Is that the vent down low next to the driver side fog light? Or is that just a brake vent or something?

The reason I ask is that my CM sucked up water the other night in a nasty storm when I got pinned in traffic in high water. Nothing I could do.
6 weeks old to the day, still has paper plates. :( The engine is completely seized and sitting at the dealership waiting for the insurance adjuster to take a look at it. Needs a new engine.

Anyway, I was surprised at how easily this happened.
So is that an air intake down low? In all my past vehicles, the air inlet is usually up high behind the grill, just below the hood.
And if so, are all MINIs designed like this?
It probably wouldn't prevent me from getting another but it is definitely something to be aware of if this is the case.

Now just need to wait and see what insurance decides to do. Luckily it's covered under comprehensive. But I'm worried about diminished value if fixed and not totaled. Might be tough to total a $44k car.

 

The intake feed for the 2019 Countryman S ALL4 is located right at the front under the hood/top of grille. It feeds the intake box where the filter is, then from there it has a tube that goes to the back of the engine into the turbo.

Even if water got into the box feed, it would take quite a bit of water to fill that box and then into your turbo, chargepipes, intercooler, and into the intake.

I'm thinking its more likely that one of your charge pipes popped off from the force of the water pushing on the front, and then got sucked into the engine.

How high was the water? Did it go up onto your hood at all? Because it would have to reach the top of your grille for the intake to have sucked any into the box.

 

Ah ok that makes more sense. So what is that vent hole down low near the fog light? I'm looking at it and thinking how stupid that would be if it was direct to the intake.
And what is a charge pipe?

Here's more detail of what happened. I made a turn through an intersection along with other cars. Next thing I know I'm in water that looks to be about curb height (based on the median which I was next to) and we all came to a stop. I'm pinned in with nowhere to go. Finally the car in front of me went through and made it. I wasn't comfortable with that and sat there for a bit and the car behind me stayed. I really wanted to back up. There was a driveway just ahead so I thought maybe I could make it to that. As soon as I started to move it stalled. So i figure it had to suck it up from fairly low. I wasn't plowing through causing water to rise up to the hood. Maybe it got sucked up into the tailpipe while sitting there? I dunno... it's a mystery. 3 of us got stuck but plenty of other cars and suv's and mini vans made it through. I had to sit there for at least 30 minutes while huge wakes from passing cars and trucks rocked my car. Finally a guy in a truck had some straps and pulled all three of us to higher ground so we could wait for our tow trucks.

 

Not sure what year you have but the F60 was covered above
On the R60 the intake is high in the grill on the drivers side, near the headlight. The other ducts you are talking about are simply cooling ducts to direct air towards the brakes. No worry there. It probably did enter the tailpipe.
For your other question, the charge pipes are simply the hoses/ducting for the turbo system. They connect the turbo to the intercooler and the intercooler to the throttle body. That’s where your boost is being forced into the engine for more powahh!
hope some of this may have helped

 

Thank you for the post, and yes it did help some.
But just to clarify... on my F60, what is that opening near the foglight? Its only on the driver side.

I may be picking the car up tomorrow, and plan on talking to the techs to get more info on what the heck happened.