Please let's keep this thread only to count the number of cars that have this issue (no lemon law, Magnus whatever law and so one). We NEED to have the exact count of the cars that elict this problem - it seems not to be uncommon. Mine has it - sunger's has it - and I heard someone else in California has it. teh dealers keep on telling us that they never heard it - I heard it on three cars (including mine) and we HAVE to keep track of those cars. A "mine too" with the type of car and the major packages installed and the delivery week would suffice - with the location of the car (state +/- city - if comfortable).

So - the probelm is as following: a number of cars have problems at low RPMs - usually - sputtering really bad with good gas, and the check engine comes on randomly. The car goes at the dealer and usually there seem to be various explanations (mine will be described below). The car is released back to the customer and - usually after 100-200 miles - the check engine comes back.

Please - please - let's keep this thread clean of debates on laws/policies/R53 vs R56 and so one. We cannot dilute it - the whole point is to find out how many of the cars have this problem and later to decide what to do. But for now we have to know how often this is happening.

MMM

If the admins will find this important and make it sticky - it would be appreciated.

 

First 2007 MINI R56 in the area. Non-S. Auto transmission. Sports package. Other non-essential addons.

Check engine light on at 240 miles, 3 days after purchase. 6 days in service. Was told first that it is a firmware problem, then I was told that the cooling system had a large bubble that gave the error message. Cooling system primed, and car still (discretely) sputtering at low RPMs.

Check engine on at 650 miles. Back in service. They could not reproduce the error. Logs sent to MINI - told that "something very wrong went with the programming of the car" and "they cannot communicate with the MINI". Was told that an intermediate build of the operating system (25.2) will be installed that offers a temporary patch for the issue and the final operating system (26.0) will be released in June and that will solve the programming problems.

As discussed above - I will not make comments on the plausibility of these explanations. dealer helpful but obviously this is a new car and they don't have a complete grasp on all the issues.

MMM

I am not sure how to calculate week - week 7 of this year - but delivered at day 1 after the launch.

 

MINI a week old (ordered 3/5, production 3/12, delivery 3/29) with only 165 miles on the clock. Driving to work this morning, orange engine light came on and stayed on for the remainder of the trip (only 6 or 7 miles).

Called dealership, then service department. Made an appointment to drop my MINI off tomorrow, but they can't start working on it until Monday 9th.

Service Manager says he's had a few R56 Coopers with similar problems, but no Cooper S's so far. He *thinks* it could be a mass air intake sensor (I might have got that wrong), but obviously needs to check the car out.

For the record, I have a Cooper S with Premium Package and Cold Weather Package (no Sport Package).

For what it's worth, there's no apparent difference in how the car drives. The engine light stays on, but there's no sputtering or strange idling. MINI is located in Virginia.

 

400 miles engine light on. At the dealershep they tell me is air flow senzor reedig, and they need new program for comp.

 

1000 miles on odometer, R56 MC, built in december 2006, in service late feb. The check engine came on while on the highway doing like 65mph, stayed on for the rest of my trip 15 miles, was on for the next trip 20 miles, then the next time I drove it the light was not on. It's been 150 miles mixed driving and I haven't seen the light come back on. I have not gone to the dealer yet because the light has not come back on.
Also i should add the car didn't drive differently pre- during- or post light, no sputtering ect.

 

Update--

Collected from the service department on Saturday morning (day 8). They replaced the Leak Diagnostic Pump (had to wait a day or two to get the part), did a bunch of tests and everything seems ok. Mine was the first S they've encountered with the "check engine light" problem, so there was a fair amount of communication with MINI to discuss the problem.

Anyway, it's great to have it back at last.....

Steve

 

good news - sounds like it was an isolated incident

 

They did a software upgrade. As I was told - there is a (beta?) intermediate version of the software that was built inthe last month or so - to address this (and some other problems) - about 9 or 10 of them. I was told also that there will be a (major) release of the firmware in June or July that will takk ecare of these problems. So far - I am 500 miles after the last check engine light message - and so far the car runs ok.

Thank you - MMM

 

Our little MC is 1 week old today! It is has auto trans with convenience, premium and cool weather packages. The yellow light came on right after we filled it up the 1st time at around 130 miles. Called the dealer and they said to check the gas cap. Although we were sure the cap was installed properly, we took it off and put it back on. After a couple of restartes the light went away. It reappeard again so I took the cap off and reinstalled it again. The light again went off after awhile only to reappear after refueling again. I suspect a bad gas cap and will be taking it to the dealer to be checked within the next week. We have almost 400 miles on the car at this point.

 

Well I had a little over 100 miles on my Mini when the same problem started.
Why wouldn't this fall under the lemon law?

