Well, I had this car in Italy for 9 months and in the U.S. nearly a year without even a door ding. Today was not my or the bird's day.

I was in the outside lane of traffic, passing a truck when I spy a large black bird feasting on road kill. Obviously I can't switch lanes and I guess the bird decided he wasn't going to move either--despite looking clearly at me. Physics happened. There was a large bang and a cloud of feathers. When I pulled over, I find that the drivers side fog light has been punched out of the bumper. [IMG]images/smilies/mad.gif[/IMG]The lens survived due to the Auto Clear Guard application but the fog light mounts, the bulb and the connector were destroyed.

Does anyone have a spare left light and bulb they want to sell? The dealer would love to charge me 4 hours labor plus parts to fix this but I would rather do it myself.

Thanks for allowing the rant!

--MINI IT

MCS 05 CR/WH, ALTA 19%

 

dang, the clearbra is strong!

the front end's gone but my bra is scratchless!!

 

Ouch

I guess more roadkill because of roadkill

Probably a crow, dumb and nasty

 

I hate to say this but I would have it checked out further if you haven't already. Remove the bumper and see if the actuall panel the lamp is mounted to has been broken.

Unfortunately a few months ago a shovel (of the snow size and variety) fell from a truck and I managed to swerve enough for it to hit the drivers side fog lamp and of course my nice freshly (as of 3 weeks) new and painted aero bumper. Had I not swerved that thing would have torn into the radiator and other such parts making it worse.

I actually drove straight to the dealership and bought a new lamp and have them send a new aero bumper right to my body shop for painting. The nest week I went and picked up the bumper so I coudl do the repair myself.

Well then I discovered the issue. When the lamp was smashed out it not only broke the mounts of the lamp itself it broke the mounting position on the car.

Then it got worse as I find that the mounting position for the car is the entire radiator support bracket that runs the full length of the front of the car. It involved removing the entire front end including the radiator, hoses and such to get this new piece put in.
It also meant that my thoughts on $500 of damage and a quick fix were out the window and it cost over $1500 in damage and labor repairs.

Sorry if this is depressing but do make sure you check out behind the bumper to make sure and then call your insurance company as the work may exceed your deductable.

Good luck and keep us posted!

chris

 

Maybe that is why he wants 4 hours of labor. The SA mentioned that it would require removing the lower radiator bracket. I just didn't know it required draining the radiator, etc. I don't mind the labor myself as I can work on it in my garage but I guess it will be as involved as they claim. I hadn't pulled my Bentley's book yet to see how it all fits together under there.

Thanks! The light purchase I guess will be the least of it!

 

Yeah, it is involved and took them 4 hours to do mine.

I actually thought about doing it since I have installed the m7 AGS and dropped the front end but the thought of draining the radiator and removing all those hoses just get to the support bracket which holds the lamp freaked me out...

MINIUSA are you listening???- NEVER mount a fog lamp to a main support bracket that is plastic and can break so easily upon impact.... That thing is so flimsy hanging off the end that it can break when a shovel or even a bird hits it! Please make a seperate mount on the next go around.....

Anyway... Rickevans- I hope it all works out for you. Good luck!

chris

 

Thanks! I hate to break down and pay them $751 to do it but I am starting to think your choice was best.

 

Trust me I know how you feel.

What is the parts cost and what does your dealer charge for an hourly rate? just curious.

I think you are luckier than me of course. I had to replace the bumper (did that myself) and the inner wheel well skirt as well.

 

I'm in the same boat, while autocrossing I hit a cone straight in to the fog and broke that darn radiator mount/housing. I priced the part at $260 and didn't even want to think about the labor involved so I held off. I've been without fogs for about 2 months now. I haven't quite decided what I'm going to do yet. Maybe I can rig up a new piece of plastic and create new mounting holes. Either way, Mini really should change that design of beef up that plastic piece as it's awful flimsy.

 

If you need the foglight , PM me. My GF got hit about 2 months ago and she kept the passenger side foglight assembly,(incase something happend, she'd have a replacement) don't know if it will fit on the drivers side but just a thought. good luck with everything!

 

Unfortunately, the left and right side fog assemblies are different. I know from retrofitting factory fogs on my car.

 

This seems to be a fairly common occurance. I had had my MCS less than 3 months when some yahoo in a minivan ran over some road debris and tossed it in the air. When it came down, it hit my MCS just below the scoop and went under the car. It tore out the fog lamp, demolished the condenser and broke a radiator mounting clip. Including body work, it was over $3500 in damage.

 

I don't recall what the dealer charges for labor but there was 4 hours of labor in the $751 estimate (about 350 were the parts)