As much as I love being a MINI owner, somehow it doesnt love me back. Let me make a list of all the things ive replaced w/in 2months

Transmission (yep, stupid POS midlands)
Clutch (we thought it was the clutch at first before we discovered the trans issue)
Battery (yes, I know that could of gone at any moment but I already wasnt in a good mood when they told me I needed this. I had already spent 3700 on the car)
Ignition Coil
spark plugs

So far she isnt running again. Hubby and FIL pulled the code P0300, weve narrowed it down to cylinders 2 + 3. Ive reset the ECU and the maitenance light . They are thinking its the fuel injectors. Also my Power Steering went last week as well. Heres the kicker - ive only had the car for a little over 2 YEARS!!! I bought the car used in 2008, it had about 50k on it and its now a bit over 72k. Im just at a loss for words, im trying to stay positive but its hard.

Anything else I can prepare myself for thats gonna go next???

 

My sympathies go out to you. The only upside is you're becoming quite knowledgeable about your car. I've been a MINI owner for only about 4 months, but from what I've seen, the early cars had the most problems.
I would consider selling it and buying a newer model....say 05 or 06?
I prefer the supercharged cars myself.....

 

Sounds like a bunch of that is result of chasing something down that wasn't necessarily the issue. Which can be expected to happen occasionally with a complex engine, and only an approximation of where the problem is.

If you had an S the potential problems list would be much longer. But every MINI is different and it really is hit or miss and maintenance; do what you can preventitively and take the time to properly diagnose the source of problems then fix them properly. British cars are not known for being terribly reliable and the MINI is no exception to that. My 2005 S that I've had since it's had 200mi on the clock, and is now over 136,000 has had more issues than I can ever remember to recite all at once (Under warranty coverage alone MINI put in more $$ than the value of the car was new sticker price in labor alone before adding in all the parts they replaced), there's been many minor ones and several severe ones, and a few near fatal problems and I tend to keep a set of tools in the boot to respond as best I can.

My suggestion to you is to learn as much as you can about your particular issue when it arises, there's usually someone else here on NAM that's experienced something similar and can point you in the right direction (just last week I was pulling directions for a procedure on the side of the road from my blackberry), and then learn as much as you can about good maintenance practice; then make sure you keep a good roadside kit in the boot.

Some threads covering causes of the P0300 for you...
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...300-codes.html
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...989-post8.html
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-solution.html
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...68-post12.html

Based on those, assuming you've checked the install on the list of culprits (and it appears some of them are freshly installed parts) then I'd look to the fuel filter and pump first, if the person before you was using lots of bad gas over the years (Top Tier is recommended, at least choose form reputable manufacturer) then you may need a simple change of the fuel filter, which is less expensive and about equal difficulty of work.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...hange-mcs.html

 

Thats exactly my thoughts. Im not very car savvy, I wasnt taught much on how to work on a car but I can help narrow down what I think is wrong with it. I would love to buy a newer one but I would get turned over sooo bad in that deal.

[quote=motor on]My suggestion to you is to learn as much as you can about your particular issue when it arises, there's usually someone else here on NAM that's experienced something similar and can point you in the right direction (just last week I was pulling directions for a procedure on the side of the road from my blackberry), and then learn as much as you can about good maintenance practice; then make sure you keep a good roadside kit in the boot.[quote=motor on]

Thats one of the main reasons I joined NAM. Im the only MINI owner from all my friends and no one knows alot about this car. I too was also pulling threads from my blackberry while Hubby worked on the car. Plus not know alot about cars but basic things I wanted to learn more.

Thanks for the links, Ill be looking at those soon. I have a feeling its the fuel filter as well. According to the title history im the 4th owner (last owner was DC and before that was VA and me being in MD, its a possiblity its the same person), so who knows if they put the good stuff in Ellie before I got her. Since the trans being replaced, I put nothing but premium in it. I didnt want her to break again. Hubby and FIL think its the fuel injectors now, what sucks is I can only get them at the dealer currently. Thank goodness I work for a different dealer (a honda dealer), so I can get a better price than retail.

 

+1 to Motor On's advice. Change the fuel filter out, and run some cleaner through the engine. You can either do the Sea Foam option (search for this in the forum to find out how to use it), or you can use the STP products. STP has four stages of cleaning. When I bought my '06 MCS in December, I ran through one bottle of STP Fuel Injection Cleaner (black in color). From then on, I have been using a bottle of STP Fuel Treatment (red in color) about every 3,000 miles.

After you have done the cleaner, then consider changing the injectors.

 

we ran some cleaner in it when I found the fuel filter (and all the fries my kids have left in the car, lol), but they didnt think it was the filter. Im like, might as well replace the less expensive parts first and see if thats the culprit. Also judging by the how to even I could change out the fuel filter.

 

Problem is, its not a British car, its German.

