2008 Mini One needs new engine?

globalkb

Hi lads,

Just wanted to check if any of you had a similar problem or had heard of similar problems with mini ones?

I bought this car from new in Feb 2008 and have been driving it myself, theres just over 100k kilometres on it, I had it serviced by BMW once then had it serviced annually by a non BMW garage.

The engine management light came on a few weeks ago so I brought it to BMW and they said the oxygen sensor was gone, they replaced it for me at a cost of €360.00.

Then last week while I was driving the engine management light came back on and the car started shaking as if maybe there was a misfire or it wasnt getting power. I brought it back to the BMW garage and they have now told me the engine is completely gone and I need a new engine. He mentioned something about the cylinders dropping?

When I asked what caused it I was told he would have to strip it and that would cost me €100's in labour costs and its not worth doing unless I commit to the €6k he quoted to replace the engine.

Should a 4/5 year old engine pack in like that? Have I any comeback with Mini?

Any help would be appreciated as I'm still paying the car loan so I cant just scrap it

drunkmonkey

Under normal conditions it shouldn't pack in like that. The fact you took it in with the fault, they fixed it and charged it and then your engine blows would point to a little bit of a fault on their end.
I'd be pushing them to ask mini will they fix it under warranty. It shouldn't be blown at this stage. Has it a mini service history? What kind of milage is on it? Was it last serviced by mini?

shanec1928

globalkb wrote: »

Hi lads,

Just wanted to check if any of you had a similar problem or had heard of similar problems with mini ones?

I bought this car from new in Feb 2008 and have been driving it myself, theres just over 100k kilometres on it, I had it serviced by BMW once then had it serviced annually by a non BMW garage.

The engine management light came on a few weeks ago so I brought it to BMW and they said the oxygen sensor was gone, they replaced it for me at a cost of €360.00.

Then last week while I was driving the engine management light came back on and the car started shaking as if maybe there was a misfire or it wasnt getting power. I brought it back to the BMW garage and they have now told me the engine is completely gone and I need a new engine. He mentioned something about the cylinders dropping?

When I asked what caused it I was told he would have to strip it and that would cost me €100's in labour costs and its not worth doing unless I commit to the €6k he quoted to replace the engine.

Should a 4/5 year old engine pack in like that? Have I any comeback with Mini?

Any help would be appreciated as I'm still paying the car loan so I cant just scrap it

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Under normal conditions it shouldn't pack in like that. The fact you took it in with the fault, they fixed it and charged it and then your engine blows would point to a little bit of a fault on their end.
I'd be pushing them to ask mini will they fix it under warranty. It shouldn't be blown at this stage. Has it a mini service history? What kind of milage is on it? Was it last serviced by mini?

see above

drunkmonkey

Just to add 6k is off the wall. You could by a badly crashed mini for about 2k and pay some local mechanic to swap the engines. Would cost about 2K in total.
Once you have the engine out of the crashed one you'll still get about 1k or more for the one that's written off. That's what i'd be doing. Fight them tooth and nail to do it under warranty.
Contact consumer affairs if they won't play ball.

drunkmonkey

forza rovers wrote: »

see above

Rage, Blind:D

MidlandsM

is it a diesel engine unit?

globalkb

no mini service history but had it served annually

its a petrol engine 1.4

a friend who is a mechanic has already suggested the idea of buying another mini engine and him putting it in he reckons it would cost around the 2k mark too, it'd be a struggle to find 2k at the mo tho

but what I want to know is would it be pointless pushing mini to pay to fix this? the BMW/mini mechanic kept saying to me "its a pity it wasnt getting serviced here all the time"

MidlandsM

push it with BMW mini, what have you got to loose?

drunkmonkey

globalkb wrote: »

but what I want to know is would it be pointless pushing mini to pay to fix this? the BMW/mini mechanic kept saying to me "its a pity it wasnt getting serviced here all the time"

I don't think so it should be fit for purpose. It's only a 3/4 year old car with 62,000 miles on it.
Give the NCA a call on 1890 432 432 or (01) 402 5555 nca.ie and get there take on it.
It's an expensive car for what it is, it should have lasted longer. Is the garage you get it serviced at a real garage or is it kerb side motors?

