Sure, My CEL came on with my old Rav4. I went to Autozone and they plugged in for free. Just a vacuum seal leak easily dignosed.

 

no. they needed more time with it. they thought they had fixed it because on the test drive after the timing chain the CEL didn't come on. when they started it to pull it around for me it came back on. I didn't have more time to spend there.

 

You still shouldn't be paying hourly for diagnostic. You were in a time crunch but they still chsrged. Diagnostic fee. That fee is there to cover everything from reading the code onto the repair estimate. Nothing in between should cost hourly.....

 

Background - I own a 2007 R56 S that I bought used in 2009. Fairly soon after the purchase I began to read online about the "death rattle," so I was aware of the issue, but wasn't experiencing it.

In October 2012, at 50k miles, it struck hard. Because of this thread and the numerous reports of the issue, I knew what that sound meant. Due to the possibility of a recall, I chose to take it to my local dealer, Ralph Schomp MINI in Littleton, CO, rather than my local independent repair shop. Although an independent shop would have been somewhat less expensive, I wanted to have it done by a dealer just in case there was a recall sometime in the future.

I was lucky I stopped driving it immediately after I heard the noise, because not only had the tensioner failed and the guide chain broken, but pieces fell down into the guide rails and had broken them too. Since the engine was already open, in addition to a new timing chain and tensioner, I had them also replace the serpentine belt which was showing some wear. All in all it was $1,600 out of my pocket.

Fast forward to this past August, I was at my dealer for a quick oil service and my advisor let me know that there was an advisory about the timing chain issue assigned to my car. There was nothing to be done at that point, but the advisor said to look out for a letter from MINI USA about it.

Last Friday I finally received the written notice. I immediately called MINI Customer Relations to find out if they were going to reimburse me since I had already had it done at my expense. The agent told me that that would be handled by the dealer and to contact them. That made me a little nervous.

I called the Service Manager at Ralph Schomp MINI and left him a message about the details of my situation. He immediately called back, saying that he had confirmed the work had been done, and that he would put through the paperwork for reimbursement and I should have it within a week.

WOW!! That was easy! Thank you Ralph Schomp MINI!!

Although I am a huge supporter of my local independent repair shops, there are times when it makes more sense to go directly to the dealer, even when out of warranty. I'm really glad that I did.

Tom Cowden
www.mini5280.org

 

Hello all:

Follow-up on my extended mini-dillemma (not so mini actually)

First: My dealer also is checking timing chains and tensioners. if they need replacing they are doing it under warranty.

Second (and ugly) - the misfires that I had the other night = burnt exhaust valve. Dealer says $6200 for new cylinder head and all the bits and pieces and other work to do it. My response: WTF?

Asked what could have caused it (funny that they didn't have much of a "root cause" explanation. They are really focused on the current situation, but not the cause. They did say that a piece of carbon BS could have broken off and that may have caused it. Funny...they also told me that carbon was not considered a defect.

I have 3 possible options (because I'm NOT paying $6k to get this done):

1. MINI fixes it. I already told them that was my expectation. I have doubts even if over 25k miles I have put $5k in repairs into the engine...and this would make it $11k.

2. I convince them to take it in trade, give me a good price, and I go for a new 2014 Cooper S when they come out, or:

3. I find a used cylinder head (there are some out there for $500-800 where people have upgraded to JCW heads. I'll put some money into cleaning it up, put some nicer bits in it, and have a local garage put it back together.

Any advice on what someone would charge in the US (Northeast) to put a new cylinder head on a 2007 R56, changing all the good stuff from the old engine to the new one? I would think that we are looking at 1-2k for that...but it still beats the dealer prices and OEM overpricing on parts.

I'm actually at peace with this. Maybe it is shock.

 

That's ridiculous, sorry to hear.

I'd suggest contacting Mini corporate/support or BMW.

I had my tensioner fixed quickly and got a 2013 Mini S 6MT as my loaner for 2 days. Paid $3 for the loaner, that's it. If you're in South Florida, Vista Mini is where it's at.

 

Update: I called and asked for an update on my car yesterday afternoon and the SA told me it would be ready that evening and to pick it up after hours or this morning.

