Should we be thankful that the law doesn't require MINI to put a 'hot warning label' on top of the hood scoop?

 

Just posted this over on another thread I started...thought you might be interested>>
First the M7 turbo thermal shield (purchased from 1FastMINI)...nicely made and piece of cake to install... only tools you need is a 10 mm socket w/ 5" extension (to remove 2 OEM heat shield bolts) and 5 mm allen wrench to install M7 heat shield bolts.
Exterior...satin black finish matches engine bay color/finish perfectly


Inside showing the "Aerogel is nanotechnology with amazing heat rejection qualities (which is why NASA is also using this material in a variety of applications)"


And installed>>>




Results (using a Raytek MT6 laser thermal reader):
Pre heat shield install (OEM set up)
Turbo exhaust side: 370-450 deg F
Turbo air side: 160 deg F
Under bonnet at scoop: 124 deg F

Post M7 heat shield install
Heat shield housing exterior: 130 deg F
Under bonnet at scoop: 112 deg F

Looks like it is a winner...10% reduction in under bonnet scoop temps

 

i'm gonna be goin to the dealer friday...the guy there says he wants to check cause according to him there shouldnt be ANY excessive heat under the hood, he doesnt know what it could be cause hes "never heard of this before" so i'll post to see what he says, but this heat shield looks like it could work if the dealer doesnt fork up and get my a carbon scoop

 

When you put it in the garage LIFT THE HOOD heat always goes up. I do it all the time. Hood scoop wont melt.

 

im guessing that will work but something inside me just says, you knwo what, im NOT gonna open this hood, cuz the car is NOT supposed to get like this, so let hte scoop melt and let them fix the problem....aside from teh fact that i do run errands and leave for lunch and am on the road alot for appointments with customers...opening the hood after i park the car? not a good solution...although it does work, very impractical

 

After putting it in the garage LIFT THE HOOD heat always goes up Ido it all the time (No Scoop Problems)

 

I plan on doing this, but only because it is habit... I'd rather do it and avoid it than take it to the dealer, which is 170 miles away.

 

You're forgetting that 0 F isn't 0 absolute. It's a 12 F degree delta on something where absolute zero is ~-460. So it's a bit over a 2% decrease in temps.... FWIW, non-sealed heat baffles just make the hot air go a slightly longer path. But it's convection (moving air) that moves the heat more than radient (glowing stuff) heat, so open baffles like this buy time, but like the 12 F delta indicates, don't really address the problem.

Standard dealer escallation..
1) never heard of it before.
2) We're waiting to hear back from corporate.
3) Parts aren't in stock.
4) You pay, you're out of warranty!

While this may work, it's what I'd call a very interesting owner requirement. I wonder if it's in the owners manual?

Matt

 

That's a great idea. Do you think that I could get MINI to buy me a garage so that I could open the hood each time I park without getting the car stolen?

 

So is the melted scoop covered by my warranty?

 

Yes, it had better be! It is NOT supposed to be melting.

 

I see you are in L.A. What dealer are you going to? MINI of Monrovia have been difficult as far as returning phone calls on the matter.

 

im gonna be going to mini universal city, thats where i bought the car, and they gave the usual "they dont know" bring it in w'ell look at it b.s. so, so far everything is normal procedure lolllll....ill let everyone know how they handle it this weekend, after the dealer im off to santa barbara for kayaking and beer so ill post in the evening

 

Interesting product, this M7 Heat Shield. I see a couple of ways to view the thing. On one hand, what it is doing is containing the heat, slowly releasing it to the world after you stop the car. On the other hand it is containing the heat, not allowing the turbo to cool off at the rate BMW designed it for. That slower cooling rate may improve the lifespan of the turbo because the metals are allowed to contract slower/more evenly.

But what about when driving? If the turbo is hitting 500 degrees after stopping, imagine what temp it runs at. And now you've altered the air flow around the turbo when it runs. Is it going to run even hotter causing a failure in the turbo unit? Or does it allow greater air flow, keeping it cooler, thus increasing the life of the unit. Also if it's running cooler, it would seem that the air being injected into the engine would be cooler and thus denser and thus better performance.

 

Thats strange.

 

i too am curious as to how the heatshield will affect the lifespan of the turbo...
i know/read somewhere if you wrap your turbo it helps it spool better or something? i guess this is a less drastic step to keep engine temp. down...