 

Lemon laws vary by state, but they generally require that the mfg/dealer be unable to fix a problem after a certain number of trys and after the car has been out of service for a certain period of time.

- Mark

 

My 04 S has been randomly sputtering since I got it. The dealer said they gave me an upgrade firmware thingy but after 60k, it's still does it. The light never comes on nor does the car cut off, just starts idling real bad. I notice it more when I'm driving through states where the attendant has to pump your gas. Seems like the car doesn't like to have the gas lid open while running.

 

My 2007 MC automatic, delivered March 26th had the yellow engine light come on today at 919 miles. It stayed on during the rest of my trip. When I got home, my husband played with the gas cap and restarted the car a few times, but the light was still on. I haven't noticed any difference in how it drives. I made an appointment for Friday (today is Wednesday) with the service dept. When I made the appointment, the SA asked me if I just got gas. "No, I filled up last week." He still said it's probably the gas cap (I guess that's their stock excuse). Anyway, I'll post what they tell me on Friday.
Edited to add: the light went out today at approximately 970 miles after several days and trips. I was on the second leg of my trip when I started the car and the light did not come on. It was raining....I wonder if that had anything to do with it. Perhaps, if it was the gas cap after all?

 

I have an 07 R56 MCS with manual, sport, premium, lsd, cold weather pack

at about 800 mile the CEL came on. hasn't been off since. the code from odb II scan was p2188. no real drivability issues. after 100 miles and many days the cel still on. will have the car taken to dealer on may 16. the dealer is 75 miles away. will let you know what the problem is.

mike

 

Had Mini to the dealer today to check yellow "Check Engine Light" which has remained on. They indicated that this is the 3rd mini they have had with this problem and they are waiting for a software update in the next month or two that will resolve a inaccurate reading. They did a reset and the light didn't come on during the 120 mile trip home.

 

....being the one that initiated the thread and probably have the oldest 2007 MC Auto in the batch... (yep - first MC delivered on the launch day...)

- it affects the MC Auto cars (the incidence in MCS is very low - if any)
- the stock answer that your dealer will give you will be "the engine runs too lean/clean/whatever";
- changing the O2 sensor will NOT solve the issue;
- it is rather frequent (my dealer has 8 cars that he keeps track all MC non-S - in one state);
- it does NOT affect the drivability of the car (except for some sputter at low RPMs and low gears) - like a "cold engine in a cold day"
- the car drives nicely on 4th/5th and 6th gear;
- it seems to be a software issue rather than a pure mechanical problem;
- the sofware patch that was issued (and that I had installed it - I think the version of software is 58.1 or 59.1 - have to check - did NOT solve the issue;
- MINI is aware of it for about 1 month - ask your dealer before you buy the car - and they will have the solution "in one month or two" (I think that is unacceptable - but that is a different story);
- the reset works for few hundred miles - than the engine light pops up again;

Hope that helps. I am pretty upset (nevertheless) - my car was in service about 30% of the time since I bought it to have this solved.

MMM

(please keep this thread for head counting and MINI response only. The Lemon Law and other issues can be easily searched in this forum and they depend from state to state. Just be sure to ask your MA or MINI serviceman to deal with it in an expedite manner).

 

my friend drove a demo car that had check engine + transmission light on, and never started again...

 

Forgive my ignorance but I'm not quite sure what you guys mean by "sputtering" as this is the first and only Mini I've ever driven.

However, I'm having the same Check Engine Light issue. My dealer tells me that "Mini is very aware of this, you're no the only one going through it." And he tells me that the light may very well come back on (after my 2nd visit in the 3 weeks I've owned the car) and unless the car's "driving weird or something feels obviously wrong" to just keep driving until they have an update on the situation.

It's "a software issue."

Annoying though... this may not have been a super expensive car, but it's still $$$ and time.

OH, sorry... I live in Nashville, TN. 07 automatic MC.

 

At lower RPMs (or in the 1st or 2nd gear - the car feels like "not warmed up in a cold day" - acceleration not smooth and the rpms not fluid. It is a distinct feeling - the engine not running "right" - try to drive slow, 5-10-15 miles/hour and see if the engine runs smoothly. I think that is what they say by "engine running too clean" - probably the air to gas ratio curve is impaired at lower RPMs and they will have to reprogram that.

The other thing that I observed is when downshifting (manually - with the paddles) from the 3rd to the 2nd gear, there is a sudden increase in the RPMs beyond the "expected" one... Like the belt is loose or something.

I know, I know - these are subjective feelings. And moreover it is hard to explain them to people who did not experience them - but once you are aware - you become soon aware of them.

Yes - the car drives nicely at high speeds, high RPMs. On highway - no problem. At slower speeds, or when downshifting... not so much.

