Looks like BMW has agreed to pay Plaintiffs attorneys $1.8 Million. I'm trying to ascertain what thew owners get.

http://www.law360.com/classaction/ar...gn=classaction

 

Little more info on motoring alliance.

Extension of warranty coverage and some payback for prior repair costs.

 

More details:
BMW of North America LLC has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit over allegations that certain Mini Cooper models contain an engine defect.

The BMW class action lawsuit filed by Joshua Skeen and Laurie Freeman alleges that Mini Cooper S Hardtops, Clubmans and Convertibles between the model years 2007 to 2010 have a timing chain problem that costs vehicle owners thousands of dollars to repair.

According to the BMW class action lawsuit, the Mini Cooper’s timing chain tensioner is off-sync, which forces the engine to work harder at the expense of the engine’s pistons and valves. In some cases, the alleged engine defect reportedly caused the entire vehicle to lose power.

Skeen and Freeman say they each purchased a new Mini Cooper S in 2007 and were told that the timing chains were supposed to last about 10 years or 120,000 miles. However, the plaintiffs claim they had to make costly repairs much sooner than anticipated.

In 2013, Skeen claims to have paid more than $3,000 to replace the BMW car engine that had 74,000 miles on it. In a similar situation, Freeman says the timing chain tensioner on her Mini Cooper was replaced under warranty in 2009 but failed again in 2013 costing her $1,300.

The BMW engine class action lawsuit claims that the car manufacturer has been aware of the engine defect since 2008 when they acknowledged the problem by issuing a technical service bulletin. However, the plaintiffs say that although the company knew about the issue they did not offer to reimburse BMW car owners for the repair.

If approved, the BMW class action settlement will reimburse Class Members 100 percent of the cost of repairing or replacing the timing chain tensioner at an authorized MINI dealer. In addition, the BMW settlement would extend the four year or 50,000 mile warranty to seven years or 100,000 miles.

The proposed BMW engine defect class action settlement was reached after more than a year of negotiations, followed by a full-day mediation between both parties.

 

"If approved"

I also wonder if the extended warranty covers just the timing chain components. I can't imagine them extending the entire warranty.

 

How do we become part of the Class Lawsuit recipients?

 

usually the class is defined by the court, you need to read the documents. More than likely you would be included, unless you specifically opted out.

 

Are you really concerned that the court won't approve this settlement? Difficult to imagine why that would not happen.

Yes, the extended warranty only covers the specified parts, not the rest of the engine, and definitely not the entire car.

 

"in addition to replacing" (the tensioner) .. "would extend the warranty". Not clear exactly what that means but it sounds like they are extending the warranty on something more than just the tensioner.

 

That was my point. Not a lot of REAL information.

Probably way early in the process to know anything for sure.

 

Hi, folks.

Yesterday I came home to a letter with a form asking if I wanted to join the lawsuit.

Has anyone else received one of these? I haven't had a chance to read it thoroughly enough but if you don't have service documents, there is an affadavit for a mechanic to sign attesting to the routine maintenance of the MINI.

I am the original owner of a 2009 Mini Cooper S.

 

did the note give a deadline to respond?

 

June 20, 2016 is the deadline to respond. I just got mine yesterday also.

 

too bad they aren't forced to buy back all mini's because of this...mine would be gone in a heart beat.

 

Am curious why the the 2010 MCS hardtop isn't included in the law suit since it has the same engine as the convertible.. Anyone know the answer?

 

I received a letter in the mail yesterday to file for the settlement.

 

I need to read up more on this. I got an email today about it.

I've got a 09' Clubman S, but I'm not the original owner and the car was just out of the factory warranty (by years not mileage) when I got it. It had 48k on it. I researched the history and a MINI dealer replaced the timing chain in my car at 34k miles.

It's now got over 70k. No idea if they upgraded the tensioner.

 

I had my tensioner and chain on my 2008 S replaced last fall and paid out of pocket. In the letter, it mentions that you have to provide proof that you had adhered to the required maintenance. I did all my own oil changes, however. There is a section to get a mechanic, either MINI or 3rd party to sign off on it. Do you think I can just sign off as I did the work myself? I have since sold the car since it was becoming too expensive to maintain, but would like reimbursed since this was a common problem.

 

And I'm unsure about some of the language. It mentions, even if you do nothing, you'll be given an extended warranty of 7 years/100k miles from the Coverage Vehicle's "in-service" date.

What do they mean by in-service? Is that the build date? If so, hell I'm at 7 years now, which would make the warranty useless to me.

 

This is a good question. I own a 2010 model yr MCS hardtop that appears to be excluded. Inexplicably, I just received the letter. One of the options in responding is to tell the court why you don't like the settlement. I intend to complain about the exclusion of the 2010 MCS hardtop. It may do no good but it's probably going to be my only opportunity to make the case.

I'm on my 3rd tensioner, and the last one was paid for by me. Plus my chain is stretched beyond the spec described in the TSB so it seems like just a matter of time before I have to change the whole thing.

 

An in service date on a vehicle is when the original car warranty started on the vehicle when it was first purchased as a new vehicle. The in service date should not be confused with when the vehicle was originally manufactured, instead think of the in service date as the date that the first consumer drove the vehicle off the dealerships parking lot.

So if your car was sat on the dealer lot a year before it was purchased your warranty starts then.

 

Seriously? You're on the THIRD tensioner now? Am curious if you monitored the oil levels and topped off when low since you've owned the car. I was looking at one like yours with 54K miles that never had it done, and decided against it due to the major problems with this engine. And as I said I find it VERY odd they don't include hardtops since around here in the SF area there are 20 hardtops to every convertible.. And based on what you say here it's obviously the SAME engine too!

 

For those that own an MCS I can't stress enough how important it is that you install the 5th final designed tensioner, it's so much smoother than any gen design before it as I had a rare opportunity to test a 3rd gen, 4th gen and 5th gen tensioner and it's night and day difference! The older gen tensioners were all the same even before installing new, the piston was anything but smooth which as you may or may not know is the reason why the tensioner gets stuck partially open not fully tensioning the timing chain which causes it to stretch and by the time it starts hitting the upper guide it's to late.

It took Mini 8 years to get it right, way to long for any manufacture!

 

That's my question as well. My 07 is now over 8 years old...so what, I'm getting an expired free meal voucher to Cracker Barrel as my reward? Basically, it sounds like they're trying to clear the outstanding costs owners had trying to fix their own cars, but the extended warranty for the rest of us is meaningless. Add 7 years into the original warranty, and maybe I'll start caring.

 

Where did you get the fifth generation tensioner? Can you post pictures of it, I got a new tensioner from the dealer, not sure if it was the new one.

 

Got it at a Mini dealer when I went in to have my chain slack measured before my 2 year warranty was up. The newer one doesn't have a dimple in the center, most places don't even sell the older generations anymore, only the longer tensioners.