Finally tracked down a rattle from the exhaust. The weld on the driver's side muffler and tailpipe has a hairline crack around the entire circumference of the tailpipe and rattles when idling. At first I thought something was loose in the muffler. Bought new and installed on car in October of 2007. I would think the lifetime warranty would cover this failure. Will find out soon.

 

Wouldn't it be easier to take it to a local muffler shop and have them weld it up for $20-40?

 

Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of a lifetime warranty? Not a cheap exhaust, shouldn't have broken so early on.

 

I'm sure it will be easier and quicker to have a local shop weld it up, but I want to see what kind of hoops I have to jump through to get this taken care of through the warranty or even if they will honor it. The point is they should take care of it.

 

When they send you a new part...you will still need to do this step...
Warrenty is on the parts...
Not the install ..that is up to the owner...
Guessing they will send you a new muffler...and it will be your $$ to install it.

 

I'm guessing the same. The cutback comes basically in two parts, the long central pipe with resonator and the twin muffler/tailpipe section. I installed it myself so it won't be a big deal to throw the mufflers on. With my luck there will be some catch.

 

Mine came in 3 parts, but I have an R50.
http://www.g-werke.com/products/mill...-cat-back.html

My front resonator developed a leak at one of the seams.
The place I got it from in 2007 (Stratmosphere) is no longer in business, and
I emailed MilltekSport in UK several times without a response, but they eventually
did refer me to Greg at www.g-werke.com, the main North American distributor,
and he was eventually able to get me the part. Milltek had to send it over to him first
from across the pond.

It's too cold for me to want to do exhaust component replacement at curbside, so I'm taking
it in to my MINI friendly shop to do it in about 2 weeks (my next weekday off).
If I had a lift and/or a garage, I'd do it myself. I put in on myself, but that was on a mild
late winter day, and I was 7 1/2 years younger then.

 

I installed the same exhaust on my R50 about a year ago. How did you catch the leak?

 

I had a Milltek header installed when I did a Midlands to 6-speed Getrag (+Quaife LSD)
conversion a few months ago after my Midlands failed (differential bearings).
The shop noticed the leak at the front end of the resonator, and put in a spot weld
and some muffler cement, but recently, I could feel a small leak again by reaching
underneath next to the area with my hand.
You can hear it just a little if you get close. Not enough to be terribly annoying (yet),
but I'm sure it will only get worse, and anyway will need to be fixed before next annual
inspection due in a few months.

 

Good to know. I'll have to keep an eye on it as it ages.

On a side note, how do you like the Milltek header on your R50? I've thought about getting one whenever the stock header gives out.

 

I like it. I can definitely feel a bit more power from 5000 to redline than before.
It's only slightly louder than the stock manifold at idle and cruising, and a bit more
at WOT with higher rpms. Combined with the Milltek catback, it give a nice civilized
slightly deeper and louder note that progresses to a nice not-to-loud throaty growl
as you stomp on it and get the revs up.

 

Good to know - I'll probably go for it when the time comes...

Did your original header fail at one of the joints, or did you just decide to upgrade?

 

I just decided to upgrade. The original was 11 years old but still good and is sitting
in my basement just in case. BTW, the Milltek header only has a 2 year/80,000 km warranty,
unlike the limited lifetime warranty of the catback systems, but it's said to have a very
durable cat as aftermarket cats go. Should last for the long haul on an R50 engine.

I had some "while I'm at it" moments when I decided to put the Quaife in the 6-speed,
replace the oem header, put in a Powerflex transmission mount, and replace the water pump
and nearby hoses (also still working but old) when my Midlands went south.
Also had the transmission side crank seal done while things were apart, and replaced the
worse looking of the two oxygen sensors.

 

How long did it take from your warranty claim to getting your part? Warranty doesn't mean much if they try to ignore you and stall. I'll probably just get Midas or somebody to redo the weld if it going to be weeks to months.

 

It took about 2 1/2 months.

That's also about how long it took me to get the original system
back in 2007, as no-one was keeping it in stock for the R50.

I emailed Milltek 3 times starting 9/4/14.
I got a response from Griffin Motorwerke on 9/23/14,
a day after my third email to Milltek on 9/22/14.
Griffin had trouble getting a response from Milltek about
warranty status, but went ahead and ordered the part
anyway and sent it to me, arriving 11/18/14 with an invoice
for the shipping charge of $10.

Hope yours goes more quickly.

 

Thanks.

 

Good news, Milltek honored their warranty and sent me a replacement set of mufflers. Just got done installing and no more rattling.

 

Good to hear that (or should I say not hear that).
Just had mine front silencer pipe swapped in a week ago and all is well again.