Mini Clubman Cooper D - fuel pump

[DeborahM]

Hello - I own a 2007 Mini Cooper Clubman D - it's done 70k miles.

Last week the car cut out whilst I was driving it. I had to get the recovery people to get me home. I took it to my local garage (I always used to have the car serviced by BMW Mini but it got too expensive) and they replaced a number of bits, filters etc at a cost of £350.

On Saturday the same thing happened. I got the car towed to my local dealer who spent Monday looking for the fault. They took it to the local BMW Mini dealer yesterday who have confirmed the problem is the fuel pump and it will need a new one. I've been given a ball park figure of a few thousand pounds to sort it out, parts and labour. I am in shock. I've read on a few forums that others have had the same problem so seems to be a known fault, and yet BMW Mini aren't acknowledging it's a known fault.

I should get a confirmed cost tomorrow.

Problem is, the car's only worth about £6500 and I still have BMW finance owed on it.

I just don't have a few thousand pounds knocking around to pay a bill like this!

Has anyone else had the problem?

Will BMW Mini pay towards this?

Feel so upset and not quite sure what to do.

I've loved and cherished my Mini, had it religiously serviced by the dealer for the first 3 years of its life and cleaned and polished it to keep it looking good.

HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP!!!!!

[njh123uk]

Hi Deborah M,

EXACTLY the same issue happened to me on my 57 Dooper. The problem started as an intermittent EML (Engine Management Light) which would randomly come on, then disappear when restarting the engine. The problem became worse when the engine started to cut out when stationary, and often would sound like it was going to stall (but wouldn't).

I took it to Sytner Newport for diagnosis - it took 3 visits for them to identify the issue - an intermittent fault with the high pressure fuel pump, which sounds pretty much what you have with yours. The issue was that the pump could fail at any time, cut the fuel supply, stall the engine and lose all power and electrics. Imagine this in the outside lane of a motorway!

Consequently they kept the car, and fortunately arranged for a courtesy car for me there and then. They came back to me with a cost for the repair which included a brand new fuel pump, as well as all that costly labour. The pump alone was £900 (so they said) - the cost was around £2500 I believe, the majority being labour because the engine had to be removed to get to the pump.

As it happened 2 months outside of my warranty (no I didn't extend the warranty) and the car has a full service history (mostly by Sytner Newport) they got in touch with Mini UK to see if there was any room for a contribution from them. Mini stumped up the cost of the part, and because I'd had various issues with the dealership on previous visits, they billed the labour at Warranty rates. To cut a long story short, I ended up paying less than £700 for the whole job.

When it happened, I researched if it was a known fault. It does appear to be an issue with the Cooper S which Mini recognise and have repaired these free of charge, however not so with the Diesel. I know I wasn't the first to experience the fault, and now your seeing what seems to be the same issue.

I would recommend going back to the dealer and saying you want Mini to contribute, and the dealer to make a gesture to the overall cost. See what they say.

More than happy to share some more details if it'll help you get a better price.

Cheers,

[DeborahM]

Hi - thank you for replying to my thread. I'm sorry to hear you had the same problem but what you describe may well add weight to my problem.

I have a friend who works for BMW who is going to contact Mini UK on my behalf and see if they can help. I plan to print off your story and go to see the dealer tomorrow. £700 I can stomach but not £2.5K!

If I need more help I'll let you know - appreciate your help so far. I will also let you know what happens tomorrow.

So pleased I joined this forum as I don't feel so alone now.

Regards
Deborah M

[Mrs Clubman]

Hi sorry to hear about your woes, whilst I have not suffered a fuel pump failure I have had the dreaded DMF Clutch fail on my 08 Dooper with 37k miles & was quoted €2500-€2800 to replace it by BMW. I was absolutely gobsmacked that a car still in warranty could cost me so much. I was told no warranty cover as its a wear and tear part & was down to my driving style. I too researched it & even spoke to various suppliers & its a recognised fault in the industry but not by BMW. I ended up sourcing a replacement clutch & flywheel from Eurocarparts in the UK & had it fitted by a non BMW fiat maindealer & saved myself €1000 on the price quoted by BMW. It seems the problem is in the design in that to replace the clutch involves completely stripping the front of the car & removing the engine. I wonder how many people would buy a mini if they knew the likely costs involved..

Good luck with BMW UK just a word of warning they do not like their cars worked on by 'other' mechanics & you may have sacrificed any possible 'goodwill' contribution by having your local garage work on the car.

[Mid Life Mini]

Jesus I expected BMW parts to be on the pricey side but it looks like they have built the car to be as awkward as possible to change the bits that you expect to wear out.

I pray that mine stays healthy !!!

[njh123uk]

Fingers crossed you get a response similar to mine. Let us know how you get on!

[JohnnyC]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mid Life Mini (original)

it looks like they have built the car to be as awkward as possible to change the bits that you expect to wear out.

A fuel pump should last longer than 5 years.
Much much longer.

[DeborahM]

UPDATE - BMW Mini have been brilliant. They are supplying the fuel pump for free and giving me a discount on fitting it. Total cost to me is £1000 (this is made up of the free fuel pump and a new steering column that has to be fitted and labour) instead of the original quote which was £2919! I did spend 2 days feeling sick about the whole thing until Mini eventually came back with the good news on Friday. The car is being sorted and I should have it back on Tuesday. Thank you to all of you who had an input. I will be dropping by again soon.

[njh123uk]

That's brilliant news, although I agree with JohnnyC that fuel pumps should last! At least it'll have a full year warranty on the part and fitting too.

[DeborahM]

Yes I'm delighted and relieved. BMW Mini have said there is a 2 year guarantee on the pump so I guess that's good. Apparently fuel pumps failing are rare?! Anyway my Mini is on the mend thankfully.

Again thanks for all your support in this forum.

Deborah