We are a second owner of this mini cooper had it about a year. Turn the car on and hear a rattle in motor. Worse when it's cold. Took it in to be checked it the timing tensioner. Apparently there has been an issue with this for sometime. Repair cost is around $2000. Car only has 76,000 miles this part should be provided under warranty. But when it breaks it affects the motor as well because it is metal it tears the motor up. Making a 10 dollar part cost thousands of dollars for repair. I don't feel like I am liable for the expense that mini knew was a problem and never recalled.
2007 MINI Cooper S engine complaints
Page 2 of 7: complaints 11 to 40 of 173, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Engine was running extremely rough and very loud engine noise rattle. Took the car to mini cooper service department in jacksonville for diagnostic they need to replace the timing chain, they want to charge me over 2,800. When my understanding this issue was addressed by a recall to be repair without charge.
Oil feed line leaking on turbo
I arrived in country 2007 have had problem with the ck engine light and noise from the engine, the large check engine over stering wheel blk and engine light in hector meter orange. Ive had in shop many time for this problem latest was sept 2015 said to carbin $1232.00 december 2015 $599.00 driving minium the engine run when the car is engine is off. Also pk up hill the will move when the emg bks or up and geir in nutural.
Engine failure occurred when driving on major freeway at posted speed limited of 75 MPH. Pulling off on slip road due to engine stopping. Only after full stop did engine warning lights come on. Checked under hood and found coolant had evacuated the system. Engine would not restart. Towed to mechanic and found that the gear shifter had worn through coolant hose due to engineering defect.
Timing chain replaced at 32k, just failed again at 92k with mobil one oil and filter changes every 5k miles. Chain jumped in garage during shut down of engine. Would not restart. I checked spark, fuses for primary fuel pump and made a judgement that it was a failure of the high pressure fuel pump and towed it to the dealer for warranty replacement. Got the call the timing chain jumped a link and I would need a replacement again. Can't believe it . Third chain with good lubrication maintenance in under 92k.
When driving down the highway at 60 MPH, the engine lost power and had a hard time getting it to the nearest exit for safety. When I stopped the car I attempted to check the fluid levels but the car was too hot to check and I waited for about an hour to cool. When I was able to check all levels down, including the oil, which I just had a change in less than a week previous to this indent. The oil level was down 2 1/2 quarts and the water level was below the safety level. When I took it to my independent certified bmw mechanic, he advised that the timing belt needed to be replaced. I called bmw and mini corporate offices and they both stated that I should take it to the dealership and they may be able to fix at a reduce cost. Upon further questioning, and them stating that they may not assist due to age, I came to the conclusion that the likelihood of them assisting was zero. They state that the warranty was no longer covering and that the car had too many miles, 85k. I previously had the thermostat replaced, the air intake valve replaced, the oil pump replaced, and now the timing belt to the sum of $4300 in the past year and half. Will never purchase another and will never encourage anyone else to purchase a bmw or mini product. I will pay and continue to drive, but will put a message on it to not ask me or comment on the "cuteness" of the car because it is a piece of junk! I would have expected to get at least 200k out of it before these major repairs should have ever occurred! Very frustrated, not to mention disappointed in this high performance vehicle that sells itself with a simple drive, but mechanically is not supported by its manufacturer.
This is a complaint against the timing chain and tensioner for the mini cooper which is known to be faulty. The timing chain had begin rattling and was inspected at a mini dealership. They stated that it's a known issue with mini. Repair for this job is 3800 usd. This is a tremendous price tag.this can lead to a very very dangerous situation on the highway heading to work.
Oil feed line going into turbo is leaking oil directly onto turbo. Mini uses a rubber o ring that is connected to a very hot turbo and o ring will fail on all mini coopers with a turbo. When this rubber o ring fails it will leak oil directly onto hot turbo and cause a fire. I think it's in the safety of all that this be looked into and recalled. I believe mini cooper is very aware of the problem and is covering up the issue by installing a cheap heat shield on oil line but this is a bandaid fix at best.
