originally placed in the coupe forum.
anyone installed one? no instructions on the m7 site so don't know what's involved . do you take off the factory shield ( looks like a bear to get off or on the bottom front bolt. just as important--how well does it work to lower the under bonnet temps ?

 

I was looking at this too!
Also to add to that, with heatshields, it might be very effective in de-heating the rest of the engine, but will it concentrate heat under the turbo area and "heatsoak" the turbo, or damage it ????

++1

 

interesting...

 

You dont heat soak turbos, you heat soak intercoolers. Hec, turbos glow cherry hot under a hard load.

 

I've got one on order from M7 and should have it this coming week. Will let you know after it goes on.

 

Excellent! Jeep us posted.

--
while the turbo doesn't really "heatsoak",, can it perform with decreasing efficiency if the heat is forced to be localized rather than dissappate?? I mean, I really am interested in lowering underhoid temps, thus buying the heat shield, but dont want to decrease efficiencies elsewhere.. If u know what I mean jellybean

 

 

LOL

 

*KEEP* .... Whoops my bad lol

 

have any pictures of the heat shield? How did the install go? I live in the southwest where it gets HOT and am trying to find a way to keep my engine cooler. Did the heat shield work?

 

You should wrap the turbo and install the turbo shield. it will force the heat to go out toward the bottom of the car away from everything and there it will have constant airflow to help it keep cooler.

 

Install instructions here: http://www.m7tuning.com/tech.html
Heat shield specifically, here: http://www.m7tuning.com/techinfo/ins...heatshield.pdf

Instructions have pics.

 

Does this M7 heat shield actually work? I've seen both a wrap for the turbo and the heat shield and do not know which would do the best job?

Florida heat is something else!

 

I too have the M7 on order. check out their website, they have a short video on the rationale behind it and ease of installation

Put it this way... of all the gifts given to me at birth 'mechanical' is not one of them. I plan on doing install.

On the video they make a pretty good case, at least to me, why to not do a wrap

 

Do both double the protection double the fun.

 

My Dad (he's 86 years old) installed it on his 09 S and he said the bonnet seems to be cooler to the touch. The first day he had it on there was a smell from the material used to control heat but was gone completely by day 3. All in all he is happy with it.

 

Your dad must be neat gent!

 

just had the item installed yesterday. Bonnet feels less hot than usual and i've noticed that the air intake temp on my scanguage is almost 10 degree celsius lower than usual. Does anyone have the same experience?

it works i think.

 

I've got cold feet with mine.

Read on here about someone who thought the shield caused their valvecover to warp (the cover is made of something non-metal). looked at the shield and saw how it has openings that let the heat dissipate onto the valvecover. The kicker for me was when i soon developed a gasket leak near the shield.

After the work to replace the gasket I've kept the shield off. In fact, if anyone wants it, make an offer.

 

Mine made a night and day difference in the temp of the plastic hood scoop. No issues with valve covers or any other part of the motor so far.

 

Valve cover melted because the downpipe came loose

 

Hi, folks.

Well, I'm on my FOURTH chrome hood scoop and the dealer would no longer replace them under warranty. Yep...the last two had the MINImproved extra insulation underneath but it did nothing.

I went hunting and read all about heat shields and bought an M7 one with the aerogel blanket. Thankfully the instructions were nearly idiot-proof and I was able to install it. It looks nice! Fingers crossed that all goes well from here. I wasn't nuts (in addition to warping hood scoops) that people and cats (I have many) could get burned touching the car's hood after it'd been driven. *sigh* Why is MINI so damned stubborn about admitting design flaws?

Anyway, I'll post periodically to let you know how it goes. Fingers crossed that this solves the problem. I do like the OEM look to the part, though.

 

bettehead,

I just had the scoop heat shield installed 1/17/13 under warranty. Based on your experience looks like I may also get the turbo shield (M7 or NM).

 

^ sorry to hear that LilBee. I do wish I'd just put the darned m7 shield on to begin with. I really wish MINI would acknowledge its engineering mistakes and just say: do these things right after you get the car and most of the quirks will be fixed. *sigh* I've had the manifold replaced (freezes up with ice in cold temps and causing low power and CEL), water pump replaced (that was under recall; the only one MINI issued for my car), the "ping" sensor replaced because it kept causing a CEL, and I replaced part of my light up vanity mirror with a used one from eBay. Oh...and the Craven after market oil dipstick. Quite a list for a four year old car.

So far, I haven't had the m7 shield on for too long, but I can tell you that it's a phenomenal difference just to the touch. I can touch the car's hood/bonnet after driving it without getting nearly burned. I haven't experienced the smell some folks have due to the "newness" of the aerogel blanket. No problems so far and it's super easy to install and looks like it's a manufacturer part. In my opinion, MINI should just do this as part of the car's construction from now on.

 

I've been using the M7 Aerogel heat shield for about 18 mo. with good results as far as keeping the hood cool.
There MAY BE PROBLEMS with this type heat shield though. Some folks think that the heat trapped beneath the shield will cause or accelerate the failure of the (poorly designed) rubber o-ring seal on the turbo oil inlet banjo fitting. My fitting did fail recently and the turbo oil feed line was replaced with a better designed unit (no rubber o-ring) from Detroit Tuned. Now, with no o-ring to fail, I'm keeping the M7 heatshield. Another problem being reported is warping of the plastic valve cover due to heat being concentrated at the edge of the heat shield. I haven't experienced this yet, even in hot South Carolina, but the potential is there. YMMV