Travelling on the M25 last week in rush hour traffic, when there was a sudden and increasing knocking noise. Indicated, changed lane, decreased speed and within seconds there was a bang and the engine light came on. Engine stopped, but luckily managed to emergency stop onto the hard shoulder. Car was covered in oil around the sides and rear bumper. AA towed car to independent garage. Timing Chain Tensioner had failed so they carried out a compression test to check damage, which showed a failure on 1 of the cylinders. Thinking this could be fixed they removed the exhaust manifold and found a hole in bottom end!
I purchased the car from new, has 44,000 miles on the clock and mainly used for local journeys, first three years BMW maintained and then well maintained by local BOSCH service centre. It was only in the BMW service garage a few weeks ago for a recall on the turbo coolant pump. I have found lots of mini owners in the UK & US with similar issues. The mini cost me £22k and is now worth £0. :angry: MINI UK aren't accepting that there is an issue with the Timing Chain Tensioner yet there are lots of owners complaining all over the forums.
Visited a few competitor dealers yesterday and they are all said the MINI UK are aware of the "Death Rattle" and the Timing Chain Tensioners Issues.
Taken legal advice and going to fight this all the way. Please get in contact if you would like to provide additional stories to support the case against MINI UK.
I have had 2 timing chains replaced on a 08 MCS, 1 in warranty, the other outside & cost me £600 for labour, BMW good will paid for parts. Love my mini, hate my mini. Probably the last one I will ever buy. Will also tell anyone to stay clear as there are lots of other problems as well
Will send you something when you need it, just pm me.
Mini is very aware of the problem. I have noted that the first thing the dealer does is check your oil level while the car is still on the driveway, prior to entering the garage. That is also the first thing they blame when the tensioner/timing chain fails.
Luckily I took my 2008 S in with only a broken guide rail although they still replaced everything to the tune of $2,700!
I just bought my car 36 days ago with 80 thousand miles on it. No warranty as is. My timing chain tensioner broke and I'm sure the engine is done. My question is will mini cover anything with out a warranty?
Was it a private or trade sale? If it was trade take it up with where you purchased it from first. If it was private I would go straight to MINI. A large number of people have achieved half if not all of the cost being covered.
My mini cooper S (2007) has just been diagnosed with engine rattle due to defective chain at only 49K miles! BMW won't cover the cost due to the age of the car. I wasn't aware of this issue when I bought the car but now see that it is a recurring problem for this model. I have been shocked by the way BMW treated my case and am really not impressed by what is supposed to be a "high quality" brand. £1400 cost to repair an engine that has only 49K miles is not acceptable. If you are thinking getting a mini, make sure you read all the comments from unhappy owners...not like me!
Don't go to BMW for the camchain replacement, many independent garages will do the same jib for circa £500 or less, don't give BMW your money as they don't give a **** about a well known issue.
I had my Tensioner fail last week, quickly spotted it cost me just over £150 as my local garage to fix, engine was fully checked and no issues.
Mini Coopers S JCW R53 2003, 60k miles FSH (Mini).
Albeit said i had a 2001 BMW E46 the rear end chassis snapped, now bear in mind this car was well over ten years old and i fought my fight well, writing directly to the CEO with valid evidence and i was well researched by myself. BMW fixed my car free of charge and even loaned me a courtesy car.
Moral of the story is get your fight well prepared, don't give up and aim for the top causing as many waves as possible while remaining professional.
Unfortunately, this is all too common. I think a lot of the problems stem from high oil usage. Having owned many varieties of makes and models of car, both new and used, I only ever used to check the oil before a long journey (if the car wasn't dropping oil on the drive or didn't blow out blue smoke). That was before I bought a Mini.
Now here's the thing, I'm seeing lots of owners reporting timing chain issues (by owners, I mean 2nd hand owners), and I suspect that the oil is not being checked on a weekly basis. The weekly oil check takes a matter of minutes and will save the chain/tensioner. If a new owner purchased a MCS R56 and checked the within the first week, I very much doubt they would check it again the next week if it wasn't leaking or burning oil from the exhaust - given modern engine technology, why would they? It is only when the dreaded rattle appears that people realise that the damage has already sown its seeds.
