Hi All. Can anyone help, please?

I've had two previous R56 MCS' with not a peep from their cooling fans.

With my latest (2012 R56 MCS LCI) after about 12 miles the fan always comes on, whatever the outside temp, and stays on until about 30s after the engine's switched off. It stays off when the engine is restarted - even when I carry on driving!

After the first week I mentioned this to the salesman who said "my demo does that too; they all seem do that when new" but mines now up to 1600mls or so.

Anyone noticed any similar issues? Could this be a software solution to keep engine bay temps down? According to the OBD port diagnostics he car warms up to 223deg F/106deg C and doesn't seem to respond to (or need) the extra cooling from the fan...

I must say the noise is really intrusive and spoils the pleasure a bit, too...

Congrats on the new Mini :-) MCS too, very nice choice !
I have to say I have never had any issues personally with this or even heard or any other cases like this currently.
Could be something to do with the new car that needs to settle or a part that isn't funtioning as it should be fully. Either way, you are covered by warranty. I would just keep a very close eye on it and keep the dealer updated, might even be worth asking if you can test another car to see if the same thing happens as this doesn't sound right to me.
MCS are very hot cars and have ample cooling to keep them safe but definately get to the bottom of this with the dealer. The last thing you want it long term damage or wear on parts for no reason.

It is a common fault and only gets worse ! sooner or later the fan will stay on for 30mins after you have stopped . Its a 3 stage unit runnining at 3 speeds and should be slow and quiet after normal driving.
The resistor fails and the only option is a complete new unit which will set you back £240 and the labour to fit it , normally 2-3 hours

Thanks folks. Other info that it's an air lock might ring true, too, since I recall recently hearing purging/gurgling noises. I might drain the coolant (easy now it's cold) and carefully re-fill it.
I changed the coolant on a previous R56 MCS and found it's self-purging and makes distinctive noises over the next few days, whilst needing 'topping up'. I think I've been hearing these noises on the new MCS; perhaps it's been trying it's hardest to self-purge but is being thwarted by an 'awkward' air-lock.
There is a 'hot fix' too which involves loosening the filler cap when at running temp. (care: steam escapes and hurts!) until any trapped air escapes as bubbles. I think I'll try the cold coolant-drain fix first, though...

next morning: Cold coolant drained. It needed filtering due to some small cork-like deposits. Coolant replaced. Hard to get the coolant level to fall until I massaged/squished the bottom radiator hose. Set heater on max. when I went to test it then lowered it towards the end of the run. Temp. still max'd at 221deg F but raised to 223deg F with heater level lowered. Fan ran for a minute or so, but only after the engine was turned off. Final 1/2l of coolant added to top it up to max on the filler. Sounds more normal...thanks again!

Mon 14/5/12 10:00, an update:
I went on a 26 mile round-trip, stopped half-way where the fan usually comes on (but kept the engine going as usual) - and it didn't; everything seemed fixed! Journey temp. peaked around 107celsius / 225F this time.
I smugly continued and as I was very close to home it came on with all it's usual fury, stayed on as I opened the garage doors and drove in, then went a little slower for the magic 30s after I switched off, then stopped. So back to square 1...
I then 'phoned the dealer + asked to speak to a MINI tech. I described the symptoms. He said he wasn't up on the latest MINI foibles but agreed that that 'high 90s' is a more reasonable temp for most cars, wondered about the thermostat and booked me in for Thurs 17/5 @ 08:30 so that a more knowlegeable/senior techie can address the issue.
So, I'll report back after Thurs. Meanwhile, I'll try to log the temp data.

Sun 20/5/12.
The themostat was replaced on Fri 18/5/12

I already I feel the fan seems to activate less often and seems less 'frantic' when it does. I haven't measured any temperatures yet; it might be an interesting comparison if anybody could post theirs...Mine was 226 degF / 107celsius before the new 'stat.

Anyway, it's early days and I hope it'll settle down further.

(Many thanks to Paul, Adam + their colleagues at Chandlers Mini, Portslade for their caring, courteous and prompt service!)

it is normal for the cooling fan to stay on up to 15 minutes after the engine has been turned off if the coolant has reached a certain temp to cool down. BUT there are a batch of thermostats that came out that have coolant temp sensors that go bad.

