My 2011 R56 Mini Cooper BASE has been sending out code P0304. I replaced the spark plugs and the problem was still there. I then switched the ignition coil in cylinder 4 with the one in cylinder 1 and the code changed to P0301. I replaced the ignition coil for cylinder but the code switched to P0304 pending. I don't know what else to do. Please help!

 

My Cooper S R56 2012 Hardtop Automatic has been stuttering under acceleration and the half engine light also came on and it went into limp mode. A friend of mine scanned it and then all these lights have been off ever since.
However, if I drive it sedately all is well. But if I accelerate then it misses and stutters so I immediately ease off. And so far the check engine light hasnt come back on.
I get the attached errors on the car. Can someone help?


Some fault affecting emissions

Half Engine Light

Power loss.

 

I have added in some Octane Booster and Fuel Injector Cleaner to the tank and filled up with Premium Petrol too. The problem of misfiring and stuttering continues…
I have also had a friend of mine scan the vehicle with an OBD Scanner and have got some readings which are attached.


Octane Booster from LiquiMoly

Injection Cleaner from LiquiMoly

CARLY OBD 2 SCANNER Reading 1

Carly OBD 2 Scanner Reading 2

Carly OBD 2 Scanner Reading 3

Carly OBD 2 Scanner Reading 4

Carly OBD2 Scanner Reading 5

Carly OBD 2 Scanner Reading 6

Carly OBD 2 Scanner Reading 7

Carly OBD 2 Scanner Reading 8

Carly OBD 2 Scanner Reading 9

Carly OBD 2 Scanner Reading 10

 

Here is an Update No 1 - Garage Visit on 15 June 2021:
Lockdown has eased a bit so finally was able to take my Cooper to the Garage yesterday and run some checks.
I babied the car upto the garage and there were no warning lights at all.
The chief mechanic drove the car for a bit and accelerated hard at one point and all the warning lights came right back on. The same warnings about reduced power and emissions may be affected and all.
The OBD2 Scanner showed the same readings on Cylinder Misfire and Injection Shutdown.
We Opened up the Fuel Filter housing after removing the rear seat.
The Fuel filter was absolutely black and clogged with dirt.
It is the original filter that came with the car from the Factory and I have done 47000Kms in this car which is the same as 30000 miles.
I understand that BMW say these are Lifetime Products but I take issue with that because this is not logical.
I read on various forums that 30000miles is about the life of the fuel filter and of course now it is all dismantled and ready to be changed as soon as we get the part.
The car is 9 years old so we also ran a check on some of the hoses. Looks like the Turbo Hose Air Duct Intake Boot is worn down especially at the edges and this requires changing.
Also the spark Plugs which were last changed in 2020 January, also need a change.
And we shall be inspecting the fuel lines, the injectors themselves and the fuel rails.
We shall be getting the Fuel Injectors cleaned.
The car is in the garage for now. Till we are able to get all the parts.
Being a relatively rare car in India, there is significant waiting time for these relatively un-common parts.
So far this is what we’ve observed and will keep adding updates to the thread.


The 9 year old Fuel Filter. Crossed 30000miles/ 47000kms

The edges of this intake boot are frayed. Needs changing else the Turbo will leak air.

These spark plugs were changed in 2020 Jan. I ll change them now. Looking for IRIDIUM Spark Plugs.

 

A further update….looks that the Fuel Injectors were also dirty and slightly clogged with sludge. Hence they’ve gone to the cleaners, quite literally….Fuel Injectors being completely checked for pressure and cleaned out/ serviced. Fuel rail also getting checked and cleaned up. This is the first time ever, that this car (in its 9 years of life) is undergoing this care and treatment.
Photo

Injector Cleaning
photo attached on the Injector cleaning…

 

I had ordered the Turbo Hose and Spark Plugs with BMW India. However, these will take 2 full weeks to arrive. I believe they are expected on 6 July… BMW said that they did not have stock of the Fuel Filter and the Cabin Filter and that these would take 46 days to arrive from Germany - can you believe it!
So I simply went on to ECS Tuning and ordered the Cabin Filter (Charcoal type) and the Fuel Filter, the most critical part on Monday the 21st.
And these parts arrived at my doorstep via FEDEX this afternoon 25 June! Yes I had to pay shipping and I also had to pay Customs Duty, but to get parts so fast all the way from the US, is very heartening indeed!
Of course I still have to wait on BMW India for the remaining parts, and only then can I get them on to working on the Cooper S at the garage…
Here is a picture of the filters..


