My car has been sitting at my insurance company's body shop lot for about 2 months now. They had to replace the hood so they removed it from the vehicle and apparently left it like this exposed to rain and sun. I noticed they had done this because the foam filter that used to be red is now an orange sorta yellow color from getting too much sun exposure.

Questions:
1)Will this kill my filter?
I touched it and it was still pretty well oiled, wasn't cracking or crumbling. But if so can I just get the replacement cone from alta or something similar? price, etc.?

2)The only other mod I have under the hood are my light relays, so is there anything OEM I should have a look at that might have been damaged? hoses, wires?

In case you're wondering the reason why I did'nt notice this earlier it's because I took the car to the shop about 2 weeks before christmas vacation and went home for the holidays. I come back and the car's not ready so I ask to look at it and my jaw basically hit the floor... It was just how I had left it except worse

Any feedback is appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

It certainly is not doing the engine compartment any good! All your rubber seals and plastic parts are being exposed to UV damage. It is a catch 22 as a crappy plastic tarp might do even more damage to the finish. Go get a case of beer and take it to the shop. Explain to them nicely that you are a car fanatic and are concerned about your cars engine being exposed.

Oh.....Great color!!!!!!

 

two months is not enough to hurt anything, BUT i would be raising hell and getting my car out of there ASAP!
I cant believe a "professional" company would leave the engine bay exposed like that!

 

I'm so sick of so-called pros treating people's property like that! My old MC was left in the elements with no windshield for God knows how long. Terrible. When I saw it I realized why they kept stalling me when I wanted to see the repairs in progress.

Ken

 

Thats certainly no way to treat a MINI at all....Your filter is probably ok but I would request a new one since its already started to fade due to their lack of protection for your vehicle.

 

Thanks for the replys guys and I'm still going through the whole "raising hell" phase lol. It's supposed to be finished on friday so hopefully everything's okay. So tdm156 it is posible to order just the foam cone from alta? got any idea on price?

 

I bet if you contact Alta they can hook you up...not sure of the price but they are awesome people from what I hear. I used to live in Oregon just down the road from their new shop.
http://www.altaminiperformance.com/welcome/contact