So I bought a brand new 2011 cooper s and I have made some posts about cold start issues. If this was any other car and didn't take me 3 months to finally get I would have sent it back to the dealer right away for having any type of issue so early (before I even got my tags). But I really do love this car and I want to keep it.

The short version is, it had cold start issues in the morning. The issue was that it would stall out and I have to give it gas for it stay on. This would happen after extended periods of cool down (about 6 hours).

They diagnosed it as the HPFP and reprogrammed the car while the part was being shipped. The problem went away for a few days and then came back.

Finally the part came in and I got the car back. Although the car has not stalled out yet, there is still some hesitation in the mornings as it drops to about 500 rpms and then jumps back up. I dont know if this is normal but I am starting to get worried and if t continues or gets worse I will seriously consider taking action against the dealer. By that I mean declaring it as a lemon, making them buy it back, threatening to give bad PR, talk to someone in MINI headquarters, ect. Basically kick the bee's nest or something.

But I dont want it to come to that, so being a new member of the MINI community I would like the advice of you all who have more experience with the MINI than I.

Thank you for reading and for any advice!

 

Take it back and have them look again. Its still under warranty. Ignoring it will only make it worse.

 

that's definitely not normal for 2011. my mcs does not do that, even when park for more than 24hrs. give the dealer a chance to correct the issue. maybe try another dealer. if the problem is still there, then you already know what to do.

 

But how long do I wait? I already gave them the chance to fix it and its still a little iffy. I just dont want to keep going back and forth and wasting time. Thats not why I bought a new car, but its not really bad enough yet where I can take action.

 

Don't wait just go back. Who cares its your car now and it is their job to stand behind their product. Just be polite and respectful and explain what your situation is. If everything works out and the stealership is a bunch of scum bags they should be able to fix it. Hopefully. Plus you never know and it happens you might have a lemon. Hopefully not though.

 

Try a different brand of gas; I know it's a different engine but my '03 and '05 had similar issues, and using Sunoco 91 instead of Shell 93 eliminated the issue!

 

This still isn't normal and I'd definitely go back and have it fixed again. Waiting isn't going to solve anything.

Just using a quick example, let's just say it's a simple fix and you don't bring it in and it breaks down. Engine is found to be beyond repair. You don't want to end up in a situation where a company tries to put you at fault for continuing to drive a car with a known problem and further damaging it.

I'm not suggesting at all that this is the driver's fault or that the car is not repairable, but just in case it's a recurring problem you want to make sure there is plenty of documentation by taking it back to the dealer for the same issue. Hopefully you get your new MCS back to normal soon and can just focus on driving it. Best of luck!

 

And make sure you know exactly what the LEMON Law is in your state. If you try and Lemon Law the car before meeting all the requirements many states WILL deny you for ever on the car for making a FALSE claim.

Most states the car has to have gone in 3 times or more for the EXACT same repair.

What that means is this

1. Rough Idle - replace HPFP
2. Rough Idle - replace HPFP
3. Rough Idle - replace HPFP

then you can start a lemon law action

but if it is this senario

1. Rough Idle - replace HPFP
2. Rough Idle - replace HPFP
3. Rough Idle - replace mainfold
4. Rough Idle - replace fuel line
5. Rough Idle - replace engine mount

You are NOT intitled to a lemon law claim in many states because they were different repairs.

So check the law VERY carefully before you make any claims as if you do not meet the requirements you may loose your chance altogether.

 

Just wanted to post an update because I know I am not the only one having this issue.

I believe you are right about the 3 times + same issue for the lemon law. I was not aware that they would also have to remedy the problem the same way three times in order for it to be liable.....that means that as long as they dont replace the same part three times in a row, they could have my car in service indefinitely

This will be the third time I will be taking the car in for the same "rough cold start" issue. Besides that I will be trying to get in contact with MINI corporate directly because this is not the only problem I have been having (other problems are little things but they still add up)

I was also told that the car has to be in service about 45 days for it to be considered a lemon which would be more than half the time I have had the car.

My main problem is that there are so many "procedures" the dealer must go through and that they are not on their knees apologizing to me. This is not how I want my first new car, and first MINI to be. If they threw a JCW tuning kit in there for free I would be closer to being satisfied with this whole situation but I cant come right out and say that.

Anyway I will update as this goes along. If anyone else is having this problem or knows the solution please chime in

 

In my case they bought the car back one strike before the lemon law would've kicked in. They don't want to report the car as a lemon to gov't authorities (not good for their manufacturer stats) and would rather sell the car to a wholesaler without a branded title, for a better price. If they buy your car back and you get another MINI, the second one will be sold to you at dealer cost (roughly 10% below MSRP) as a courtesy, although they may not tell you that when you place the second car order. Hope this helps.

 

That does help thank you, and could you explain roughly what the last strike would have been? Was it the three times as I stated?

 

Recurrent starting failures: intake manifold, HPFP, HPFP. Manufacturer buyback followed June 2010 (with advice from the dealer to stay away from turbo MINIs).

 

So only a few days back from the dealer and SAME problem. R3R, do you have a choice when they sell you back the car? Do you get the exact same one? What did you do while the new one came, or did you get one off the lot? Do you have to get another MINI? And last question (sorry) what happens to the down payment you made the first time?