Hi MiniTeck72
Despite a recent 'stat replacement and a follow-up recheck (as the symptoms remained) my R56 N18MCS fan seems to come on as soon as the engine is warm, stay on for the entire journey and only switch off ~60s after shut down and has done from new (3months/2000mls). And when the engine is immediately re-started it stays off.
A really loud fan: can't be 'normal' surely?
I'd like to know more about this batch of faulty 'stats...

Interesting thread, mine does this too.

However being a Mini newbie I thought it was normal.... :-(

amb67.
I commented on it the day after I took delivery in Feb '12 and was assured it would 'settle'.
I feel the N18's been out for 6months or so and we're all thinking it's only happening to us so it must be 'normal'.
Plus it's happening more with the warmer weather (and associated use of a/c?).
Also plus when you've got the sound system on you may not even be aware of it thinking it's just started up when you switch the car off; it fooled me like this!
NAM agrees that the objectionably loud fans seem to switch off after 60secs and a very talented Elec. Engineer friend agreed it might not be the 'stat at fault, which MINI test but a fan relay/fan motor assembly (or even the expensive engine control unit) which the MINI techs aren't instructed to look at or even follow through with...
Mine's had a new 'stat, been returned to the dealer and now it's a 'feature of the car' but I'm not happy with that! Two independent BMW/MINI techs have said it shouldn't happen with air moving through the car only, perhaps, in a hot Bank Holiday stop/start crawl when we might expect it. I think it's a head-in-the-sand job from all angles.

It is a common fault and only gets worse ! sooner or later the fan will stay on for 30mins after you have stopped . Its a 3 stage unit runnining at 3 speeds and should be slow and quiet after normal driving.
The resistor fails and the only option is a complete new unit which will set you back £240 and the labour to fit it , normally 2-3 hours

Got to agree with Pete3055, mine does the same sometimes, so i did my own research and often it gets to the point where the fan stays on until the battery is flat, i am not 100% sure but the resistor unit is a green coil mounted near to radiator/fans and about 50mm/2" long, good luck hope you sort it.

I've been out to the car this morning and now that I know the fan is running I am finding a little more intrusive (noise wise). Tried disabling the AC as I thought it may be the AC condensor fan running in addition to the main fan but alas this really didn't make much difference.

Looks like I need to raise this with my local BMW Mini dealer, if this continues I can't see the life span of that fan being very long. :(

Thanks for the reply, loving the forum already. :D

amb67.
I commented on it the day after I took delivery in Feb '12 and was assured it would 'settle'.
I feel the N18's been out for 6months or so and we're all thinking it's only happening to us so it must be 'normal'.
Plus it's happening more with the warmer weather (and associated use of a/c?).
Also plus when you've got the sound system on you may not even be aware of it thinking it's just started up when you switch the car off; it fooled me like this!
NAM agrees that the objectionably loud fans seem to switch off after 60secs and a very talented Elec. Engineer friend agreed it might not be the 'stat at fault, which MINI test but a fan relay/fan motor assembly (or even the expensive engine control unit) which the MINI techs aren't instructed to look at or even follow through with...
Mine's had a new 'stat, been returned to the dealer and now it's a 'feature of the car' but I'm not happy with that! Two independent BMW/MINI techs have said it shouldn't happen with air moving through the car only, perhaps, in a hot Bank Holiday stop/start crawl when we might expect it. I think it's a head-in-the-sand job from all angles.

Great. I hope we all keep talking and sharing experiences, opinion, quotes and fixes.
It's very easy to feel we're too small to ripple the waves of common-sense within the dealerships and that we must suffer alone.
The dealer thinks they've replaced the 'stat so it must be ok. My thoughts are what do we investigate next 'cos it isn't ok.
(That green resistor that's part of the fan assembly that might be heating up and giving a 'wrong' reading and finally breaks making us think that it's 'cleared itself' before the engine overheats catastrophically 'cos the fan doesn't work at all now?)

