More probs - hunting when idle and dual mass flywheel

[sarahpest]

Hi all - seems my mcs seems to be playing up a lot lately when sitting idle the car hunts and the revs move up and down slowly the car sometimes feels as though it is going to stall on a good day it just shakes slightly. Does any one know what could be the problem? I have also been having a rattle from under the bonnet that disappears when the clutch is pressed in. A friend has told me the dual mass flywheel needs replacing and costs around £700 to sort any info on either prob would be good x

[si_xsi]

Sorry to hear of your car troubles.

Not sure if your flywheel needs replacing. The rattle which occurs at idle and dissapears when the clutch is pressed is more likely to be the clutch release bearings. Its quite common with MCS and E46 BMW's. Whne i noticed on mine i took it to my local mini dealership and got one of their workshop staff to look at it.

He said it was nothing to worry about. As it was not effecting the way the car drove i didn't bother doing anything about it, 2 years and 30,000 miles later its still fine and does it occaisionally.

As for the hunting - not sure but mine did it very occaisionally too. The revs dipped at idle then settled back to normal. When was it last serviced? Are your fluids at the correct level?
Do you do a lot of short, city driving? Since I got it serviced and replaced spark plugs its not done it since.

Good luck.

[sarahpest]

Thanks for your advice i think my car is due an Inspection 2 service it's just coming up to 73,000 miles and the last inspection 2 it had was 2 years ago. I had the oil service at mini last October but obviously this isn't really going to help with the running of the car that much. Hopefully mine will clear like yours x

[Dodd90]

Yeah I wouldn't worry about the chatter off the flywheel at all. They all seem to have that habbit. My mate got his dual mass flywheel, clutch and release bearing done under warranty and his still chatters as much as mine As for the inspection 2 service is there any local mini/bmw specialist where you live? Your probably find they charge a lot less for that kind of service. You tend to pay a lot of money at mini for a service a specialist surely could do. Pretty sure a inspection 2 service is just over the £300 mark.....

[sarahpest]

oh good ill leave it for now then- thank u Its just the shaking of the car im worried about now. I phoned mini this morning to ask about the inspection 2 and they want £299!! They also told me my car doesnt need one yet?? I then told them about the hunting problem and they said if i took it in and paid £99 they would spend an hour to work out what it was and it might be a sensor or something. I dont want to pay that for them to just tell me what is wrong. I live in kent so if anybody on here knows any other good garages that specialise in Mini that would be great. I dont really want to get conned as i havent a clue what im on about x

[Dodd90]

sarahpest said:

oh good ill leave it for now then- thank u Its just the shaking of the car im worried about now. I phoned mini this morning to ask about the inspection 2 and they want £299!! They also told me my car doesnt need one yet?? I then told them about the hunting problem and they said if i took it in and paid £99 they would spend an hour to work out what it was and it might be a sensor or something. I dont want to pay that for them to just tell me what is wrong. I live in kent so if anybody on here knows any other good garages that specialise in Mini that would be great. I dont really want to get conned as i havent a clue what im on about x

Yeah mini charge you for a diagnostics check before they even look at the car. So that would be the last place to take your car. Judging by your other post it looks like you've found a specialist in kent Specialist's tend to be a lot more genorous and show more interest in your problem Hope all goes well!

[si_xsi]

sarahpest said:

oh good ill leave it for now then- thank u Its just the shaking of the car im worried about now. I phoned mini this morning to ask about the inspection 2 and they want £299!! They also told me my car doesnt need one yet?? I then told them about the hunting problem and they said if i took it in and paid £99 they would spend an hour to work out what it was and it might be a sensor or something. I dont want to pay that for them to just tell me what is wrong. I live in kent so if anybody on here knows any other good garages that specialise in Mini that would be great. I dont really want to get conned as i havent a clue what im on about x

As you prob know, the service is governed by time or mileage. Mileage is usually every 15k but if you don't do that sort of mileage each year, it will work it out on time - check what it says on the display when you put ignition on.

As a rough guide it would follow:


15k oil service
30k inspection 1
45k oil service
60k inspection 2
75k oil service etc

as per others, find a good specialist, take it for a service if its due one to see if that cures it first and ask them to look at the shaking at the same time! No idea what it could be without seeing it - engine mounts?

Keep us posted.

[sarahpest]

Thanks everyone for your help. im going to phone the specialist shortly and let you know what they say. i spoke to another garage who told me it could be a sensor causing the problem. i just want it fixed now. My car has an inspection 2 at 60,000 and it had an oil srvice at mini last october at about 68,000. To be honest the idling problem seems worse since mini have had their hands on it. im wondering if someone has moved something by accident x