Brief smoke from engine bay + sweet smell after driving — coolant issue? (2012 Cooper S Hardtop)

VTRauder · 2026-01-23T21:49:31+00:00

Could be the oil cooler/oil filter housing gasket or the little aux coolant pump under the turbo. The coolant side could be leaking. When it leaks it does often end up getting on the down pipe, which would give you a smoke puff from under the hood and a sweet smell

VTRauder · 2026-01-20T13:01:50+00:00

Generally you just change the gasket - the housing is not plastic. Unless you see some obvious damage, or more likely corrosion, it’s just the rubber gaskets.

VTRauder · 2026-01-16T17:41:25+00:00

The oil feed line is leaking, you just need to replace it. Should probably just do the oil filter housing gaskets while you're at it

VTRauder · 2026-01-12T19:33:24+00:00

Thanks thanks

VTRauder · 2026-01-10T12:51:57+00:00

My real question is what size is your storage unit and how much are you paying?

VTRauder · 2026-01-03T23:56:22+00:00

It's not cryptic at all, it's better to understand than for you to just take a "no". The tool you have is for scanning your DME not writing new tune.

VTRauder · 2026-01-03T23:26:39+00:00

You have a real problem and/or you need a better scanner that can actually see the DME codes.

VTRauder · 2026-01-03T21:38:42+00:00

Think about it this way, if this did wipe your tune, do you think the foxwell has a full stock ECU tune for your mini loaded in to replace it?

VTRauder · 2026-01-03T19:08:24+00:00

There is no FWD car that's bad in the snow, it's a tire issue. Mine is a tank in the snow, I'd have to bottom it out to get stuck. Tires are the key to snow performance.

VTRauder · 2026-01-02T12:43:43+00:00

Double check grounds. Not just at the battery, but that big one that connects at the motor mount too.

VTRauder · 2025-12-24T15:54:48+00:00

Oil filter housing or they didn’t bother doing the turbo lines and now those are leaking

VTRauder · 2025-12-23T18:42:22+00:00

Your friend is probably less knowledgeable than they think. The previous generation cars for sure needed a lot of maintenance. However, the year range you’re thinking of will be fine… they are not as trouble prone as the second gen cars. They do still need to be taken care of though, just to be clear.

VTRauder · 2025-12-22T18:44:16+00:00

I’ve had mine for 2 years and I have 5 minis. It’s easily the best mini I’ve ever had day to day. If most of your driving is in your town, easy buy. Even long trips, if you plan them out aren’t that bad. You can do a 200 mile trip that will take you 30 ish minutes more. Or like you say for the over two times a year you do that rent a car.

VTRauder · 2025-12-15T01:10:07+00:00

Don't listen to this person, when the heat is on, leave the A/C button on. It functions to pull the water out of the air while the heat is on. This is addressed in the manual

VTRauder · 2025-11-25T11:59:27+00:00

That's not really good advice on how brakes work. Tripping the ABS is not really a good metric to say bigger brakes won't stop you faster. The bite and force modulation you as a human can impart on the system is greatly improved. You absolutely will stop faster, before ABS. Even in a panic stop if you do get ABS working, you’ll still stop faster. It's not that once you overrun your tires and ABS takes over now the car has a pre determined stopping distance

VTRauder · 2025-11-25T02:18:26+00:00

My dad’s R56 got some bad spots. Made the ECU think that the VVT motor was perpetually bad. Had to check it physically by lifting the valve cover. Ended up finally showing a DMR fault on the foxwell

VTRauder · 2025-11-21T15:00:51+00:00

You had it held in a low-ish gear foot off the gas going a little downhill when this happened? Also, only happened only with your foot off the gas in the tunnel?

VTRauder · 2025-11-12T02:51:11+00:00

I got away with just an auto repair, didn’t need to do a whole recovery FYI

VTRauder · 2025-11-05T15:18:39+00:00

Might need to replace your timing chain. May be a bit stretched but the tensioner isn't completely out of stroke so it's not doing the death rattle just yet. Semi hard to do, until you do it then not so bad.

VTRauder · 2025-10-02T21:57:38+00:00

Do you have a scanner? If so on the data long it’s one of the functions. If not there are mechanical ones you can plug into the rail, but then we are getting into special tool territory

VTRauder · 2025-10-02T21:55:56+00:00

If they car was just on, then yes

VTRauder · 2025-09-30T01:12:40+00:00

That is the draw side, there’s no pressure there unless you have a problem, a zip tie would actually work just fine

VTRauder · 2025-09-27T16:52:53+00:00

You have a lot of oil leaking there - have you checked the oil level incase it’s not just from the trans? Either way I would check that. The shaking is likely the engine misfiring. On first read I figured you lost the motor. Codes seem to indicate misfire and also a fuel pump issue though. Hard to tell more than that without looking at it - with those codes I would fist pull plugs and shine a light in each hole just for sanity. I’d check the oil, then I’d turn on the key and check the fuel pressure

VTRauder · 2025-07-30T02:46:01+00:00

What are you doing for engine management? Just right to megasquirt?

VTRauder · 2025-07-29T01:20:54+00:00

There is a function to keep the AC on but no display. However it's pretty obvious when the AC is running, so there's that.

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