In 2013 my mini started to overheat. I had the fluids checked and everything was ok. I drove approx., 10 miles and the car completely overheated, the oil light came on and the car smoked and almost caught on fire. I had it towed to the dealership (mini northwest in fife wa,) they said there were no recalls and I needed a new motor and cooling system. I paid 7500$$ for a new engine installed by the mini dealership in july 2013 at my own expense. On dec, 23rd 2014 I drove my mini approx. 12 miles and parked the car in the driveway. The car was not overheating, no warning lights came on, 15 minutes later the car had flames shooting out from the hood. Fire extinguisher would not put out the fire. The car then moved approx. 5 feet forward up against the house and became completely engulfed. The tires blew up the sunroof blew up and then the back window blew out. The car is a complete loss. Mini claims they have never heard of this before, yet there are several articles of the same thing happening to other cars, including a class action suit and recalls.
This is a complaint against the timing chain and tensioner for the mini cooper which is known to be faulty. The timing chain had begin rattling and was inspected at a mini dealership. They stated that it's a known issue with mini. Repair for this job is 2000 usd. This is a tremendous price tag.this can lead to a very very dangerous situation on the highway heading to work. Imagine going 65 on the highway the chain snap. Lost power and control of the car. Not only the driver is at risk but other as well. What if it cause a family in the car an accident. Let's say 3 car were involved filled with families but one person died. You are causing a lifetime of heartache for not acknowledging the fault in your engine. Please be aware that people lives are at stake. It's better that mini should take responsibility. Is money so much more important to mini than the lives of people. The lives of families. If future accident can be avoided. It must start now. Do the right thing and make this recall happen. Don't let me start on carbon buildup. Engine design wasn't tested thoroughly. Everyone should be given a courtesy clean every 70000 miles or so. Already show sign of carbon buildup with 48k miles.
On 27-oct-2014, when I was driving home the check engine light came on and it gave a message about the catalytic converter. Luckily I was close to home and the message just said to slow down which I did. I had it towed to a local mechanic the next day since it was not drivable.it was real shaky and didn't feel safe to drive when I started the engine. They had the vehicle for 3 days and checked everything from the coils, spark plugs, ran a compression test which showed that cylinder 3 was not getting enough power, etc. They stated that there were no leaks or fluids found in that area like they had expected since that was the only cylinder that was not running properly. I contacted miniusa to see if they would fix the vehicle out of goodwill because this was a known issue with these vehicles/engines (r56). Needless to say, miniusa would not fix the repair nor would they respond to my emails. Mini of concord offered to cover 25% of the cost leaving me to pay $3600 out of pocket for something that they know is faulty. This is unacceptable.
Mini USA was well aware of the massive timing chain problem (affecting 500,000 mini coopers),but refused to fix it because it was out of warranty. I've complained of the cantankerous rattle during a cold start which was clearly related to the failing timing chain due to a defective and poorly designed timing chain tensioner. (apparently mini has come out with a new one due to this problem). The dealership quoted me $1800 to replace the whole chain assembly. I ultimately took it an independent mini mechanic and had it replaced for less ($1144). Now I am hearing that mini dealerships are replacing this defective part beyond the warranty period. I believe that there is now a campaign to replace the tensioner and chain. They should have replaced it when the problems were obvious and should now compensate those who've paid out of their own pockets for this poorly designed part.
My car started to act funny. Almost sounding like it was suffocating. It would die about ten to fifteen times every morning before I would finally get the car started. It would shut off when I stopped at intersections. The only time it ran decent was when I was driving highways speeds for 20 minutes or more. I changed out filters, spark plugs, and fluids but none of it changed the way it was running. Come to find out it that the chain and chain tensioner had broken. This damage caused roughly $1000 to fix. Luckily I caught it in time before it did additional damages to the crank shaft. With low miles the mechanic even told me its a fault part and brakes easily. He has had to replace numerous american model minis in italy. My country code is 39 if you call.
