Driving my 2008 mini cooper s at 70mph on the highway, the vehicle lost power and died. The timing chain tensioner failed causing the motor to blow up and the timing chain popping through the valve cover, the timing chain tensioner is under a factory inspection notice, I never received a notice to inform me of the part failure. Now the engine needs replaced.
2008 MINI Cooper S engine complaints
Page 3 of 5: complaints 41 to 70 of 120, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Loud engine noise coming from chain tensioner at startup. Sounds like diesel engine. Also happens during cold engine start.
Turbo oil supply line is leaking oil on my 2008 cooper s, the dealer has recommend replacement at a cost of $900. I initially took the car in for a recall to install a heat shield on the same oil line, some online research (including many official complaints here) has suggested that the lack of a heat shield has caused this failure, yet it is not covered under the recall. Yet another unfortunate defect in the mini design, I've already been through the timing chain/tensioner debacle.
Bought car from dealership after a lot of research on issues with these cars an complaints. Brought varro mini dealership and asked about timing chain and tensioner and was told mine was fine even though they never opened up cover to inspect chain or tensioner. Have been back three different times with multiple issues with timing chain/tensioner horrible rattle. Mini says there is no known defects with timing chain/ tensioners ever brought up. I then was told by my brother that he I taking his mini in for a service action on the timing chain/tensioner, turbo heat shield, thermostat housing. We have exact same car, same build date, and rolled out from same factory but mini states ours isn't covered under the service action even though we have the exact same car and everything. And my brother is also out of warranty but theirs is getting fixed free. Please help. I am aware of the freeman-skeen class action lawsuit and have file a complaint with bbb so I guess I'll have to find legal help since they don't pay attention to the federal safety agency complaints.
It has oil leaks around turbo line which the oils make smokes as the oil drip contacts with down pipe. This may result in serious damage to the car.
While driving my mini the check engine light came on. I took it to a local repair shop that specializes in mini's. The manager told me that the crankcase valve needs to be replaced and it is built into the valve cover. Upon inspection the mechanic also discovered my timing chain is almost ruined also. I have been hearing the timing chain rattle upon start up.
Timing chain making terrible rattle. After research this seems to be a new and quite common problem. This needs to be recalled.
Timing chain mechanism (tensioner seemed to be main culprit) failing and system needed replacement. Total cost $2500. Car had 33,000 easy miles on it. Mechanic said timing system was on the verge of failing traumatically and destroying the engine. Reported it to mini, who admitted they have been having a lot of trouble with those but there had been no recall so they couldn't help me. Replacement parts were different serial numbers than the originals indicating, per my mechanic, they had redesigned the parts.
Engine rattle on cold start indicated a loose or stretched timing chain. Required a premature replacement of timing chain, guides and tensioner
While turning at a highway intersection, the timing chain failed which, in turn, destroyed the engine. I was stranded in the middle of the intersection. I have been given a quote of 7,200.00 to replace the engine with a new one.
I change my oil every 3k on the dot. I check it regularly. Fully synthetic every time. I was told when I bought my mini with 42k that the rattle under the hood was normal. At approx. 50k I heard the same metal rattle that sounded like a chain smacking plastic, so I brought it in to be checked. Now I'm stuck with a timing chain replacement that's going to cost upwards of $2,000. Now I'm not one to complain of normal wear and tear parts but who has a timing chain go out at 50k? If you google timing chain issues you will see. There are tons of people who are having the same issue. Luckily mine was caught in my driveway. If this chain goes out on a highway... This can easily cause a fatal accident... Please don't wait for an accident to happen. Get these chains replaced with ones that have been quality controlled. This is a true safety hazard.
My mini has had regular service at habberstad mini since I purchased it. I had complained about engine noise in november 2011 and they found the oil was low and refilled it. At each service I mentioned the noise and nothing was found except to tell me I need induction service, replace leaking water pump (even after the recall for this part was done already) and coolant exchange for $1300. The loud rattling engine noise persisted and car became almost undriveable. It took them 3 days to find that the timing chain etc. Needed to be replaced, which after some research online I had already found to be the problem. Of course my warranty was now up so I had to pay $3000. And my car only has 38,000 miles on it. This is absolutely unacceptable!! I was told by the dealership that they haven't heard anything about this and I should call mini directly and lodge a complaint, which I did. I would like to have this issue investigated, as mini must certainly have heard from more customers besides me and they are doing nothing about it. The customers are getting stuck paying for a design flaw. Please do an investigation and make them issue a recall to repair this defect and refund our repair costs. Mini needs to stand behind their motorer pledge and give us the quality product they advertise.
