I've got a Stage 1 JCW kit on my R56. Today, as I was puttering around under the hood, I happened to notice that the top half of the airbox was not completely secured in the back. There are three tabs that hold the airbox together on the firewall side. The one on the driver's side was not fitted in place correctly, with the tab portion resting on top of the slot instead on inside it. As a result, there was about a quarter inch gap where the top and bottom halves of the airbox meet. I took the airbox apart and found a couple of dead flies and a little bit of grit in the bottom in the back corner. The air filter looked clean. I wiped out the air box and reassembled it correctly.


I had the car back to the dealer where I bought it (which is a road trip away from where I live) for scheduled warranty service back in April. My guess is that when they inspected/replaced the air filter, they did a sloppy job reassembling the airbox.


When I discovered the problem today, I was concerned that unfiltered air (with grit, bugs, etc.) had been entering the turbo for the last four months--yikes! After I thought some more about the path of the airflow, I decided this was not likely because whether the air came through the snorkel as it's supposed to do, or through the gap the mechanic left, it still had to pass through the air filter before going to the turbo. Am I right not to be worried about my turbo?

 

No, you're right. Even if the air came through the opening in the airbox, it still would have to have gone through the filter (provided that attached correctly/no gaps) befoe entering the engine. The grit and flies more than likely were ingested from the front, through the snorkle and not that gap.

Beginning with my first car (back in the '80s) I've gotten in the habit of weekly (usually on the weekends) checks of everything under the hood. Making sure connecton are tight and such. I especially check everything after it has been to the dealer, mainly because it seems the techs are usually working on a couple (or more) cars at the same time depending on the issues. So, I just assume that they are in a hurry and can forget something. I've found the same issue as you on my wife's Chrysler 300M, airbox not fully seated. So far nothing on my MINI. Anyway, again you should be OK.

 

Thanks BMC Kid--and probably a good suggestion to periodically check things out under the hood, particularly after someone's worked on the car.

By the way, that's a very cool JCW you've got there. The red griffin on the A panel is a nice touch. Is there a story behind it?

 

Thanks paddyh. It is just a habit my uncle passed onto me and once you are familar with your vehicle, it takes only minutes to check when you do often enough.

Actually, BRG was my first choice but I got such a good deal on mine, I couldn't pass it up... but I really wanted BRG. Now that the WC50 came out, I like that green a little better and was thinking of painting my lower half that color. Since the WC50s came with Peper White roofs, I could leave the roof as it is. But, the PW has grown on me, so I'll likely just keep it like that.

That is actual a rampant Scottish lion, denoting my Scottish heritage.



The other side has a rampant Spanish lion denoting the other side of my family.



I actually have both sides researched and have the full family crest but that would be a little much, so I just simplified things and pulled out the lions from each. My buddy made them for me at his work. He did a really nice job. He even made some smaller one for my bikes!