I'm really starting to dislike this car. I've only had it a few months, and the more I drive and own it, the less I like it. The newest issue came about after the car sat for about a week while I was out of town. The CEL light came on, so I went to the auto parts store and picked up a code reader. P0303, and the reader can't reset it. There goes 80 bucks already.

Looks like a miss fire on cylinder 3 code, and it does not seem uncommon. My mini has 37K on it, I bought it with 32K from the local dealer. I want to take it back, and I just might try to. I don't like the transmission at all (auto), its the worst automatic I have ever driven. "That's normal" is all I hear.

Too bad it's so cute and the wife loves it.

 

Is it a MINI Cooper S? Does it idle slightly rough first drive of the day or when cold early in the morning? If so, I bet your vehicle is due for Carbon Cleaning service. What year is the vehicle? I would take it to your MINI Dealership and have them @ least diagnose the issue causing your misfire in cylinder 3. Was it a MINI NEXT vehicle or just a used purchased MINI?

Doesn't surprise me on the wife loving it, seems women really love their MINI's.

 

Yep, its an S. I bought it used from one of the local dealerships with 32K on it, I don't remember them using the term "MINI NEXT". It now has 37K, I just feel like its too soon for me to have to be constantly going into the dealer already. Hopefully they will make me happy and cover whatever is wrong under the warranty, if not I'm going to try and ditch this thing. When I bought it I thought I was paying a premium to have a well built, reliable automobile, not the case so far. Don't even get me started on the crappy transmission.

 

I wouldn't call the code reader a waste of $80. It pays for itself every time you use it. Aside from the soul sucking automatic transmission, I would try simple stuff like inspecting the spark plugs and using a fuel system cleaner (combined with a very nice Italian tune-up). Spark plugs should last well over 50K miles on the MINI but it doesn't hurt to check their condition. Next up would be to take the intake manifold off the engine and take a look at the intake valves for excessive carbon build-up. If the previous owner didn't drive the car hard at all or drove short distances all the time, carbon build-up is a definite possibility than can cause misfires and loss of power.

There are a lot of discussions about MINI reliability but what I'm confident to note is that most people viciously complain about little problems on NAM and not enough people talk about good experiences. The carbon problem is a common issue on all direct injection engines so it's not specific to MINI. The other big two are the high pressure fuel pump and timing chain system. That's really the meat and potatoes of 2nd generation MINI issues. Aside from that, check you're oil every fill up and try to have fun. If it's really a thorn in your side and you're not happy, by all means get something else :-)

 

I see where you are comming from, I'm just frustrated this is all happening in the first few months of ownership. For a car that costs quite a bit more than its competitors, I would expect it to be more robust and reliable, and that they would have figured out these little quirks.

I am taking it to the dealership this week, hopefully I don't get bent over too bad.

 

I got this as a loaner, they need my car for a few days.



Besides being jealous of the HIDs, the auto in this car is much much better than mine. Which makes me think there really is something wrong with mine, this one is a joy to drive.

 

Interesting, they still have my car. So far they changed the chain tensioner and walnt blasted the valves. Now they might do a "code update".