My wife was driving her 2010 mini cooper clubman on an interstate in michigan in april 2018 going 70 mph when the engine just quit, losing all power. i was following her in a vehicle that i had just purchased so i pulled off the interstate behind her. there was not any indication of external liquids escaping the engine so after 15 minutes of examining the vehicle i started it back up and drove the 9 remaining miles to our home without further incident until i parked the vehicle in our garage, lifted the hood and steam was coming out of the oil cap when i opened it. i proceeded to have the vehicle towed to a foreign import repair shop where they gave me an estimate of $8,800 to replace the engine as they indicated the engine coolant had become mixed with the engine oil. not being able to afford the $8,800 at that time i stored the mini in our barn for a year. not wanting just to junk the car after having it for only 6 months before the engine failed, i decided to have a foreign import car repair facility replace the engine at a cost of $7,300! after expressing my concern once in an email and then in a letter to the ceo of mini usa, mini said that the car was out of warranty and that they would do nothing for me. this is unacceptable. a car with 100,000 miles on it and having been well taken car of with a carfax to show that, should not have a total engine failure. unfortunately i am not the only customer with this problem. thousands and thousands of mini cooper owners have experienced the same engine failure as i have. looking at any mini cooper forum or even on mini usa's web site will show engine failures at an abnormal rate. the fact that mini is sticking their head in the sand just saying the car is out of warranty is absurd. mini needs to be held accountable for the design flaws in their vehicles.
Timing chain and tensioner has had issues when the car has low miles. replaced tensioner in 2014 and then again in 2017 (2017 - only 78,019 miles). timing chain had to be replaced in 2017(again only 78,019 miles).
The mini cooper clubman has a defective timing chain tensioner that can cause severe damage to the engine and crashes. bmw has agreed to replace the chains in some models, but not others, leaving open the possibility of crashes related to the failure of this known problem. bmw has known about the defective part since 2008, when the company issued a technical service bulletin addressing the problem; however, following the notice, bmw failed to issue any recall or provide compensation for those who had already replaced their chains or engines. bmw's failure to notify drivers of this problem is a danger to the driving public.
Tl* the contact owns a 2010 mini cooper clubman. while driving at various speeds, the vehicle suddenly shut completely off. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the timing belt was faulty and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified. the failure mileage was 64,000.
I was driving on the freeway when the oil light came on, i called the dealer within seconds and asked them if this was a concern. they said to drive it in it was probably just the oil level needing topped out. i continued for about a mile when the engine light came on. i pulled off at the next exit and called them back. the again said to bring it in. i walked around the car before proceeding and noted that the front wheel well,tire and wheel were all soaked with oil( passenger side) . i called them back and requested a tow truck as when i started it up it made an exceptionally loud hammering noise. i i knew that the engine was going to let go if i continued. the dealer took the car in and called me a day or so later to inform that the timing chain broke a,flattening the valves, messing up the valves and engine block. the told me that it was approx 7,000miles out of warranty. i told them that i had an extended 100,000 service warranty sold to me by the dealer in charleston south carolina. i was sold this by the "finance manager" and he made me believe that i was covered. the dealer where i live in dublin ohio, has serviced the car for every required service since it was purchased. they are trying to get mini to cover the repairs. i had informed them that the odometer always reads about 7 to 8 mph faster than my gps and that the warranty per their instruments would be shorted. the indicated that they would not cut me off in a close situation. the actual power train warranty is 50,000. i have never heard of a timing chain breaking with even a 100,000 miles on it. i have serviced the car at all appropriate intervals as noted in the service records and i pamper the car. i am 61 yrs old and have had many, many cars and do not drive irresponsibly. i believe that this is a known problem by bmw. the mid west auto group has always been exceptional and i have no problems w/them. *js