For you Mini owners who live in the south, this is Love-bug season. I was horrified to find that my radiator/aircondition condenser coils were about 50% plugged up with these mating suicidal wonders, after a weekend trip around Lake Okeechobee in Fla . This was not obvious from the outside of the car when I did my weekly wash. Unless you look real close it is easy to miss. To clean the coils you will have to remove the upper grille assembly. this is accomplished by removing the 4 plastic push plugs on the top of the grille assy. On the bottom chrome bar there are 2 latches ,one each side of this bar. When these are released this bar slides out . This exposes 4 latches on the bottom of this grille assy, unlatch these one at a time and you can remove the grille. I used a stiff brush to remove the critters. then washed with water. Failure to wash these could cause early failure of your coils due to the acids in their bodies which will attack metals and paint. Im sure that our northern friends also have similar seasonal problems with bugs.

 

Gotta be realy careful brushing the radiator - very easy to bend the fins.

I GENTLY vacuum mine with the shop vac and the soft brush attachment... then wash with a soft microfiber mitt (not my wool mitt) as needed...

 

Prevention.......not Rehabilitation.

Here's what I do to my vehicles - Get some mesh screen at the hardware store, some welding wire and a pair of wire snips and fab up a "pre" screen in front of the radiator/condensor/intercooler/whatever. Just make sure to wire it down, but not to those parts. Every so often, you can brush off the screen and wash it off. Keeps everything behind it nice and clean.

Hope this works on the MCS without too much hassle.

 

Drive backwards

 

Your absolutely right, the radiator, which is the inner coil looks to be very fragile, fin wise, so be carefull. I used a small toothpick to remove the exposed bugs. The outer coil is the a/c unit which is a little more beefier still has to be handled with kid gloves when cleaning.

 

Good idea, I think that I will look into making some sort of removable inner screen that I can clean, as you suggested.

 

I was considering using a vacuum on the radiator to remove the dried bugs, do you think that this suction could in any way damage the radiator?

 

Well in my case the bugs wer dried/ cooked on , so I had to do some mechanical brushing with a small stiff bristle brush.(Toothbrush style) and then use a toothpick to remove the rest. Vacuum would not work in this situation.

 

No way, no how.

If it sucks something loose that matters, you already had a bigger problem...

 

Good info! Thanks

 

I use a refrigerator coil brush--one of those long skinny types. The bristles are very soft and it's long enough to reach all of the condenser--works quite well. And it reqiures vey little effort.

 

I fabbed up the screen using heavy duty wire as the frame then bordered the frame and screen with metallic duct tape. Works like a champ. Thanks for the suggestion

 

OMG - I just looked closely at my radiator b/c of this thread, and what do ya know??? Of course I have about 100 lovebugs on there

I will be following the suggestions here. Thanks everyone sooo much for posting!

Ani

 

Thats a lot of lovemaking in your radiator...

Glad this "mod" works without hassle for you all. Now if I had mine, I'd know first hand..

 

One of the first things I used to do to a car when I bought it was to put a bug screen in front of the radiator.

Some companies used to sell a one size fits all screen. I never cared for them because they never fit right. I would go to a hardware store and buy some black fiberglass screen like the replacement screen wire for a screen door or your windows. Then I would take apart whatever was in the way and cut the screen to fit the front of the radiator and attach it in such a way that is was not readily visible.

This seemed to catch the bugs before they got into the radiator core and they would wash off (usually) with just a water hose.

 

Just checked with the hardware store , they sell "8 mesh " galvanized cloth. that is probably the size that you want to use as a pre filter. dont forget to check and clean it often.

 

This is so you guys can get an idea on how much of a lovebug heaven my front bumper was this weekend!!!! No wonder I have so many leftover in the radiator

Here's a pic. The good thing about it all was that the car had two layers of Z2 and the bugs all came off really easily, but the wash mitt didn't make it

 

Can anyone help me with how to get to the front of the radiator in order to install a screen? How do I take off the front grills on the '07 MCS?

 

Thanks for making me glad I live up north...

 

What's a lovebug????

 

It's a small black bug, looks sort of like a small lightening bug, that flies around attached to the missus. Absolutely zillions of them during lovebug season.

When we first arrived in Houston I was at a gas station, where I overheard a lady as the station owner "what's the purpose of these bugs?" The owner contemplated the lady a bit, then answered "well, I guess it's to make MORE lovebugs..." in a true Texas drawl. Great answer!

 

I think I want to come back as a "Love Bug"!! You go out in a blaze of glory!!

 

Where did you get a refrigerator coil brush??

 

Love bug portrait here...



What was the miracle product you used to make them come off easier?

 

Try a bug guard.

http://www.bugguardsforbeemers.com/mini.shtml



I have something similar on my streetbike radiator.