conzy

So the oil was only changed 2/3 times in 100,000km?

minty247

360euro to fit an o2 sensor is shockingly expensive. Your engine should not have failed after 100k km's. I'd bring it to a proper mechanic to get it checked. I've used BMW garages in the past and i wasn't pleased at all with their service. One BMW garage sent me home with my head gasket blown, they told me it was fine and the car was perfect,cost me 2k in the end to fix it.

globalkb

drunkmonkey wrote: »

I don't think so it should be fit for purpose. It's only a 3/4 year old car with 62,000 miles on it.
Give the NCA a call on 1890 432 432 or (01) 402 5555 nca.ie and get there take on it.
It's an expensive car for what it is, it should have lasted longer. Is the garage you get it serviced at a real garage or is it kerb side motors?

serviced in 2009 - maxwell motors Blackrock
serviced in 2010 - sole trader mechanic
serviced in 2011 - Atlas Sandyford

Had break pads & senors changed in between this at some stage too.

the oil has only been changed when it was serviced

globalkb

globalkb wrote: »

..........

I bought this car from new in Feb 2008 and have been driving it myself, theres just over 100k kilometres on it, I had it serviced by BMW once then had it serviced annually by a non BMW garage. .............

conzymaher wrote: »

So the oil was only changed 2/3 times in 100,000km?

2009, 2010, 2011 and if it's been serviced in 2012 that's 4 oil changes at least

15k miles or annual changes with decent oil on a petrol engine is fine.

Edit, hasn't been done yet this year, it's due one soon, might be overdue even.

Neilw

So it's had the oil changed 3 times in just over 100k kms. I wonder if that's the cause of the engine failure.

Was the correct oil used on the 2nd and 3rd service? Don't know if mini's are fussy about what oil is used.

drunkmonkey

Going by the milage & the oil changes, It's not out of the realms of possibility you damaged the engine. When oil looses it's oilyness you may as well have water lubricating the engine. Not saying that's what happened but 20k on the same oil would be pushing it.

Fizman

Any particular reason why you didn't keep the car serviced with a main dealer initially, even just to keep the warranty?

Marcusm

Having bought the Mini new, the tlc pack would have taken care of most of the servicing costs (fluids extra but labour included). Mini oil service intervals are about 20k miles on mine but varies with driving style. Was the service indicator reset each time? Was the correct oil used? If servicing was carried out to BMW spec then warranty shoud not be impacted (EU rules, I believe, on anti competitive practices).

ronaneire

globalkb wrote: »

Hi lads,

Just wanted to check if any of you had a similar problem or had heard of similar problems with mini ones?

I bought this car from new in Feb 2008 and have been driving it myself, theres just over 100k kilometres on it, I had it serviced by BMW once then had it serviced annually by a non BMW garage.

The engine management light came on a few weeks ago so I brought it to BMW and they said the oxygen sensor was gone, they replaced it for me at a cost of €360.00.

Then last week while I was driving the engine management light came back on and the car started shaking as if maybe there was a misfire or it wasnt getting power. I brought it back to the BMW garage and they have now told me the engine is completely gone and I need a new engine. He mentioned something about the cylinders dropping?

When I asked what caused it I was told he would have to strip it and that would cost me €100's in labour costs and its not worth doing unless I commit to the €6k he quoted to replace the engine.

Should a 4/5 year old engine pack in like that? Have I any comeback with Mini?

Any help would be appreciated as I'm still paying the car loan so I cant just scrap it

Probably the timing chain. Most common thing to go wrong with them. Is it a 1.6? I doubt you would have to replace the engine. Is the car still driving?

conzy

The BMW service was probably after 10 or 15k so it could have went up to 85k on two oil changes. And it could have went over 50k on the same oil in one of those windows.

Those intervals were way too long unfortunately, 100k in 3 years is above average mileage and should have been serviced every 6 months at a stretch.

globalkb

globalkb wrote: »

...............

