2008 MINI COOPER Complaints

WHEN THE CAR IS STARTED COLD IN THE MORNING WITH AN AMBIENT TEMPERATURE OF AROUND 37DEGREES F. THERE IS A RATTLE IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT SOMEWHAT SIMILAR TO A DIESEL ENGINE RATTLE BUT LOUDER. COULD BE A TIMING CHAIN PROBLEM THAT WILL DESTROY THE ENGINE EVENTUALLY. BMW NEEDS TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

I HAVE THE S (TURBO) MODEL. WHEN IT'S COLD OUTSIDE (LESS THAN 40 DEGREES) AND THE ENGINE IS COLD (SITTING OVERNIGHT) IT SOUNDS LIKE A DIESEL ENGINE AT START UP. THE FIRST 60 SECONDS OF IDLE IS AWFUL. THE ENGINE CLATTERS LIKE A DIESEL AND THERE IS A BUZZ AS WELL. LIKE A LOOSE HEAT SHIELD OR SOMETHING. I HAVE HAD MANY CARS AND TRUCKS IN MY LIFE AND I HAVE NEVER HAD A VEHICLE SOUND LIKE THIS AT IDLE WHEN IT'S COLD. THE ENGINE OIL IS FULL AND I HAVE SYNTHETIC OIL IN IT. SO OIL VISCOSITY CANNOT BE AN ISSUE. I AM WORRIED THAT ENGINE DAMAGE IS BEING DONE AND I AM GOING TO GET STUCK WITH AN ENGINE OR CYLINDER HEAD REBUILD OR REPLACEMENT. AFTER ABOUT A MINUTE, THE ENGINE BEGINS TO QUIET DOWN AND THEN SMOOTHES OUT. BUT THOSE START UPS!! ABSOLUTELY GOD AWFUL. I WOULD LOVE TO SEE AN INVESTIGATION STARTED ON THIS VEHICLE. I HAVE READ ABOUT THIS ISSUE IN MINI COOPER FORUMS ONLINE AND THIS IS A WIDESPREAD AND COMPLAINED ABOUT ISSUE. BMW HAS APPARENTLY TRIED A NUMBER OF FIXES TO NO AVAIL, BUT SOMETHING HAS TO BE WRONG. SOMETHING IS JUST NOT ENGINEERED CORRECTLY. I BOUGHT THE CAR USED IN THE SPRING OF 2011 AND THE TEMPERATURES WERE WARM ENOUGH THAT THE COLD START CLATTERING WASN'T TOO BAD. BUT BY OCTOBER WHEN THE MORNING LOWS WERE COLDER, THE PROBLEM REALLY BEGAN TO SHOW UP. NOTHING HAS BROKEN YET BUT IT SURE SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING IS READY TO LET LOOSE. HELP! *TR

CAR CAUGHT FIRE AND BURNED UP (TOTALED) IN MY DRIVEWAY AFTER IT WAS SHUT OFF. FIRE STARTED IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT ABOUT 10 MINUTES AFTER I SHUT IT OFF AND GOT OUT OF THE CAR. IT NEARLY BURNED DOWN MY HOUSE TOO -- FRONT STEPS AND FENCE CAUGHT FIRE BEFORE THE FIRE DEPARTMENT GOT THERE AND EXTINGUISHED THE FIRE. HAVE PHOTOS TO DOCUMENT. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 MINI COOPER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT SPORADICALLY ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING WHERE THE TECHNICIAN WAS UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 26,000.

I DROVE LESS THAN A MILE AND SMOKE STARTED COMING OUT OF THE ENGINE. THE TURBOCHARGER WAS LEAKING OIL ONTO THE ENGINE, WHICH ALMOST CAUSED THE CAR TO CATCH ON FIRE. *TR

THE VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN APPROXIMATELY 1 MILE, THEN STOPPED AT A GAS STATION TO ADD AIR TO A LOW TIRE. WHILE THE CAR WAS IDLING, WHITE SMOKE CAME FROM THE ENGINE, FOLLOWED BY DARK SMOKE. WHEN THE HOOD WAS OPENED, WE SAW A SMALL FLAME COMING FROM INSIDE THE FRONT OF THE ENGINE. WE RAN TO GET A FIRE EXTINGUISHER FROM THE GAS STATION ATTENDANT; BY THE TIME WE RETURNED, FLAMES WERE VISIBLY SHOOTING UP OUT OF THE ENGINE. WE WERE ABLE TO EXTINGUISH THE FIRE WITH A HAND-HELD FIRE EXTINGUISHER. THERE WERE NO INJURIES AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS NOT CALLED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE NEAREST MINI DEALER. THE SERVICE ATTENDANT DECLARED THAT HE HAD NO EXPERIENCE WITH ANY ENGINE FIRES IN HIS TENURE WITH MINI. AFTER AN INVESTIGATION (PICTURES TAKEN BY SERVICE AND EMAILED TO MINI CORPORATE), THE AUXILIARY WATER PUMP WAS FOUND TO BE THE SOURCE. IT WAS REPLACED, ALONG WITH A NUMBER OF CONNECTORS AND HOSES, AND THE ENGINE WAS CLEANED OF FIRE EXTINGUISHER POWDER. WHEN I ASKED SEVERAL TIMES ABOUT THIS PROBLEM, THE ONLY ANSWER I RECEIVED WAS THAT THIS STAFFER HAD NEVER HEARD OF A CAR FIRE LIKE THIS IN HIS TIME (3 YEARS) AT MINI.