Mini r56 -sort the death rattle before its a problem
Hi, i had a 2008 mini cooper s which was great but started to develop a rattle when starting from cold and revving upto 2000rpm for the first couple of minutes. It did this for several months but did not get worse but i did need to get it sorted. I booked it into BN dynamix inWigan (qualified bmw engineers) and they checked the timing chain tension and cassette which thankfully was fine and replaced the cam chain tensioner with the modified version. This fully resolved the problem and the car has been perfect since.
The cost? £50 labour plus £30 for the cam chain tensioner inc vat and the issue resolved. For this price, not worth taking any chances, get it resolved and this shows how cheap it can be if caught on time.
Hi, i had a 2008 mini cooper s which was great but started to develop a rattle when starting from cold and revving upto 2000rpm for the first couple of minutes. It did this for several months but did not get worse but i did need to get it sorted. I booked it into BN dynamix inWigan (qualified bmw engineers) and they checked the timing chain tension and cassette which thankfully was fine and replaced the cam chain tensioner with the modified version. This fully resolved the problem and the car has been perfect since.
The cost? £50 labour plus £30 for the cam chain tensioner inc vat and the issue resolved. For this price, not worth taking any chances, get it resolved and this shows how cheap it can be if caught on time.
I realise this thread is pretty old, but it's still relevant to many. My experience with my early 2010 S was just the same as above, except that it was fixed under used car Mini warranty in an hour or so.
If there's any rattle on start-up, don't delay, get it straight in to have the tensioner checked, replacement is quick and cheap. Left to fail completely will increase the fixing cost by orders of magnitude.
There are suggestions that allowing the oil level to drop can cause tensioner failure. so for the first time on a modern car (as opposed to the old Alfas I ran), I check the oil at least every week and fill it to the maximum mark. My car was found to have two minor oil leaks (one into electrics). Not enough to produce the slightest drip (which I would have noticed), but enough to need regular topping up.
Steve, I'm in Australia and am also getting legal advice about my Mini JCW which has had major issues with the timing chain tensioner which came apart and went through the top of the motor. This was in november and I'm still waiting to get it fixed properly.
Steve, I'm in Australia and am also getting legal advice about my Mini JCW which has had major issues with the timing chain tensioner which came apart and went through the top of the motor. This was in november and I'm still waiting to get it fixed properly.
Hi Steve
Have you resolved the issues with your mini? My daughter bought a mini cooper s 2010 2 years ago. After 6 months the clutch had to be replaced. Then last week the car had trouble starting making a rattling sound. No warning light came on till she finished a 20mile journey when the amber engine light came on. The following day it wouldnt start and the RAC couldnt diagnose the problem but managed to get the car started and followed me to the mini garage about 20 miles away. I had to keep the revs above 1000 or it would have cut out and not started again. The mini garage has stated its the timing chain and are willing to pay half the cost of repairs. It only has 41,000 miles on the clock. The discussion with one of the customer service agents stated we are lucky that they are willing to pay so much. They are denying any problems with timing chains and now have a bill of over £1000 to pay.
Deb
i'm planning to buy a 2nd hand 2013 Mini Ray Steptronic (Australian Model).
The engine is the 4 cylinders 1.6L automatic transmission.
Can someone tell me if this engine has the systemic Timing Belt tensioner issue or if it affected only some other engines ?
Thanks
Eric
Full History unto date last serviced 49k and chain snapped at 52k
Interestingly, I had the car inspected 400 miles ago at the main dealer BMW Williams in Manchester who "advised" new tensioner and rocker gasket set. I agreed to the work and 400 miles later the car failed.
Currently awaiting Mini Customer Care verdict as to their proposals.
At no stage did the main dealer mention any wear/damage/concern towards the timing chain other than advising a new tensioner on the basis of the design of it has changed.
