Turbo leaking oil - gaskets - major complaints all over the internet. Maybe this is something they need to review for design error.
2009 MINI Cooper S engine complaints
Page 2 of 4: complaints 11 to 40 of 80, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Timing chain tensioner broke causing timing chain to break and ruining valve train and pistons. Since it is an interference engine. Complete engine to be replaced, with only 25,000 orginial miles on vehicle.
Timing chain broke leading to vehicle coming to a sudden stop. Had this happened in heavy traffic, it could have been life threatening. Bmw refuses to assist.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 mini cooper s. While driving the vehicle or while parked, the coolant in the vehicle began to leak profusely. The failure was persistent. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the water pump failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not included in the federal safety agency campaign number: 12v008000 (engine and engine cooling). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 87,178.
I have a mini cooper s 2009, with only 50,000 miles in it ,and already its failing the guide and support rail the holds the timing chain, those supports are made of plastic which I believe it should be some kind of metal instead,when the support guides breaks the chain comes out of place crashing the engine, well the is ecsactly what happen to me , when I was driving in the freeway, I had to stop and get my car towed, but lucky me I wasn't in the middle of freway which it could cause a big accident, maybe death. Most of car makers like honda has a miles limit for timing belt replacement, mini cooper s dont, its base on how much you drive it ,thats what dealer said. Botton line mini USA should replace those plastic parts for something more durable specially if its going to make your car stop all of of sudden.
At 30000 miles the timing chain was replaced due to a recall. Car rattled for a few months prior to replacemen. At 55ooo mile my car engine light came on and lost power. I was able to limp it in to work about another 5 miles. My husband drove it to mini dealership another 10 miles away and they stated that it blew a valve or a piston quoting him a head replacement of $5000 or replacement of engine for $10000. I purchased this car new and I have maintained it to a t. Reading on line this seems to all be related to the timing chain issue. Mini is not standing by their car and refusing to take responsibilty. Hopefully if we all continue to squeak we can get them to take responsibilty for faulty vehicles. I have a nice looking non running worthless car sitting in my driveway...anyone want it!
Defective timing chain and tensioners causing additional damage to the exhaust valves preventing compression in the engine as is described in one of many class action suits.
Timing chain broke well before 10 year or 100000 miles. This timing chain breakage caused my engine to fail due to piston damage or cylinder damage. My engine now needs to be replaced. My vehicle was moving when the sound occurred. When I researched this sound, I learned it may be the timing chain and took it to the garage to be replaced. The garage replaced the timing chain and when they took it for a test drive, it didn't seem to be running right and after further inspection it was determined that the engine was ruined and needed to be replaced.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 mini cooper s. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 40 MPH, the vehicle failed to accelerate when the accelerator pedal was depressed and began to jerk. In addition, a loud knocking sound was heard from the hood of the vehicle when driven and oils leaks were discovered when parked. The failure occurred constantly. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 44,000.
Since I get my until now I repair two times . The first time I was change the part of the top of the motor I don't remember the name. But this one that is the most strage I was driving and in the middle of the road the motor stop intanly. The most strange is 10 minutes after drive the car all this happen so that mean is no safe. And now what I have to do....
The problem occurred when the tensioner for the timing chain no longer applied pressure to the guide rail. This causes the timing chain to flap against the the guide rails eventually breaking them. There was a noise that was created heard during cold start up and eventually went away when the engine got warm. The items repaired were a faulty chain tensioner, timing chain, chain guide rail, bearing bolt, bearing bolt gasket, crank shaft sprocket, crankshaft pulley bolt, valve cover gasket, permatex hylomar gasket maker, serpetine belt, solenoid, and vanos. This issue appeared well before bmws suggested maintenance period of 120,000 miles, or 10 years.