Have had a severe rattling noise from engine for some time now, research says that it is a faulty timing chain tensioner problem. Also have a leaking oil supply line to the turbo. Both problems are major issues for which there has been no recalls from mini. These are both extremely expensive repairs which I can not afford.......there should be recalls on these problems! Please help.....
There is a defect in the design of the oil line feeding the turbo charging unit. Oil now leaks directly onto the turbo charger causing large discharges of smoke at lower (city) speeds from the hood. The burned oil smoke is not visible at highway speeds, although once one slows down for a ramp the smoke pours out again. Due to the high risk of fire the car is no longer parked in our garage. It is parked towards the end of the driveway as far from our house as possible. I believe that this should be an urgent safety issue seeing that the engine could catch fire at any time.
I was driving at highway speed when without warning the car lost partial power and the engine light came on and began flashing. I pulled over to the roadside and turned the engine off. I looked at the owner's manual to see what the flashing engine light indicates. Nothing definitive was stated in the manual, so I started the engine and drove it to my home about 10 miles under partial power. I contacted a local garage (mienke) and let them know the problem. The garage was about three miles away so I drove it to them. They diagnosed a loss of compression in one of the valves that would require a valve job. I contacted miniusa to report the problem. They requested I take it to the local dealer for diagnosis. I contacted the dealer and let them know what occurred and asked if it was safe to drive the approximate 20 miles to their location with a compromised engine. They said it would be okay and bring it in. They diagnosed it the next day with a failed timing chain ($1800), vacuum pump ($600) and valve cover assembly ($385). I let them know the timing chain was already replaced by a mini dealership at 40781 miles and they should replace it at no cost as this is supposed to last 100,000 miles. The dealer would not. I contacted miniusa again to report the issue and request to have this replaced at no cost. They have not gotten back to me yet and it is still pending their decision. I began to look online for similar issues and found hundreds of complaints from owners regarding the same issue with the timing chain. Mini/bmw is well aware of the issue but still does not cover this recurring problem. This is an expensive repair and unknowing mini owners are spending thousands of dollars to have their cars put back on the road. There is also a pending class action law suit in new jersey for this same issue.
After multiple frustrating complaints and unsuccessful service attempts on 8/17/11, 9/1/11, 9/6/11, 9/21/11 and 9/28/11 for my 2007 mini cooper s (purchased on 8/16/11) at mayors auto mall saab located at 6001 northern boulevard, woodside ny 11377 and failing inspection on 9/1/12; I was fed up and brought my vehicle directly to hassel bmw mini of freeport located at 100 cleveland avenue, freeport ny 11520 on 10/31/11. After a service bill of $3,546 (service) +$141.21 (evaluation fee) = $3,688.03 from bmw mini, the problems were still not resolved. I then filed a lemon law case against mayors auto mall and won on. Despite winning the case, mayors auto mall refused to return my monies for the purchase price of vehicle. After contacting dmv with the issue and having them suspending their business license, mayors auto mall finally refunded my monies for vehicle purchase but it was excluding service bills of $3,688.03 from bmw mini since lemon law did not cover this amount. I am filing a complaint against bmw mini and would like to find out possible remedies for getting a refund services paid towards a vehicle that I no longer have due to lemon law case and am out of $3,688.03 for no reason. I understand bmw mini is currently being sued for these same issues by many consumers. Please contact me with any possible information you may be able to provide regarding my case. I am in awe shock that I am still dealing with this and it has been 3 years already since I had to return the car to mayors auto mall. Thank you for your concern with this matter and would appreciate any information you are able to provide.
Timing chain tensioner, a well known problem with these cars... I worked my a** off for a year saving up for one of these cars and what do you know the tensioner goes... Mini does not care about you or the car they sell, its all about taking whats in your wallet and putting it in theres, dont buy one of these cars and not expect to pay for it twice literally in fixing it..
