I have 2305 miles on my MINI as of tonight. There are only have two suspicious activities, in my opinion, going on with the car. The first thing happens when I start the car, and sometimes @ stoplights. It gets up above 1000rpms and then drops to about 500 making a sound as if it's about to stall. What is this? Also in the past few days I have driven my car a little harder than normal, taking it up to 5000 some shifts before shifting. The car seems to sound different. Is this just me or is there something wrong with my precious MINI?

Thanks, hopefully your posts will bring good news

Mikey

 

My car has done the near stall thing before, always sitting in traffic at a light. As for the change in sound, I think exhausts change tone after they break in a little. Could that be it?

 

Sound slike you have a problem with the computer ECU or the controlling software. This is not common to hear about in new 2005 MINIs as this used to be a pretty widespread problem in the early production cars ('02-'03 respectively).

Take it back to the dealer. The car clearly is having an issue and it is best for you to have them look at. It could also be a gas related problem, in which case, it would be a good idea to switch gas stations to see if anything changes.

Any mods in the car?

 

After it goes back to near stall it immediately goes back up to 1000+rpms and stays there

 

i have a 2005 cooper. mine does the same thing. quite often. i have learned to live with it.

 

Guys take your MINI to the dealer its a quick fix they just reflash your ECU.

 

You shouldn't have to. That may be acceptable in a highly tuned racing car (or a street car with a missing spark plug or in need of a tune up), but not on a new MINI. If the idle hiccoughs like that it could stumble and stall when you release the clutch and cause a rear-ender. Even if you avoid the rear ender you could probably get better gas mileage with the engine idling properly. The dealer should be ablel to fix it for you.

 

Excellent suggestion. Concise too.

 

Mine would rough Idle "maybe" once a week, after I went to the dealer for the software update and reflash, happens daily now. I'd say it's going back, but they did so well with the last fix....

 

Are you sure you're not just hearing the whine from your supercharger? Break it in properly then take it up to 7000 and see how it sounds

 

my 05 mcs does it to, at a stoplight it will jump up to 1k stay there for a few seconds the drop down and seem like its going to stall. i know its not the gas because i only use shell vpower, mobile. but it only does it once in a while. i brought it to the dealer (ferman mini, palm harbor, fl, there really great there) and taked to some of the tech's which are good friends of mine as well and said its normal. its just the ecu programming.
tim

 

I get the drop after starting cold most mornings. Never had it happen after starting off though. 2500 miles on my '05 so far. I'm flashing the ECU tonight or tomorow, so I'll know if it is a problem with that, which I doubt.

 

Hey guys, I've had this happen before on my 7/02 MCS. I've never wanted to have the dealer reflash my ECU in fear of them messing something up. I would disconnect the battery all night, re-connect in the morning and take a hard drive.

My DSC and flat tire light would come on soon after the first start, I'd pull it over and restart it, lights go off, car runs great and it hasn't happen for over a year now. Good luck.

 

It's an ECU issue. You guys are describing exactly what my car (9/02 build Cooper) used to do. I took it back for a software reflash, and the problem disappeared.

Those guys at Ferman are either lazy or uninformed. It's not normal, even if that's their normal response to it.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...842#post245842

 

My 3/03 MC did that when new,the dealer reflashed,and the idle has been steady ever since.

 

Which version are the dealers on right now? v39? Id like to know before
making such suggestion as many people have had 'issues' with v39.

 

Ditto on my Cooper. No problems since.

 

Same here.

 

hey have had several cars with that issue and reflashing did nothing to change the problem, and no there not lazy, that dealership has recived the best motoring award two years in a row. which has made them the best dealership in the country. also most of the tech are good buddies of mine, and really into minis, the master tech there is amazing, he really knows his stuff(pat).

 

I just had my 04 MCS reflashed about 1 month ago and I think it runs better. You can always ask them what version they are using and discuss your concern with v39.

 

My point is that if they're telling you it's normal, they're wrong. It may be common, but it's not normal or acceptable for a new car not to maintain its idle. It's a problem that has to be fixed by the dealer, and if reflashing the ECU doesn't work, they need to figure something else out themselves or get in touch with MINIUSA. They're insulting your intelligence if they expect you to just live with it.

 

Just as an update, I have not had the idle drop since flashing to MTH software. The idle hovers around 1k when starting cold, and does not drop like it's going to stall. This would happen 8 of 10 times when stock. It only happened to me when first starting, never after driving out of the parking lot like others have reported. I have started it about 10 times cold since flashing, and temps have ranged from 60 to 80 while doing so - the same that would give me the drop when stock.

 

I don't know if this is the same, but my '03 S has always done a little rough idle thing. Mine seems to be after it warms up if I'm pull up to a light and am sitting for a bit the fan kicks on and causes a little drop and a shutter. All I've ever had to do was give it just a little gas and it quits. I've had the ECU updated a few times at the dealership, v 39 I think was the last and I've recently done the MTH, but I still get a little shutter if I'm sitting.

Same thing or different?

 

I just got V41 yesterday, confirmed it was V41 with the dealer, and it eliminated the cold hard start. I didn't have to do the reset (Test 19-21) either. If the problem returns tonight, will do the reset and let you know tomorrow.

 

As to the sound at higher revs... this is normal. It's probably the super charger kicking it... it makes the engine sound different.