Newbie here. Please do not quote.

I have been reading about the timing chain issues on the N14 engine, which from what I understand means 2007-2010 Cooper S.

I have a 2007 standard Cooper. It was the first year they did the model redesign. I think this means I have the N12 engine (based on other forum posts).

My Cooper seems to be suffering from the same issues that the N14 is. About 6 months ago I had a valve cover gasket and spark plugs that needed to be replaced. Fine, no big deal. I bit the bullet and paid for the local dealership to do the repair.

Then about a month ago I get a check engine line for O2 sensor and several VANOS solenoid issues. Mini said car didn't need repairs right away and could drive safely for a few weeks while I decided what to do about the repairs. I asked why the VANOS system would need parts replaced on a car with under 80k miles. The answer I received was low oil and that there were two tiny oil leaks. I had these leaks checked out by an independent shop (and the O2 sensor replaced with OEM part). They did not notice any oil leaks.

I brought the car back to the dealership to have the VANOS parts replaced (Intake and exhaust solenoids, intake VANOS adjustment unit). The parts had not yet failed, they were still working, but were registering faults on the computer. I also asked the dealership to double check where they originally thought the leaks were, and they said that there were no leaks. I had also been checking my oil daily both before and after these repairs (since they told me they suspected a slow leak). Level didn't drop at all on the dipstick the entire time.


So $1,400 to the dealership later I get the car back. Less than 3 weeks later, the car dies (goes into limp mode) with both full and half check engine lights on. I had the car towed back to the dealership. Now dealership says the exhaust servo motor is blown and they recommend the entire timing chain system be replaced, since that is what caused earlier VANOS issues and the servo motor issue. Together the estimate is $2,500.

Is there no hope to have this covered under the timing chain campaign? I asked the dealership why the timing chain was not inspected after I brought the car in for the valve cover gasket and the VANOS system just 3 weeks prior, especially since this is a known issue. His reply was that it is not a known issue for my specific model (N12 I am assuming is what he meant) and they do not investigate issues if there is no campaign or recall associated with it.

Are N12's not experiencing this issue? Is MINI going to leave me high and dry on this? It also seems that if they timing chain issue would have been spotted I would not have had to replace the intake/exhaust solenoid and VANOS adjustment units ($1,400 for first repair, estimated $600 for the exhaust servo motor). Dealership is not offering any sort of goodwill. They vaugely said they would "work with me" to the tune of 10% off. It seems like the $2,500 price they gave me already includes this.

Is there any hope? It's frustrating to be on the verge of pouring $44k into a car that is only worth around $6k in trade.

TL;DR- I have an N12 with timing chain issues. $$$ to fix. Already spent $$ to fix VANOS recently. Can N14 campaign help me?

 

Sorry to hear about the problems you've been having with your "justa" Mini Cooper.
While these type problems do appear to be limited in the n12/n16 non turbocharged engines, it is unfortunately not the case on rare occasions (as your case clearly illustrates).
I think it a travisty that Mini Cooper has chosen to limit their campain on the timing chains to only certain "S" models within the 2007 through 20010 production years and even then tend to write those off if the've ever had the tensioner replaced and develope timeing chain problems after that initial tensioner replacement. Unfortunately there have been cases where tensioners were replaced only to fail again at a latter date.
These timing chain assembies are all pretty much the same with only minor adjustments made to the tensioner assembly in replacements and n16/n18 models.
Here's an older posting about this.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...n-problem.html
Obviously all timing chain failures should be covered under the campain throughout the second generation production run but Mini Cooper has chosen to limit their coverage under this campain.
I started a post on the n12/n16 Mini Coopers reliability and will bump that posting adding a link to your posting to show youre n12 issues.

 

Originally brought my Mini in with the car running rough. Dealer suggested an expensive oil change. Obviously this did not resolve the issue. After two more trips to the shop and a week later it was determined that my cam gears were worn. So to the tune of $2300 I got the car back, however still ran rough. Then on the forth visit, and a total reprogramming the car, it's finally running great again. However, how long will it last?

 

Plastic guide missing, bent sideways, I thought.
Then I noticed it was broke off and between the gears.
i was looking to see if there was any problems with timing chains in a N12 engines. I could not find much anywhere. Everybody was referencing the N14. I'm not certain, but most of the parts are the same or similar engineering design, I think.

My story is I bought an 09 Clubman R55 with an N12 because it was cheap (overheated thermostat housing blew a hole in it). After getting it back running, I decided to change the valve cover gasket that was leaking. Ran the car 4,000 miles. Seemed to run OK, no noises except at very cold startup, but sounded more like the starter for a second only.

i pulled the valve cover off and found the pictures attached.

I decided to put it back together and run it because I had no choice to make it to work that next day. The next day, I ran it and got a CCID - 031 and a P0015. Parked it and got my other car from my daughter and changed out the timing chain.

I didn't bother to measure the chain stretch because the guide is not even there. When I removed the tensioner, the piston came completely apart. Pulled the chain cassette out and found the plastic top guide down in between the chain sides.

This was a time bomb just waiting to happen.

An analogy here is I owned a Toyota Celica GT. Oil burning problem existed in the 1ZZ-fe at around 75k. Found out many had this problem. The Corolla used the same basic 1ZZ-fe but did not see the problem until 150k miles. The difference was performance and Hp.

I believe all the N14 engines are showing symptoms earlier because they are stressed at higher engine power. The N12 engines will most likely show up later in mileage with the same catastrophic results. The big problem is that Mini will not recall or help any of those engines because they lasted long enough.

My suggestion to everyone is just change it out. If you can do the work yourself, it can be done for under $300 with quality parts. Basically it's the same as the N14, but I just removed the throttle body (3 screws to remove it instead of the whole intake) so the tensioner bolt can be removed ($5 gasket). If you wait too long, the VANOS gears wear and you can add another $1000 to the cost of repair.

I replaced everything except the VANOS gears. They were still good.

 

My suggestion is that if you get the P0015 code and possibly the CCID-031 code, you should look under the valve cover to see if the top tensioner broke or is missing. It pushes down on the chain. When missing, the relative timing between intake and exhaust changes because the slack created now is taken up at the tensioner, rotating the intake camshaft backwards. If it is still intact, the next step would be measure the chain. Chinese tools will work here, but buyer beware on the quality. Lock the cams and crankshaft down. If they are off location, this would be indication enough to change out the chain set. If OK, measure chain. If bad, you need to change the tensioner. But if you have gone this far, changing the rest of the parts is about $175 more. If you are paying someone, the labor costs will increase much more.

After fixing the chain today, I noticed the hesitation and stalling when pulling out from a stop disappeared (6-speed). I almost had to over-rev to pull out before, now it's normal.