Finally a solution on Thur 15/06/12 and it has been running perfectly for a week!

Ater a new thermostat and three return visits (when the dealer diagnosed it as 'normal') they tested it alongside another N18 confirming the original fan anomaly from a month ago.

Kept for a week for lots of coolant bleeding, since an air-lock had been suspected, then another new thermostat was fitted. Now there's no cooling fan activity during the journey nor is there any activity after switching-off.
(This is what I consider as normal.)

Temperatures are generally lower; 219 degF and varying compared to 225 degF and static so I suppose the faulty 'stat must have kept the cooling fan going to stop it overheating...

So, job done after lots of frustration/anxiety.

I have the same issue (and it was doing it before the weather even got warm) but I just can't see the dealer here agreeing that it's a problem and would probably cost me $200 in labour for them to tell me that too.

creedR56, if in warranty don't even think of dealing with service technicians/managers etc; go straight to the Dealer Principle. Find his phone number or email address from reception. Tell him the problem + that no-one seems to be listening. Follow up by email immediately. Keep insisting on taking it back and ask for a loan car. Or, leave it there without one. Give them (say) 3 attempts + threaten to escalate to his boss. Threaten to reject the car and ask him the best way to approach his bosses to go about it. Took a month of 'faffing about' but worked for me!
Loadsa luck!

I have the same issue, just bought my MCS last week. At first the fan would stay on for a while, yesterday it was a small noise and the hood was extremely hot. I put my hand on the hood and it was extremely hot, to hot to keep it there for more than a second without burning it. Going to give it in to the dealership and hopefully get it resolved.

Dakri. I believe there are two heating issues - bonnet as well as cooling fan.

The bonnet gets hot due to the proximity of the turbo. I poached some seagull mess on mine; it took ages to polish off. I solved this by buying underbonnet insulation. There's a big topic about this on NAM c/w part numbers.

It seems there might a few suspect thermostats being installed at the factory, too. My Feb 2012 N18 MCS has had coolant bleeding + two new 'stats before the (fast/loud) fan behaved itself and now stays off. It used to come on as soon as the car 'warmed-up'. If your dealer plugs into the OBD socket to read temps or codes the computer claims everything's normal due to the faulty 'stat (temperature) sensor so the dealer assures you it's 'a feature of the car' and sends you away.:puzzled: I gather there's a 'thermostat' as well as a 'thermostat sensor' that can cause troubles. My dealer subsequently claimed my first 'stat was just a sensor change and the second 'stat was the whole lot, plus coolant bleed for good measure.

Hope this has helped and that you get it sorted. Independent (BMW) techs say the loud/fast fan should only come on if you're stuck in crawling traffic on a hot day to compensate for lack of airflow. (Sometimes for ~30s after you switch off in hot climates, too.) The a/c always makes it come on slowly and so quietly that you probably won't hear it. It's a two-speed fan, I gather...

Thanks CJM

sorry but what is "NAM c/w part numbers" can you provide a link. What did you buy (part number). I just find this very odd that the hood of a car can get so hot.This is my first MCS and I'm not so car savy, so I hope the dealer just doesn't shhhh me away.

Dakri. I've attached three images:-

blue - # 51487266543
white - # 51487307579 (this fits my '12 N18 MCS ok, no loud fan/overheating probs...)
red - # 51487334335


If you go down this route you'll need 11 x # 51481915964 expanding rivets to fix it via the holes already provided in the bonnet, too.

Hope this post works ok and that it might help solve your problem.

(BTW; NAM is northamericanmotoring.com. plus the usual waiver - anything you do different to professional advice is your responsibility; not mine)

Ive got a 2012 JCW and Ive not heard the fan come on at all yet, so perhaps it doesnt even work, not overheated though so all must be normal.
Ok its got a different engine to the Cooper S, N14, and its faster of course, so gets the breeze quicker :wink:

So I got the car back and they said all is normal! So frigging annoying. He also mentioned that the new mini's do not come with the insulation. I'm going to go pick up my ride now and check all the Cooper S to see if this is true.

Should I just buy the insulation myself?

So annoyed.

I've decided not to get it done, as I don't want to void any warranty.

