Guess the New Car

[Sundayjumper]

Have you put any diesel in it yet?

Don't even

Putting petrol in the other one was a genuine mistake. If she puts diesel in this one it'll start to look like it's deliberate !

[Sundayjumper]

Came close to buying one of these last week, great condition, reasonable miles but smokes occasionally when hot. Looking into it it's a common issue and can be more than they're worth to fix. I did wonder about buying it and running it till it got too bad then breaking it.

What's the smoking issue ? Valve stem seals ? The inlet is prone to getting coked up (so to speak) but I don't remember coming across any other issues.

[Sundayjumper]

I really like the clubman, looks like you may have picked up a bargain.

£1300 is a no brainer. The benefits of having a trailer!

Looks good

That’s a lovely car for the money.

Cheers all

Is this in danger of being a forum consensus ?? Has the internet finally broken ??

[mik]

Have you added "Fix the droop on the sporty front fog light?" to teh list?

That’s “Special Stage 6” position.

If it’s a leaky thermostat (or another leaky thing) as opposed to HG, that you should indeed be pleased!

[Jobbo]

Have you put any diesel in it yet?

Don't even

Putting petrol in the other one was a genuine mistake. If she puts diesel in this one it'll start to look like it's deliberate !

Should be impossible with the smaller diameter filler hole.

Looks good and a risk worth taking. Is it to replace the diesel clubman?

[Jobbo]

Came close to buying one of these last week, great condition, reasonable miles but smokes occasionally when hot. Looking into it it's a common issue and can be more than they're worth to fix. I did wonder about buying it and running it till it got too bad then breaking it.

What's the smoking issue ? Valve stem seals ? The inlet is prone to getting coked up (so to speak) but I don't remember coming across any other issues.

Smoking is valve stem seals - had them done on my stepdaughter’s non-turbo Cooper. Cost about £2k (ouch).

It’s apparently quite common, not sure how much so on a Cooper S. Will fail the MOT emissions test.

[Broccers]

Came close to buying one of these last week, great condition, reasonable miles but smokes occasionally when hot. Looking into it it's a common issue and can be more than they're worth to fix. I did wonder about buying it and running it till it got too bad then breaking it.

What's the smoking issue ? Valve stem seals ? The inlet is prone to getting coked up (so to speak) but I don't remember coming across any other issues.

Its probably what I just had fixed - the oil filter housing gaskets. No more smoking.

[Zonda_]

Came close to buying one of these last week, great condition, reasonable miles but smokes occasionally when hot. Looking into it it's a common issue and can be more than they're worth to fix. I did wonder about buying it and running it till it got too bad then breaking it.

What's the smoking issue ? Valve stem seals ? The inlet is prone to getting coked up (so to speak) but I don't remember coming across any other issues.

That's what was mentioned on the ad, when I looked into the cost it would have been more than the car was worth.

[Sundayjumper]

Its probably what I just had fixed - the oil filter housing gaskets. No more smoking.

Smoking from the exhaust ? How does the oil filter cause that ?

[Sundayjumper]

Smoking is valve stem seals - had them done on my stepdaughter’s non-turbo Cooper. Cost about £2k (ouch).

It’s apparently quite common, not sure how much so on a Cooper S. Will fail the MOT emissions test.

It's basically the same engine but mit turbot so quite possible. £2k That must be almost entirely labour, the seals themselves can't be much money ?

Interestingly, the car failed an MOT on emissions (and a couple of tyres) in August and then passed with no advisories in October. The seller didn't mention valve stem seals but if they've just been done then I have seriously lucked out.

[Broccers]

Its probably what I just had fixed - the oil filter housing gaskets. No more smoking.

Smoking from the exhaust ? How does the oil filter cause that ?

Smokes when hot. As part of the fix you actually have to remove the manifold shield and downpipe to get at it. Worth a look as its very common.

Heres a vid

edit as didnt include correct info and we all like to be correct

[Jobbo]

Smoking is valve stem seals - had them done on my stepdaughter’s non-turbo Cooper. Cost about £2k (ouch).

It’s apparently quite common, not sure how much so on a Cooper S. Will fail the MOT emissions test.

It's basically the same engine but mit turbot so quite possible. £2k That must be almost entirely labour, the seals themselves can't be much money ?

Interestingly, the car failed an MOT on emissions (and a couple of tyres) in August and then passed with no advisories in October. The seller didn't mention valve stem seals but if they've just been done then I have seriously lucked out.