Had to take my mini cooper s with jcw package in to correct a service light issue. Was carbon build up on the valves. Cleaned it for 1500.00. Drove it about a month and the turbo bypass solenoid valve failed. Back to the mini cooper dealer in clear lake. They replaced the solenoid and did a oil change for 550.00 got it home and noticed it had a faint smell of something burning. Thought it could be they got some oil on some parts that get hot. One week after the turbo solenoid was replaced I noticed a oil spot on my garage floor. Raised the hood and the turbo had a oil film on it and the air intake supply on the turbo was loose and practically off the turbo. Took it to dealer. They said look like oil drain bolt leaking. Replaced it but the also cleaned the oil off the turbo? Not sure why. I didn't tell them it looked like it was leaking. Maybe they knew? Drove it home and it still smelled like something burning. Looked under the hood and the turbo was covered with oil. Back to the dealer. They can fix it for 1200.00 it is the turbo oil feed supply and return line. Also the oil deteriorated the air intake line and caused it to deform so that it no longer will stay on the turbo intake. After further investigation looks like the turbo oil feed line is a major issue. Multiple reports of this failure. I also saw a service bulletin for the heat shield on the oil feed line. But they failed to do the install on mine. Even though I have had it in for several services since the bulletin. There is definitely a issue with the oil feed line to the turbo. Won't be purchasing another bmw product. Will not be using this dealers service if I decide to keep the mini.
While driving the car (gas) started running rough and sounded like it was a diesel. After some research I found that the tensioners in the engine are worn out. I had the upper replaced, but the others also need replacing. Based on my own research, it appears the problem is related to the manufacturer's recommended oil change. The company recommends changing oil every 15000 miles with synthetic oil. The fix is supposedly to change the oil at half that, 7500. I've been told this could result in the timing chain coming off and the engine being trashed.
We started hearing a loud noise around 27,000 miles. Car was just over four years old and out of warranty. Ended up with a timing chain issue and it needed to be replaced. Repeated calls to mini dealer and mini USA provided worthless, stuck with whole repair and no assistance.
We started hearing a loud noise around 27,000 miles. Car was just over four years old and out of warranty. Ended up with a timing chain issue and it needed to be replaced. Repeated calls to mini dealer and mini USA provided worthless, stuck with whole repair and no assistance.
My mini cooper s was purchased brand new, and had all regular maintenance done at the dealership. However, once the warranty expired I took the car to my regular mechanic who has performed work for myself and family for twelve years. After reading this website, and it's complaints the same problems have occurred to me. The oil lines began to leak because there was a clog, and it caused the turbo to burn out. Parts and labor for a used turbo came out to be around $1,800. A new turbo alone would have cost roughly 2,000. Now several thousand miles later, there was an oil leak noticed under the car. I took it to the dealership this time, to see what the exact problem was and an estimate before taking it to my mechanic. They found "several leaks" of which they replaced the water pump, the water pump gasket, valve cover gasket, and finally the oil filter gasket. After the $1,800 bill for that was paid, a call was received declaring that the crank case now has a leak in it as well and needs to be resealed. With the oil leaking from that, the clutch could also be burning out and need to be replaced costing an additional $5,400. The repair bill on this alone would be enough to bring normal hard working people to tears. Also, the cold start rattle identifying the timing belt issues has begun on my car. There are thousands upon thousands of complaints about this on the internet. Glad to know bmw takes care of it's customers and ignores the complaints.
I had been servicing my 2008 mini cooper s at the dreyer & reinbold bmw mini dealership for the life of the car, which I bought new. I just had it in the shop around 50k miles and was not told that I should consider changing my timing belt. One day I went to start my car and it wouldn't start. I towed it to the dealer and they told me my timing belt had broken and damaged my engine. I am no faced with replacing my engine and a bill of $6600+. This defect that was not brought to my attention has ruined my engine and after thorough research of fellow mini drivers, I am hesitant about what other defects may come about in the future for this car. This should be brought to the attention of the manufacturer and there should be a lawsuit or recall in place to compensate mini owners for this faulty part.
I currently have an oil leak developing from the turbo oil line that has resulted from a failed o-ring within the line itself. Due to a design flaw, the heat from the turbo wears away the o-ring, which results in oil leaking from where the line is bolted to the turbo via a banjo bolt. This is a serious problem because if the line fails, the turbo becomes starved of oil and burns up, which ultimately causes the whole turbo unit to be replaced. Also, the oil leaking onto the turbo has a potential to catch fire, since the turbo becomes very hot during normal driving. Also if any oil leaks down to the exhaust piping underneath the turbo, those places also pose a fire hazard. Mini recognizes this to be an issue, but refuses to do anything other than add a heat shield around the connection to the turbo. The line still has a rubber o-ring in it that will fail over repeated heat cycles, and the line needs to be redesigned.
The car has been smelling like burnt oil for about a week. I took it in to the shop on saturday. Today, tuesday, when I was supposed to pick it up, I was told that I need the following repairs because there are "leaks": 1) water pump 2) timing chain 3) valve cover 4) oil feed and return line the car has around 36,500 miles on it and we are looking at about 8,000.00 worth of repairs! What??? I paid almost 30,000.00 for this car and now have to spend additional money to keep it running? The extended warranty that I purchased will cover the first three items on the list. The oil feed and return line is not currently covered under the warranty, even though after a brief internet search, I find that this is a very common problem with these cars. I would like to have this issue investigated, as mini must certainly be aware of this problem and is doing nothing about it. The customers are getting stuck paying for a design flaw and this is not acceptable at 36,000 miles. The cost of this repair from my dealer is 1400.00!! Please do an investigation and make them repair this defect!!
