Hey NAM! So I haven't ever needed to post much at all if any, i normally just sift through the threads and learn from everyone else's experiences but i am currently at that point where i need a little direction, advice, maybe i am overlooking something or what i don't know.

So a little back story, about a year and some change ago my brother let me drive his 2012 JCW that he owned a short time, i was in the market for a BMW 335i but fell in love with the JCW the moment i got around some corners being he lives up in the mountains with the twisties...2 months later i bought my own 2010 JCW. For about a year and 6 months the car was amazing, felt amazing, i did the typical suspension stuff to help it, got rid of the run-flats, some Alta sway bars, and lowered on some H&R's, stuff i researched and made my decisions off this amazing website. The only "performance" mod i did was i bought a catless downpipe cause i wanted a little more of the addicting pops from the JCW, and subsequently i triggered the check engine light due to the o2 sensor, but figured i knew it was gonna happen, and i can live with it.

about 6 months later, while trying to pass a couple cars at once, i downshifted from 6th to 5th and then into 4th and as soon as i matted it, the car popped, fell straight on its face, kind of hiccuped hardcore and then drove like a non turbo mini. So i limped it home, pulled out my little scanner tool cause i knew that had to have thrown a code...and sure enough...p1497! I came straight here and starting searching and lord or lord the amount of info i found was amazing so i just made a to-do list, easiest task first and down the line off what others have done but to no avail.

Down Stream Airleak...i pulled apart every hose, pipe, clamp the works from the turbo to intake to make sure no leaks, bought a smoke tester and all, no leaks...cleared the code and drove it, the moment i got into hard acceleration, same thing. Long story short...i ended up totally replacing the throttle body, Diverter valve, entire intake manifold, valve cover, gaskets etc and nothing, so i took it into the local shop that specializes in Mini's but isnt the dealer. I have basic wrenching skills but anything more and i was outta my league so they dug into the car to find this air leak and when checking timing, BAM! ... apparently my Vanos solenoid on my camshaft "broke" and stopped working, bouncing the timing chain a bit and throwing the timing off to where the idle would bounce and no power etc. My car only has 90k miles and the service manager informed that the chains usually need replaced every 70k-80k, and he said i was lucky i didnt blow up my entire motor.

Well $2600 later, they fixed everything BUT the code was still there...so they went over everything twice, and still couldnt figure it out. Im not doubting their skills at all but im wondering if anyone here has any insight, or advice, or has ran into this same issue...downstream air leak sounds like something piping related, they think my valves maybe leaking, or some little o-ring looking seals on the camshafts, or the head of my engine was worked on before and done wrong but i have no proof of that unless they take off the head to check valve gasket part # i guess and im already $2600 in.... before i pull the trigger on another $1000+ that may not fix it i wanted to tap into your guy's knowledge, see if maybe the answer is more simple than what they make it to be. Maybe im getting ripped off cause i don't know much about Mini's or something.

Ive read so much and re-read so much i figured just asking straight up might help me more.

 

Googled the P1497 error code and in some cases the problem is with the valve cover and specifically the PCV that is part of the valve cover. But you replaced the valve cover. Is your JCW MY one with the PCV part of the valve cover or is the PCV seperate?

 

Found this on another site. Ended up being a cracked PVC hose from the back of the valve cover to the intake manifold.
https://www.motoringalliance.com/thr...7/#post-413902
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=11_3915

Here's another thread about the code. Someone replied saying they solved it by replacing the vanos valve. Its on the back of the head to the left of the intake manifold. I don't know if the shop also replaced the valve, but you could pull it off and look for a part number or a date of production and see if it has a date newer than 2010. From what you're explaining, it sounds like the vanos camshaft sprocket broke, and they replaced that and the timing chain?
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post4483694
Number 4 is the vanos valve. https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=11_3913

 

thanks for the replies! I am gonna pull the car in this afternoon and look specifically at the PVC hose thing and if im able too ill look at the vanos valve for a date or something. Also i was thinking it might be the noise maker but i wasnt sure, ill check that out too. Any benefits on deleting it completely?

i would hope a shop that specializes in Mini aside of the dealer wouldnt over look that tho...=/

 

Thought I would share my experience as I think I have fixed my issue and it was not any of the usual suspects.
History. I picked up a 2010 Cooper S with 100k on Craigslist as owner was getting P1497, and had coolant leak.
Changed water pump and rear plastic pipe so that fixed water leak.
Still needed to pass SMOG but was still getting P1497.
Checked cam cover and PCV hose but all OK. also would occasionally have rough shift, especially when cold.
I was monitoring throttle position with the Torque App and it looked like it jumped at times and not smoothly moving with throttle pedal position.

I got a used throttle body from ebay. It was a later model from 2013 and installed that and it now drives perfect, smooth changes, no error codes, all OBD readiness checks passed and been good for the last week.

I can only guess that the throttle was uncontrollably opening different than commanded that seemed like an air leak.

I'm happy, a fun little car.

 

Try checking the charge air tube going from turbo to air intake box. That rubber tube tends to distort at the turbo because of the heat and it will lose the tight seal. I had a 1497 code and this was the fix

 

Sooooo, I have been chasing the same code all year.

I have a 2009 MCS with abut 86K.

I have replaced the valve cover, vanos solenoid, timing chain and guides, I've done a carbon blast and seafoam, replaced the intake pipes and charge pipes, intake manifold seals, upper O2 sensor, MAF, vacuum lines, rear PCV hose, the turbo and DV, the intercooler, the HPFP, the thermostat housing, water pipe, AND water pump, spark plugs, coils, rear main seal, added a catch can, and added some heat-shielding between the turbo and the valve cover to keep the seal from cooking. I'm sure I missed some stuff, I've spent over 4K on parts for the car this year, not including labor.

I have smoke-tested the car about a million times and addressed the only small leaks I had.

Im in the same boat, so hopefully we can find a fix together, if we have the same symptoms and cause.