MINI Timing Chain Tensioner - Engine Siezure

[Mini Cooper Bust]

The initial message was deleted from this topic on 24 August 2014 at 10:46

[adbrace]

Hi Mate

I've just put my 07 MSC into Mini to get the "Death Rattle" sorted. I'm hoping to get a good will gesture from Mini towards the cost. In black and white the good will gesture cannot be offered for any cars over 5 years old, but due to my car having full Mini service history and only having 29000 miles on the clock the dealer was pretty confident that I would get some help towards the cost from Mini (should find out today so will let you know).

It also helped that when I went into the dealer I had done my research pointing out other cases I found on some of the forums and the videos on youtube. Along with that I also found a few articles on the issue (here's one http://www.motoringfile.com/2009/05/12/mini-solves...

I basically argued the point that Mini would not have redesigned the part if there wasn't issue with it and therefore any damage that occurs due to this part should be the responsiblity of the manufacturer to fix. The problem was there from the time the car left the factory and if it had done average mileage would have shown up within the warrenty period. In a way I would have been better off buying a higher mileage car as the issue probably would have been sorted out already.

I think I have been pretty lucky with the dealer I decided to take the car too as well. When I went through everything with them they offered to give me a discount on the work even if Mini don't come through with the good will gesture.

For you I think the main issue is proving that the engine failure was down to the known issue with the tensioner. If you can prove that then I suggest fighting until they give in. They know there's an issue with the part so should at the very least contribute to the cost of fixing any problems that the faulty part has caused.

[Motorgym Bangor]

Mini must definitely be regretting using Peugeot engines......

[adbrace]

Found out today that I am getting money back towards the tensioner work. The whole timing gear needed to be changed in the end. Mini is covering 100% of the cost of parts and contributing to the cost of labour but can't remember how much they said would be. Getting the money back on monday.

Unfortunately while driving home from the gym today the engine management light came on . Called up the dealer and they organised a courtesy car for me free of change until their mechanics get back in on monday to have a look at it. If anyone in the midlands has issues with their Mini, I fully recommend Stratford Mini. They have been very helpful and understanding with getting things sorted for me.

[chasbald]

Mini Cooper Bust said:

Travelling on the M25 last week in rush hour traffic, when there was a sudden and increasing knocking noise. Indicated, changed lane and decreased speed and within seconds there was a bang and the engine light came on. Engine stopped, but luckly 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 and it was completely ruined!

I purchased the car from new, now 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. 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.

Steve - [e-mail]

__


I booked in my Mini Clubman Copper S as the was a rattle on start up when cold, so i decided to book it into my local BMW Mini centre (Coopers - Croydon)

After having the car for a day a sales rep got back to me to inform me that the cam belt tensioner was the problem and he would look into see if BMW would make a contribution due to the fact it would be an expensive repair. The following day at lunchtime he phones me to say that doue the the fact the car was older than 5 years and even thou the car had full bmw service history and only 65k on the clock BMW would not be making a good will gesture and foot any part of the bill to repair the car, even thou they have modified the Tensioner on this model.

Has anyone else had this problem due to what seems a faulty part on BMW part. :-(
they have quote £1400 to install a Timing belt tensioner Kit with labour - which i hassen to add is £156per hour !!! What planet are they on?

[TommyL]

Hmm the timing chain tensioner kits are on just about any tuner website for the N14 engined R56's and are known to fail. But 1400 GBP is insanity. BMPD put a video on youtube showing the problem and it's not that much labour to warrant 1400 quid bills.

http://www.promini.com/technical/cooper_r56_death_...

389 USD for the kit.

[Zippee]

OP - sorry to hear your woes.
Can I ask though is it certain models affected? Just having purchased a low mileage 55 plate Cooper S I want to put my mind at rest a little if possible. Running a TVR as well I have enough worries about engines and the like and could do without more....

[mike9009]

Zippee said:

OP - sorry to hear your woes.
Can I ask though is it certain models affected? Just having purchased a low mileage 55 plate Cooper S I want to put my mind at rest a little if possible. Running a TVR as well I have enough worries about engines and the like and could do without more....

This does not effect the R53 supersharged model. So you will be fine - you just need to worry about power steering pumps on your model. Saw your thread and seems you have bought a nice one. Let us know what you think after a few weeks.....

Mike

[DanGT]

My Dad had one of the first Turbo S cars. The cambelt slipped with in the first year BMW fixed the car for free but he sold it as it was still useing a lot of oil. I would push BMW and see what you can get. If nothing I would look for a second hand engine fitted by a indi mini place (Look in the new mini mag for a good place). Other than that how much do you want for it?

[jogon]

adbrace said:

Found out today that I am getting money back towards the tensioner work. The whole timing gear needed to be changed in the end. Mini is covering 100% of the cost of parts and contributing to the cost of labour but can't remember how much they said would be. Getting the money back on monday.

Unfortunately while driving home from the gym today the engine management light came on . Called up the dealer and they organised a courtesy car for me free of change until their mechanics get back in on monday to have a look at it. If anyone in the midlands has issues with their Mini, I fully recommend Stratford Mini. They have been very helpful and understanding with getting things sorted for me.

Another r56 cooper s owner here with the dreaded rattle and a very unhelpful bmw service centre. £1372 they want from me to change the part as its out of warranty despite only 33,000miles on the clock.

Can you explain how you managed to get the good will gesture - did you pay and then ask them or did you discuss the good will before you went ahead with the work.

I found an indi who will do it for £900 but obviously keen to keep the fsh.

Update:

BMW service centre reduced the price to £1070 after I asked for a breakdown of the costs. So its worth haggling! The cheapest dealer price I found was £972 down in Worthing, but that would have been a hassle, so its hopefully been fixed tomorrow, fingersx..