I drive 1.5 hours from New Orleans to Baton Rouge and... My car is not ready. He told me to come back Monday and they would top off my gas and don't worry about filling up the courtesy car. The SA explained a tech called in sick and he didn't have a chance to call me.

Fortunately I have this Monday off, but this was annoying and would have been a huge inconvenience on any other week. What do you guys think? I'm not going to make a fuss, but it's a tarnish on an otherwise positive experience. Would any of you make a fuss?

 

Depends.. Did the SA know it was 3 hrs round trip to pick it up? If I was looking at 3 hrs, I might have called ahead before starting out to confirm it's ready. Be sure to return the loaner bone dry

 

He was aware it's a 3 hour drive. They are the closest MINI dealership to NOLA, and they realize it's a bit of a trek. He had a lot on his plate and forgot to call me. It's understandable that a tech not showing up for work screwed up the schedule, but still an inconvenience.

If that's the only problem I have during this experience, I am a HAPPY CAMPER!

And yes... definitely calling ahead Monday AM before I head out. Ugh.

 

Don't discredit MINI USA, they are the ones OK'ing the reimbursements!

Called about this 2 weeks ago and MINI USA did confirm that they were issuing reimbursements to all those who had to pay out of pocket for the expense.

 

if the dealer pulls this i'm pretty sure my wife is going to go ape **** until they fix it for free.... car only has 42,000mi on it.

 

Apparently not all 08 S's are on the list. Called Service advisor yesterday and my Vin # isn't on the list. I asked her why and she didn't have a response.

 

2007-2011 or '10 Cooper "S" are all under the service campaign. If your vehicle doesn't fall under the campaign, it's very possible that the timing components may have been replaced with an updated one sometime in the past. Since the issue is so common, it's very likely that may be the case.

 

OK I will have to admit the timing chain was replaced at 25000 and over 3 years ago. I guess they had the updated parts back then. Thanks for the tip.

 

I have a 2010 s clubman and took it in to have them check for the timing chain "recall or bulletin" and it was not on the list only the heat shield was. They said there was no record of it ever being replaced previously as well.

 

I was told my '09 MCS was out of the production range of the campaign but they replaced the timing chain out of "good will" :-)

 

I bought my 08' Clubman S used with 79000 miles on it. Mine wasn't on the list, but my local Mini dealer said that the chain and tensioner was replaced at 34,000 miles back in 2010. I replaced my oil pan gasket and found a broken piece of plastic ( tensioner ) in the pan.

 

I have this sound on 2010 base auto, engine was locked after flood damage )) 300 miles after unlocking...
Tensioner is up to date. I retimed it.
can it be timing chain? rod bering?

 

I don't understand what mean by engine was locked, unlocked? I can tell you that doesn't sound (good) like the timing chain, if there was water in the combustion chamber and you tried starting it oh dear!

 

It does not sound like a rod bearing to me. It sounds like it's in the valve train. The timing chain is not a problem on your non-S MINI.

 

Thank you for response.
If we have hydraulic valve lifters, it might be stuck...
some of camshaft knuckles are eaten by rust thou.
it is very similar...

 

Update:

I'm going to start a new thread asking people's opinions if I should complain or not. Overall a positive experience, but they had me pay for an oil change when the oil pan was dropped. I did not make a stink, and the SA told me if I didn't pay they'd have put in the recovered old oil (with, I'm assuming, tiny broken pieces in it) and merely topped it off.

skip to "UPDATE:" if you remember what my details are.
RECAP: Took the car to Brian Harris MINI in Baton Rouge, LA. SA was nice and professional. I had been considering a DIY carbon cleaning, but since the dealership had recently lowered their price to $550 I decided to skip the headache as I'm a novice mechanic and let them do it. I usually do my own oil changes, but I requested they do one just INCASE they replaced the timing chain w/o changing the oil. They quoted me $130, but I asked for a discount and w/o haggling he gave it to me for $70. After removing the valve cover to inspect, it was decided to replace the timing chain and all associated assembly parts under warranty. They found the water pump was leaking (I was aware of a slow coolant leak but hadn't had the time to diagnose it and had guessed it was either the thermostat housing or the water pump) and I let them replace it under my carmax warranty (mascara) which paid full price for a brand new OEM part, NOT a used or aftermarket part. I had a loaner MINI paceman S at no cost to me. They asked me to pick up the car last Friday but when I got there it was not ready. To make up for it the SA told me to bring the loaner back empty and he would top off my gas tank. It could have been VERY inconvenient but it just so happened that I was off work today and could pick it up. The extra 3 hrs of driving was annoying though.

