[mr_kp]

This weekend, my Cooper S experienced a catastrophic failure of the coolant bottle, which somehow developed a crack and leaked coolant out of the engine. At the time I was on the motorway, and while the red light came on to indicate that the engien was overheated, the performance had not changed, and there were no noises or smells to indicate any change. I have to admit to assuming at that point that the recurring gremlin of the rougue warning indicator lights had resurfaced yet again. My model was recalled to the dealership about a year and a half ago to have its wiring looked at as a result of warning lights coming on when no fault existed, as I am sure a lot of you are aware.

I pulled off the motorway when it became apparent that I did have a problem, after having driven about 15 or so miles. As a result of this 15 miles, it appears that I now need a complete replacement engine, at the cost of £4600.

I would be extremely interested to hear from anyone else who has experienced any similar sort of problems with the coolant bottles developing faults. My Cooper S is a 52 plate with just 21000 miles on teh clock, so you can imagine how utterly dumbfounded I am that htis has happened.

[Electric Blue]

OUCH!!!

surely you will be able to get it repaired for a whole lot less than £4600, maybe speak to somone like Lohen and they may be able to fit a new lump and add power into the bargain.

What damage have you got? Head/bottom end etc?

[GR33NIE]

s*it!!

Do you have to cover the costs yourself?? Or are MINI paying up??

[mr_kp]

I know - I can't tell you how gutted I am - especially on such a relatively under-used and molly-coddled Mini! I am going to talk to BMW/MINI this afternoon and see if they won't take a more responsible attitude to my plight! Otherwise, it's a bank loan....

[mr_kp]

Hey Electric Blue - I have to admit to being whatever the opposite of PetrolHead is! Can you fill me in on this Lohen route that I might be able to explore? If I need a new engine, it might as well be a good one!

[Rickys'S]

What a Knightmare!

How bad is your engine mate, if its not welded together then surely you can fix the one you have for less than £4600.

I did see one on e-bay from a black mcs a while back....may need a look!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMW-MINI-COOPE...QQcmdZViewItem


Hope you get fixed up.

Rick.

[GR33NIE]

Quote: Originally Posted by mr_kp

I know - I can't tell you how gutted I am - especially on such a relatively under-used and molly-coddled Mini! I am going to talk to BMW/MINI this afternoon and see if they won't take a more responsible attitude to my plight! Otherwise, it's a bank loan....

Well I think it's 3yr dealer warranty & 5yr manufacturer warranty, so you might be alright and MINI will cover the costs, the dealer might say no but MINI HQ might say yes. Considering it's only done 20odd k aswell it's not very good!!!

[DaftBoyfriend]

Quote: Originally Posted by GR33NIE

Well I think it's 3yr dealer warranty & 5yr manufacturer warranty, so you might be alright and MINI will cover the costs, the dealer might say no but MINI HQ might say yes. Considering it's only done 20odd k aswell it's not very good!!!

Check your handbook and you'll see it is a 3 year warranty from new with unlimited mileage. The first 2 years are provided by the manufacturer and the third year by the UK dealer network.

I think if you drive a car for 15 miles on a motorway with a warning light telling you the engine is overheating you've got to accept some of the responsibility for the engine packing up and there being a big bill!

My mum once had an engine warning light come on in her BMW, the AA came out and wouldn't let her drive the half a mile to the garage let alone 15 miles! The garage told us that probably made the difference between a £600 repair bill and a pottential £4000 repair bill if she had driven the car any further.

Moral of the story, if you car tells you there's a problem stop and get it checked staright away.

[Electric Blue]

Quote: Originally Posted by mr_kp

Hey Electric Blue - I have to admit to being whatever the opposite of PetrolHead is! Can you fill me in on this Lohen route that I might be able to explore? If I need a new engine, it might as well be a good one!

Contact www.lohen.co.uk or GTT and ask them what they can offer. There is no way on this planet I would be paying £4600 for a new engine!!
A short block is about £1200 new!

I have found both Lohen and GTT very helpful, ring them, explain your plight, and see what they say, better than handing BMW an obscene amount of money.

[mr_kp]

Thanks for that, DaftBoyfriend. I did pull off and stop as soon as I could, bearing in mind I was on the motorway - but to be fair, the MINI had been sending out mixed signals, what with the false alarms with the warning lights in the past.

Moral of that story, don't cry wolf unless you mean it.

[Ferroequine]

Quote: Originally Posted by DaftBoyfriend

I think if you drive a car for 15 miles on a motorway with a warning light telling you the engine is overheating you've got to accept some of the responsibility for the engine packing up and there being a big bill!

My mum once had an engine warning light come on in her BMW, the AA came out and wouldn't let her drive the half a mile to the garage let alone 15 miles! The garage told us that probably made the difference between a £600 repair bill and a pottential £4000 repair bill if she had driven the car any further.

Something to keep in mind.

I know it sucks for you though, mr_kp

About a year ago, my father-in-law was driving on the motorway when his oil pressure warning light came on. It was crappy weather out, so he decided to keep on going. 30 miles later, his engine seized up, and he was on the hook for a whole new engine.

The cause of his oil pressure warning? The PCV hose had come undone, and the oil was spewing out the top of the valve cover. The mechanic putting in the new engine (which took 3 days total, while he was about 900 miles from home) told him that if he had pulled over, and called AA for a tow, it would have cost him about $100 to have it fixed...

[MINIMANIAUK]

It is not uncommon for the plastic tank to split on the S ,they let go on the seams ,lots have been replaced under warranty,for £4500 you could have a very nice engine install ,and fit uprated mounts/clutch/flywheel/rod bolts/head/valves/cam/crank pulley/oil cooler/plugs/pulley/wrapped manifold/leads/throttle body .......oh and aluminium header tank-sorry about that last one ! ,and still have change
Worth chasing Bmw though as they have had a lot of failures of the plastic tank and might cover it under goodwill