Since installing Manic stage 2 some weeks ago, every now and then I get a misfire from the engine. The car will stutter for a second and emit a puff of white smoke. When this happened today I found some residue along the gasket, next to the coils. Anyone have a clue what this could be? Apart from when this happens (usually under WOT) the car is running great.

 

I was able to pull the following error codes;

 

*Pull your coils off real quick and peak down the tunnels..look for oil residue - which would be from leaking valve cover

*May want to pull the plugs for a peek at them too.. I just changed mine and they were beyond fouled, with no real apparent symptoms

 

Had a look but couldn't see any real issue....?

 

If the valve cover were leaking you would oil sitting on those right now.. so that much is good news. **those error codes are a bit worrying though.

I didn't have any codes or issues..but take a look at the state of these plugs. I can only wonder how bad things need to get before it throws a code...

Look close at #2 and 3

 

For anyone interested, I've been in touch with Manic and they advise to check the ground cable (ie, I might have a bad cable). Does that make sense?

 

From your pictures, the compression washers on your spark plugs were never snuggged up. These should be flattened slightly if your plugs were installed tight enough. Get yourself a proper Mini coooer spark plug socket and you can easily address this.
the plastic secure clips ( for the wire plug ins) on top of your ignition coils need to be clicking/engaging to ensure that the wiring doesn’t randomly get loose.

 

 

Those were plugs I changed out after buying the car. Previous owner and BMW stealership installed 2 different sets of plugs and failed to torque them at all; this while troubleshooting a similar 'misfire' issue. Perfect example of why you should do simple services yourself vs. Trusting ***** service centers.