Cabin Filter by KENGST. Sourced from ECS Tuning Ohio USA…arrived in a week’s time via FEDEX. These filters are equivalent to Bosch or Mahle.

Fuel Filter by KENGST. Sourced from ECS Tuning Ohio USA…arrived in a week’s time via FEDEX. These filters are equivalent to Bosch or Mahle.

 

Another update from today. BMW India got the parts in earlier than expected so I went along and picked them up and delivered them at the workshop where my Cooper is sitting.

I got the standard BERU spark plugs and OEM Mini Turbo Hose today.
Here are the pics.

Now this evening or so I thing the cleaned Injectors and Fuel Rail etc will be back from the cleaning agent.
And over the next few days I think we ll be able to put the vehicle back together again and test it thoroughly to see if the misfire and stuttering problem is solved.

Fingers Crossed…


Poor little Cooper and its engine all opened up…

The car sitting there and the new parts waiting to be mounted

The old and the new Turbo Hose. Clearly can see where the old one is frayed at the edges.

New OEM MINI Turbo Intake Hose…

OEM MINI Turbo Intake Hose

New OEM Mini BERU Spark Plugs

 

Another update then. This was based on my visit to the garage yesterday.

As we know, all the Fuel Injectors and Fuel Rail etc were nicely and thoroughly cleaned as also the fuel lines.
That leaky frayed turbo intake hose was also changed to a brand new one. The Spark Plugs and the Fuel filter were changed as was the cabin filter.

The car was taken by the mechanics on a test drive in the morning. It was perfect at lower and normal speeds.But they found that when it warmed up sufficiently, and when under higher acceleration it started missing and stuttering. So they brought it back and let it cool down, tightened up a few things and gave it another check. And then took it out again for the test drive.
Second time around under high acceleration the engine light came right back on, with the same loss of power and the car came into limp mode back to the garage.

And upon scanning it again, the error code that came up was 37DE. Engine Ventilation Heating, activation. Line disconnection, followed by 2EF7 Engine Misfire Fuel Injection deactivation. Etc.

I am reading on the internet that code 37DE means there is a crankcase ventilation heater control circuit malfunction. Reading a Service Bulletin on this, it says due to some DME software change the diagnostic monitoring capability is improved for the engine ventilation and heating system. But apparently if the ventilation heater circuit has some malfunction it will show up in the fault memory. And the bulletins says that we have to verify the integrity of the circuit and the connections. And to verify if the heater relay is installed properly and check the resistance of the circuit which has to be at 12.5-15.5 Ohms.

So we then consulted with a person who has worked with both Audi and BMW and he has asked us to check the Air Filter. Apparently, this type of issue occurs often if the the K&N Filter is dirty or clogged it tends to not allow enough clean and cool air into the crank case thereby not allowing the crank case to cool enough, which in turn triggers the auto cut off of fuel, which in turn leads to the other error codes. Apparently the K&N filter has to be thoroughly cleaned every 3000kms for it to be effective in the Cooper S. Plus, lets remember this car is in India and the Air is dusty and there is pollution, so Air filters are more likely to get clogged up faster. And many other people say that K&N Filters tend to mess up the O2 Sensors and MAF Sensors because along with more air, it also allows in more dust and particles.

So the consultant has asked me to change the Air filter back to the stock standard OEM Paper one and try again.

I had actually changed the OEM paper Air Filter to a K&N sometime in early 2020.

And this year in Feb 2021 at the time of servicing the car I had cleaned the K&N Air Filter thoroughly and oiled it with the Rouge Oil.

Upon removing the Airbox cover we pulled out the K&N Filter and it was kind of dirty but to my eyes not excessively filthy. So I applied a high pressure air hose to it to blow out the dirt.

