Got a doozy for you guys. Today while trying to replace a rusted exhaust hanger on his 2003 mini cooper s, I broke one of the bolts on the passenger outboard part of the muffler. I have broken bolts before and it's nothing new to me EXCEPT that the bolt I broke seems to be coming from the inside of the car if that makes sense. I'll let the picture do the talking.

It appears that the bolt I broke comes from the interior of the car through the body rather than screwing into a bolt welded to the body. What exactly can I do? I am at a loss.

I think this is the bolt as viewed from the interior of the hatch.
The only options I can think of are drilling out the bolt from the interior or not caring and hoping I can get the other nut off without breaking it and running the hanger with only one bolt. Opinions? I tried searching to no avail.
Also, is it possible to remove the rubber exhaust hangers without absolutely destroying them? Resorted to cutting the inboard passenger hanger because of space issues. Thanks in advance.

 

I just swapped out my exhaust last weekend (never again). I was lucky and only the end of the bolt on mine broke off so I had enough left to reattach.

I have read that this happening before when searching and I think someone just took theirs to the garage to have it drilled through the car with a bolt. I am pretty sure you need both bolts to hold it on.

 

I have see them rust pretty bad like that. I would use a good bolt breaker fluid in the future and let it set, it you do the other side.

You could drill and replace the bolt with a new one but I would recommend cleaning and rear under coating since its on the body and the factory part is coated to the body.


Here is the diagram of the rear body metal #7 are those brackets to the body ( with possible studs ).



I looked into the part in the back for replacement but it does not really show it comes with the new studs, but the pictures are sometimes just a example pic and the real part includes more. There is a split year in 3/2003 on the brackets to the body.




I have also seen them hold with the single bolt , but if the other bolts holding the other side are bad then the wight of the exhaust would not be distributed well to each bolt. I don't know how your other bolts and mounts look or hold.

What year is your MINI, that way I can make sure you have the correct hanger? And on removal on the metal rod. you can sometimes wiggle them out with lubricant and flat head screwdriver. Most of them need replaced due to sagging or deterioration anyway.

Good luck.

 

The best option I have come to is drilling out the bolt from the interior hatch area of the car. The goal will be to drill the head off the stud as it goes through the body to the exterior. I will then put an appropriate sized bolt in the newly drilled/tapped hole. I might opt to drill out both bolts on that side as I put plenty of PB blaster on the bolts and let it sit before work. Add to that I broke the bolt with a dinky 1/4" drive socket, I have my doubts about getting the other bolt out unbroken.
When my father bought the mini, I noticed that the center exhaust tips not straight and sagging from the broken mount. It has been driven like this for an undetermined amount of time so I am not in a huge rush to get it fixed. The top portion of the muffler strap was completely rusted through, the black mount that is bolted to the body was also completely rusted through.
The mini in question is a 2003 Mini Cooper S, I know that I have the right bracket. We sourced new bushing from the local auto parts store and while they are not a direct OE replacement, they will work just fine. We figured it would be easier to just replace them while we are at it.
The other option which might happen is just going to the muffler shop and doing the one-ball mod which would completely aleviate this problem. That will take some convincing as my father seems to want to keep the car pretty stock.

Edit: words

 

go to a muffler shop. They can quickly tack weld a new stud in place. No big deal. A common repair.

 

Good to know! thanks!