I have an M7 Heatshield, and recently had the misfortune of overheating. Check the Link Here: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...sh-grille.html But, my good friend who is a tech at MINI couldn't tell if my valve cover was effected by the overheating or by the heatshield. The lip of the valve cover, nearest the turbo was beginning to curl up and melt. From the looks of it, it could have easily been caused by the heatshield. I'm not saying it was, but I would strongly suggest if you have one and have been running one for a while to take it off and check if you are getting any deformation of the valve cover.

Just to state one more time, I'm not saying it is due to the heatshield...but it seems very possible. I love M7 stuff, and will continue to buy there stuff. I just want everyone to be informed.

 

How long did you have the shield installed for? I just installed mine.

 

I probably have had it on for about 8 months.

 

well that sucks buddy. i was running a wmw turbo wrap on my 07 mcs and didnt have any problems. i was thinking about putting on the m7 shield because it looks like alot easier install. not that the wmw wrap was too hard.fill us in when you can about the cause if you can .

 

sooooooooooooooo- did you contact m7? why is this post in interior/ exterior rather than drivetrain ?

 

No I didn't contact M7, because it's not that I am disappointed in the product, just Thought I would share and see if anybody else that has been running it for a good amount of time has any problems. If not then I can safely assume that it was from the overheat and then I have no problem throwing the shield back on. As for this not being in the Drivetrain section, it had been a really freakin long day and my brain had overload due to my car having problems so I probably wasn't thinking totally straight.

 

hope things improve for you--i have a heat shield from m7 on mine but it has only been on for a few hundred miles and i am still in the break in period, so have not run it hard enough to tell. were you tracking the mini when the overheating occured ?

 

Nope. Ice/Slush buildup on my M7 mesh grills, caused no airflow hence the overheating. I was actually on my way to AMVIV with our local club.

 

picture request!

 

so the m7 hs didnt cause the overheating right

 

No the HS is not what caused the overheating. I will try and get a picture of the valve cover tomorrow when I go back to the shop again.

 

Here are the pics of it. As you can see it has curled up really bad. As for the rest of the valve cover it had a small amount of melt on the inside, but nothing like this. So once again, anybody with the heatshield that has had it on for a while (4-12months) will you please go out and check your valve cover just to see if this is a problem.

 

Wow, that is really hot... hopefully it is due to your overheating problem, but if it got hot enough to do that, you'd think you were running hot for a long time... not just a short bout of overheating, unless it was significant.

 

was this the plain metal heat shield, or with the aerogel insert ?

 

With the aerogel insert. I pulled over right after my check engine light came on. The water temp "warning" light didn't come on until I was pulled over and stopped. By then it was too late. Just goes to show that us R56ers really need a water temp gauge, because depending on the dummy light to come on......doesn't work. My MINI tech said that usually if the valve cover starts to melt its spots in the middle not right on the side like that. But yes it did get hot, hot enough to warp the head. Warranty is covering it, but the heads are on backorder.....of course.