Hello all! My wife and I just bought our first Mini's:-) She's wanted one for years and I finally broke down and encouraged her to get one. Well, after driving her 2011 British Racing Green S hardtop, I fell in love and had to have one as well. Ended up with a 2007 blue convertible S. Drove it home and after 30 miles got the 'death rattle' but happy to report my dealer is replacing the entire timing chain,tensioner and guide rails for free plus gave me a free rental car:-) Can't wait to get her back. Just ordered vanity plates for mine IDNTFIT... also my user name haha. My wife's plates are MNEMOMA closest we could get to Mini Mama in our state:-( Anyhow, love these cars and hope to join a local club soon!
-Chris

 

Wow! 2 MINIs at once. That is great! Welcome aboard. I got MINI mama right away, IDNTFIT??? Oooohhh, I Don't Fit, I got it. That's good! I'm a little slow apparently.

 

Welcome to NAM, IDNTFIT and you know what they say, the more the merrier. Congrats to the both of you on your new MINIs. We'll be expecting a few pics of both of those MINIs shortly, so don't keep us waiting. Happy motoring and please don't forget to promote the MINI wave.

 

Yeah, I'm 6'1" so it's a slightly tight fit... Haha Pictures will be coming as soon as I get my Mini back from the dealer, going on two days now and after being told they would be changing the entire timing chain assembly, now I'm being told it'll most likely be only the tensioner and they will 'inspect' the chain for stretch and determine if it needs replacing at all.... Kinda miffed about this because you know it's stretched if it's made the 'death rattle' and the guides have had the chain slapping against it which causes premature wear as well... Guess I'll have to be patient and keep my calm :-)

 

Okay, so a little update. My dealership contacted us Friday (which was my 40th bday) and notified us that they had installed a complete timing chain set and test drove it, but now a seal was leaking and they would need the car until Tuesday.... They came to our house to pick up the rental car they had given us ( some kind of Chevrolet mini SUV thing, hated it) and dropped off the dealership loaner MINI Paceman in its place. No complaints about the Paceman, it's an 'S' and an automatic, paddle shifters like my 07 convertible S... Buuut, it has these silly pink rear view mirror caps on it! Haha!! Yeah, a bit embarrassing pulling up to the construction site.. Sooo, long story short, I've been a MINI owner for over two weeks but I've only had my car for a couple of days... Frustrating to say the least, and if I get this car back and it breaks again, I will be giving it back to the dealership and never will I buy a MINI again... I'm a pretty good mechanic, been rebuilding engines and working on cars since I was a kid, to hear about the ridiculous timing chain issues and transmission issues these supposedly well built German 'engineered' cars are having at such ridiculously low mileage intervals has me seriously doubting my choice to purchase a car I would normally have laughed at. Owned mostly American and Japanese cars my entire life, never had an issue like this before. We traded in our 2006 Dodge Hemi Charger with over 100000 miles on it for my wife's 2011 BRG MINI hardtop S. That Charger NEVER gave me any problems and I sometimes didn't change the oil regularly on it and even let it get a couple quarts low at times :-( I really loved driving my MINI convertible when I actually had it inmy possession and it actually ran... But one more problem and I'm DONE! :-(

 

Pic of the wife's 2011 BRG Cooper S.... Still havnt got my 07 convertible S back from the dealer:-( Tomorrow is the last day before we walk away from it, tired of the run around...

 

So, I got my baby back tonight:-) All is well except for a possible oil leak which may or may not be residual from the leak the dealership fixed. I jacked her up and cleaned the oil from her undercarriage and will drive around a bit then reinspect:-) Damn I've missed this car and after driving her again tonight it's definitely a love affair I can't just walk away from if she breaks again:-( this might get expensive!! Hahaha!

 

Sooo, last update in this saga! At dealer again as i write this. The 07 was still leaking oil and after discussing it with the GM and service rep/techs we decided the car would likely require ongoing repairs for the same problem. Long story short, gave the 07 back to them and now Im the proud owner of a 2014 brand new hardtop MINI Cooper!!:-) pics will follow when i can get them as the car is being delivered to me from Long Beach, wont have it until tonight

 

 

Just got home, it's past 10 pm, pics will have to be tomorrow:-) It's blue with white roof, white bonnet stripes and mirrors and black wheels. It's surprisingly quick for a 3 cylinder!

 

I've heard the same thing from others who have driven the new 3 cylinder engines.

 

Congrats on your new 2014 MINI. I am sorry to hear about all the problems you had with your last car. I hope you love your F56 as much as I do. Go to the F56: Hatch Talk thread to keep up to date with the rest of us.

 

Ive been trolling around the f56 forums, thats what kinda led me to get one, and now that I have one, my favorite thread there is the things you didnt know your f56 could do thread.. Lol