 

worse yet the engine is designed by chrystler.

but then again. I have 136,000 miles and have only gone to the dealer to have a power steering wiring harnes replaced. that was at about 12K miles. not one problem since.

I have replaced / rebuilt for regular maitinace, suspension bushings, brakes, Just replaced plugs, wires, coil.

I know my timing chain tesnsioner is on the frits and my clutch will go soon.
I have a supercharger on the shelf, and I will be rebuilding that and swapping chargers soon. Over all My car has been very reliable. Oh I did have a header crack into 2 pieces. but I took it out and welded it back together. I do have masive amounts of oil leaks. I will dive into those soon too.

 

NOOOOOO!!!!!

 

German and Brazillian parts assembled in England. When bolts are coming stripped from the factory just where it comes from isn't the major concern.

 

Designed by Chrysler? Is that true? Hope not.

 

You mean where they're sourced from? Makes me wonder: is it the quality of the parts, or where they're assembled? Or maybe even a combination of the two. These "world cars" are so confusing. You don't know who to blame!
My 05 MINI S has 12k on it, and it already has an oil leak, and a check engine light thats telling me I have bad knock sensor. And I just bought the car!

 

Its a Chrysler designed engine but built in Brazil I believe, the car is assembled in Germany.

 

I thought it was assembled in Germany too. "Motor On" says England. I have to check this out.

 

I believe in 2005 or 2006 the engine was assembled in England, not Brazil.

 

So before and after those years it was Brazil? I got the sense that the early models had some problems, and later years became more reliable. Mine is an 05.....hopefully made on a tues or wed.

 

Then again, Motor On seems to know what he's writing about.

 

Also looks like MotorOn is right about finally assembly, it was assembled in Cowley UK at BMW's plant using all the various parts from around the globe...LOL (Found the Wikipedia info to check)

 

Is that every year?

 

I got off the phone with the parts guy at MINI of Annapolis. Hes strongly advising that it isnt the fuel injectors. He hasnt really heard of these cars having those problems. He said to have me check for a vacuum leak somewhere. Im trying to avoid taking it to the dealer, its a bit out of my way and paying $125 for diagnostic, not my cup of tea.

I work for a car dealer and I deal with VIN's all day long. Your first character of your VIN shows the country it was manufactured in. 1 is US, 2 is Canada, 3 is Mexico, W is Germany etc. This is how we can tell if a civic or accord is a hybrid. Hybrids start with J, made in Japan.

 

While that is generally true, the MINI is assembled in England. The "W" VIN is a strange artifact of parent company BMW being (obviously) German. I believe the final assembly location is listed on one of the labels in the door jamb, and it's definitely on the window sticker. Note the Brazilian engine as well. (That's not my car, but it was the first image of the window sticker I found on Google.)

 

The 1st-gen Tritec 1.6L engine was a joint venture between Chrysler and Rover. All engines were assembled in Brazil. You can read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritec_engine.

The 2nd-gen Prince engine is supplied by Peugeot Citroen and is produced in Douvrin, France.

 

so far heres a small update:

Hubby lost one of the O rings on the fuel injector so we had to special order it. It comes in this morning. So far I know its not the problem but at least im at a point where he and FIL can look at it further.

When ordering the part I was chatting with the Parts Guy. He said he didnt think my fuel injectors went, that I may just have a vacuum leak instead.

Heres what happened last week to turn into whats going on. I was at a stop light, it went green, I tried to go. I some how stalled, thinking that it stalled I started the car again and took the turn. If I stay on the gas and stay above 1000RPM's I can drive it. As soon as it drops below it, it shakes and begins to 'stall'. It never really stalls but floats between 500-1000rpms and shakes like its going to stall. After FIL said that it was the coil box and possibly spark plugs, we replaced those. Were back to square one. Ive emailed MINI (praying it might do something) and gave them a professional but nasty email (my 2nd one in 6 months!).

 

Goodluck with the letter writing. I wrote them several letters in the past concerning the design flaw in the first generation strut towers. MINI will never fess up to the fact that while the car is well engineered, there are several weaknesses to the first gens that should have been addressed, but were swept under the rug. Remember, you have a quirky car with some impressive if not unorthodox engineering and because of the first gens, BMW toned down the second gen cars to toy status. Sorry to hear of your problems, but remember there are others suffering like you, so know you aren't the only one. Right now my car has a bad flywheel, slipping clutch, oil pan gasket leak, and what I believe to be a vacuum leak somewhere. It's a fun car to own, but can be time and money consuming.

 

After providing that description, that does sound more like a vacuum leak. I know the PCV hose on my old '02 MCS was recalled and replaced several years ago. You can start troubleshooting the problem yourself by buying a 2' or 3' length of small-diameter hose (like 5/32 or 3/16). Hold one end to your ear and pass the other around your engine to listen for leaks.

Another trick normally used for tires is to fill a spray bottle with a water/soap solution and spray the hoses. If you see bubbles, you have a leak.