A tale of Dual Mass Flywheels!!

[YorkshireMini]

Hi All, Just registered on here. I'm just looking for a little advice... but first a little background...

I bought an 08 reg Cooper D clubman in February this year from Stratstone Mini . This was under the so called "cherished" scheme, however within a matter of hours I noticed a terrible squeal and thumping sound from under the bonnet. Took the car back, and the dealer changed the cam belt,pulley and water pump.. all well and good I thought! I then noticed bubbling paint on the rear doors and an area of bodged filler that had been crudely repaired in the rear bumper, and a terrible thumping from under the bonnet.. back to the dealer I went! dealer changes cam tensioner and supposedly addressed the paintwork issues.

Got the car home, and inspected the work to discover that under the door deals they had simply sprayed over the bubbling paintwork.. the thumping was back and the car sounded like a canal boat! Back to the dealer.. Dual Mass Flywheel and Clutch replaced under cherished warranty. A matter of days latter.. strong burning smell and a soot blanket under the bonnet! back to the dealer, turbo replaced under warranty with an open admission that they had damaged this during the clutch replacement.

Due to near partial carbon monoxide poisoning I decided enough was enough and sent a strong letter of complaint to BMW UK. The dealer principal then contacted me to discuss the issues and informed me that he would be happy the replace the car!

So im now in a position to look at a replacement from the dealers stock. The most suitable of which is a very nice 10 reg petrol cooper with 14k miles on the clock. My question is do petrol coopers of this age have dual mass flywheels? and are these as troublesome as those in the diesel????? Also is there a massive difference in fuel consumption between diesel and petrol? I only do around 5k miles per year.

Many Thanks

YorkshireMini

[karlos9191]

5k miles a year ! why did you buy a deisel

Go for cooper my friend :-) sounds like although you have been through a lot and the dealer haven't always completed the right work they are trying everything they can to help, make it worth it.

[ExclusiveWorkshops]

diesels are harder on their dual mass flywheels due to the extra torque they produce, it is used andpretty much relied upon so the clutch works hard. A previous keeper may not have been an economical or sensible driver, probably just unlucky.

Nothing wrong with a diesel at 5k pa, they are a fun car because of the torque mentioned, and for the power/driveability they are more economical. If you try to get a petrol Cooper to drive like the diesel you'd double the consumption probably

Just half the oil change intervals on the D

only my 2p though