I recently bought a 2009 Mini Cooper s clubman 3 months ago with 47,000 miles on then clock. And ever since I got the car I've been noticing an excessive amount of carbon dusting all over the trunk doors coming from the exhaust. At first I thought it was normal but I now I'm starting to think it's not. 2 days after a car wash the entire rear of the car has a layer of carbon dusting from the exhaust. Any thoughts?

 

It is most likely normal. And yes, it is annoying. My M3 and Z06 both suffered from it also. Get a California duster to keep it cleaner between washings.

 

The vacuum behind a Clubman is pretty strong. Road grime builds up quickly. But...

What do your tailpipes look like? Even new, they tend to look like they are running rich, so clean them (inside the pipe extension, too) and see how long it takes for them to be completely black.

Five year old car, could be any number of things, from 'nothing' to running extremely rich. What kind of driving do you do? In town? Mostly highway?

 

I have an '08 Clubman S with 36,000 miles and mine never does that. It may get a little carbon on the muffler tips, but not on the trunk doors.

 

I agree with the above. The rear of the car gets dirty very fast but I don't think it is carbon. The road dust and grime loves to fly up and stick to the back of the car.

 

carbon build up is a problem with with the turbo minis you really have to drive them hard every once in a while to clean them out also look in to techron or some other fuel system cleaner with premium fuel only to cut down on the carbon. when i first bought my r55 the back of my car would regularly covered in carbon but now it cut down to just my exhaust tips turning black.

 

Our 08 with 55,000 does not do that & never has. Your engine is putting out more stuff in its exhaust because it is not running right. Are you using oil, if your fuel mileage low?

Exhaust tips turning black is normal for any car, not the whole rear end.

 

The front and rear mud flaps should help to reduce the dirt on the back. But they tend to get more dirt becuse of the very flat design in the rear ( Barn doors). But the carbon / soot from the exhaust is burning more oil and maybe needs a tune up .

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Thanks

 

after what I consider a proper break in my exhaust is pretty darn clean, it was black all the way around tips for first 1500 miles or so, now there is barely any at all at 4000 . Just a small area on the bottom from water coming out .