I bought a 02 mini s about a year ago. Alternator went out on the way home. Put a new alternator and supercharger in and then when it would get past 5500 rpm the lights and dash monitor computer thing would go black, loose power steering and battery light would go on, as soon as it would come back to idle everything would go back to normal. Blew the motor in a few miles after putti g the alternator and supercharger in. Just put a motor in from a mini i bought with a blown trans and the problem is still there, i forgot about it untill it happened again. Now its happening at about 4k rpm sometimes. Im thinking maybe the alternator stops charging at high rpm and freaks the car out, im going to put the alternator in from the motor i pulled and see if that fixes it. Im new to the mini but im pretty mechanically inclined, any input on what you guys think the issue could be would be appreciated.

 

For anyone wondering it was the alternator

 

It sounds to me like the rectifier crapped out and took the rest of the unit with it. I don't think the rectifier alone is replaceable on our units.

 

Actually I think it is replaceable but not worth it, as the price for just that part isn't much less than a replacement remanufactured alternator.

 

Did a little more searching just now - and it appears they're available for $30 or so. New alternator is ~3.3x that, so I would say it comes down to a time vs funds thing.

Plus an alternator rebuild isn't rocket science if someone was inclined; used to just refresh them on the older VWs instead of replace them.