SHORTLY AFTER THE TEMPERATURE LIGHT CAME ON, SMOKE STARTED COMING OUT OF THE EXHAUST. I PULLED OVER ALMOST IMMEDIATELY ON THE SIDE OF THE BUSY HIGHWAY I WAS ON. HOWEVER, IN JUST THAT SHORT TIME, SMOKE WAS ALREADY COMING OUT OF THE FRONT OF THE CAR AND OUT OF THE CAR VENTS. AT LEAST ONE BYSTANDER SAID HE SAW A FIRE BEFORE I SHUT OFF THE ENGINE. HE CALLED THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AND PARAMEDICS FOR FEAR THAT I MIGHT BE INJURED. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS WAS NOT A MINI COOPER S. I AM REQUESTING THAT YOU EXPAND YOUR CURRENT INVESTIGATION OF MINI ENGINE FIRES TO INCLUDE THE STANDARD MODEL (MINI COOPER). *TR

I BOUGHT CAR NEW IN NOV 2007. CAR WAS USED AS TRANSPORTATION EVERY DAY TO AND FROM WORK (~100 MI TOTAL). CAR WAS WELL CARED FOR, SERVICE WAS PERFORMED AS REQUIRED, ETC. IN SEPT 2008 AFTER SITTING UNDRIVEN FOR 10 DAYS WHILE I WAS AWAY ON VACATION, I DROVE 50 MI TO WORK AND THERE WERE NO SIGNS OF TROUBLE EXCEPT THAT AN INDICATOR FOR A BLOWN HEADLAMP CAME ON WHEN I INITIALLY STARTED UP. WHEN I ARRIVED AT WORK AND PULLED INTO A PARKING SPACE I NOTICED WISPS OF SMOKE COMING FROM THE GRILL AND INTAKE AND SUSPECTED OVERHEATING. I PEERED INTO THE INTAKE AND SAW GLOWING ORANGE, AND SMELLED THE SMOKE AND REALIZED THIS WAS A FIRE NOT AN OVERHEATING. I HAD A COLLEAGUE CALL 911 AND GRABBED A FIRE EXTINGUISHER. WHEN I GOT BACK TO THE CAR SMOKE WAS POURING OUT OF THE HOOD. NOT WANTING TO OPEN THE HOOD I AIMED THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER INTO THE GRILL, INTAKE, AND GAPS BUT IT DIDN'T DO MUCH. AT THAT POINT I GRABBED VALUABLES FROM CAR AND WALKED AWAY. FLAMES BEGAN COMING OUT OF THE HOOD OVER THE WINDSHIELD. CAR WAS COMPLETELY ENGULFED WITHIN 10 MINUTES. THERE WERE NO INJURIES OR PROPERTY DAMAGE EXCEPT FOR THE CAR ITSELF. INSURANCE DECLARED IT A TOTAL LOSS. MINI WAS NOTIFIED. I HAVE PHOTOS OF IN-PROGRESS AND AFTERMATH. HAVING SEEN THE RECENT PUBLICITY ABOUT THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE ENGINE FIRES I THOUGHT I SHOULD LOG MY VERY RELEVANT EXPERIENCE. *TR

ON AUGUST 15, 2011, I DROVE MY VEHICLE TO WORK AS I DO EVERY MORNING. ON THE WAY, I STOPPED FOR GAS. AFTER FILLING UP THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT START. IT SHOULD ALSO BE NOTED THAT THE ENGINE WAS VERY, VERY HOT AND THE COOLANT OVERFLOW TANK WAS OVERFLOWING. THE CAR WAS TOWED TO THE CLOSEST DEALERSHIP AND, AFTER INVESTIGATING, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE ENGINE WAS STARVED OF OIL, HAD SEIZED, AND WOULD NEED TO BE COMPLETELY REPLACED. THIS VEHICLE HAS ALWAYS RECEIVED REGULAR SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE SINCE IT WAS PURCHASED NEW FROM MINI IN 2008. THE LAST SERVICE WAS PERFORMED BY THE DEALERSHIP ON A LEAKING OIL PAN GASKET. FURTHERMORE, THERE HAD BEEN NO WARNING SIGNALS WHATSOEVER THAT THE ENGINE WAS IN DANGER. *TR

I WAS DRIVING AROUND AND I BEGAN LOOSING POWER TO MY CAR, SO I STOPPED AND THEN I COULDN'T GET IT STARTED AGAIN. I WAS IN THE PROCESS OF CALLING A TOW COMPANY WHEN I POPPED THE HOOD AND WHEN I LIFTED IT UP I COULD SMELL GASOLINE AND NOTICED A CLOUD OF FUMES SO I BACKED UP AND IT CAUGHT FIRE SO I CALLED 911 AND NOW MY CARS VIRTUALLY GONE. I COME ACROSS SOME MINI COOPER OWNERS CLUB FORUM AND ITS APPARENTLY HAPPENED TO OTHER PEOPLE AND ALSO ON YOUTUBE. OR IT SEEMS LIKE IT WAS THE SAME THING SINCE THEY CAUGHT FIRE IN THE ENGINE FIRST TOO. I CALLED MINI AND THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE ME TOW IT THERE SO THEY CAN DIAGNOSE IT TO DETERMINE WHAT HAPPENED. *TR