It's a 2min job to remove...;)

My R56 MCS has just developed a similar problem with its cooling fan. On a short run the cooling fan runs for about 5mins after I stop; but on longer runs it does not! It has also been misfiring a bit when cold. This morning I got the car out of the garage turned it off and the fan was running.

Took it the my dealer today for a service and they say the temperature sensor is faulty and needs to be replaced at cost of around £250. Apparently they have to drain and replace the coolant but as the car is nearly 6 years old I suppose that is no bad thing.

The technician thinks that bad readings from the temperature sensor have not only affected the fan but have probably been giving bad info to the engine management syatem and causing the misfire when cold.

Sounds plausible. I hope he proves to be right.

My final 'cooling' update I hope...

Another new temp sensor fitted after I asked a dealer on 14/9/12 if all was well with coolant sensors after reading of a recent TSB (quiet recall) via NAM.

I was invited back in for warranty work on 18/9/12 because all wasn't well (according to the dealer) after being asked my VIN code.

According to a NAM poster the original (N14) MCS thermostat has a coolant temp sensor integrated within it.This sensor sometimes becomes unreliable and gives false readings to the computer causing errors which then cause the loud engine cooling fan to run during travel and for extended periods after switch off. I suppose the car thinks it needs extra cooling.

He said he latest US fix is to install a new hose in place of an original to the rad. which incorporates a new, separate, coolant sensor and a new, modified, wiring harness/connector that relocates the original wiring to this new sensor.

I have seen that my car has received this new hose with different electrical connectors on a new housing so I am comfortable with the rest of the 'explanation' having experienced these symptoms prior to the fix before this latest fix (which, actually, cured the constant fan-running problems I had after it warmed up). It's not a recall but a service 'extra' and I wasn't offered a warranty/work receipt, as I had on both occasions before. When I queried this the dealer said it's all recorded on the key as warranty work anyway, so no need...

So, finally, a 'quiet' dealer resolution to my problem but I'd urge anybody suffering unexpected loud (stage 2) fan noise not only to look for info. via posts on the NAM site and share them on this site but also to mention their fears to the dealer and not be assured that 'they all run like that' or 'it's a feature of the model' (esp on the N18 variants).

I hope this post crystallizes some 'cooling doubts'. IMO the fan shouldn't run any more often (esp since this originally seemed a 'feature' of my N18 model) and mine, finally, supports this opinion now...

My son has an R56, late 2009, Cooper S.
Recently, he has developed this problem with the fan running on for quite some time after switching off.
At the same time, he doesn't get any heating in the car.
We took it out for a run with a OBD adaptor and found that his coolant temperature never gets above mid 40s C.
Yesterday, we changed the temperature sensor but that did nothing; max temperature was 46C.
So, we are now looking at a possible duff thermostat; is it possible a thermostat stuck in the open position could be the cause of these symptoms?
After replacing the sensor, which resulted in some coolant leaking out, I got him to slacken the vent screw on the thermostat to bleed the system but, after a very long wait, we never saw any fluid appear at the vent screw. I assume that means there is air in the system. Could this be the cause of the above symptoms and, if so, is there anything we should know about bleeding it?
By the way, his problems really began with the turbo going on strike. In the end we found that to be due to the stupid noise generator leaking. That is now in the bin and the pipe closed off with a golf ball, some tape and a couple of jubilee clips. Result!
Cheers

My dealer initially changed the thermostat then a fortnight later both sensor + thermostat + housing completely before keeping it for a few days to bleed the system fully.
I'd have thought fluid should emerge from the 'stat bleed screw. Perhaps when you replace the 'stat housing and 'stat you can get a feel for how far you need to turn the bleed screw before feeling that you're going to lose it down in the engine by over-loosening it. I read '3 turns' somewhere, but haven't done it myself yet.

I am hoping to avoid changing the stat. If the problem is possibly down to air in the system, I will be ecstatic. When we slackened the vent screw, we ended up going to the max (without losing it in the innards). A new approach will be needed for tomorrow.

...fingers crossed...
Please let us know how you get on and any tips that work for you.