Upon th eengine heating and cooling the plastic gasket on th eengine oil cooler can get pinched, causing an oil leak. Mini coopers in prior years - 2002-2007 had the same issue and mini had a recall. If I spend the $1,800 to get the repair the next time the engine heats up and cools - the gasket could become pinched again - thus causing a leak. Mini cooper of atlanta is yes this could happen and I would have to get it repaired again. Mini cooper needs to ensure the 2 plates of the metal oil cooler are secure and cannot expand and shrink - upon engine usage. This is the same manufacturing flaw mini cooper had in 2002 - 2007 - so why hasn't mini cooper been told to fix their problem - verses throwing the responsibility to the customer?
Engine ceased while traveling on highway. Previously took car to mini dealer when engine light was on and was told that the engine light was probably on because of the gas cap and their was nothing to worry about.
Leaking turbo oil feed line and failing timing chain.
Air bag warning light comes on while driving. Bmw north america had issued a recall for the 2005 - 2008 models, but not affected 2009 (2008 production date) models. Persistent oil leaks from and around oil filter housing and turbo oil lines. Oil leaks directly on exhaust manifold down pipe, potentially starting a fire, hasn't yet, but there has been plenty of smoke and in one instance, a small flare-up when oil dripped on the pipe as the car was idling in the garage after a short trip.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 mini cooper s. While driving at 45 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 113,000.....updated 07/22/15 *bf updated 10/06/2017
Timing chain, went ,,the dealer said it was the self adjusting timing chain, if it self adjusts there must be a manufacture defect,,looked on line and from 2007-2009 500,000 car had the same problem the cost to fix is $2200 dealer said not worth fixing and sent me to look at a new car.
A few weeks after I bought the vehicle, I noticed that there was a noise when starting the engine cold. This "rattling" noise would continue until the engine heated up & go away. I took the car in they changed the oil & told me that the coolant was low. He asked if the car was overheating which it was not. He told me to keep a close eye to see if the car overheats. I made an appointment to take the car to a local mechanic just to be safe. A few days later, driving 65mph on the freeway I noticed smoke coming out of my exhaust & the hood, closer to the windshield not the front by the radiator. Smoke started coming from the vents and smelled "rubbery". The thermostat symbol appeared & then the oil light. I took it to carmax who said "sry, no extended warranty, no help". I took it to the local mechanic. He told me initially that the thermostat was blown and there was a material failure of the housing (it was cracked), he replaced all the pipes from the coolant: $482. The mechanic called & said that he could not "burp" the vehicle & that it made a weird sound so they have to "bleed it overnight". This did not solve the issue so they had to take the engine apart & find the problem. The head casket was blown & quoted me a repair bill of $5000+ .the owner of the shop called bmw and asked if they could do a "good faith" replacement which they said they would do if the car had less than 80,000 miles on it... Mine had 85,000 miles on it... From what I am reading on the complaint board, this is a very common issue!! As a rn if there is a failure in any product we implant in patients, there is an immediate recall, so why, when bmw clearly knows this is an issue do they wait for hard-working people like me to be put in this horrible situation!!! I hope that bmw steps up an honor it's "good faith" beyond 80,000 miles and replace the car.
I stopped at a red light on a busy city street. The mini cooper s engine stopped running and would not start. That day was heavy snow and the roads were very difficult to drive on. I could not move the car. After sometime waiting on a tow truck the four way flashers quit working. Fortunately no one ran into the car. I disrupted traffic for about an hour until the police were able to push the car off the road. The car was towed to the mini dealer and it was determined the timing chain broke. The car only has 32,000 miles on it. Researching, I see that many mini owners have experienced the timing chain failing. My 17 year old daughter usually drives this car. I am glad I was driving it when this happened and fortunate the car was not moving when the engine failed.
The timing chain failed, found to be sheared through.
