Add me to the list of those who's HPFP has died!

 

How many miles on your car? I wonder if ethanol in the gas has anything to do with these failures.

 

30k miles....

Not that I know of....as far as I know there are a certain range of pumps that have gone bad...they have a newer pump out now, which isn't supposed to fail. Also, mine didn't completely fail...just was putting out about half the pressure that it should have been. So I'm sure it would have failed completely very shortly.

 

I'm on my second replacement (third pump including original).

#1 failed--low pressure = low engine power when outside temp was cool in the late winter--within 7 days of owning it. Temp warmed up so I couldn't be sure of this fix...

#2 replaced due to CEL coming on (again) when outside temperature began to cool off earlier this fall. I haven't gotten it back yet (after +3 weeks in the shop) and they want to try starting from cold for a few more mornings to be sure it is the fuel pump...time will tell if this is THE fix!

 

The trend is toward more ethanol in the gas in the US market. If they want to sell cars here they should figure out how to make a pump that can handle ethanol. Seems to me that they BMW/MINI are just looking to blame their quality problems on the consumer.

 

BINGO.....

 

i was a shop foreman for many years so i would like to tell you youngsters about bad gas. It happens moisture builds up in a tank or the chemical used in some states that run summer and winter blends to purge there tanks will cause it. Yes you can get gas at good stations and still get gas that we had sucked out of tanks that was brown and reached of ethanol. its only top teir fuel as it leaves the refinery......... not totally sure why the color changes or what causes it but i know its killed many pumps in the past and will kill more pumps and complete full systems in the future as well. When you your self can come up with a pump that works at 4bar and a pump that will max out at 10-14k psi on the hi pressure end of the system id stop knocking the manufactures. these are not flex fuel chevys and fords that will run on anything because they only make 50hp per litre were my jcw make 130hp per litre..........

 

If it happens and they want to sell to/support a market where it happens then they should incorrporate a pump that will work with it. It's going to cost them money to replace these pumps under warranty--no question if you can show that you've been using the gas they recommend. Once the cost of warranty replacement becomes too high, you can bet that they will find a pump that will work, end of story.

 

All up to the vendor who makes the pumps... yes mini has to pay for the replacements under warranty but look at it as the warranty department is a middle man who will waite till there are 5k pumps sitting there failed than takes them to the company who made them show them how they have failed and gets credited for prior parts. now results are not always instant. the person who makes the pump doesnt buy 10k cars a year to test there pumps in a certain market. the consumer does so the 200 pumps they may have tested in a lab and on a few test car could of worked fine under lab conditions. food for thought

 

Thumper, did your HPP fail after having your intake valves cleaned?

 

Yes...however, I wouldn't correlate the two.

Car's been acting weird for a little while now.

 

Just like to point out that the IRL runs on Ethanol. Last time I checked they run higher Hp numbers than what you qouted.

 

good job..... well they only run for 500 miles and they run a high grade of ethanol which they are designed to run on. What do you think happens after a race.... maybe an overhaul and all fluids get changed the tank is drained. IF YOU HAVE EVER RAN ANYTHING ON A DISTILLED FUEL BEFORE YOU WOULD KNOW WHAT IT TAKES TO MAINTAIN IT. when is the last time you saw an irl car sitting in traffic next to you on the freeway?

 

What was it doing?

After sitting all night once the fall weather cooled off, mine would take 2 or 3 attempts to start, try to get up to an 1100rpm idle, run rough at 650rpm or less, then either stall, or idle ok after I reved it to 2500+ rpm. Then the CEL would come on a few seconds later, after it seemed to be running ok.

 

What kills me is that this problem has been going on for 3 years now - it dates back to the release of BMW's first direct-injected motor, the N54, that's used in the 335i and many other applications. Search the BMW forums - same problems with HPFPs failing, right from the beginning, and continuing to this day, with equal confusion over what might be causing the excessive failures. Some people have been through 3, 4, 5 of 'em. Interesting that BMW is involved in both cases, ours and theirs. I need to do some research and see if other mfr's with direct injected motors (and the accompanying, necessary HPFP) are also having as many issues. For this to have dragged on for 3 years is ridiculous.

 

fuel pump is being replaced in 2007 S. Intermitent hard starting over a few months check engine light finaly came. Misfire codes radom and all clyinders set 10 codes.

 

just turned 55k miles

 

Cars newer than 1997 will not be affected by ethanol. So when gas companys start to mix ethanol and gasoline it wont do anything to your mini. The ethanol does two things to the gas makes it cheaper, and gives it a higher octane rating.

 

I am pretty sure it changes the exhaust which is why, for instance, in Phx they up the ethanol % during the winter months because that's when the dreaded brown cloud hangs over the valley. It also ups the price of the fuel.

 

I've got a 2009 S with about 12,000 miles on it. Just took it back to the dealership for yet another HPFP. Had the original replaced about 2 or 3 months ago. Now it's broken yet again and the dealership is blaming it on bad gas. Have yet to see whether they will cover it under warranty. I'm very unhappy considering the vehicle is only 6 months old.

 

service advisors can bleat like sheep all they want over their LAME bad gas excuse, but they cannot pin that on the consumer. Accept no less than replacement of the part under warranty. If they say no, take it higher. bastards.

 

I have 36,000 miles on my Clubman S and have had it in the dealership twice because of HPFP problems. They gave me the same story about bad gas that everyone gets.

I'm at the point of being close enough to the 50,000 mile warranty mark to think about whether I keep the car as is and take my chances, buy the extended warranty for $2300, or get rid of a vehicle that I love.

One article says extended warranties are not worth the money, and the next one that I read says to buy one if you like a car and have had problems.

Damned if I do, and damned if I don't!

 

I am absolutely not giving up without fighting to the end. After doing several hours of research on both MINI fuel pumps and BMW fuel pumps in general, they have a serious problem on their hands. I don't think you should buy the extended warranty. MINI needs to extend the HPFP warranty for the '09 fuel pump.

If the dealership won't fix mine under warranty, I'm going after MINI North America. They will be hearing from me every day until it's resolved. Additionally, if fixed this time under warranty, I want them to guarantee that they won't give me the same "bad gas" song and dance when I bring it in the next time.

I'm in NC and they have 4 tries to get it right before I will try to return the car for a refund. That makes me so sad, as this is my second MINI and I love them.

 

So, I did a bit of research on ethanol in gasoline. I'm new to this so I was caught off guard when the dealership told me that my gasoline had 11% ethanol in it, so the high pressure fuel pump probably wouldn't be covered by warranty (warranty only up to 10%).

In Brazil, it has been mandatory since 2007 that their gasoline contains 25% ethanol. Yup, 25%! I was curious if they were able to sell MINIs there, based on the ethanol content. You bet they do! How does this work??? My warranty might not cover my HPFP replacement (second one) because of 11% ethanol, yet they sell MINIs in Brazil where the mandatory ethanol percentage is more than double that? Do they have a magical fuel pump that works with higher ethanol content or are all the newer MINIs in Brazil broken down all over the place?

 

Let me guess your at The Charlotte MINI dealer, try the one in Winston-Salem.