Do you experience power drop off?

[mikeyboy]

When I lift the clutch on pull away the car gets really close to stalling no matter how much power I put in. It doesn't suffer anything similar in any other gear. So I reckon its a fault in the engine management software.
Has anyone else suffered from this?

[E74778]

Silly question, does your Mini Cooper have traction control? If it has try switching it off if it has because it may be faulty and cutting in too early.

Just a thought.

Alan.

[mikeyboy]

Well I'm not a complete numpty, but yes maybe I should have pointed out that no it doesn't have traction control. It does though present the same syptoms, like its half installed.
The only ways you can stop it dropping the power is by either putting so much power in that it then will spin the wheels or by dipping the clutch again.

[E74778]

Did not mean to offend, it was just a thought.

Al.

[mikeyboy]

Apologies too. Bad week.

Any ideas though. I guess you don't experience anything similar then?

[trackdemon]

Our Cooper S had a low rev *VERY* flat spot just off idle, apparently a certian degree of 'they all do that'. Ours was fixed by BBR185bhp chip (which also had the happy side effect of increasing fuel economy!

[mikeyboy]

trackdemon,
that sounds about the right problem but not nescessarily the right solution as I'm looking to get rid of it soon and it would seem a waste to get a chip and not enjoy it.

Did you take it to a dealer first for them to say TADTS?

[burns76]

My Cooper S has a problem like that. The only way I've found to combat it is to not let the clutch out too quickly and to *almost* stop at half way out, then let it fully out. Probably not going to be too good for the life of the clutch in the long run though. Ports and storms...

[mikeyboy]

Burns,
thats exactly the way I get round it. For so long I thought it was just me until someone borrowed the car the other week and said they had the same problem.

Clutch is definitely feeling thinner than it should be after only 22k.

[burns76]

I'm sooooo glad to hear I'm not alone! I thought it was just me until I saw your post.

I'm probably going to treat the S to a service in the next month or so and will mention it to the dealer then. If I find a magic cure I'll post it - hopefully there'll be a solution before we both burn our clutches out!

[mikeyboy]

Burns, it'll be great if you could let me know.
May get mine serviced soon also even though its not supposed to be due for 5k or so. So many things seem to be getting a little tired.

[trackdemon]

BBR chip recommended; only £350 and if you do 15k per year then you'll recoup in improved consumption anyway. Driveability is a good 20% better (and the car is a little quicker now with 185bhp)

[burns76]

Thanks for the advice Trackdemon...sorry to sound stupid, but what exactly does the chip do (apart from attaching the extra 15 horses)? Where do you get it done, and does it affect the work that BMW will do at service? I've been reading about people who've added mods and BMW haven't reset the car properly after a service, meaning that the car's running worse than before.

[baskey]

at BBR:
www.bbrgti.com
be wary of warranty / tlc issues...but to be honest a lot of people don't seem to have problems with obvious things like an after market exhaust..!