I bought a used MINI 02 S jcw abouth a month ago. Recently I took it on trip and when you are in the highway it feels like there is a leek in the firewall and it seems like your foot is going to burn it gets so hot even if you open the vent?? any help would be appreciated thanks in advance.

 

Have you compared it to another mini? I'm thinking you might be missing a heat shield?

Do you have a MC or MCS?

 

Just covering all the bases here, but what is your aircon system set at? Even when it's off it can spew heat through the last vents you had opened, like the lower ones.

Other than that, a missing heat sheild sounds like a probable cause.

 

could be the heater core too, check for wet spots.

 

its an S

I have it set low the coldest setting, I never put on tthe lower vents
I have to turn the ac on to keep my feet from burning! I tried looking around in it to see I see anything missing but it looks all right?!? I just dont know what it looks like?? my manager has an 05 does it look the same down there maybe I can compare? thanks

 

ok so I compared it to another car today it all looks the same, what does the heat shield look like?? do I look in the engine or under the dash? and there is no wet spots? any pictures I can take a look at thanks

 

If it's getting THAT hot, it sounds like you're missing a heat shield near your catalytic converter. Look under the vehicle at your exhaust near the manifold. You're looking for something the size of a coffee can. Look at the surrounding body area (ie: where your feet would be) and make sure there is a barrier between the exhaust and the body metal itself.