Hey y'all,
This is my first time posting, so I have a question.
On and off continuously for the past 2 or 3 years this light keeps popping up. I have a 2009 Mini Cooper S, I got it in the summer of 2013, used, and had roughly 79,000 miles on it. Everything worked perfectly but within the first week the check engine light came on, sent to the dealer and replaced an O2 sensor. A couple days later the light came on again, they replaced the other O2 sensor. Worked perfect for a few months.


That same year, around December of 2013 I was driving back to school from home, about a 550 mile trip. I only had about 50 miles left, when that light showed up, the yellow half engine so I looked it up in the book and it said reduced power or whatever. I wasn't driving crazy or anything, I had the cruise control on and I was going straight on a flat highway. So I drove like 40 mph the rest of the way home. The next day I turned it on and it was still on, so I took it to AutoZone and they couldn't pull any codes off. They said I should take it to the Mini dealer because they probably have some specific machine or whatever.
So I drove it around town, it eventually went away but would come back whenever I hit the accelerator hard, like flooring it to merge onto the freeway or something. Besides that, it'll go away after a couple days of not hitting the accelerator.


It's never not turned on or anything crazy. Just that light comes on when I floor it. I know I need my valve cover replaced (I'm a college student working her way through school, so money is very tight). The check engine light is on and the only code that pulls up is because of the valve cover needing to be replaced. It used to idle pretty rough, sometimes it stutters and I was told this is because of the valve cover. I've taken it to the dealer for oil changes with that light on and they never said anything about it. I've stayed up to date with services, oil changes, 100,000 mile tune up.


Even still the light comes on only when I floor it, but besides that it's running great. The fuel mileage is fine also. I'm thinking of taking it within the next few weeks to the dealer while I'm in the area (it's 90 miles away) to have them do some diagnostics, but I wanted to see if anyone has had any similar issues? I've looked at a lot of threads and it seems no ones case is similar to mine. Anything helps, thanks and sorry for writing a book!

 

Since you have a CEL, there is a stored code. You need to get it pulled and post back here. From what you describe, could be a zillion different problems.

 

Could be spark plugs.

 

When the reduced power indicator comes on, was power significantly reduced or did you not notice any symptoms other than that light? So the code the dealer pulled from the OBDII port was a code indicating a valve cover vacuum leak? Do you remember what P code it was? When you floor it and the light comes on, I'd suggest bringing it to an Autozone or something of the sort to pull the code right away.

 

A leaky valve cover could cause your engine to stumble, run rough which would cause your ECU to reduce power to protect the engine. It could also be the diverter valve diaphragm leaking (intake air leak) as there known to tear which would mostly act up upon when you really step on the accelerator. If you're not under warranty it's probably a better idea to find a Mini/BMW indy shop that specializes in these cars as the dealers a pretty expensive!

 

Check your intake and all turbo parts hoses for tightness. Also check that your breather hoses that come out of the valve cover are not loose.

 

Sounds like a failing HPFP to me. My 2011 did almost the same things when the HPFP was going out. Stay off the gas, no turbo, fine. Get on it some, stumbles, hesitation, popping thru the intake. How are your cold starts? Does the idle fluctuate a lot, nearly stalling?