2nd Gen R56 Cooper S Most liked posts in thread: BMW Hit With Mini Cooper Engine Defect Class Action

Interesting, I recently had my car back for another try at finding a clunk in the front end, the answer? Front sway bar bushings!

Mine's a 2009 and I started hearing it at about 20K miles, I now have 46K on it and just reached warranty escape velocity......

 

Service told me the normal life expectancy of the bushings is 100k miles. I had a good laff on that just wondering where Corporate got their parts.

 

I don't understand your comment, I would think that would be right.....

I just did a whole bunch of maintenance work on a 100K 2002 Cooper S, including changing out ball joints, control arm bushings etc, most of it looked fine and showed little wear.

I guess that just because a part or two on my car fails, I don't assume the rest of the car is crap too.

 

I just digested the entire document and came to the exact same conclusion. When I read the claim that the frequently occurring cold start rattle was the result of "...poorly-timed pistons and valves slamming into each other" I actually burst out laughing.

Agree, and I do think BMW AG knew about it and swept it under the rug while quietly attempting to fix the problem and incrementally slip the redesigned parts on to the assembly line. It's the 1st Gen EHPS Pump all over again.

 

When the tensioner fails at 13k miles and the timing chain needs to be replaced, there's an obvious problem. As far as the suspension goes: the rear end swung out and hopped like a rabbit whenever I drove over railroad tracks so the right rear sway bar, bushings, link and strut were replaced @20k miles. Likewise for the front sway bar bushings, both front stabilizer links, right front strut, and front inner tie rod. I'm under 21k right now.

I don't assume the car is crap, I'm concerned about what may happen once the car is out of warranty.

 

This is a very dangerous problem. 2007 Mini with 65, 000. Regular maintenance at Mini Dealer. Car suddenly loses power while driving. Has happened on the highway and in regular driving.

 

Yes but............if it does it repeatedly, it's probably something other than the timing chain, when they fail it's a one shot deal

If your chain tensioner is not supporting the chain properly, it will give LOTS of warning, you can clearly hear it.

To me that's the real crux of the problem, people hear the noise but don't do anything about it, or they hear it and don't realize it is a problem that needs to be addressed, and they let it go till the engine fails catastrophically.

So how does MINI address that?

Is it possible to make a chain that never wears out?

Back in the day (call it mid- 70's) when Toyota was building it's vaunted reputation for reliability we used to replace timing chains on a fairly regular basis due to wear and noise, but it was a similar situation in that most owners did not realize there was something wrong till we pointed it out.

"Oh, you mean it's not supposed to make that noise?"

I fully expect to replace mine (my car is out of warranty now) sometime around 100K miles - I have 55K now. But I consider that a maintenance item not much different than replacing a timing belt. And you should see what it costs to replace the cam belt on some cars - on my Audi for example it's about $3K.

I still wonder what the people who filed the suit want from MINI - new engines for anyone? Timing chains for life? Or if this will go down similarly to the HPFP and power steering pump warranties on 1st gen cars, or like the CVT warranty extension given to Justa owners.

Couple this with the oil consumption problems some turbo owners are having, the carboned up intake valve issue and on and on, and it does give MINI a terrible (and somewhat deserved) black eye.