Designated as either N14 (pre-faclift) or N18 (post facelift) this engine was developed by PSA (Peugeot Citroën) and BMW – the N14/N18 is found in all second generation petrol MINIs as well as many Peugoet Citroën cars.

All petrol R59 cars use the N18 engine as the model was introduced post facelift (in relation to the underlying model).

The unit utilises BMW VANOS  (variable nockenwellen steuerung) in German which is a variable valve timing technology.  The system variably adjusts the timing of the valves by changing the position of the camshaft relative to the drive gear resulting in a more uniform power delivery across the rev range.

A common problem on these cars is premature timing chain failure – sometimes called a ‘death rattle’.

A timing chain should last the life of an engine and in non-turbo N14/N16 engines this is usually the case – however in turbocharged ‘S’ and ‘JCW’ cars we see many cases where the timing chain has ‘stretched’ (actually this isn’t the case – the chain becomes longer due to wear in each and every chain linkage).

In any case this wear is invariably due to the car having low oil for a period of time. These are high performance little cars and are often driven to their full potential – which stresses the engine which means of course they will burn oil.

Furthermore a turbo is a hot and busy thing – when your engine is doing 3000 rpm your turbo is doing something line 20,000 rpm which means it gets VERY hot. If the oil gets out of spec (due to heat) or low (due to poor maintenance) then the cam chain will wear unduly plus you risk cooking your turbo.

If you drive your JCW hard on a regular basis then be well advised – check your oil level regularly and change the oil every 9000 miles at least – and be sure to use 100% Synthetic oil LL04 BMW specification.

These are not expensive to replace and a diagnostic scan will tell us which actuator or sensor needs replacing.