Our Clubman S just hit 60K. Then, the check engine light came on. I took it to Rennhaus here in Sarasota. They said there was a problem with the crankcase ventilation. This didn't surprise me since it had been decarbonized twice since we bought it with 2K on the clock. This little episode was expensive since they had to replace the valve cover. While the car was there, I had the oil changed and the AC serviced because it wasn't cooling well at all. All said, we left $1200 lighter.

So that was 2 weeks ago. Yesterday, after finding drops of oil all over the garage floor where we park the Mini, took it back to Rennhaus. I thought they hadn't tightened the filter or the oil drain plug. Nope, the car is leaking like a sieve. Apparently, the oil lines to the turbo and the seal on the oil filter housing. The seals and parts are under $100, but they estimate 10 hours labor.

I am getting disgusted, particularly after they warned me about the timing chain issue. They told me to listen for rattling on startup. That certainly has made me paranoid about catastrophic engine failure.

I'm thinking it's time to say goodbye to the Mini. We were going to get a new one. Now, I doubt we will.

 

Have you tried checking with local Mini clubs for Mini-acs approved private shops? Dealership has always quoted extremely high estimates for the simplest jobs. For example, they wanted $800 to install my coilovers. Without a proper jack or proper tools(had to run to Home Depot twice), I did it under 7 hours, and never having done it before.

 

Rennhaus is a private shop. We have loved our Mini, but it has been far from trouble free. We had a fair amount of warranty work done on it. Now, it's out of warranty and the repairs are beginning to tax our patience. $2600 in two weeks. On trade-in, the most we have been offered is $11,500. It is hard to justify pouring more money into the car. We have also been warned of the dreaded "death rattle". It's a $2300 fix if you catch it before it destroys the engine. A friend had his timing chain go on the Skyway bridge. by the time he got to a pullover spot, his engine was destroyed.

Today, we decided to trade it, with the oil leaks, on another vehicle, not a Mini.

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Problems abound on my 27k Clubman S, as well, all of which are well-documented by tons of other post-ers on forums, etc. The second before the warranty runs out in about a year and half I'm selling mine/trading it in, maybe even before.

We all know that overall MINIs (especially the S models) are not reliability stars, or the most well-made vehicles out there (take a deep breath everyone: there ARE exceptions, and I'm not insulting anyone personally)...but it still sucks when you have to go through it, and I feel your pain.

Like you I love driving my Clubman S and think it's an awesome car in many ways (if not somewhat half-assed in others). That's right: I love *driving* it, not taking it to the dealer multiple times in its somewhat young life so far. I wish MINI/BMW could get their act together.

What did you decide to trade it in for? I'm curious because I'll be looking for another car as well, and I can't find anything that seems to compare to the MPG, performance, etc., of the MINI. Kind of a bummer.