Yes, more than 50% labour but because so much has to be dismantled you get a few other things done as part of the job. Just checked the bill and it includes a new cat (old one killed by the smoking), timing chain, head gasket (obvs) and basically a full oil service.
The cat was £633+VAT itself.

[Sundayjumper]

Yes, more than 50% labour but because so much has to be dismantled you get a few other things done as part of the job. Just checked the bill and it includes a new cat (old one killed by the smoking), timing chain, head gasket (obvs) and basically a full oil service.
The cat was £633+VAT itself.

Oh, OK. I was already prepared to do the head gasket and that covers most of the labour. I also won't be spending £759.60 on a new cat ! So it's a few hundred quid of parts and a weekend of my time. I'm comfortable with that.

[ZedLeg]

Smoking is valve stem seals - had them done on my stepdaughter’s non-turbo Cooper. Cost about £2k (ouch).

It’s apparently quite common, not sure how much so on a Cooper S. Will fail the MOT emissions test.

It's basically the same engine but mit turbot so quite possible. £2k That must be almost entirely labour, the seals themselves can't be much money ?

Interestingly, the car failed an MOT on emissions (and a couple of tyres) in August and then passed with no advisories in October. The seller didn't mention valve stem seals but if they've just been done then I have seriously lucked out.

Yes, more than 50% labour but because so much has to be dismantled you get a few other things done as part of the job. Just checked the bill and it includes a new cat (old one killed by the smoking), timing chain, head gasket (obvs) and basically a full oil service.
The cat was £633+VAT itself.

I was curious as to how leaky seals would be enough to write the car off but that explains it.

[Sundayjumper]

I think we're talking about different smoking ! That vid looks like it was dropping oil onto the hot exhaust. I was talking about smoke coming out of the tailpipe.

I've still not driven the car so it could turn out to be suffering from both....

[Broccers]

I think we're talking about different smoking ! That vid looks like it was dropping oil onto the hot exhaust. I was talking about smoke coming out of the tailpipe.

I've still not driven the car so it could turn out to be suffering from both....

Reply was to Gav lol. You will probably have these issues too. At the end of the vid you can see the coolant gasket is problematic too.

As for exhaust smoking - mine does that a bit on start up but nothing major so I ignore it

[Jobbo]

Yes, more than 50% labour but because so much has to be dismantled you get a few other things done as part of the job. Just checked the bill and it includes a new cat (old one killed by the smoking), timing chain, head gasket (obvs) and basically a full oil service.
The cat was £633+VAT itself.

Oh, OK. I was already prepared to do the head gasket and that covers most of the labour. I also won't be spending £759.60 on a new cat ! So it's a few hundred quid of parts and a weekend of my time. I'm comfortable with that.

Even if you had to take it to someone to replace the stem seals, if you're taking the head off yourself it shouldn't be anywhere near that price overall.

Cat was only available from a BMW main dealer when I had the job done, so it may be available cheaper aftermarket now, if you did require one.

Oh, and just to give you more optimism, the MOT place wouldn't even stick their emissions pipe up the exhaust due to visible smoke, so a failure on emissions with an actual reading is an indication it's not that bad with your car.

[Sundayjumper]

It says:

Repair immediately (major defects):
Emissions not tested may cause damage to emission equipment , smoky ,Hydrocarbon exceeds manufacturer's limit,Carbon monoxide exceeds manufacturer's limits Aborted emision test (8.2.1.2 (d))

Which does sound rather like yours.

On the bright side, it appears the seals CAN be done with the head in-situ, using compressed air to hold the valves up, or more ghetto, stuffing some soft rope through the spark plug hole and rotating the engine until it pushes against the valves. Some kind of frame bolted to the head for leverage and you can work your way along.

I'm down for the ghetto approach TBH.

[Beany]

M539 projects did the valve stem seals on his X5 V8 lately, obviously very different engine but the steps and tools are similar. Pretty sure he used compressed air to hold the valves up because he has a workshop compressor.

Looks like one of those jobs that isn't difficult per se, just lots and lots and lots of steps to get to where you need to be, lots of parts to misplace, etc.

[Jobbo]

I chatted to the BMW/Mini specialist in Cheltenham about the method of doing it with the head on. He said it’s a total faff so with labour charges it’s not any cheaper and it’s far too easy to drop something down the hole into the piston and not be able to get it out.