Sorry for all the questions, but it looks like I might be going down this route for sure now

 

I think I know what it is that is causing your rough idle on cold start and stalling issue. If your engine is the new valvetronic one then your intermediate levers or the servo that controls the levers is faulty. I had this same issue in my X5 4.8is. I bet the mini guys have never heard of this but it happened to the early valvetronic motors from 2004-06 4.4L and 4.8L V8s. BMW replaced my levers and rebuilt the top half of the motor to the tune 5k under warranty. I'm pretty sure you have the same issue.

 

If you don't mind waiting you can order the replacement car, otherwise the sales manager will search for a similar one already manufactured. I don't remember if the second car has to be a MINI or if a BMW is an alternative. The sales manager can answer that.

They don't require a deposit for the second order. I had paid my first MINI in full so the buyback process was easier for the sales manager, but I remember they had paperwork in case it was a financing or lease.

They refunded the full amount of the 1st car and I had to pay only the difference between the sales price of the 1st and the dealer cost of the 2nd (approx $400 in my case). On the sales document the 1st car is listed as a trade-in with the value the dealer sold it to another seller on the secondary market (the dealer doesn't keep those pre-lemon cars as certified pre-owned, mine turned up on Ebay within a week). The due figure on the bottom line right after the $400 which they called deposit, is covered by a check from BMW USA (in my case approx $9700).

 

These are classic symptoms of out of tolerance intermediate levers. BMW just hasn't figured it out yet. When it gets colder like in the winter time it will get worse. Anything below 50F will make the car stall on cold startup.

I could be wrong and this could something else, but my X5 has the same issue and other than replacing the levers, there is no other fix.

 

That is one of the issues I am having. I like my car exactly the way I have it but cant wait for a new ordered one to come in. But to be honest all this kind of ruined it for me. My two main questions for you are
1. when you say dealer cost do you mean invoice or MSRP? Because thats a pretty big difference.
2. in general is to my advantage to declare the lemon law, or if it could be fixed with the issue that JT mentioned, should I just fix it?

Thanks for the info, Im going to decide weather to tell them or not lol

 

The problem if it is the levers is easily fixable and the engine will be like new. They just have to remove the old parts and install new ones. You engine will be like new and prob have more power than it does now. I immediately felt the difference after they fixed it. Even my mpgs went up 2-3mpgs.

 

But one of my questions is, if they would resell me the same car, way cheaper than I bought it for, should I just not get involved and go the course of the lemon law? Or in other words, is it beneficial for me one way over the other?

 

Just a note to all this, I filed for the lemon law two times already and won each case, I lived in Michigan when I filed both times. All that is needed to file for lemon law is prove your vehicle has been in three times for the same repair, it don't matter what they replaced, what they did, all that matters is 3-times. Now the dealer can continue trying to fix the problem but that doesn’t mean you can’t start the process.

When you file for lemon law there will be a screening process for your claim, they will review all your documents (make sure to keep all dealer repair sheets and document everything) and they will verify whether or not you have a case. Once that is established and you have a case, just sit back and let them handle the proceedings, this will take about 3 to 6 weeks. The attorney will handle everything at no cost to you, they make their money off the car company.
http://www.lemonlawamerica.com/

 

So if you knew what was potentially wrong in your vehicles like someone here is suggesting, knowing what you know now, would you still have gone the route of filing a claim or would you have preferred to just fix it?

 

It depends on the situation, If I feel that the dealer cant fix the problem after several attempts or I think this problem might happen down the road...you beat! I would file the lemon law in a second. Now if it is something simple none engine/drive-train related then heck no!. When your vehicle is sitting in a dealership for repairs especially a 2011 Cooper S that is never a good thing. I would make sure you stay on top of the dealer to fix this problem because time is against you. WARRANTY! A hesitation issue is never a good issue to have on a new Mini or any vehicle......just my two cents worth

 

Hey guys, wanted to bring this up again since the issue is still there. So far the HPFP has been replaced at least 3 times, maybe something else that I cant remember and the most recent thing they replaced was the water pump (not sure why).

The most recent thing that happened was I would start it in the morning, (low 60's) and it sounded like a big struggle with the rpms fluctuating erratically and a constant "popping" noise coming out of the exhaust. I dont know what the heck is going on but its worse than before and I brought it in and thats when they changed the fuel pump. The next day it did it again and I had to bring it back in. I honestly think a big problem is the mechanics (or rather 1 MINI certified mechanic from what I understand) over at the dealership I go to. IF this happens again, and I hope to god it doesn't but my faith in that dealership has faded, I will probably point out what JT///MC brought up about the intermediate levers or the servo that controls the levers. In the meantime any advice would be appreciated.

 

Honestly it might be tough for you to prove that its the intermediate lever issue unless you're BMW/Mini engineer. In my case, BMW issued an SIB and resolved each case on a per customer complaint issue. IIRC I believe it was 0.064mm off tolerance or something minuscule like that. Not something an average person could prove or figure out for themselves.

I would just lemon law the car and get an 2012 one instead. Just not worth fighting Mini trying to solve this mystery problem. It could be anything and I think they'll just keep throwing parts at it until its fixed.

 

JTMC is right, lemon law it.