Hello all! I'm seriously interested in buying a paticular 2009 JCW. This car has had all it's service at the dealer since day one. One owner, seems well taken care of.

The timing chain issues I read about scare me a bit. Since the car is out of state I'm unable to inspect it on my own, but the dealership insists that all is well.

Looking through the service history, @44K miles the timing chain was replaced.

It is my understanding this is because of a faulty or out of spec timing chain was fitted from new.

The short question is....should I expect to have to replace this timing chain again in another 40 some thousand miles, or is the new chain something that is updated and should last much longer ?

 

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the issue the JCW has is the same one the MCS has. The problem wasn't directly with the timing chain itself. The issue is the timing chain tensioner. That could lead to damage to the chain, which of course can lead to some seriously bad things if the timing chain jumps/breaks.

If that was the issue this car had and it was fixed under warranty, my understanding is that the replacement from MINI solved the issue. So you should be good to go, but I'd ask for documentation. Before I bought my '08 a few months back (at a non-MINI dealer), I had a MINI dealer check it's VIN and confirm to me that the tensioner was replaced. They did, and also changed the chain while they were at it...probably the same deal that happened with the car you're looking at.

 

The tenisoner is what cased the chain to strectch. There were faulty tensioners installed for a couple of years and thus the chain stretched to point where it would develop the "death rattle". If the enitre chain was changed and the new tensioner was replaced (I am sure it was if done in the past year or two)...then you have nothing to worry about. The tensioner has a newer design and it will prevent it from happeneing again.

No worries, happy motoring. And welcome.

Edit: Klayfish beat me to it, I took too long to hit the button.

 

Do you know when the timing chain was replaced? If within the last year or so, you should be good to go indefinitely. Some of the earlier attempts to fix the problem proved to not be adequate, but anything done recently should be all sorted out.

 

The replacement on the timing chain should carry a 2 year MINI warranty from the date the work was done, even if the car itself is no longer under warranty.
Honestly, if I was looking to buy a 2009 JCW or MCS I would rather see that the tensioner chain had been replaced than not.

Good luck!

 

It was replaced 11/07/2011 w/44K miles. Car is currently sitting at 52K miles.

$19500 a fair price? No leather (don't really care). Darker silver (slate?) color exterior. Car looks like it immaculate condition, and was serviced at the OE dealer since new for regular checkups. I'm getting them to scan/email me all of the service details, but barring anything fishy....

I'm seriously shopping this car against a whole host of other subcompacts that really don't fit into it's class. Mazda 2, Fit, accent, etc. I wanted a small/fun car to drive. I stumbled upon a 08 mini S at the mazda dealer sitting right next to a brand new mazda 2.

It's hard to spend 15K on a mazda 2, when that cooper s was only $500 more.... granted used car/no warranty vs. new. Then I went on a search, found the JCW car, and here I am. My brain is telling me to find a year old mazda 2, buy it cheap and never look back. The ex-go kart/autocross racer in me is telling me WTH...why havn't you bought the JCW already

 

As far a si know the timing issue is related to the tensioner. An easy way to get a better idea as to whether or not the timing issue might be there is to plug in an OBD cable.

hook it up to a laptop and run EasyOBD. once its connected go to live data, and then fuel trims. if the long term fuel trims are anything above 10, you should have the timing checked out. but ideally, the long term fuel trim should be as close to 0 as possible

 

My guess is the timing chain should be fine at this point. If you are need someone to get a closer, personal look at it, you might try finding a MINI club that is local and see if someone could run by and check it out.

Good luck!

 

Just looked over the service records on the JCW in question... I must say it doesn't help the MINI's rep for being "prone to breakage".

At 25K miles the transmission was replaced due to a failed synchro/grinding on the 4th to 5th shift.

At 32K miles, the high pressure fuel pump failed.

At 45K miles, the chain tensioner had backed out of the block, causing the chain to become stupid loose/hose oil/damage cam chain followers etc. This is why the timing chain and all associated bits were replaced. Seems pretty suspect that the chain tensioner would BACK OUT all on it's own. Maybe the owner did this himself?

I shudder to think of the bill for the 3 above items had the car been out of warranty. Now that it is, how can I be confident that the above items won't break again.

Is there a new high pressure pump design? What about the trans? If they replaced these parts with the same parts...it's hard to expect them to last any longer than they did the first go around right?

 

I'm not sure about a new design for the high pressure fuel pump but Mini has issued an extended warranty of ten years and 120k miles on the high pressure fuel pump. You didn't say if you're buying it private or through the dealer.

Either way, they should be able to tell you if this Mini is covered by the extra warranty on the high pressure fuel pump.

 

Damn, you guys are lucky that BMW gave you that extended warranty on the HPFP. Peugeot has done no such thing (that I am aware of).

But from my personal experience, the HPFP doesnt fail often. Mine has lasted 2 years, 120k kms with no problems and im pushing 223whp.

E-tuners in Greece (whose software Im running) know the EP6 motor very well and have a done a ton of work with the Peugeot and have gotten as much as 400+ whp and the HPFP still keeps up.

@ APFabrication , I had the synchro on mine as well for 2nd gear.

Issues I've had on the Pug:

Failed turbo
Steering rack
Waterpump
Synchro
Engine Mount
Radiator Fan
Tappet Cover
Dodgy boost control valve

Car is currently in for 120k kms service and the timing is being looked at. Possibly the O2 sensor being replaced too.

 

Like I mentioned on the GRM forum, it's not a bad thing the timing chain and HPFP were done. I'd argue it's a good thing.

At the end of the day, you'll never be able to convince yourself the MINI would be a reliable and safe bet if you're looking at reliability and cheap maintenance. It's just not, no way around it. Only you can decide if you'd be happy with a Mazda 2 over the MINI.