After having the car recovered to the main dealer for inspection, they claim the tensioner is 'intact' despite not having actually tested the tensioner.
I have a top independent inspector waiting to do a report on site if they fail to offer a free repair.
I'm hearing all kinds of bad maintenance issues. The car I'm considering is a clean 2008 with relatively low miles 44.4k. It seems to have been well cared for but not necessarily by Carfax standards. I brought it to a very good mechnic that services Minis for a safety inspection and i am ready to close the deal. Yet this one little thing is really bugging me. How can Mini/BMW let such a dangerous and idiotic repair go unrecalled, especially if the fix is cheap.
My delemma. This car has the style and fun I need for my midlife crisis. The price is right too. But I have to decide if I spend an extra $1800 on a Preferred Warranty, or if it the timing chain and tensioner will be covered if something goes wrong.
I want the car, but I don't want to have it in ICU. Will getting a new tensioner help to prevent this timing chain problem?
My 2009 Cooper S just had the same issue and is in Mini Rushcutters Bay in Sydney at the moment. I am waiting for Mini to advise whether they will contribute to the costs at all.
Was wondering what happened in you case? Did Mini come to the party and contribute anything? Any tips or advice?
By the way, if anyone else has had the same problem in Australia and would be interested getting in contact - please feel free to email at scorish@yahoo.com
consumer should not have to deal with this know issue
I have had the death rattle kill my engine .. twice. My car has 60,000 miles and needs a third engine. My timing chain slipped and destroyed engine twice. the timing chain tensioner is a $40 part, why isn't mini releasing a recall. their service bulletin admits there is a rattle but only people under warranty have any chance of assistance.
I intend to make this problem a very widely known issue worldwide so consumers can make the right choices before buying or maintaining a mini, I intend to look up & contact every foreign car repair shop in usa to see if any of their customers experiencing same issue would like to contact me. I intend on raising a new class action lawsuit, similar to the laws suits that were filed in NJ, NY and California. I have contacted attorney general and local news stations. my contact with mini was a waste of time, each of their agents have obviously been coached to same level of uselessness.
I know there are many people like me who have high $$ car loan, a low mileage non functioning mini cooper and are left with the option of buying a junk car or sinking large amounts of money for repairs...
Id like to start similar campaign in Australia, UK, Singapore & South Africa. Please contact me if you are interested.
They know its an issue, and each time I have brought it up at the dealer they either go down the route of;
A: What is that... let me look that up (feign ignorance at its finest)
B: Ohhh, you read it on a forum. You know people make stuff up on them all the time.
Had a Service aftersales person call me the other day, and asked if I would recommend MINI to anyone - flat out said NO, and the reasons. Wonder if they took it on board.
I just got a 2011 MCS. I have read many threats about the problem, does this only apply if you have an N14 or does this apply to the N18 engine as well. I think my MCS has an N18 motor.
I'd be interested if anyone 'in the know' has an answer for Haveatank. I've just traded in my 2008 MCS for a 2013 JCW, partly due to this issue. An old friend of mine runs an independent garage (not just MINIs). I showed him my MCS after I bought it last year. He said "These engines are rubbish. I've lost count of the number of timing chain jobs I've had to do on them"... I'm hoping, like Haveatank, that I can stop worrying now that I have a N18 engine. The main reason that I got rid of the MCS was that, at just 46,000 miles,it started gulping globs of oil from one of the crankcase breather pipes, which has been deleted on the N18 but there are other threads on that subject I think.
Rob.
hi i bought mini 2011 done regular service at mini garage cost lots of money , 2 months ago the car lost power n make terrible noises , toke to garage it appear that timing chain snapped and damaged the engine , any suggestions ??
I think its the N47 engine that's the problem, not all minis have this engine? Supposed to be only affects 2nd Generation 2006-I believe 2009 models only, but it is all very confusing. Mine is 2011 Sep, 1.6D Cooper, trying to find someone to repair, but not all garages will take job on, and is very expensive and can vary a lot!
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