I have an 09 JCW with sports suspension and if i look along the hood area either side of the car wheel wells and back towards the windscreen i notice small dents and am interested if anyone else has experienced this?
As it is on both sides I am thinking it may be attributed to hitting a pot hole with my flat tires plus sports suspension,can anybody out there tell me if they are experiencing similar types of dents?
Also the car is now out of warranty and my scoop has melted....I have spoken to both my service people and head office and they say they cannot help me...i also completed a survey they sent and gave them minimal marks......why cant all of us on these forums who have gone through the melted scoop problem collectively submit a letter telling these people this problem should be addressed at there cost!

 

Are the dents under or on top of fender, picture would be best. Sport Suspension shouldn't be an issue since you have full suspension travel unless you have lowered it. As for the hood scoop join the club, everyone will eventually get a warped hood scoop by the heat coming off the cat and turbo unless you buy an aftermarket hood scoop shield to prevent future warping. I'm having my MCS repainted with a higher quality paint and clear coat along with a new hood scoop, that heat shield will stop future warping!

 

Understand your frustration. This doesn't really address that, but addresses the previous comment.

One sure way to eliminate the hood scoop melting is to remove (my personal preference) or drill out the openings in the factory scoop grill. The scoop doesn't even really get warm anymore after the car is parked (that's the worst time for it). The real culprit here is heat coming off the turbo when the car is parked. I have a turbo heat shield installed (the NM one) and while it looks nice, the real solution to the problem is allowing air flow so the heat can get out. One of the hot side turbo wraps might work (I don't have any experience), but I think the NM heat shield is mostly good looking and doesn't do that much.

Regarding MINI's defective design - I agree, but this problem has been around for a long time. I don't know if people have had much success out of warranty. Probably some others can weigh-in.

 

I guess the carbon fiber scoop would be a solution, if they didn't cost so much.

 

I've got a brand new chili red scoop sitting in the garage. MINI was kind enough to replace my original scoop at 24K miles under warranty. I was kind enough to buy a JCW carbon scoop to solve the problem...lol

And no, MINI would not split the difference between the new scoop in primer, having it painted, and then having the 3M clear bra installed, and just letting me get the carbon scoop...

Anyway, I've got a Chili red scoop with clear bra...

 

I did open a thread regds scoop recently so that has been addressed...I now have the heat shield in place and held back on the scoop hoping mini would come through (they didn't) so now have an $86 primed one in the spray shop.My problem with the dealer is they never pointed this problem out to me during warranty so I could rectify the scoop warping with purchasing a heat deflector until after the fact.
My main topic in this thread is the small dents on the top back from the front lights and along the wheel arch to the back....maybe 3 small dents on one side and 2 on the other side and my question is has anybody else had this problem.When I first saw them it was in sunlight at a certain angle so taking a picture may not depict them but maybe worth a try but my main thought is where did they come from and regds lowering the suspension ....no this has not been done.

 

I just replaced it with a JCW carbon fiber scoop and drilled more holes in the grill also. I thought about using my heat gun to try to fix the old scoop, but never did try to see if it works. I may just do it and post pics if it works.
The scoop on my 08 R56 has a screw under the hood (Bonnet) that has to be removed before you snap it out. You must remove the insulation blanket that is attatched with the plastic clips to access the screw.
The grill is screwed to the backside of the scoop if you choose to remove it or re-install it.

 

I have read elsewhere on this board that there is a "service campaign" to update/replace the heat shield on the turbo models to alleviate that problem. If the car comes in for other service, they are supposed to replace the shield if it hasn't already been done. Probably no help for people who have done it on their own, though.

Do you still have all the inner fender linings in place? If you have removed them, the dents could be from stones thrown around by the tires. Grippy soft tires are the worst for that, BTW.

Do the dents push up or down? Good descriptions, or pics, could help us understand what you are trying to describe about the dents.

 

good question all the dents are small and can be taken out and they push in which tells me it is coming externally rather than internally.......thought I would post the question to see if anybody else has had this problem but it seems I am the only one so maybe I have to look at branches or cones etc although I never see anything around the car to attribute to this problem .....will get them removed and go from there.

 

"Slave to Felinis" I am also a slave as I frequent a restaurant by the same name "Felinis" in Newtown Sq.

 

Interesting. My mom would have, at one point been a "Slave to Fellini", because she liked films by the Italian filmmaker.

Me? I'm the thumb-monkey operating the can-opener to a couple of cute little fuzzy monsters. CATS!!

 

I sent mini corporate an Email today asking them why they had not replied to a negative survey I had filled in.
It was regards my flawed designed scoop that melted due to turbo heat,I then called a rep back and she looked in my file from previous discussions on this subject and told me my year and car were due for a recall to have a heat deflector fitted.I got straight onto my dealer and am set to have an OEM deflector fitted on 6 Nov.
The Email to corp is asking them to pay for the new primed scoop I purchased as well as the paint job,will update on there reply as I am attempting to wear them down?
On another note i was considering purchasing an air induction filter setup but after seeing this video it seems a waste of time and space?