Edited by jogon on Thursday 23 May 10:48

[Haf007]

I purchased a 2007 Mini Cooper a year last December from a mini dealer - has been maintained well since purchase and is currently only done 55k miles. Last week it began cutting out and losing power. Was taken to a local garage - they reported a fault with the vanos unit and catalytic converter ( understandably the latter- which I have no issue with). Garage reported that it required a new solenoid sensor and complete change of both vanos units and full timing chain kit - giving me a bill of £1 k plus. They have told me today that a pulley from the water pump needs replacing. Having read here that other customers have had trouble with timing chain I'm wondering whether this is an issue I should take further with mini. I have contacted mini and they have asked for chassis number and number of dealership dealing with enquiry. The problem is that the car was taken to a local garage for diagnostics- wondering if I have a leg to stand on?? I am also unsure whether the garage are also taking advantage of me as a customer as my knowledge of cars is limited. Do you think my problem relates to the ones you have come across??

[Sledge]

I have a 57 Cooper S 49,000 miles, started getting the death rattle on cold start up then it went away when warm, it is currently in at Mini & they have said they will contribute towards the cost of the timing chain tensioner, i should get it back tomorrow so i will update on the cost...

This should really be a recall???

[New POD]

Morally MINI seem not to understand that future business depends on how they deal with current st designs they have sold, that don't survive a reasonable persons expectation.

Just because a car is out of warranty, doesn't make it unreasonable that the owner (and potential future owners), have a expectation of say 150K before even minor work to a properly serviced engine.

If they st on customers now, customer in future will buy a Honda jazz instead.

[RacingBlue]

The timing chain tensioner started rattling on my 07 MCS at 24K miles, one month after buying from a main dealer. Fortunately the dealer stumped up the full cost of the replacement, but refused to acknowledge an official recall.

After that, I had numerous repeat rattles from the replacement, along with crap running and starting and repeated illumination of the engine management light. Plus the coked up engine issue.

I'm sure the later engines are better, but the early BMW/PSA 1.6 Turbo's are ste. It says an awful lot that the 05 Clio 182 I replaced it with has been fantastic - no issues at all.

[Mini Cooper Bust]

UPDATE - UPDATE - UPDATE

The US are taking the lead on this. There is a law firm that have started a Class Action Suit against BMW North America LLC; BMW (US) Holding Corp & Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft in direct relation to the Timing Chain failure.

We now need a law firm in the UK to take the lead for the UK consumers. Where are you?

Please get in touch... [e-mail]

[Sledge]

OK, picked my Cooper S back up today & all is well so far, i did get a contribution from Mini/BMW against the timing chain & tensioner which brought it down to £397.50 +VAT so could have been worse as i didn't buy it from Mini.

Still should not need doing at 49,000 miles though, now has two years parts & labour against that so fingers crossed it will be fine now.

Andy.

[Maracus]

I heard what I'm sure was a failing tensioner this morning. I thought there was a farm vehicle approaching, but no, it was a 2009 MCS

It sounded like it was on its last legs.

[OldSkoolRS]

Daughter's car is suffering the rattling chain ('56 plater Cooper non S). I tried putting a new tensioner in it, which really quietened it down, but it came back again after a brief drive. I was going to give up on it an take it to a local garage (since it's not been serviced by BMW, so no chance of goodwill on a '56 plate).

However the (very helpful) local garage said it would be worth me trying to change the oil and filter first since the filter could be partially blocked (he said it wasn't unheard of). Going to try that since it's an easy enough job( Asda has fully synthetic Castrol at a good price it seems), see how I get on.

Otherwise we're looking at £360+ VAT labour, plus the parts. (I say 'we' since I'm realistic as to who will be paying for this...).

[Jenglish]

A few months ago my 07 MCS started knocking quite badly and there has also been a loss in power. More recently it has also started with the "death rattle" when cold and on further research I quickly realised this was a common problem.
I took my mini into the dealer today for diagnosis and it turns out the infamous timing chain needs to be replaced at a cost of £986 + vat
I made it quite clear to Mini that I had no intention of paying this horrendous cost when this was a known fault and the car had not even reached 50,000 miles!! I have complained directly to BMW group customer service and they are currently contacting the dealer to request they submit a "good will" enquiry however this may not go anywhere....

Has anyone else had a similar experience and managed to get Mini to cover the cost for an out of warranty car?

Thanks in advance

[robbiethompson73]

Hello,

I am still reeling from my Mini Cooper S developing a horrendous knocking noise that is consistent with the descriptions above.

I've had a diagnostic test by an independent Mini specialist and the results indicate it's a Timing Chain Issue.

I'm wondering what my best route to getting Mini to accept liability and provide a goodwill gesture to cover the costs.

In particular should I approach the local dealer (from whom I purchased the car) or the UK Mini Customer Service.

Also, should I involve any Consumer Groups?

Here are the main facts surrounding the purchase:
- Bought it new in January 2007 (It's a 56 Plate)
- Serviced exclusively by BMW dealer as part of TLC and TLC XC packages
- A slight knocking upon start up was identified a few weeks after purchase which was reported to local dealer over phone. The dealer submitted this complaint to the BMW Mini knowledge base forum to see if it was a recognised problem and I was later informed (again by phone) that it was a "known issue but no repair is needed and there was nothing to worry about".
- Knocking has persisted until it suddenly got very loud in August 2013 and yellow warning light came on.
- I have driven a very careful 44,000 miles.

Any advice or help in this would be hugely appreciated as I simply do not have the money to pay for the £1000+ repair this fault may require.

Thanks

Robbie