 

is that they only cover the hot side, and they keep the heat in to keep gas velocity higher. This has benefits to spooling up to speed among other things. But you don't wrap the cold side.... Because they are in more intimate contact with the turbo housing, they really cut down on convection signficantly. Both the stock and the M7 product do more to keep you from putting your hand on a hot turbo than really containing the heat, and keeping it on the hot side where it belongs.

Matt

 

went to the dealership this morning and got the most ridiculous response...

the initial inspector told me to come back in 2-3 weeks so a mini representative can inspect it. i said no that is bs... the hoodscoop is melting and its under warrantee because of mini's defect. he then said that it could have occured during the shipping of the vehicle. i said no that is bs because even if it did, you guys are required to fix it if its your fault and wont require a mini representative. he then said it could be a dent from an object as he put his finger on it and nearly burned his finger... i just smiled (rode a lil extra hard on the way to the dealer) He then said the new 08 mini sun roof can get so hot due to the sun it affects the motor and that the sun could have caused the melt down. i had absolutely no comment... i mean the sun melting plastic? how desperate is he? he also said the whole, "i have never seen this before" jibber and i wouldnt leave.

i asked to see the manager and he came right up, looked at it for 10 seconds and after touching the dent he told him to ordered me a new one. he said hes seen this happen to a few other minis and its noo problem what so ever. see? simple

and to think that the sun was the culprit.

 

but also have them check the ECU programming to make sure you have the fan runtime set properly, otherwise the next one will just melt too.

Obviously the service tech or whatever he was is a BS artist of the first order..... You may want to write a letter to the dealer letting them know how dissapointed you are to know they employ someone with such a "screw the customer" attitude... Really, the little he saves them in dodged work will be swamped by the bad rep and lost business over time....

Matt

 

Ditto

 

so i went to the dealership friday morning and was not welcomed with open arms for some reason when i pulled up the tech did not want to have anything to do with me. his very first question before even saying hello was "what aftermarket stuff do you have under the hood" ... i hope thats able to set the tone of the conversatino for you ... so i told hiim im the guy with the melted scoop and have nothing aftermarket under the hood. he proceeded to check the temp of the hood and saw that it was too hot to touch, then said he needed 3-5 hours to do a diagnostic of why the temperatures are so high cuz it was abnormal...i told him he's got one hour than im taking the car.....

an hour later it was ready and he told me that it is possible that my cat-back could be causing this problem by not allowing enough air flow to the turbo which isnt letting it spool properly...i dont know it smelled like bs and i wasnt buying, so i told him i dont think it is that but if you'd liek to check go right on ahead, you'll find that it might even be causing the turbo to flow better than before......he responded by telling me if i ever see a r56 stock to touch the hood and see how hot it is, i told him i have and they get just as hot stock, he thought i was lying so there was this awkward moment of him trying to make **** up as the conversation came to a close.....

the bottom line....he says to come back when the new scoop is in so they can complete the diagnostic and verify for sure that the exhaust isnt the cause, and if such is the case, to determine what is and provide a possible fix....he suggested the turbo might be bad?....i dont know....personally i donto want to change my turbo cuz it boosts retardedly high, much higher than other r56's ive seen (15-16, one time i saw 17)

also, no carbon scoop, he laughed in my face when i asked him and said the best he could do in this case is knock the labor fee if i purchased one clean and clear

 

the guy is a priick. I'd talk to the manager and say that you aren't happy with him and would like to work with another service person. Total BS on the cat-back system for sure. Did he even check to see if the fan is running the required time after a shut down? This is the same guy who said that he'd never seen the problem before, right?

Matt

 

yeah ssame guy
no he didnt check, but i did tell him that it doesnt ALWAYS run, he responded by rolling his eyes and sayin arrite we'll take a look at it
he did not want to spend ANY time with me at ALL
the sad part is, the his manager and the other sa were standingi inside next to him when he was responding to me like a **** and said nohting.....

 

Well, thank god your turbo's not bad.

 

Just WOW!!

This isn't the first time a hood scoop melted on the R56 there are several long threads relating to that here on NAM and I am sure MINI USA is aware of that fact too.Honestly I would contact MINI and explain to them what has been going on and the very poor treatment you are getting from that particular dealership.