2009 mini cooper s - I, like so many other mini cooper owners, have just fallen victim to the "death rattle" of the [known by bmw] defective/faulty and non-recalled timing chain issue. It's absurd that we continue to expose this far too common defect of a product that was originally deemed as a "non-service" item good for the operating life of the engine. Most owners experience problems within the first 50,000 miles. I purchased this well maintained (at a local mini dealer) mini from a private party just days after they performed an expensive 'walnut treatment' to clear out excessive carbon build up. Within 100mi of this service, the 'death rattle' starts. I am now being told that it will run just over $2400 (I've uncovered about $400 in total parts) to correct an issue bmw has been hiding behind for years; they've even issued a warning to service advisors to not re-install the defective parts, but deny the part to actually be defective or in need of recall. When will anyone stand up for the little guy, the consumer, and demand this well known, often occurring, extremely expensive and potentially dangerous defect be corrected at the cost of the manufacturer? I now have an $11,500 paper weight.
My timing chain has now started to fail for the 4th time on this car. The timing chain tensioners fail and mini does nothing to correct the issue past the warranty period.
Once you search the 'death rattle' on google, you can get lots of info about what is going on and the death rattle is really common on the r56. It is really a common problem and mini should take the responsibility of that.
Took vehicle in for installation of the heat shield for turbo feed line. This is a recall and newly installed part to protect the turbo feed line due to overheating. Once it was installed I was informed that the turbo line is failing and the dealer wants to charge me $1500 to repair the leaking line. The failure of the line is obviously due to excessive heat around this line... The same reason they are installing a heat shield. This is ridiculous and the item should be recalled and replaced!
Engine all of a sudden starts making a rattling noise. Took it in to dealer, timing chain guides had broken and chain was stretched. Was informed there was a mini campaign about this but my vehicle was not included. Expensive repair and potentially dangerous situation if chain had broken. Was informed after work was done that clutch was bad as well. Had driven the vehicle the day before without issue but after only 10 miles from the dealership car would not move from stopped since clutch would not engage. Extremely early for this amount of repairs to be needed, I question the durability of these parts and this brand. Both of these sudden wear failures could have been extremely dangerous if they had occurred on the highway.
Driving on 405 fwy in southern california turning out of freeway off ramp in the pouring rain. The car dead stopped. Very dangerous, cars coming off freeway behind me was a 911 situation. After someone pushed me off to the side of the road had car towed. No engine light warning to indicate problem of tensioner (timing chain breakage). Entire engine was replaced/rebuilt because of extensive damage to engine. Bmw apparently is aware of the timing chain defect and has not issued service bulletin or recall. I'm hearing there is a class action suit because of the many complaints. The fact that I could have very easily been killed or seriously injured is why I am issuing a complaint (not to mention my bill for $6200.00 I have on my credit card) and the three weeks it took to fix. Naturally I was 6 months out of my warranty.
Turbo oil feed line leak, oil filter housing gasket which is costing me close to 1200$.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 mini cooper s. The contact stated that coolant was leaking from the radiator. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and stated that the vehicle was repaired by the previous owner under the federal safety agency campaign id number: 12v008000 (engine and engine cooling). The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 44,000.
My car has been leaking oil and the dealership determined it was due to the timing chain tensioner. They are charging $357.98 to have it fixed. My car was purchased brand new and has only 50,000 miles on it. As soon as my 4-year warranty expired, my car has been in the shop multiple times due to engine issues. Services that have been performed at 50,000 miles: 1. Thermostat is leaking coolant- $ 671.99 2. Water-pump also leaking coolant- $661.20 3. Coolant flush- $169.80 I use only premium gas for my car, perform regular oil changes, and maintain my car meticulously. These problems should not be occurring after 4.5 years of driving. I believe that mini produces faulty cars that do not last, have absolutely zero reliability, and then charges an exorbitant amount to fix something that should have not been broken in the first place.
Known issues: timing chain and intake valves. Engine light came on at approx 40,000 miles. Dealership diagnosed 2 issues that seem to be known recurring issues for this make/model: carbonized intake valves requiring cleaning, and replace timing chain. This bill will cost over $2600. Several complaints have appeared for intake value buildup and also for the timing chain issues. Internet searches show this as a common issue and also a known issue by bmw mini. This should have been a recall as they knowingly sold these defected cars in 2009. With only 40k miles to date, I plan to keep this car for at least 4 more years. May not be possible with bills like this one.
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