I have a mini cooper 2007 base model (R56). It needs a new engine but I am having a hard time finding the exact engine with low Km to buy. So I started expanding my options. There is a 2012 countryman (R60) engine with low Km on it. The mini dealership told me the engines are very similar but they personally have never done that swap so they cannot say if it is possible. Has anyone ever done this before? if so what additional changed were needed? Please help me. Haven't had my mini on the road for over a month now.

 

The 07 engine is an N12 where the '12 engine is an N16. I have an N16 engine and if you want we can make some comparisons. Try to locate the engine wiring tag and read out the numbers. Take pix of the thermostat and around the oil pan. Is your engine beyond repair?

 

My car is currently in the shop but I think I will pick it up tomorrow and park it at home until I find an engine for it. It runs but it wants to die whenever I idle at a stop sign or light. Also I'm not sure if the guys at the shop have taken it on the highway. But yes it is beyond repair. Tomorrow when I get it home I will try to take pictures! Thank you very much.

 

While it is/was at the shop, did they do a compression test? Did they do a leak down test? What are the check engine light codes are? I think we can narrow it down from here...why buy an engine if you dont have all of these inputs! Keep us posted

 

The car was running on 1L of oil. Please don't judge. I went to Mr.Lube only 5 weeks before and we are filing a law suit against them because it does not leak and does not burn oil. The car went 6100km between my service and the service that the previous owner had done. Between the service that I had at Mr.Lube and the engine seizing the car only went 2700km. The engine was making a severe knocking sound and had just seized as I got it to the shop on November 1st. The oil that came out was very burn and shiny. The shop says that the engine is pretty cooked.

 

Don't try to swap an N12 to N16 you will be asking to be $100 billed to death. As you will likely need wiring, injectors, and more to get it to run right. And even then still run into issues. Find an N12 to save the hassle.

 

Thank you. They are just very hard to find in Canada and most in the US are quite prices. Preferably yes I want to just stick with an N12.

 

Can you be more specific? What did they diagnose to reach that conclusion?

 

Try this website to get the enigne car-part.com

 

I'm not sure what they diagnosed exactly.. The shop just told me I need a new engine and the car doesn't like to idle. Its okay when its moving but tries to stall out when stopped. And thank you that website helps so much!

 

Brother, you work hard for you money and I cannot accept "oh, you just need a new engine" without a thorough diagnosis. it is not a brake job or $500 job! demand a report and WHY they want to replace the engine. SHOW me where the damage is?!

 

I will be driving the car home today (if I make it that far) I will ask for a full report. I was just thinking that it was running on 1L of oil so the engine would obviously be cooked? I live out of town and the guys at the shop were surprised that I managed to even get the car to the shop in the first place. I am not a car person.. I can change glow plugs here and there and little dinky stuff but after that I am hopeless so had no idea the engine would ever be fixable when it came to lack of oil.. I will find out today after school when I go to pick it up.

 

does the car make any knocking noise? can you attach a short video of the engine running? Also, I suppose you already put oil?

sometimes, one needs to learn more than the basics to at least survive the cunningness of auto shops.

take it one step at a time before you start shelling/throwing money without a satisfactory diagnosis.

 

There are plenty of used engines on Car parts . com

http://www.car-part.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi

Price varies depending on mileage and the greed of the seller.
If the link doesn't work, search car-part.com and you should find it ok.

 

I tried to attach a video but my computer cannot handle the size of the file and I don't want to damage it. Yes the shop put oil in it. And as for knocking, it is not anymore, sounds just like it did when I bought it in August. But before I took it to the shop it made an odd flappy sound when the revs got higher when it first started acting up, it also had severe power loss. we were doing 50km/h on the highway as soon as we came to a hill and wed have to drop down into 2nd gear . and it would misfire in all 4 cylinders. we got to the first shop we could find and they said it was most likely the MAF sensor. they cleared all the codes. The next day it made it into town just fine but the engine light blinked at me twice, but on the way out of town it started making this awful loud rattling sound whenever I took my foot off the gas. I parked it for a week and cleaned the MAF sensor just in case. It didn't help at all so I limped it into the shop.

 

Also I am waiting on an email from the shop, I asked for a list of diagnostics that would prove the engine is not fixable. I am fairly certain it does need a new engine so I have been looking. My car is currently at 150k km. Would it be wise to buy an engine around 80k km or no? because 80k km is around 50k miles and from what I have read that is about when the timing chain goes?

 

The N12 engine doesnt have the timing chain issue. You can load the video to youtube and link it here.

We need the diagnosis with numbers. Dont accept word of mouth!

What is the condition of the car as we speak? Meaning do it run and drive. Doest start...etc

 

As we speak, the car runs. The guys at the shop say it still wants to stall out when idling or stopped at a light. I made it home yesterday just fine, but I only got stopped at 3 lights . It sounds normal but idles rough. But again, on the way home yesterday the engine light blinked away at me 3 times. Whenever it blinked I could feel it hiccup just a bit. This morning while I drove it down to my shop so that I could park it inside I took the video. And it was -8 degrees Celsius but it started up fine.

 

It feels like these is a misfire. What is that check engine for. Need codes. If you can not drive til you find out that is wrong. You dont want to be damaging it unknowingly of the issue is simple.

 

The shop had cleared the codes i'm sure. But then it came on 3 times so must have picked up at least 3 codes just on the way home (20 min drive). I only own an OBD reader for GMCs and Chevys so I have no way of figuring out the codes without bringing it back into town. Maybe I will look into buying a reader for it. Any recommended brands? As for driving it, I drove it the day that the issues began, then once to school the day after which is when the awful rattling started, then it stayed parked for a week before I drove it in to the shop. And now it is home and it is staying my shop downstairs until I have a better idea of what is going on and a plan on how to move forward.

 

You can get the icarsoft and there is also lauch. While you have the car, you can perform some tests like starting the can and lift one coil pack connector at a time and see of the engine changes sound. You can also remove spark plugs and start the car and see if all cylinders puff gas out. Finally, you can take a look at the VANOS for the intake and the exhaust.

 

Both of the solenoid valves and camshaft actuator solenoids have been replaced by a previous owner. One at 143k and the other at 144k. Keep in mind the car is now at 150k and I bought it at 147k. If that is what you mean by VANOS? Also the spark plugs were replaced around 128k. Well 4 were bought anyways. I only know this stuff because I have old receipts that have stayed with the car. Cant believe the same owner paid $300 to tint the windows, head lights and tail lights then I peeled all of it off the week I got it It needed to pass inspection.

 

if the VANOS were replaced, do you know if the adaptation were reset (usually the dealer or dealer level software)?

 

It was done at a shop named Pug City Euro Works in Alberta...I have no idea. Maybe I will give them a call.

 

So I called and they said yes they did the adaptations for the VANOS.