I have since sat and thoroughly cleaned the K&N filter by spraying the K&N detergent into all the nooks and crannies of the filter. And then allowed it to soak for 20 - 30 minutes and then rinsed it out nicely. It is now laid out to dry in the sunshine for 24 hours.

In any case, on Monday when the garage opens up again, I m going to revert to the OEM Air Filter for the Cooper and test it again. To see if the OEM filter allows enough cool air into the crank case and allows it to ventilate and cool down sufficiently when under acceleration at speed and in high heat.

I am also looking at the PCV Membrane, the Oil Pressure Sensor switch to see if there are any problems with those. But first the Air Filter experiment and testing will be done and then we shall see what happens….

Will post further updates as soon as these diagnostics are done…

This is one finding on the internet

This is the service bulletin….


This fault code shows that the crankcase ventilation is at fault. Hence the specific hose and valve needs to be changed. This is accessible only via the sump.

 

So here we go again with more findings and diagnosis all of which has been happening over the last ten days. Of course once diagnosed, I have gone ahead and bought the necessary parts from ECS Tuning and Pelican Parts USA and am having them shipped in to India. The cost of parts is fair. But the shipping costs via FedEx International Economy are quite high. The customs duty is extremely whimsical and arbitrary and I expect the parts to cost much more than they would have had I ordered direct at BMW India.
But then, there is the trade off of time. Bringing the parts from the US takes 7-10 days to reach me at home. But ordering at BMW India is a hit or miss. If the parts are available in the bin in India then it takes 1 week to 2 weeks to reach my local BMW service workshop but if the parts have to come from BMW Germany, it takes 46 days!

Anyway, we have now narrowed down the fault by consulting with a Senior engineer who worked for both Audi and BMW and is now an independent. He advised us to check the PCV membrane as well as the PCV Intake Hose -because the Positive Crankcase Ventilation situation is clearly and consistently coming out in the fault code.
This is caused by the jamming of a one way valve which can only be accessed by removing the sump itself.

So my friends at the workshop did that and found that the valve indeed was jammed. This valve has a ball inside (similar to the human throat) and if the ball is jammed then the crankcase does not get enough cool air inside and thus malfunctions.

Here are some pictures of the faulty part and the replacement parts that are arriving early next week…


This is the faulty valve. It is attached to a hose. And this goes from the block to the intake. Crankcase vent hose which incorporates the valve.

Crankcase vent hose Valve. Hose itself needs replacing. Part NO 11157632333

Crankcase vent hose valve. BMW Part no 11157632333

That’s my order from Pelican Parts….

 

And then of course there are the parts coming in from ECS Tuning which hopefully will further help me in solving this issue and preventing more such headaches in the future.
It ought to be reiterated here my car is 9 years old.
And this car has not been driven much - it has done about 47000kms (30000 miles).
But with our driving conditions here in India, dust, smog and pollution, it is expected that certain parts may need to be replaced sooner than they may need to be, if one were living in say Europe or the US. So it will be a good thing to change the PCV membrane and along with the hose and valve.
Also, the quality of Fuel in India overall says RON 91. But it is very possible that there is fluctuation in quality between petrol pump/ gas station in Urban and Rural India. Hence Fuel filters which need to supposedly only be changed at 30000 miles or 47000 kms (as I am doing now), tend to get very very dirty indeed and therefore, it may be a good idea to change them out more frequently.
We have cleaned the Mass Airflow Sensor using an Electronic Cleaner Spray and I am hoping that continues to work fine.
Let the parts arrive next week and I shall be going to sit in the garage to get these all done and fitted up.
I’m also changing the spark plugs to new Iridium Spark Plugs which should last better and longer and deliver greater power and combustion spark efficiency.
Here are the pictures of the other parts too which I ve ordered from ECS Tuning and am awaiting….
It can clearly be seen that maintaining a car of this kind sitting in India, is quite hard and certainly quite expensive too.
But if one loves the Cooper S as much as I do, then one simply must look after it properly.
The irritant really is the amount of “down-time” which one has to bear with.
But there is no other go. It is all a part of the ownership experience.


The PCV Valve membrane and spring… I have ordered an oil pressure sensor (to keep in stock) Some Standard Air Filters (to keep in stock) And of course those Iridium Spark Plugs