I bought this car from new in Feb 2008 and have been driving it myself, theres just over 100k kilometres on it, I had it serviced by BMW once then had it serviced annually by a non BMW garage. .............

globalkb wrote: »

serviced in 2009 - maxwell motors Blackrock
serviced in 2010 - sole trader mechanic
serviced in 2011 - Atlas Sandyford

Had break pads & senors changed in between this at some stage too.

the oil has only been changed when it was serviced

conzymaher wrote: »

The BMW service was probably after 10 or 15k so it could have went up to 85k on two oil changes. And it could have went over 50k on the same oil in one of those windows.

Those intervals were way too long unfortunately, 100k in 3 years is above average mileage and should have been serviced every 6 months at a stretch.

I don't see where you are pulling 50k on the same oil from
It was bought in Feb 08.
The car is 4 years old and has three oil changes, presumably at 25k kms, 50k kms and 75k kms ish, it's due a 4th now.

25k kms oil change intervals aren't at all unusual in a petrol

conzy

If it was mine It would be looking at its 10th oil change now..

The services may not have been as regular as 25 50 75 either.. could have been 15 55 80 etc.. which would leave a large window for damage to be done, ill admit i dont know where I pulled 50k out of, id say forgot to include the last service in my calculations

ronaneire

It should be serviced every 30K km or every 2 years? But all depends on driving conditions.

Del2005

drunkmonkey wrote: »

I don't think so it should be fit for purpose. It's only a 3/4 year old car with 62,000 miles on it.
Give the NCA a call on 1890 432 432 or (01) 402 5555 nca.ie and get there take on it.
It's an expensive car for what it is, it should have lasted longer. Is the garage you get it serviced at a real garage or is it kerb side motors?

To push to get warranty work from MINI the OP will need to get all the companies below to provide documented proof that they used the correct spec'd parts during the services. And then MINI/BMW will still push back looking for more info.

globalkb wrote: »

serviced in 2009 - maxwell motors Blackrock
serviced in 2010 - sole trader mechanic
serviced in 2011 - Atlas Sandyford

Had break pads & senors changed in between this at some stage too.

the oil has only been changed when it was serviced

conzy

I'm going to have to agree to disagree with BMW on that one

globalkb

Been on the phone to BMW all day, getting no where with them. Basically its out of warranty so they said if I pay to have it stripped (€900) and they find something wrong that wasn't my fault they MAY be able to do a goodwill gesture and fix it for me depending on cost, condition, millage, service history etc. This is helpful if I have €900 to spend on a possibility of a solution having just spent €400 on the thing two weeks ago!

So now Im trying to source an engine but apparently not a lot of 08 mini one scrapped engines are floating around!

it possibly could be that the oil needed changing more often but wouldn't there be a warning light that would come up in that case?

conzy

globalkb wrote: »

Been on the phone to BMW all day, getting no where with them. Basically its out of warranty so they said if I pay to have it stripped (€900) and they find something wrong that wasn't my fault they MAY be able to do a goodwill gesture and fix it for me depending on cost, condition, millage, service history etc. This is helpful if I have €900 to spend on a possibility of a solution having just spent €400 on the thing two weeks ago!

So now Im trying to source an engine but apparently not a lot of 08 mini one scrapped engines are floating around!

it possibly could be that the oil needed changing more often but wouldn't there be a warning light that would come up in that case?

The oil light wouldn't have come on because the level of the oil wasn't dangerously low, but the oil begins to break down and doesn't provide the same protection at all. The best option really is to source another engine for it. I wouldn't give BMW 900 euro just to poke around and say "yeah we were right it's broken"

msbrobe

Try www.partfinder.ie

http://www.partfinder.ie/cgi-bin/scripts/search.pl

conzymaher

conzymaher wrote: »

If it was mine It would be looking at its 10th oil change now..
..........

Me too
But I don't think the oil change frequency has anything to do with this issue.

conzy

RoverJames wrote: »

Me too
But I don't think the oil change frequency has anything to do with this issue.