There is a leak at the oil supply line leading into to the turbo housing. This is a major oil leak and safety hazard. Oil leaking onto the hot turbo can potentially cause a fire. Aside from the potential fire hazard, the leak, had it gone unnoticed, could have caused an engine failure. The local mini dealership said the replacement would cost around $1,000 with oem parts.
A significant engine oil leak was detected by oil spots under parked car. The dip stick registered 1 quart low. A quart was added and the car driven about 100 miles the next day. Upon return, the oil was a quart low again. During the preceding two weeks there had been several instances of a burning oil smell and on two occasions smoke coming from under the hood. This was during a rainy period and the smoke was initially thought to be steam from getting water in the engine compartment from puddles on the roads. When I took the car in for service, the dealer found that the oil line to the turbo was leaking as well as the oil filter housing seal. Both of these complaints have been noted in the database previously. The cost to repair was approximately $1000 usd.
I have owned the mini since new. Always regularly serviced at the mini dealer. Recently I started the engine and it sounded more like a diesel engine, very noisy and unusual. Took it to the mini dealer and as I explained what the symptoms were, the front desk person that took my details diagnosed the problem. The preliminary diagnosis was confirmed later through an inspection by a trained technician. Like many, many mini owners I have had a timing chain problem. That the front desk staff can diagnose a problem like this made me curious, it must be such a common problem that the dealer sees it regularly. Some research confirmed this was a widespread problem with minis. Owners have had terminal engine damage with engines that are low mileage and simply should not have any problems. This issue with the engine is serious and can lead to a major accident because of a catastrophic engine failure while driving at highways speeds. Although I was lucky, and do not have a huge out of pocket expense as I have extended warranty coverage, I still believe this is an important safety matter that bmw/mini appear to be ignoring. It should be the subject of a vehicle safety recall. It is poor engineering and design on their part, that should be rectified.
We purchased this car in late sept./early oct. 2012 with 29k miles on the car. My wife drives this car, and while traveling on the interstate, as she was entering the off ramp in forest lake, mn her car started to jerk/run like crap (late january 2013). She was able to drive the car home, I tried to figure out the issue, but everything I checked test good, so I brought it to a local import tech, and he diagnosed the failure to be the timing chain tensioner, allowing the timing to jump. He says he started up the motor to test further, it idled for less than a minute before the motor died and now will not start. I now, after owning the car for 3-4 months, have a major engine failure. I do not care to think what would have happened if this happened while my wife was traveling down the interstate at high speeds.... Thankx
The timing chain has locked up. I notice that this is a commom complaint.
Strange knocking/rubbing noise coming from the engine compartment for the year 2007+ mini cooper. From the mini dealer repair details it appears to be a issue with the timing chain and tensioner system. It also appears that without being fixed the car will eventually have a timing chain failure and possible motor destruction. This could occur while driving and I could lose control of the vehicle causing a crash. Mini will not fix this problem that they know about without the vehicle still being under warranty. I call for a recall.
The oil input line to the turbo has started to leak. The car is currently sidelined because of chance of fire or failure of the turbo.
My car had been making a rattling sound off and on for a short time (mostly in the cold mornings) I drove from houston to dallas. When parked on the side road, my car would not start up. I had no service light or any other lights come on. Took it to the dealership and I was told my timing belt was broken. I have no means to pay for the repair. While searching the internet it appears this is a very common problem and mini cooper/bmw are aware of this and have done nothing about it.
The car started leaking small amounts of oil in the garage, approximately the size of a dime. When the car was parked you could smell a slight oil burning odor. The car sat for 3 days, was driven and smoke began coming out from under the hood. There was no fire. The result is that the "turbo oil feed line" and "crankcase to valve cover hose" were replaced because both were leaking oil. At 50700 mi, we had to replace the valve cover and ccv assembly. This car was repaired under the recall pe11036 for a cooling fan issue. Considering the low mileage on this vehicle, it seems to me that there have been too many issues with it related to the turbo charger and oil system. From reading other issues online it appears that there are design flaws with the shielding of these components from high heat sources on the engine. These repairs are very expensive and are not related to poor or abusive driving habits.
The oil feed line for the turbocharger leaked enough oil to allow enough smoke into the cabin to greatly decrease visibility. The fitting is comprised of a bango fitting that is crimped to the feed line with an o-ring in the feed line. The o-ring is the component that failed and my engineering back round has LED me to the root cause being that the o-ring has seen enough thermal cycled to deteriorate leading to the leak. This is unacceptable from a reliability standpoint and I know that I am not the only mini owner that has had this happen to them. Mini needs to own up to this design flaw.
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