I would have it checked to see if there is carbon build up on the valves. Mine was showing the same symptoms you described. Check engine lights came on and the car would barely run. It barely had enough power to drive up on the flatbed tow truck. There was quite a bit of carbon buildup. One cylinder was very low on compression and it had a misfire.

After having that serviced, car runs great. It's not cheap but what repairs on a MINI are? This is the second time I've had to have that done. It has nothing to do with how well you do maintenance on the car. It is part of maintenance. 

Here's a video of the process:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-HlWELr4Zk

...and another showing before and after pics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQgvQC5BHhM

Gotta love MINI reliability!

The zero compressions on cylinder 1 is certainly a concern - maybe a burnt valve?

Assuming the bottom end is okay, I wonder if you can get by with a valve job?

This may or may not be related, but the early cars 2007-2010 Cooper S models had issues with the high pressure fuel pump which presents itself with rough running / cylinder misfires.  MINI extended the warranty for the high pressure fuel pump on these cars to 10 years and 120k miles - keep this in mind.

These direct injected engine can have issues with carbon buildup if the car was always driven short distances and never wound up. (another reason for a valve job so it can be thoroughly cleaned.)

In any case, it will probably require the head to be removed for a definitive diagnosis....

Let us know what you find out.

Ken

The BMW MINI is a blast to drive, but is NOT reliable transportation. I've owned two of them and won't own another.

Get it functioning and trade it for something from Japan or Korea ...

IsleyMusic.. try www.car-parts.com for local engine.. I use them all the time here in NC.. Sure you can get shipped to NY for about $200.. and have your mechanic maybe just rebuild the top end , head , head gasket.. Also check with Howard Gutman the attorney there in NJ.. I think he was putting together a class action law suit against MINI/ BMW over the engine and tranny failures.. ( howard helped me get $10k on a land rover disco engine failure couple years back.. hope this helps. later bill cox

Hi all,

I've been a lurker here for quite a while. Now I would humbly ask for some advice.

I have a 2009 MINI Cooper S. Purchased used from CarMax a little less than a year ago. Had 49,xxx miles on it when purchased. Initially car ran great. Then a few days after purchase (and of course after the return period had expired), the car started occasionally blowing blue smoke. Took it to CarMax and they of course couldn't find anything wrong with the car. I have religiously checked the oil and made sure to always have plenty available as I know these burn oil like mad.

About five months ago, the car developed the death rattle. In short order I had the timing chain replaced and all seemed fine. I had one incident of the car starting and running very rough - like the engine was gonna jump through the hood. I immediately turned off the car, then restarted it, with the behavior going away. Took it to my mechanic and he read an engine fault code for misfire on a cylinder (unfortunately I don't remember which cylinder).

About three weeks ago I was driving the car back to NYC from Buffalo NY when out of the blue the car started running very rough - same kind of thing as before. Check engine light came on (yellow) and began flashing. I pulled over and turned off the car. Checked all fluids, everything seemed fine. Was able to restart the car and limp it to Corning, NY where it' s still sitting as I haven't been able to find anyone to either repair it or transfer it down to me in NY (for less than a $1700 tow that is). Currently I am planning to rent a truck and trailer to go pick it up myself next week.

The extremely generous and helpful mechanic at the local import auto shop diagnosed the car with zero compression on Cylinder 1. The fault codes are reading as misfires on several cylinders and other errors. You can see the codes in the photo attached here. He also said that the plugs were caked with soot and there was a lot of carbon buildup. I changed the oil religiously every 3-4k miles, using premium synthetic oil, and did all regular maintenance on the car through my mechanic, who I trust, so I'm wondering of this was from abuse by the previous owner or if it's just random engine failure (which these seem to be rather susceptible t.



I still owe $$ on the loan for the car. It's about $12k for a new engine, which I just cannot afford. I'm seeing low mileage pulls on car-parts.com for around $3-4k. It's only got 67k miles on it and everything else about the car is working fine. I absolutely LOVE driving this thing, but I cannot afford any more headaches with it (I can't really afford to replace the engine, but I don't see that I have much choice) My question for the group is, is it worth it to put a used or remanufactured engine in this car? Have any of you had a similar experience and what was the outcome?

I mainly just want to avoid any more issues with the car. I love it, but I need something reliable and that's not going to bankrupt me in the long term. Thanks in advance for your input.