So last week I found my 2017 Countryman acting weird and giving me engine running hot warnings after driving only a couple of miles. Fortunately, I was only a block away from home by the time this started happening, so I could pull over and check it out. I noticed liquid leaking from the underbody of the car. The car was taken to the dealership, and it became evident that the auxiliary cooling radiator behind the lower left part of the bumper had been punctured by most likely a flying object, causing engine coolant to leak. Fortunately, insurance covered the repair costs (minus the deductible), but it was $1000 to replace the radiator, and apparently with the chance of a damaged engine thermostat which may surface later for another $2000 repair (dealership costs of course).

My issue, however, is with the fact that the radiator is designed to be left so exposed in the first place. It is placed in the lower front part of the car, with quite a large opening in the bumper to allow for airflow. The dealership made it sound like bad luck, but I am actually surprised this has not happened more often given how large and low the opening is! Has anybody else had this happen to them?

 

I put a rolled up section of "gutter guard" in that space, and hold it there with zip-ties. I catch all kinds of debris in it, which would have hit those fins. I do the same thing across the front of the car...it's not hard to undo the screws and clips to take the grill off. I've done this to ALL my cars for the past 10 years or so. If it only works once to prevent a puncture, it will have been worth it. In the meantime, it's not ugly, and most people would never notice it was there. Hope your repairs go well and there are no extra repairs to be made...

 

Yup! Left us stranded on the side of the road on a family day-trip.
MINI basically said sorry not sorry have a nice day and thank you for your $1000. They know its a problem because the new radiator has a grill guard!
Here's my thread about it...
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...right-now.html

 

I *thought* I had seen that thread! Turned out I did. Good info. I will McGyver something for my 2018. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

This is all very good info indeed. Do you by any chance have any photos of this grill guard? They definitely did not include anything like that in their repair of my radiator. I too will otherwise have to go with something similar to what Mini-Titan did. This is pretty ridiculous! This is indeed a design flaw, and BMW/Mini is making it sound like it's just a matter of bad luck. This is a recall worthy flaw.

 

I just noticed the guard in the photos you provided actually. Still not the best protection, but better than nothing!

 

I thought this is a serious enough of an issue to file a complaint with the DOT to investigate. It might not get anywhere, but it would be posted online to see if others have come across the same issue, and whether it would warrant an investigation. If the manufacturer has created a workaround with this rock guard, then that is an indication of an issue and acknowledgement of the issue.

 

Yep and it was a separate part listed on my repair invoice.

 

You also might want to add your experience to that other thread.

 

After reading both threads I have ordered one of those rock guards for myself. It does seem like a poor design, regardless that other manufacturers seem to have the same flaw in some of their models. We have a lot of crappy secondary roads around where I live and not covering that opening is probably living life dangerously. Thanks for the info and the informative post.

 

Thinking of buying the rock guard as well... Does anyone have a DIY for how to install it? Looks like you'd go in from the bottom, but unsure of what is the minimal amount of parts to remove before getting access to the aux radiator.

 

Updates since this happened to me last month:

I contacted my Mini dealership and asked them about the rock guard. The person I was dealing with had no idea such a thing even existed, but was able look up the part number, much thanks to d2mini and the receipt photo you had provided in your other post. She ordered the part from the Chicago dealership and installed at no additional charge. I also wrote a complaint on MiniUSA.com in their contact us page, and expressed my disappointment as a loyal Mini owner of such a design flaw. I received a call within a week from their HQ office telling me they will investigate my complaint. They also asked me to send in a copy of my invoices for the deductible I paid out of pocket. A week later they called me back saying they will do a one-time goodwill reimbursement of the deductible, and I received a check today. I suppose calling it a goodwill reimbursement allows them to avoid taking direct responsibility for the flaw, and therefore avoiding legal issues with insurance companies perhaps? Nevertheless I am appreciative of the fact that they did reach out and did take action to compensate me for the expenses.

I strongly recommend the $30-50 rock guard in order to avoid an unnecessary $500-1000+ damage. The dealership warned me that the engine thermostat may have been damaged as well, but will not know until winter time.

 

I also own a 2012 Audi S4. Had the same vulnerability. They designed a similar guard. I'll buy the one for the CM as well. Does ECS sell it? Where is the best place to buy? Install straight forward?

 

BTW ECS tuning does sell it.
ordered... thanks for the info!

 

You are lucky! I was told to pound sand.

 

I have one on the way, too. My rolled-up Gutter guard is probably good enough, but, I wouldn't mind replacing it with the actual right part!