 

That video should be mandatory viewing for anyone contemplating a CAI.

 

was the heat reflector they install under the hood of the newer cars ever and actual, official recall? I don't think it was. Maybe getting in touch with MINI directly and getting something done worked, but I don't think it was a fully official recall.

 

Sorry, but I'm calling bs on that video. You can infer nothing from testing in a shop.

 

After talking to head office customer service yesterday and telling them what I thought of there product,the rep looked up my vin number and said there is a recall for the heat absorber for my car so as far as I am concerned this is official for all R56 models out there although it still does not address warped scoops that everyone has paid out for and the Email I sent to them asks for reimbursement for this part plus cost of spraying.

 

Why not the numbers came back from the trials as "proof in the pudding" how else are you going to test it...someone strapped to the hood with the test gear around his neck foot down on a motor way!
I feel the test was just fine,how would you prove it is incorrect?

 

That video isn't the same as a hood scoop CAI (AEM, DDM) and the stock intake for our MCS. I have something interesting to share, today I picked up my MCS that has been completely repainted, new metallic paint and new clear coat that is a little thicker than factory paint! Anyhow back to my story, I told Caliber Collision NOT to install that black plastic piece inside the hood scoop because that would almost completely block my AEM CAI induction mounted under the hood itself.

Did they listen to my request, hell no! So I had planned on this weekend to remove the black plastic grill, until I realized something wasn't quit right. To make a long store short I DO NOT plan on removing the black plastic grill that goes inside the hood scoop, I bet you're wondering why. I have notice while driving all today running errands that my MCS feels faster and has more acceleration that I can only describe as having much more torque, it's snappier when on and off the gas pedal!

My GF not knowing anything about cars noticed it about the same time I did as we looked at each other. She asked me if I also have some performance mods installed other than just completely repainting my car, I said other than Caliber Collision installed that black plastic grill, no! The only thing that makes any sense is adding a bit more restriction gave back torque, the reviews of AEM's CAI point to less torque in exchange for more mid to high-end hp. With the AEM CAI installed properly my torque curve dropped around 3400 rpms, while with the added restriction (stock CAI) my torque drops off towards 5400 rpms.

 

No

 

My GF not knowing anything about cars noticed it about the same time I did as we looked at each other. She asked me if I also have some performance mods installed other than just completely repainting my car, I said other than Caliber Collision installed that black plastic grill, no! The only thing that makes any sense is adding a bit more restriction gave back torque, the reviews of AEM's CAI point to less torque in exchange for more mid to high-end hp. With the AEM CAI installed properly my torque curve dropped around 3400 rpms, while with the added restriction (stock CAI) my torque drops off towards 5400 rpms.[/QUOTE]

Interesting findings,let me see if I have got this?
you are stating because of restrictions through your installed CAI you get further torque now i.e from 3400 where it should drop off but now drops off at 5400....that is some improvement!
One point you can amplify on is what is being restricted and how?

 

Here is one for you guys out there:-
One of my rear wheels on my RAV 4 is worn to the point the service dept says both rear tires need replacing.The tire has done 15k with one wheel change and now the service dept says they have to do a wheel alignment which is probably the next step although there is no wheel wobble or wander left or right? I feel even if the alignment is out slightly I should get a lot more mileage than the 15000 miles on this rear tire,what say you??

 

I thought I would PM you instead of hijacking that thread, the AEM CAI uses the AEM hood scoop along with the stock intake pipe, so there's ecentually two cold air intakes. The AEM hood mounted ram scoop is blocked off (about 65%) completely be that plastic grill that's mounted inside the hood scoop to keep debris out of the engine bay.

It now blocks incoming air which causes more restriction, this increase in restriction makes perfect sense after reading the reviews of people that own these AEM CAI. They say in the reviews that you do lose some torque in exchange for more hp in the mid to high rpm range. I'm considering leaving the AEM installed because I'm still getting slightly more air than I would with the stock intake system.

I'm sure that the larger diameter AEM intake pipe, air box and that huge filter are doing better than if I switched back to stock. If that video shows anything it's that sometimes mods take away performance. I wish they had been measuring torque along side with those hp numbers.

 

HP is a calculation of torque and rpm. If you have a hp graph you can back calculate torque from it at any given rpm.

HP=Torque*rpm/5252

Torque=HP/rpm*5252

 

I reinstalled my stock intake, Wow! It's soo much faster now, remember when I last had the stock intake installed was before the carbon cleaning. In Sport Mode the throttle is much more sensitive than ever before! AEM CAI is going to have to find another home! I still don't understand why I lose so much power when using the AEM CAI...? All I know is it accelerates faster without it.