Long story short, instead of prep'in for a trackday Saturday, I ended up with this headache. After a year of ownership of the AEM intake, which to this day, I still believe is the best intake out there for the N14, I have come to realize turbo heatshields are just for show and don't actually benefit your turbo.

Case in point below. Trapped heat melted my cover and caused a leak and I ended up with P2B64 code which I thought was an intake mani leak, but when I pulled up to my friend's shop, I saw smoke coming from under the heatshield thinking maybe, finally, my turbo oil feed line decided to leak. NOPE! A f@ckin hole melted through and spit oil all over the turbo and could have caught fire.

I've already filed my complaint to AEM and they better cover this ****, because if they try to deflect the blame, they're in for a world of flaming...

For anyone with AEM intake system, please, I warn you, take that crap off, because you don't want this to be a $300+ mess that I had to go through.

 

Someone else had this problem with their heat shield, and the company refused responsibility.

BTW that's some hole...

 

AEM are the crappest company I have ever dealt with. They sell you a kit which is all in bits, expect you to build as per instructions with some important information missing and even stamp parts incorrect so that when you assemble as per their instructions you have a problem.

I ended up with a broken hood scoop due to not mentioning about a hidden retainer and also a top plate back to front because it was stamped on wrong side. Too late when you attach the foam to it. AEM did not want to know or highlight issues to prospective purchasers or update their instructions. Would never buy from again.

 

Wow you're really lucky that didn't catch fire. If you would have been hard on it at the track that likely would have turned into an engine fire pretty quickly. Good thing you caught it

 

Does this apply to NM Titanium heat shields?

 

My buddy has the NM heat shield and says its the best of the heatshields but said he was taking it off after I told him what happened. I wouldn't want to deal with this again and no way am I going to sell it in the marketplace. That crap is going in the trash where it belongs.

Again I love the intake but the Heatshield is not safe.

v10 was right though I was really close in catching a fire. It was cm away from electrical cord under that melted cover.

 

Holy crap!

I had the NM shield and it kept backing screws out and rattling. Gave up on it. Found a better solution...

Having my ported header and turbo ceramic coated along with down pipe. That should take care of any and all heat shields.

 

Makes me wonder if my NM shield is trapping too much heat. About 3 months after I installed it my turbo lines started leaking. Could very well be coincidence, but I think I'm going to remove it anyway as my hood seems just as hot as before...

 

Ouch, that's bad! Thanks for the heads up, I have AEM intake on the way...

 

I've had a WMW Turbo wrap on mine since the last hood scoop melted in 2008. Keeps the heat in the turbo. No more issues with melting or warping. It works so well, I debated if I should wrap the down pipe and exhaust as well.

 

Yeah, hood was always hot as well. This was not caused by me tracking either, I've only tracked twice in the past 9-12 months because of my busy schedule, so this is definitely not because of my hobby.
Yes, I have an AEM for a friend that I'll help install this weekend, so he knows what happened to my cover already so I've told him not to run the heatshield either. Another friend just called me and said he'd take his heatshield off.

I don't want to see this ever happen to anyone else so just wanted to let you all know. I was the guinea pig


I'll keep this in mind, but now I may end up ordering a DuelL AG vented hood for the **** of it now.

 

This happened to someone else here, different manufacturer but same kind of heat shield. Happened during a track day. Melted the valve cover and the dealer would not cover the repair (rightly so).

 

Yeah, totally not dealer's fault. I do think the fault falls on the company that designs the headshield. We run these things thinking they're beneficial for our cars and if it falls this short, it just doesn't belong on our MINIs.

 

Actually the wire isn't anything to be concerned about. Its the hot turbo that can ignite the oil. For example the S2000s have issues where the oil filter comes loose and hot oil spits onto an even hotter exhaust manifold and there have been a number of engine fires reported because of it.

Sent from my Nexus 10 using NAMotoring

 

Yeah, I'm well aware

The interesting part is seeing the signs of hotspots on the heatshield shown black on the opposite side of it, so had I pushed the vehicle any harder than I was, it really could have been worse.

 

remove the aem heat shield. see one spot that not black. so i can def say that the heat trap causing it. No big deal as it not warp or anything..just discoloration.

 

Unless I am missing something, what is the benefit of having the heat shield?


They look great but It seems to me they restrict air flow around the turbo and traps the heat after seeing your photos.


Glad it didn't do more damage to your Mini....

 

I'm not too worried about the hood scoop since I'm running an M7 scoop. I am worried about the possibility of warping the intake ducting on the AEM. How do you think it would work if I went with the WMW Turbo wrap, and install the AEM heat shield just for esthetic reasons? Hate to waste that nice looking heat shield.

 

DEI heat tape under the AEM intake duct would be my advice.

That issue the OP has is the NUMBER 1 reason I fear turbo heat shields. That heat has to go somewhere.. and its focused right back against a plastic cam cover..

I remember that thread where another user had an issue with an M7 shield. However that was caused in part by removing the factory shielding..

 

Wow....I removed my NM heat shield after running it for a few weeks.....I thought to myself "it's such a stupid design" keeping all the heat around the turbo.

I've been running a a turbo blanket(lagging) and that's the best thing to do. Used in the diesel industry for a reason.

And the dude with the M7 heat shield actually removed the factory shield, and never reinstalled it with the M7. Not to say it wouldn't have happened anyway....he just accelerated the issue.

 

Oh wow...although this is unfortunate, I'm glad nothing catastrophic happened and you're okay. I have the M7 heat shield and I think I'll be taking a portion out of my Sunday morning to check things out. Rather deal with several warped hood scoops than an engine fire.

 

Assume that it affects Gen1 and 2?

 

No turbo on Gen1.

 

Why put a heat shield in the first place? Why not just get CF hood scoop if you don't want it to melt. So simple.

 

1 installing that heat shield will trap the heat there and do a lot a damage as you have shown 2 without that heat shield the plastic ducting for your fantastic CAI will melt. 1+2=FAIL, so much for your best designed CAI/ram air intake what ever you want to call it.