I bought a used 2007 R56 - 19,000 miles on it when purchased at 25,566 miles I experienced a broken piston ring and waited while a new engine was installed under warranty.

Only last week at 45,701 miles (20,099 on new engine) I experience the thermometer diagnostic warning light coming on followed by the oil warning light. So pull over and purchase 5 quarts of oil. when I open the hood I notice that oil has sprayed all over the place and now there's a nasty looking puddle under the car. Call the tow truck and get it taken to the dealer - dealer explains that some bolts fell off the engine hence the oil leak - they look at the engine and I'm told that the valves are bent - new engine required.

I'm pretty concerned any advice anyone.

 

Sounds like some very bad luck. I wouldn't make too much of it. They are covering this failure as well, right?

 

This might sound silly but 3 or 4 large pizzas will definetly get the service depts attention. And maybe better karma your way.......good luck

 

Wow, I thought I had bad luck! What a bummer, are they at least covering the second new engine? I would get MINI USA involved if I were you, two engines in 45,000 miles is crazy. How are they explaining the bolts just "falling off"???

 

yup. again, once my car reaches its 4-year anniversary, and the warranty expires, it's gone. These Prince engines are just way too shaky for any post-warranty comfort.

 

Service department say that the chain tensioning bolt had come loose hence the oil loss.

Dealership are doing their due diligence by taking the head off and analyzing the damage layer by layer - as this is the second engine photo's will be taken and sent to PUMA - this I understand is a third party engineer who will review and make the judgement call on BMW's behalf regarding a new engine. I believe that this process was undertaken during round one.

Fortunately after my last experience with engine failure I insisted doing the oil change through the dealership when the car's warranty expired still nearly $100 for an oil change, so that reinforces piece of mind in this whole ordeal.


Might take up the idea of ordering pizza's for the service dept got nothing to loose - as car hire costs are a killer and this is a three week ordeal.

 

Kaine,

I'm with the group above about the Mini (or the actual dealership) covering this. The new engine only has 20,099 miles on it and should in now way fail due to a loose bolt. Either the factory didn't torque it correctly or the dealership didn't torque it correctly. Either way, they should cover everything IMO. Good luck.

 

Factory long blocks come with the timing chain tensioner already installed. this falls on BMW/MINI and their engine remanufacturer. The entire car is still under the 4/50 as well as the new engine still has parts warranty (remember 2 yr, unlimited milage)

 

Oh, wow, I don't drive the R56, just happen to accidently cruise thru the "stock issues and problems" when I saw all these happening with the R56's.

I think MINI does know what's going now or if they don't they will soon!

The cam gear screws are bad.

Check out the other posters thread here, I posted some pics on the "FUBAR" thread.

 

Well here's the original diagnosis with pictures.


That will be the engine, block has no issues apparently.





The culprit as stated was the chain tensioning bolt coming loose, see the one on the left that came from the engine the one on the right is a new one. Only explanation is that it came loose creating an escape hole for the oil to pour out from.










So the dealership are rebuilding the head and cataloguing every part, like some kind of forensic assessment.

 

Sorry, only seeing red X's, link's are not working?

Did the mechanic explain how the bolt became loose?