UPDATE: I picked up my car. They told me the carbon buildup in the intake was not heavy.

1) The car sounds VERY different. It didn't sound like dog turd before (like some youtube videos), but there is a HUGE reduction in noise.
2) The idle runs at the same RPM, but 1st gear is noticeably smoother.
3) According to Torque (android app) there is a WHOPPING 40whp recovery. My butt dyno says I've recovered significant HP, but not 40 worth... I've owned the car since just under 30K miles and I started running Torque at 60K miles. I'm now at 73K miles and I've noticed the car was not as peppy as it used to be, but there was never a SUDDEN performance loss.
4) They said the carbon buildup was lighter than they expected. I APPRECIATE their honesty because I'm planning to put on an OCC and not have a carbon cleaning again unless I'm at 200+K miles and having performance issues. It's possible the car had a carbon cleaning before, but since I got it prior to 30K, I doubt it. I drive a long commute and am often about 3K RPM, but not by much. The air is very humid here (water rich) and I'm only guessing, but perhaps the southern climate is keeping the carbon down.
5) The SA forgot to top off my gas tank, so he took me to the local gas station. My gas cap says 91 or higher and he hit 89 grade. I think he made the mistake because all the newer MINI's gas caps ask for 89... but it does rock my confidence on the quality of their overall work.

Overall I'm satisfied. I don't think they are the best service center, but they certainly don't have a horror reputation. If there is more recall work, I'll take it there, but if there is major work needed in the future (and let's face it, there will be) I'll have it trucked to Wayland if I don't feel comfortable with a DIY or the job requires a specialty tool that is cost prohibitive. And if Peake BMW in New Orleans opens a MINI branch, I will STILL drive the 3 hrs to Baton Rouge... Peake has a horror reputation and left an exhaust leak on warranty exhaust work on my Mom's BMW.

Leave a comment on the thread started about the oil change. I want your opinions but I don't want to hijack this thread.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...il-change.html

 

I post before about engine knock.
Now it is changing:
On a road when I take of my foot from accelerating pedal it knocking faster for a second, as if it knocking part spins free.

 

After reading this thread, I'm pretty furious with MINI and particularly Steven's Creek MINI.

On 10/25/13 (or thereabouts) my tad under 70k 2010 JCW convertible was towed to the nearest dealer (Steven's Creek, not my normal dealer but local one).

I'd never heard the death rattle but noticed an oil leak and low pressure. Dealer refused a goodwill fix, or even contacting corporate to request it, since I wasn't a regular customer. They did tell me I could take my car 60 miles away to my regular dealer and try, but I didn't want to drive my car that distance.

Fast forward to now, I stumble across this thread, my wallet is $2.5k lighter, and I find that at almost the EXACT time, there was notice of service bulletin and they did JACK S(*T! (that I've just found on nhtsa copied below)

Service Bulletin No.: SIM-11-05-12
Component(s): ENGINE NHTSA ID Number: 10046760
All Products Associated with this Service Bulletin expand
Details close
0 Associated Documents
Manufacturer: BMW of North America, LLC
SUMMARY:
MINI: THE TIMING CHAIN TENSIONER DEVELOPED AN OIL LEAK AT MOUNTING LOCATION, WHICH WAS CAUSED BY THE SEAL RING MATERIAL BEING TOO SOFT, RESULTING IN TENSION LOST DURING TIGHTENING SEQUENCE OF TIMING CHAIN TENSIONER. MODEL 2010-2011 R55, R56, R57, R60 (COOPER S CLUBMAN, CONVERTIBLE, COUNTRYMAN AND HARDTOP). *PE

I just got thoroughly ripped off... Sad bunny

 

Please expand. What does an oil leak have to do with a stretched chain? Did the dealer replace your timing chain? If they did, and you have an engine under the recall, then they should reimburse you.