Turbo oil feed line leaking onto engine/manifold. Possibly could have caused a fire.
2009 MINI Cooper S Clubman engine complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 31 of 31, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The problem first started as a noise when starting the engine in the cold. This "rattle" noise would continue until the engine got a bit warmer and then would go away. Everytime the engine started cold the noise would come back. I took my (now out of warranty) car to the mini dealership for inspection and repair and the tensioner was replace. Unfortunately the repair did not last long. Only 2 months later the noise returned. I am still living with this "rattle" noise hoping my car does not burst into flames while driving. I can not afford the (over $1000) quote for repairing the timing chain assembly at this time. I feel, after reading through many many complaints on the internet, that this should be a recall and all timing chains of these vehicles should be replace. There is no reason that a car with less than 75,000 should need a new timing chain! I have never used anyone but my local mini dealer to fix any issue with my car, I feel that mini has let me down. I will be looking into joining the class action lawsuit against mini.
I was driving and then the engine made a weird rattle and then quit. Thankfully I wasn't traveling faster than 45mph at the time of occurrence. Engine is completely ruined.
After complaining to the dealership 2 times prior, we brought in our mini for service with a cold-start rattle that was related to the timing chain system. The dealership in st. Louis replaced only the tensioner, even though according to standard protocol (puma measure #10686850-13) they should have replaced the entire timing chain system. When the rattle returned a couple thousand miles later we brought it back and they told us that it was a "normal noise" and sent us on our way. The timing chain system eventually broke down, but because we were now outside of warranty they refused to fix it. I would advise anyone dealing with this issue to pursue the lemon law, because mini is aware of the issue and isn't fixing it as they know they should. We gave them ample opportunity to fix the issue, and because of their negligence we ended up with a vehicle that didn't run.
Passenger seat air bag sensor mat has been tripping the fault to light up the dashboard and over head lamps telling the driver the airbag is disengaged, with or without a passenger in the seat. Previous year mini's as well as same year mini's have been affected causing mini to extend a warranty or even a recall in the instance of bmw. However for my make model and year no such warranty has been issued or extended. This is a mandatory safety feature under federal and state law, consumers should not have to pay 100's if not 1000's of dollars time and again for a part that was designed to last only a few years when all vehicles must posses a safe working airbag for the life of the car. Have contacted mini USA as well as various dealers, USA and uk based. They will not provide any information with regards to the part and if it is used in previous years vehicle's with the known issues. They claim that the computer says "your" VIN number has no known issues. Mini tells me I should only change my oil once every 2 years or 15 thousand miles. They also tell me not to worry about the car unless a warning lamp comes on. They also tell me that my vehicle burns about a litre of oil for every 5000 miles driven. As far as I know running an engine on 2 litres oil will cause it to seize. How can this practice by the company prevent or provide for safe usage to consumers who don't know anything about cars except how to drive one.
Engine warning light taken for mini dealership for service on 8 aug 2012, 3 dec 2012, and now in june 2013. Vehicle now has about 36,800 miles and is no loner under warranty by about seven months. Engine temperature light now comes on and vehicle had no oil showing on dip stick. Cannot tell if oil is burning off and no evidence of leak. Repairman now states that the timing chain is the issue and will cost upwards of $2800 to fix.
Timing chain failure. Vehicle engine light appeared, engine temp shot up and I had to stop immediately. Engine would not restart and vehicle towed to repair shop. $1,800 repair.
I live where the weather gets into the teens regularly this time of year. My car started making a weird noise when I started in one morning. Then when I tried to drive it, it had no power. I took it in and had to have the throttle body and new intake manifold put in for the cost of over $1100. I was told by the service technician that they have only had to do this repair on mini's that live in cold climates and that it was no fault of mine. However there is no recall on this defect and I'm curious as to why?
Check engine light came on and there was big decline in performance. Also, the engine has been making a rattling sound like a diesel engine for several months now when the engine is cold. The car just exceeded its 50,000k mile warranty, of course. I took the car in for service at an independent dealer. Got a call today saying that my turbo needed to be replaced at the tune of about $2700! Also, the timing belt needs to be replaced at a tune of about $1300. I spoke with the technician and he tells me that he sees these problems in bmw/mini all too frequently on vehicles with low mileage. He says mini knows there is a problem with the original timing belt so mini doesn't even make that model of timing belt anymore. He said they also know there is a problem with the oil supply line to the turbo being too close to the exhaust which cooks the oil and clogs the line which eventually leads to oil starvation for the turbo. Mini recommends oil changes at 15,000 mile intervals which could also be an issue but I've read about people who had the oil changed every 5,000 miles and still had problems. Mini has recalled the auxiliary water pump only because it became a safety issue. My car is defective and outside of the warranty so now I'm stuck with a $5500 bill for repairs.