Was driving car downtown at a speed on average of 15 MPH. Trip only lasted 15 minutes when I parked and noticed smoke coming from my hood. Smoke quickly escalated into a fire. Called 911 to have fire trucks out. Grabbed a fire extinguisher from a nearby business to try to put out the flames, but was unable to even while spraying directly at the flames. Firemen had to pry open the hood to get to the engine to put out the fire. Car engine was totaled.
The timing chain tensioner fails causing the engine to suffer catastrophic failure. The customer is expected to pay out of pocket for a repair even though mini has admitted a poor design and are replacing tensioners via a campaign. The customer will not get reimbursement.
I tried to start my car and only heard a spinning sound. First I thought the transmission or starter would need replacing but after having it towed to the mini dealership, I was informed it is the timing chain. Upon further review I was informed that the timing chain belt had shattered and bent the valves, and now the pistons are blocked and a plethora of other things. The total to repair this domino effect of damage is above $8,000 and just the chain alone is 1500 but I was informed would be a grand mistake because the car will not run. I am a college student who is financially challenged and am now in too deep to even try and float.
Upon starting the vehicle the engine sounds as if parts are loose in the engine area. It lessens up after the engine warms up but is getting progressively worse. It appears it may be the timing chain/ tensioner.
While driving on 580 car lost all power without warning. Upon further investigation it was determined that the vacuum pump froze up, bolt on timing gear sheared off and fell into oil pan. Oil pump was destroyed as a result. On 11/7/13 received letter from mini corp. Regarding a faulty timing chain tensioner with premature wear, which could cause problems. Upon replacement of tensioner assembly, mechanic found a faulty vacuum pump which froze without warning. Oil distribution was compromised. This abrupt loss of power put my entire family in jeopardy, which could have caused bodily injury or death. Bmw corporation has been aware of the vacuum pump problem since 2012. Vehicle was purchased used in 3/15/11 with 32k miles. Mini corp lead me to believe that financial assistance may be made available for repairs. I have been declined any assistance for a failed vacuum pump assembly which caused catastrophic engine failure. The vehicle has had reports of similar failure. Highway speed, loss of power, putting vehicle and occupants in peril circumstance, bmw is aware of this issue and refuses to acknowledge design or manufacture/mechanical flaws in the engineering of this motor.
Complete loss of engine oil pressure while surrounded by semis in the 3/4-mile-long big walker mountain tunnel while traveling northbound on I-77 (near virginia exit 47). Thankfully the engine didn't seize and I was able to pull off once through the tunnel. According to my mechanic, the cause was a check valve in the valve cover, which malfunctioned in a way that created a vacuum and trapped oil in the top part of the engine. Replacement cover had been redesigned to prevent the problem, so it seems to have been a known issue.
The car lost power and would not run at idle speed. After much effort, managed to get the car to the only dealer in the state. After two failed diagnostics and two "repairs," the dealer says I now need the timing chain replaced. There are known issues about the timing chain and the tensioner. Bmw and dealer deny responsibility and now wish to charge an additional $1500 to repair.
Rattle and oil leak. Loss of full engine power when restarted. Dealer says its a timing chain assembly issue.
The timing chain guides and tensioner in the mini cooper are made from plastic. There is a service bulletin created by mini USA to address this issue, but no recall. As I was driving home, making a turn across a busy intersection, my tensioner broke, which caused my vehicle to die in the middle of a turn with oncoming traffic. I had to get out of my vehicle and push it across the intersection while cars were driving by. Although it is common for vehicle engines to die of different issues, this is a well-documented and acknowledged problem for mini coopers, but there has not been enough of a public outcry for a recall. The situation is dangerous, as it can cause engine failure which can result in a collision. The remedy is a replacement of a manufacturer-acknowledged faulty part.
Driving mini cooper s when all of a sudden I lost power to the car and was able to get it off the hwy. Timing chain broke and damaged the engine. The car has 91,000 miles on it.
Timing chain failure. Happened on freeway. Complete loss of power, had to be towed.
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