So I figured out today that it seems my thermostat housing is leaking since there's coolant pooled up on the top of my transmission.. any advise on a new housing for my R60?

 

There are some good threads here and several good videos on Youtube. I just did this a couple of weeks ago. It isn't too bad. The only stumbling block for me was the clip securing the water pipe to the thermostat housing. Access is difficult on the N18. I ended up removing the intake manifold to get to the clip. If I ever have to do that repair again, the manifold comes off right away. Trying it without that step is a waste of time, in my opinion.

I don't know if there are aftermarket housings. I typically use OEM parts, particularly when replacing them requires a lot of labor.

 

Try www.partsgeek.com. I've gotten good products from them with great pricing.

 

What year is your Mini? If original housing, you might need an adapter hose as the housing changed and the OEM hose system will not work.

 

2012.. bought the housing today and got the adapter for the sensor.. the housing is redesigned and I asked if there was anything else needed and the dealer said no

 

If you need the sensor adapter then you likely also need this hose that deletes the metal elbow that currently holds one of the sensors:



Have a look at this page on RealOEM to choose the right part based on transmission type and build date:
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=17_0578

 

My 2012 countryman is not an ALL4

 

So that new house supersedes the original I get that for the reason that the sensor is now integrated into the redesigned housing.. the new hose is $80.. since have to disconnect that original sensor I should be able still just use the original house with the sensor and the sensor will be dormant.. any thoughts?

 

The sensor port on the metal elbow in the original hose is prone to leaking so that's a reason to replace it. But if yours isn't leaking, you can probably keep it. Even if it does leak, you might be able to seal it -- there's a thread on here about that.

My situation was the opposite of yours. My thermostat housing wasn't leaking, that metal elbow was the problem. Since the replacement hose doesn't include the sensor, I had to replace the thermostat housing as well. My car has 68K miles so the thermostat probably would have started leaking sooner rather than later.