I have an R56 MCS. I have noticed that the exhaust tips are very black at the bottom and now only after 800 miles the check engine light comes on. I went to autozone and they read the code for me and it came back

P2188 system too rich at idle bank 1

I called my service advisor who was a condescending jerk basically told me to bring the car in which is not very easy for me, I live 75 miles away from my dealer.

does any one else have the some problem?
What can be causing the problem?
the car run fine, maybe the idle is a little rough when cold.

mike

 

That may be the only generic code that the vehicle will give a normal scanner. The best bet is to bring it to a dealer. If you attempt to do something with it yourself, you may end up having to pay for the repair. The exhaust tips are normal. Residue from the exhaust. Just have to clean them.

 

The service department can't really troubleshoot the car over the phone, and have to hook it up to diagnose. It still sucks having to drive to get the car looked at.

Anyway, the O2 sensors play a major role in the computer's setting of the fuel-air mixture, and combined with the CEL coming on... it's the most likely culprit. Changing an O2 sensor is about as difficult as changing a spark plug. Unplug the wire, unscrew it... screw the new one in and connect the wire. If that is in fact the problem... you should be in and out relatively quickly.

Note that there are other items that could cause the problem. I'm just offering the most probable.

 

Please add yourself to the thread:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=96609

Briefly they don't have yet an answer. You are told that "the car runs too clean". The tech MINI is all over this (I was promissed an answer for 2 months - and had my car in 3 times). There is a software upgrade that was already applied on my car - did not solve the problem - cleared the error that popped up few hundred miles after it.

On the other side - I am surprised that yours is a MCS. It is VERY frequent on the MC non-S-es. I know about 10 cars already, and it will be mroe frequent in the near future as the people drive their cars.

MMM

 

the dealer will come and pick up the car on may 16. they have courtesy pick up. i will let you guys know what the problem is when i find out.

 

Well after a few days the CEL went out on its own at 900 miles. this occurred a few days after putting gas. i imagine i didnt put the gas cap correctly. we will see if it comes back

 

Doesn't BMW offer a warranty that if the car brakes down within 100 miles of your home they will pick up the car and if they can't fix it in 24 hours you get $750 per day for up to 5 days for an unlimited number of incidents?

That's what I've been told so they pretty much have to pick up your car don't they?

 

This isn't a breakdown, the car still runs with the CEL light illuminated.

 

I had the same problem yesterday. Light didn't go off after atleast 15 restarts since it first appeared yesterday. Took it to the dealer this morning. I gave my keys to him and he came back saying the light didn't turn on. (Sounded suspicious to me)

Anyways, a code for Mass Air-sensor (something like that) came up. He said the sensor is faulty on the 7 day old car and needs to be replaced. I asked him if he had seen any minis with this issue and he said none.

I have a print out of the code, not on me right now.
It doesn't drive different but i do think that the engine now starts like a more traditional car as opposed to the instant split second start i was awed by when i first got it.

 

My wifes CEL come on today! I turned the car off and drove a bit and necer came on. We'll see.

 

p2188 is under investigation by mini engineers. no repairs at the moment. thats the bulletin we got last thursday. hopefully between the tech and puma/fse/engineers they can come to solution.

also dtc p278a will need a dme reflash but version 26 for the progman is still not available for the dealers. if you can talk the advicor/manager into getting the fse involved, he/she can come in and reflash the dme for this code.

 

my CEL went off at 1000 miles and came back at 1400, same code. i finally will take it to dealer on june 6, hopefully they can flash it or something to get it right. we will see. i am also getting my oil change done. do you think I should get the trans and diff fluid changed?

 

no on the trans/diff fluid. you will be wastin money.

ask the dealership where you will take it if they have version 26 for the Progman? also this code is still under investigation by Mini, so even if they have version 26 which is the latest, it may not fix the problem.

good luck!

 

My CEL came on at 2090miles. I do not notice any performance issues, but it still worries me ;/. I thankfully read up on this issue prior to getting the CEL otherwise I woulda have really been worried. I did not think this was going to happen to me as I thought this mainly affected Autos and only the MC. I have a R56 MCS 6spd Getrag.

 

well, i am back from the dealer. they looked at the car. the CEL comes and goes and they attributed the cell to cheap gas. i live in a small town. my choices are getgo, sunoco and bp. they said that it was due to the high alcohol content of 15%. ideally, it should be less than 10%. i dont have any shell stations which they recommend. they actually tested the gas. also, no software update for mcs.

incidentally, my fan control switch was sticking. they took the dash apart and fixed they switch....however, they made multiple large scratches on the dash, some 3 inches long. i didnt notice until i left the dealer and had to go home to meet the wife and kids. i am so upset about it since the car is new and was flawless inside... i will post picks of the damage in the am

 

Aren't British cars great? So much character!

 

Hah, i wonder if mine was the gas too.. it went off this morning on my way to work...Used Chevron gas with the 'highest' grade.. interesting...

 

i'm sorry but if you had too much ethanol on your gas your car would had been runing rough and misfiring.

code p2188 is a "ghost" code that bmw is still trying to pinpoint. your dealership probably cleared the code and told you the crap about the fuel.

good luck but i expect the code to come back soon.
hopefully not!

 

Yes! They are! thanks!

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edit: whoops, chakaluka is gone. another phony id bites the dust.

 

Rumor on other Mini forums is that the dealership in Omaha has the software upgrade. Don't know if this is true or not.