I don't have a way of pulling the codes at the moment.

All I really have the ability to do is to keep replacing things until something works. Which is a hassle, but thats okay.

I went ahead and ordered the sensors you provided. They should be here some time next week and then I can go from there.

As for the youtube video's, I will look into them this evening.

Thanks for all the help! I'm sure I'll be back in a week with more questions!

It is difficult to make a definitive diagnosis remotely, as there can be many issues that show the symptom of rough idling.

Can you list out the actual Pxxx error codes that your car is showing?

You can go to youtube.com and search for 'vacuum leaks' - there are a lot of videos you can check out.

There are some diagrams and photos on the cam sensor product page that should help you locate these sensors on the valve cover in your MINI. There are 2 of these sensors on your N12 engine.

Sorry for not knowing much about this. I have a pretty limited amount of knowledge when it comes to this vehicle. Ill do my best to explain.

About 2 months ago, I started the car and it was suddenly idling very rough. Almost acting like it had a hard time even doing so. So I turned it off and started researching what the problem could be and contacted my cousins husband (The mechanic) to see if there was anything he knew of that would cause this. The shop he works at they pretty much give him all of the mini's that come through the door so I figured he would be a reliable source to ask. But, from what we have come to realize is that he hasn't really worked on the N12 motor so we are both at a dead end for most of what he knows. He did plug his diagnostic box (cornwell makes it) and the codes that were thrown were what I mentioned earlier. Regretfully, he cleared the initial codes and tried to pull new ones. But we can't even get the car to start now. It acts like it wants to but it won't crank all the way over.

We pretty much assumed that since it was missing on all cylinders that we would start from there. So I replaced both of the VVT solenoids and the spark plugs to see if that would help anything. To no avail.

I've reached back in my memory a few times to see if the car had ever acted weird before. And all that I could remember is that it has stalled on me twice in the past while idling in a drive thru. Both occasions were during the summer on very hot days. And I just had to remove the key and it started back up instantly. This led both of us to believe that it could be a high pressure fuel pump issue given the what I just mentioned and the misfire on the cylinders. So, given that, I planned on buying a reliable refurb and doing the work myself. And that has pretty much led me to this forum to seek more advice before I dig deeper into this money hole.

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If I was going to search for vacuum leaks, how would I do so myself? (He lives an hour and a half away)
And where could I find the camshaft position sensors?

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I don't mind throwing money at this car to get it running again, I'm just trying to avoid taking it to the dealership because that's excessive money for something I can do on my own.

Thanks again!

The N12 engine uses manifold injection instead of direct injection, so it does not use a HPFP.

I wonder if your problem might be caused by a defective (or 2) camshaft position sensor? - this is based on the limited information you have provided....

I presume you have already checked for any vacuum leaks...

Was this a sudden onset of the rough idling symptom or did this build up over time? Is is consistent?

Hello All,

To start with I'd like to tell you that I've had the system diagnosed by a Friend/ASE Mechanic. From everything we are gathering from the system diagnosis. It is showing signs of what I've read to be issues with the HPFP. But when I search for one online, I can't find one for an N12 motor. I just looked again to see if I could find it in the car as well, but Its looking like I'm either blind, or there is one.

Now, I'm no mechanic by any means but I do know how to turn a wrench and have no problem working on my own vehicles as long as I can watch a tutorial. (Tool and die maker by trade)

But what I'm after is any information you might be able to send my way that may help me resolve this issue in somewhat of a timely manner.

There were codes for:
Vanos
VVT Solenoids (Replaced both)
Misfires on all 4 cylinders (Changed all of the plugs, no damage to the old ones so the cores should be fine)

Thanks in advance for helping my uneducated mushy brain.