seemed more jerky than normal and when coming to a full stop the RPM would go really low and then jump back up making the car surge forward. With the automatic it would always do that but not as bad as lately. I decided to remove the MAF and inspect it since some here on NAM and other forums mentioned it causing similar problems. I took it completely out and looked at it to see if it looked dirty and it didn't. I reinstalled it, tightened all the screws and clamps and then went ahead and tightened all the clamps associated with the intake system and those coming and going to the intercooler. None were obviously loose but I did get about full turn to two full turns as I tightened the clamp screws. The next morning I drove the car and the jerkiness was gone. It felt amazing, nice and smooth, no jerking, no surging, more power, it's great! Maybe reseating the MAF connector, clamp tightening, I bumped something, I don't know what I did but what ever I did, it was very good!

 

There is a strong feeling in the ALH powered Volkswagen TDI community that the MAF connections on those cars can degrade over time, causing drivablility issues. I'm not 100% convinced it's true, yet I have made cleaning the contacts with electronic contact cleaner, and greasing with dialectric grease a maintenance item of mine on that car and others. It can't hurt. Anyway, there's a good chance reseating your MAF did the trick.

 

Thanks Blackbomber, it makes sense about the MAF. I went back out there and cleaned the MAF connector pins with contact cleaner and applied some some dielectric grease to hopefully prevent a recurrence of my problem.

 

I think I am having the same issue. It mostly happens when the car is cold and between first and fourth gear - and it all started after they replaced the recall pump two weeks ago. I'll have my foot steady on the accelerator and it jerks like if someone was hitting the break but never hard enough where it feels like the car is going to turn off. After about 10 minutes, it goes away.

I took it to the dealer today and they told me that they wanted to do a fuel flush which would cost me an additional $152; to the $152 they charged me just to look at the car.

Will try tightening all the MAF and clamps and see if it works for me too.

 

Take off the MAF connector and gently clean the pins with a Q-tip then put some dielectric grease on pins and reconnect. You can find the grease at any automotive parts store for about $2. I'm still amazed at how well my car is driving since I did that! It's worth a try.

 

I can say that I did have a MAF outright fail on my TDI. And the symptoms were as tdinate described: Just cruising along, then it falls on it's face. And in a turbocharged car, when the ECU goes into closed loop, you loose boost, so it's really dramatic.