 

Came back in search of a DIY.
Anyone install this themselves?
Does the bumper have to come off to access that rad?

 

I bought the guard, too, so, I'll be interested to see what it takes to get it on there. I'm guessing the bumper doesn't have to come off. Surely removing some of the underside deflectors will be sufficient....interesting to know what I have in front of me once the guard gets here!

 

Yeah, I think I did get lucky on this. Wasn't expecting a response at all.

Mini installed the one on my car. Sorry can't help on the installation difficulty question, but would be curious on how it goes.

 

I sent another message to MINIUSA last week. Crickets.

 

I'm still not sure what is involved but I think easiest is to remove bumper.
I had the car in for an oil change this week so I just had them clip it on for me. They charged me 120 bucks. Rip off but I just didn't have the time to get the car up to get the bumper or the plastic shields off...

 

I was able to take off only the driver's side wheel skirt and pulled back the bumper enough to get the protector in and clipped in place. I'm still going to leave the rolled-up gutter guard I had already placed and zip-tied in that opening, since the protector is plastic and not likely to stop a very big rock. Just had a rock knock a nickel-sized starburst on my windshield, which then cracked about 1 foot on each side...that sized rock could break the plastic on the protector I would imagine. So, I'll go with belt and suspenders on this radiator...no reason not to.

 

Chalk another one up...

Earlier this week communiting home in 96F temp. Engine overheated, towed to dealer. Dealer wanted $1,200 to replace the aux radiator and it would take ~6 days b/c they would have long lead time getting the part.

I got the car home (hybrid - just charged it up and drove home). I pulled the radiator, took it to a nearby radiator repair shop (Note a repair shop, not a radiator replacement shop. Actual radiator repair shops are a dying breed.) They pressure / tank tested, identified leak, steam cleaned and applied a polymer seal that is like solder - use a torch to heat it and melt into the spot - for aluminum radiators. They did this in an hour, charged $57.

Removing and replacing the radiator is simpler than i thought:
- Jack up the car, put in a jackstand.
- Remove front tire
- pull 5-6 screws and a couple of pins holding the wheelwell liner in place. Note the liner wraps around under the front of the car. Take your time and it comes loose pretty easily.
- Take out 1 screw.... yes 1 screw holds the radiator in. The bottom of the radiator has two posts that fit into holes on the bracket. Take the bolt on the top Rt side of the radiator out and the whole thing lifts out and there's enough hose flexibility that you can pull it slightly down to work on it.
- Pop off the 2 quick release hose fittings. Use a screwdriver to pull back the wire bail on each fitting. Then just work the hose end off. Once you get it started it really pops off.
- Reverse to assemble.

I was thinking that I may have to jury-rig up some way to apply leverage on the hose fittings to get them to slide back on, but it was as simple as holding the fitting in my left hand, pressing in the radiator with my right and the fitting popped right back on. Close the wire bail (could do that at the start) and it is locked into place. I was also pleasantly surprised that after I put coolant in and heated it up the fittings didn't leak.

Pics below for some indication of the process.

The saddest thing about all of this saga.... I had read this thread months ago and said - yeah, gotta do this. I bought the grid but had set it aside for the next major maintenance. It was simple enough that I spent more time waiting for the tow truck than installing the grid. Do It Now.

Looking around for buying a new part I also noted that they won't sell the replacement radiator without the screen/grid. So somebody is thinking...


Red Circle is the one bolt that holds the radiator down. Remove it and the radiator will lift up and off.


Polymer repair... i had my doubts, but it has held now for multiple 1+ hour drives.


Closeup of the 'bail' holding the quick disconnect. Pry the back straight out with a screwdriver. It doesn't need to be removed, just backed out.


Repaired radiator with grid in place. Fits nice, huh? Note the posts on the bottom that drop into holes on the bracket.


Closeup of the part number for the screen.
If you don't have this on your car, you will need it. It is not an 'if' question... its a 'when' question.

Part 17 11 9 894 814.

 

I put that grid screen on my aux radiator, and I also have a coil of plastic "gutter-guard" rolled up and zip-tied in place in front of that aux radiator. TOO many stories of this thing being hit by debris and bleeding out onto the roadway to ruin someone's day. I've been using "gutter-guard" material in the front of all my cars for years. Install it behind the grill, and zip-tie it in place. This may have never prevented a problem, but, it's not hard to do, it's hard to see it's been done, and it at least slightly decreases the chance of debris hitting the radiator. I've seen some people good at fabrication that have made their own out of metal...I'd consider that if I was able.

 

$30 part from ECS: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...d/17119894814/