I have been told I need to fix or replace the cylinder head on my 06 mini at only 59000 miles. the estimate is for more than the blue book value of the car. Any ideas of why this could happen or has happened to you? I feel like this must be a manufacturer problem but after "reaching out" to mini, they offered the dealership on 10% of the repair.

 

Sounds like you have a burnt valve.....
But the description is kinda odd...
A compression check is usually done...then a leak down test to confirm if it is a valvebor piston/ring issue...but them saying the head is in need of replacement point to the valves...
It comes from being excessively lean on one or all cylinders...
Usually seen on cars where less than the REQUIRED 90+ OCTANE fuel has been used...
Folks "get away" with less for a bit..but once the valves have been heated very hot, they wear rapidly...result, you need a valve job...many just swap the head.
You might want to find a shop that can have the head removed, and then sent out or exchanged....
At 10 years from the date of manufacturing... I think you are kinda reaching to call it a defect in manufacturing...
The oldest gen1 MINI cars from 2002 could be making babbies if they were people...and your cars basic motor dates back to that car...
Yes..folks do burn valves...folks are cheap...and try to save 15¢ a gallon on fuel...gen1 cars REQUIRE midgrade+ fuel (midgrade in my area is usually 89) so premium or a mix of premium and midgrade in my area was needed...
Please note the octane numbers are based on the US octane rating system...other nations use a different testing system with higher numbers for the same fuel..

 

Assuming it is actually the head, the cost isnt as bad as you think.

Way motorworks is very good source for anything you might need for a mini.
They offer a rebuild service for only $495
http://www.waymotorworks.com/cylinde...0-r52-r53.html

If you can't do the work yourself find a good shop. Hopefully you can find a place for less then $2,000. I

 

thanks for responses. I had my mechanic and then the mini dealership tell me the code reads misfire on cylinder #1 with the first guy saying the compression was 180 and the dealer saying 120. dealer did the leak down test and states #1 70% leak. the written report states -worn cylinder head guides "can hear gas escaping through the cylinder head valve guides. cylinder head replacement is recommended. at a tune of $7263. Yes, Im in SF bay area but this seems wild. I will try finding a shop that can do more investigation. I just wanted to hear if others have had this problem as Ive seen other threads about that service engine soon and the misfire code. Thanks

 

Wow, that's crazy. Should be a crime to charge someone that much.

Does the car run ok or is it just giving you a code? Might be something simple, especially since your mechanic got 180 compression.

 

The price they quoted is for a full motor....I think...usually $5000-5500 plus install...

 

You might also get more directed help in the 1st-gen area, since your 2006 is a 1st-gen car.

 

Thx Shawnnn, yes car runs fine, not rough, no hesitation, no smells, etc. just fine. Even my brother said it runs like the go cart it is suppose to run like. I don't work on cars, so what kind of shop do I look for that kind of specializes in figuring this out since I do not want the dealership to do the work and my regular guy didn't seem to figure it out- he changed the spark plugs and the coils and still got the code. My understanding is that the cost of repair is so high because it is hard to get to the cylinder heads ( being a mini/bmw)- I thought they told me the engine and other stuff has to be removed?

 

I'm not familiar with San Francisco, but hopefully someone on this forum can recommend a good mini mechanic in the area. Make another post looking for one maybe?

There's a chance it might need engine work but it's not impossible to do for a good mechanic. It's really unfortunate you're having these problems at relatively low miles but it should be fixable.

Assuming the dealers leak down was correct, hopefully it's just a bad valve. If the rings/piston are bad then it will get expensive.

These cars do seem to need a lot of maintenance, only had mine for a year and it's needed a lot of work. Bought mine with 90k miles

Good luck!