Maybe the OP should get the car checked out by a decent BMW indy that wont give them any bs and charge them 900 euro? Might be worthwhile before you go down the route of an engine swap

The current diagnosis seems less than detailed
2nd opinion road seems a very decent idea.

scamalert

what kind of garage is that that they cant pint point wheres the fault,any decent mechanic especially the one that works with certain models should be able to determine the fault,with all the electronics,that you can connect to test engines in them cars there shouldn't be a need to take all engine apart.OP dont be milked,speak to your local small garages and explain what happened,if possible even bring car to them,as at the end it might cost you that 900e to be running instead some manager in the dealer telling you that they found a fault and no ones to blame for it.

langdang

It's a shared engine with PSA - prince engine

Probably no good to you as an engine source globalkb, Murphys Law probably means the 1.4 in peugeot/citroens has a least one change that won't allow it to be dropped into a Mini. (but hey, maybe they are exactly the same??)

But if there are common faults in these engines someone familiar with the peugeots or citroens might be aware of it?

scammy, I don't think any engine has electronics that will tell you that a cylinder lining has dropped or not or whatever. Some stuff is still plain old mechanical, not everything can be diagnosed from a laptop...

Owen

OSI wrote: »

Even gotten a Mini serviced by a BMW garage? It's ridiculously expensive.

You couldn't be more wrong, you can get 5 year's servicing on new MINIs for 250 Euro.

cpoh1

Changing the oil on a runaround like a 1.6L mini one every 6k miles is a waste of money. Once the correct oil is use 5w30 fully synthetic (i use castrol edge) there is no reason to change the oil more than every 15k or as the service indicator on these cars state. Modern fully synthetic oil is designed to last this mileage without breaking down. At the end of the day there is no way these engines are heating their oil over 100 degreesC.

Id be chasing this if i was the OP, mini's are anything but reliable and BMW as a "premium" brand should have higher reliability standards than this. An engine blowing on a 4 year old car with average mileage is not acceptable.

Owen

MINIs have different service intervals to what people are used too too. First service is 15k, then not until 40k, then 55k, then 80k.

OP, if you can get it to Cork, I can recommend a place that'll diagnose it properly and fit an engine quick sharp if needs be. They only do MINIs, nothing else.

Piper101

Owen wrote: »

You couldn't be more wrong, you can get 5 year's servicing on new MINIs for 250 Euro.

I bought a brand new mini cooper in January 2007 and got the TLC pack (I think it was €500 at the time but I could be wrong). I brought it in for its first service approx a year later and when I went back to collect the car I was charged €250 + for new brake pads, on a car no more than a year old!!! Since then (2008) I found a retired BMW mechanic who does all servicing on my car, he has needed to change the brake pads once (last november) so I dont think Im hard on the brakes. I think the TLC pack is a rip off, they find some way of recouping the costs...

OP, a friend of mine had a blow out on a cooper s last summer, she sourced an engine for about €800 online from the North, I think it ended up costing her about €1500 to finish...

Owen

TLC has never been 500 Euro. TLC was 200 Euro, and then went to 250. It doesn't cover brakes as they're consumables. It's excellent value, and has no hidden agenda.

MetzgerMeister

Owen wrote: »

You couldn't be more wrong, you can get 5 year's servicing on new MINIs for 250 Euro.

I was scrolling down to post telling the OP to contact you when I saw you found your way here

darragh o meara

If I were you Id be getting someone ( BMW indy Mechanic) to have a look at it An initial inspection can be carried out without too much dismantling with cameras that can go down throughout the spark plug hole etc. If something id found a further look can be done. But under no circumstances would I let this one past BMW warranty and Ive working in warranty for another manufacturer so I have a fair idea what I'm talking about. If your having no luck from the dealership contact the distributors office and look for the warranty manager and speak to him about it. If your getting nowhere mention that you intend on going down the legal route with the matter as no engine should go at that kind of mileage unless it has been totally abused. You won't gain anything by leaving this matter slip to be honest. At the very least they should cover the fault finding dismantling pending further warranty cover should it be warranted!!