And MrsTune - I agree with you. It might not be the most expensive car, but there is no sense of urgency in fixing the issue. Again - my MA told me about 7 cars in his dealership (all of them MC auto), and I tend to believe that not a whole lot more MC autos were sold. So - it is a rather frequent occurence - at least in the MC auto cars. Most of the people on this forum have MCS, so I think it is less of an issue.

MMM

 

It's been exactly a week since the last time my light went on. The light's on again today. Driven approximately 120 miles since the last time.

 

Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 1

Gallery
I had the same problem yesterday. Light didn't go off after atleast 15 restarts since it first appeared yesterday. Took it to the dealer this morning. I gave my keys to him and he came back saying the light didn't turn on. (Sounded suspicious to me)

Anyways, a code for Mass Air-sensor (something like that) came up. He said the sensor is faulty on the 7 day old car and needs to be replaced. I asked him if he had seen any minis with this issue and he said none.

I have a print out of the code, not on me right now.
It doesn't drive different but i do think that the engine now starts like a more traditional car as opposed to the instant split second start i was awed by when i first got it.

 

Had the second occurence of the check engine light yesterday. Jeff Ferguson at Global Imports here in Atlanta is very helpful, explained that the computer fault giving a engine-rich signal will be corrected with a June software upgrade. Some cars seem to be actually running rich, others just seem to have a false-positive signal.

Took delivery of my '07 MC with auto on Feb 17, first occurence was on March 31 with 2,900 miles on the odometer. Dealer kept car for two days and did not give me any information on what caused the fault or what if any corrective action was taken. Second occurence was yesterday June 5 at 4,300 miles. Drove the car in to the dealer, Jeff explained the situation, and I'm back at home. The light has gone off but will be checking back in June to see about the upgrade.

Lynn C.

 

The light's back OFF again on my car and at this point, I have just learned to live with it.

As a suggestion from another Mini owner who's going through the same issue, I'm going to put in 89 grade fuel when I fill up again next and see what happens. It seems (and this might just be my imagination too) that with a full tank of gas, the light goes back off. Once it empties a little and the air mixes with it, the light comes on.

Even though it's now off again, I'm just bracing myself for when it's on so I'll see what happens when I put a lower grade gas in there. Who knows? Worth a shot yes?

 

My light came on when the tank was half full. I know for sure - because the first answer that is given to you is "check gas cap" - and tehy ask you if you recently filled up. It wasn't the case.

If you pu the 89 - the dealer will jump 10 feet in the air and will tell you that it's your fault if the engine runs improperly. It is rated for premium gas - thus they will coer the warranty only if you put "good gas".

(I'm pretty upset with my CEL issue - and no - I am not taking it lightly. It should not have happened - mine happened in Feb 21 for the first time - 3 days after the official launch. Again - the attitude of "live with it" is not proper for an "upscale vehicle" from an "upscale company". What makes things worse is that - my car being the only car in the household - I depend on it. It's a "check engine" issue - not a misfitted trim or a rattling noise. Is the car going to start tomorrow morning? Or tonight - when I am in an emergency? Who knows? Maybe yes, probably yes, but not certainly yes. That is why I purchased this car and not... I don't know... a Yugo? Cannot care less about "fun to drive" issue, if the car might not be drivable at all...

And waiting for four months for a "software fix" is unacceptable. The car was launched almost 9 months ago. Not all the cars experience it (and that makes me a bit more suspicious that is not only the software, if a bug - it should be reproductible in the same test conditions. yes - i know, I know - let's not split hairs on quality of gas, temperature etc... but teh cars have generally the same software and they run more or less the same - it should have been mroe frequent - and it is not. Anyway - few cars ion each dealership experience it and dealers deal it differently. I was lucky to have a dealer and service that are open and honest - terms that you usually don't associate with the car dealerships - but they are obviously powerless without a good MINI support. That lags big time.

Don't get me wrong. It's a car that is nice and fun. But I would not buy it again - at leats in the same combination - MC non-S with auto transmission - most of the cars that have this issue are Auto/non-S to my knowledge). And - overall - because of how the company deals with the issue - I'd probably not buy again a MINI.

Let's not start a war of words. The ones that have the car and that enjoy it - great! Please enjoy your car. It's fun, it's speedy, it's probably a blast. I'll just look somewhere else. More reliable and backed by a more efficient company policy.)

MMM

 

Hi minimaximini,
I'm also experiencing the engine light issue and understand your concerns. Why don't you write a letter to MINI stating basically what you wrote in your last post? This issue has obviously affected your feelings towards not only your car, but MINI in general. They should know when one of their customers develops strong feelings either positive or negative based on their experiences with their new car. If you do write, please share MINI's response with us. Thank you and good luck!