As a soon-to-be owner, I appreciate the heads-up, and will be sure to tell my 5 year old son to keep away from the exhaust tips.
Otherwise, planning to enjoy the car and all of its wonderful flaws.

 

I don't understand why people feel the need to take it to the extreme to somehow mock and belittle the simple point that is being made - noone seems to be saying this is catastrophic, in need of a recall, etc, the point is that the design could be better executed then it is.

You can't reasonably compare it to a stove which specifically exists and is used to be hot, that is just silly; the way the hatch is designed to be used places someone right in front of the protruding exhaust pipes and there is a variety of ways that the pipes/car could be designed to reduce the risk of coming into contact with the hot metal. Even the OEM aerokit bumper and the JCW pretty much make that a non-issue, so clearly it could have been done with more forethought and with hope will be handled more logically in the future. That is what I understand as the point trying to be made, and its valid, not worthy of reducing it to stupid extremes to ridicule.

And, for the record from that excerpt it does not appear that the manual addresses accessing the hatch, it seems directed to be wary of where you park so that the system does not come in contact with flammable items under/near the car. Even if the manual did address the issue specifically, the point that the way the hatch access functions along with the design of the exhaust makes getting burned all too easy is true, and that something simple could alleviate that issue.

 

Hope the kids are smart enough to take the old man's advice

 

findude, I'm sorry your son's leg was burned, and I hope he heals up quick. Honestly, the pain may be temporary, but it sure stinks while you feel it.

Is it a dangerous design? Well, arguments can be made either way, but I'd have to agree that yes, it is dangerous. However, that being said, cars are dangerous all around. When I've banged my head climbing in the door too quick, I never hoped for a redesign of the roof (NERF, anyone?), I just thought I'd better be more careful in the future. (And I got a nasty knot on my head for a couple days from it, too). There are hundreds of ways we can hurt ourselves with vehicles, and many of them can't be designed out - slamming fingers in the doors, bonnet, or boot, banging your forehead against a half-closed sun visor, touching pretty much anything metal underneath the hood before it's totally cooled off, and on and on.

Some steps can be taken to protect consumers, but somewhere the responsibility has to lie with us. I have to be responsible enough not to close my fingers in the door, just like I should be responsible enough to try and avoid burning myself on my exhaust tips.

Cars are powered by explosive forces, a byproduct of which is heat. This heat has to be dissipated somewhere, and it's not too bad to have it come out in a place that avoids melting the rear bumper into a puddle or catching it on fire, plus it keeps residual gases from creeping into the cabin while I'm sitting at a stop light.

I have to realize it may hurt me, and since its my car and I know its dangers, than it's also my responsibility to warn others of what may hurt them, too. No, I don't always warn people not to shut their fingers in the door or the like, because they encounter those dangers elsewhere, but if someone's getting something out of my trunk, I have been known to mention "Watch out for the exhaust." I haven't said it in a while, but the first year or two I had the car, I said it a couple times.

We don't live in a world of rounded edges, NERF and Bubble Wrap, there are things that may hurt us if we're not careful. A blister burn on my leg is enough to remind me that I made a mistake, but not enough to write a company about an inherent design flaw. Others may disagree, including the originator of this post, but that's our right. How we choose to handle it from there is up to us.

Me, I'm more of a "Dang! That really hurt! I'd better not do that again!" kind of guy.

 

Ditto. I've spent a lot of time working on MINIs yet I've managed to not get burned by the exhaust. We'Ve loaded and unloaded the car many times w/o getting burned by the stock pipes... I've doNE short-shift kit installs on cars parked for less than an hour. Lemme tell you that cat stay HOT for awhile... and I'm still unscarred from the experience.

I'm sorry, but if someone gets burned on the exhaust, they're not paying attention and it is in no way the car's fault. The only people who would suggest otherwise are liability suit lawyers...

 

I burned the inside of my calf when I was a kid. The old VW beetles had these chromed exhausts that stuck out pretty far; I was reaching up to clean the back window and pressed the inside of my calf against one. Left a pretty good burn and taught me to look for hot parts before getting too close to a car. I have never burned myself on the MINI, but that's because of the lesson I learnt as a kid.

- mike

 

Hmm, I didn't have to watch my grandpa work around the metal fan. My first cars HAD metal fans. Then cars went to plastic. Why? Not for safety but for weight. Then shrouds came. Good idea. Now take a look at your engine bay. Can you even see the fan if you have to fix it. Oh yeah, they did real great making it easy to work on these cars ... so the whiners can complain about the high cost of repairs

As our esteemed OM has said, how can you possibly compare fingers getting chopped of with a first degree burn?

I sympathize that a child is hurt (who wouldn't?). I won't for an adult who should read the manual an be warned. In fact, I can't imagine anyone not knowing enuff to not touch exhaust pipes that are hot. It is beyond me.

As to the boot access thing. I guess MINI made a decision to place the exhaust in the middle rather than the corners. Perhaps ask them?

 

I've burned myself on stoves, light bulbs, motorcycle exhausts, fighting fires and recently on my MINI Cooper S exhaust.
I've learned from each experience but did not consider it a design flaw. Just told myself to watch out next time. The MCS exhaust looks too good to change it. :-)

 

this thread is so rediculous. i recently hurt my fingers by trying to wave out of the sunroof at someone. while it was closed. design flaw or not being aware of my surroundings?

 

Anyone else notice it made a perfect letter 'C'?

For Cooper, of course!

Seriously though, sorry to hear about the burn - they're no fun, that's for sure!

 

My 7-year-old daughter burnt her knee on my Wife's MCS last week on the same day we took delivery of it!

We didn't freak-out or complain or call up MiniUSA to request a fix, etc. We put some burn cream on it and now our daughter has ingrained in her brain the need to give tailpipes a proper respectful distance. That's all.

We learn by doing.

 

It must hurt a lot!!

 

Nope. Shrouds were added to make the fan pull air through the radiator more efficiently. On our old Volvos, the fan (shrouded) is painted bright yellow. I imagine the yellow paint was done for safety to make it easier to see and thus avoid (after all, it is a Volvo).

 

Great, just what we need another Lawyer on the forum.

Boo

 

That's the thing that scares me.. if layers get a hold of this new potential to cash in.

 

WOW it took me almost an hour to read this whole thing.

I hope we can all agree that MINI's are fun, but are also deserving of our respect as they can hurt us in many ways.

 

Lock this thread. This issue has been beaten to death.

Lesson learned. Nothing to see here, people... Move along... Move along...

 

I hurt my wrist by shifting so much, and my face hurts from smiling too much while I'm having fun. We should have a class action lawsuit aginst Mini for selling too much joy!

 

Should we start talking about sex related injuries?

 

F***ING A, man! Thats just awesome... This thread makes me laugh, yet I feel sorry for the burn victims. Long live the center-pipes!!!

 

Very good 1st post.

"We learn by doing", not by being told what to do or not to do. Gee whiz people.

 

Sometimes when I get out of my other car, I bang my nutz on the seat bolsters. Man that hurts. The price you pay for sport seats!

 

 

 

Thoughts?

This is the third time he did it, and you are actually posting this?

You are pulling our leg, right?


regards,
Red