Recall campaign no: 12v‑008 electric auxiliary water pump http://www-odi.the federal safety agency.dot.gov/defects/results.cfm the federal safety agency website says we are also notified to take the vehicle to a bmw dealer for repair. Why cannot I not do this? We have a bmw dealer in boise. Owners of the recalled vehicles are notified to take their vehicle to a bmw dealer, who will replace the auxiliary water pump to prevent any incidents related to this issue. This preliminary evaluation is closed. The odi reports cited above can be viewed at www-odi.the federal safety agency.dot.gov/complaints under the following identification numbers (odi nos.): 10286597, 10286663, 10289793, 10310677, 10314796, 10342365, 10394808, 10394192, 10403982, 10418325, 10422646, 10429003. I cannot tell you how many hours I have spent on the phone with mini, mini of murray, and mini roadside assistance, my local bmw dealer, and several repair shops and a tow trucking company.mini is completely leaving those customers in the lurch that do not have mini dealers in their state. Now mini of murray is telling me that if I fix my car in boise after I have received the recall notice that I am still on the hook for paying for this even if a mini dealer were to inspect the repair from another repair shop. How is this legal? All I want is to have the repair done as soon as possible and be reimbursed for it, without having to drive a potentially dangerous vehicle 700 miles to do it. It's a serious waste of resources, time and money! Someone please do something to make this right without telling me that there's nothing they can do.?
The timing chain tensioner backed out during morning commute and the car lost its oil and came to a complete stop. This is a recurring problem that mini should address with a recall!
This all started late 2009 or early 2010 when I started my mini and it sounded like a diesel instead of a gas engine, after the car ran a few minutes the rattling sound dissipated. I continued to hear this daily during cold starts so I contacted a mini dealer who instructed me that there was a recall in the works for faulty timing chain tensioners but the parts were not available yet so continue to drive it since if other things fail it is under warranty. After a few weeks the tensioners were replaced and everything sounded normal again. Then I received another recall notice concerning possible fires in the water cooler for turbo? Before I could get the vehicle in for the recall, in september of 2012 I noticed a very loud metallic rattle and extreme loss of power at 2,000rpm coming from the passenger side of the engine compartment and assumed it was the recall causing the issue. I took the mini in for the recall oct 13, 2012 and mentioned the loud rattle noise-power issue, after having my car two days the dealer informs me that the tensioners/timing chain is out of specifications and creating the extreme noise and power loss. Dealer is requesting $2500.00 to repair something that obviously has been/is an issue with mini cars. I writing you because this situation was scary when I was trying to accelerate in fast flowing traffic conditions or crossing traffic and the power would cut out at 2,000rpm leaving me short shifting and struggling not to cause a wreck. It really needs investigated since there are so many complaints and safety concerns. Thank you.
Noticed a loud rattling noise coming from the front passenger side after a cold start. The noise went away after driving for about a minute so, it was attributed to the same loud noise that minis make after cold starts. However, noticed that the noise seemed louder than normal after a couple of other cold starts and decided to tow the car in after the check engine light (yelllow) came on and the engine was jerky (as though the engine was about to stall). Drove the car home with no incident (about 5 miles). I towed the car to the dealership the next day and was told the timing chain guide(s) broke and disintegrated into the oil pan. Engine possibly needs to be replaced. A quick search online and on this site shows this has happened to a lot of mini owners (since 2008) and complaints have been filed. Why aren't there recalls yet????
Car rattling and sounding like a diesel for over a year. Dealer service advised to check oil and be sure oil level was proper. November 2011, all oil leaked out of car onto garage floor. Car towed to dealer service. They explained oil leaked because a "plug" had come loose. Dealer replaced sealing ring and adjusted the chain. I expressed concern about the engine and requested a diagnostic be done. Service manager replied the car was already put together and I would need to make another appointment. Car continued to rattle loudly. Made another appointment december 2011 after researching online and finding a known problem with tensor chain. I informed dealer that I expected the chain to be replaced and a complete engine diagnostic. Dealer replaced tensor chain. Car continues to rattle intermittently. Oil is checked twice per week and kept at proper level.
Vehicle failed due to issue with the timing chain tensioner. This caused the timing chain guides to break and drop into the oil pan. Entire engine may need to be replaced. Engine failed as I was pulling out onto a very busy street (7th street in phoenix az) leaving me stranded and unable to move in traffic. The car had to be pushed onto a side street.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 mini cooper s clubman. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency campaign id number: 12v008000 (engine and engine cooling). The contact stated that she was unable to secure an appointment for recall repairs due to a lack in availability of the necessary parts. The contact called two dealer locations and neither dealer had the parts needed to complete the recall repair readily available. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 50,000.
2009 mini clubman s... Timing chain needs replaced at 51000. 1000 miles out of warranty. Mini will not take responsibility. This is poor engineering and even poorer lack of accountability from mini for a known, documented, and very frequent problem.
After driving to work for 30 minutes, I parked my car. I thought I smelled something as I walked away, so I stopped an looked, but I did not see anything. Five minutes after walking into my building, someone told me my car was on fire. The first witness to see something (a co-worker) said he saw something on fire drop from the bottom of the car. When I ran outside, the car was putting off a significant amount of smoke. We tried to use a fire extinguisher, to no end, and within minutes we were seeing flames. Five minutes later, the front of the car was engulfed in fire. It was fast and hot. The fire department put it out, but it was a total loss. I have photo documentation of the event.
Tensioner failure 44,406 miles. Causing engine damage. Almost in accident because of failure. From dealer learned that and other mini cooper s had the same failure. Mini knows of the tensioner problem and has not fixed it.
Loud knocking diesel sound on cold start.
I parked my 2009 mini clubman after driving about 10 miles to the grocery store round trip and unloaded groceries, went back out to the car and it was smoking white smoke. Flames started shooting up from the engine over the windshield and it progressed from there. The smoke turned black all windows were blown out, front tires melted and blown and the car was declared an obvious total loss. It caught our home on fire and has caused more than $50,000 worth of damage. Please correct this problem.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2009 MINI Cooper S Clubman?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history