JenniferL. Don't throw in the towel!
Go to the dealer + explain that you'd like under-bonnet insulation for your coupe. Tell him his computer might 'point' towards a part designed for a MINI D (turbo, silver heat shield at the rear + no air-flow hole) but that you'd like one that will accomodate an air scoop hole like the R56 pre-LCI MCS used to have and also has the turbo heat shield at the front.

I think I've attached a thumbnail showing mine in situ. It's held in place by 10 plastic rivets, listed with the part. I might not bother cutting an air-hole in it; I'll see what the engine cooling fan does initially...

 

Done and done. Scroll up.

Not much sense in going to the dealer since the car has it's own parking space in the service bay already and it spends almost as much time there as with me.

I purchased the insulation / heat shield on my own. My local dealer was nice enough to comp the install. I do need holes because the fan does kick on but unfortunately, I also have the endless Cycle-of-Death valvetronic faults so the car hasn't been in my possession long enough for me to do anything about it and I don't see it coming back to me any time soon. Among the other things to discuss once this issue has reached its conclusion is reimbursement for the insulation which should have been on the car in the first place. One thing at a time. I don't have enough emotional energy to keep up with this car. Forget dent and ding insurance. It should come with therapy and massages with purchase.

 

Sorry to hear that!

I haven't experienced valvetronic probs but from new (Feb'12) my engine cooling fan has been coming on when warm + staying on. N18 engine.

Four visits to the dealer, lots of threats, platitudes like 'they all do that' or 'feature of the model' wasted fuel + mileage then (finally) a threat to reject it and then a new thermostat and all is ok, now.

No cooling fan noise in motion or when switched off! Brilliant...

So, I'm sad to hear that your fan might be an issue if it's coming on. Mind you, I'm talking milder UK temps...

Good luck with the coupe; you know it'll be worth it!

Incidentally, is your insulation the type for the MINI D (like mine) or has it an air-hole? Perhaps I shouldn't be asking...

 

Hi All,

I was looking into the scoop the other night and it looks like it is mostly blocked... Only a few holes in the grill. That sound right? It was just for a minute or so at the dealer so I want to take a closer look tonight when we pick up the car. I was a bit surprised. It might help a bit to open some more of that grill up.

Thanks for the heads up on the possible wrong part number for the shield.

Jen: I hope you get your car back soon! We went through this with a VW Beetle Cab's windows. It must have been seven times to the shop!

Thanks,

Franny

 

FrannyB. I have a feeling they were fully blocked on the earilier R56s. In this N18 + the previous N14 only some are/were open.

I think the scoop was originally there to force cooler air into the supercharger on the R53 MCS and was left in the R56 design. Probably no real use other than adding to cooling in the engine bay or allowing heat to convect away in the hot-underbonnet temps of southern USA climes...

I'll be interested to see if anyone's got the pre-R56 LCI MCS insulation to work instead of this new 'crossed over' MINI D part. If I'd been forewarned I'd have given it a try first...

Yes, keep at it JennyL. My attitude was 'I'll keep bringing it back for you to keep bolting on new parts 'til it works or I'll reject it now if you tell me that's unreasonable'

 

Thanks CJ,

I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to open it back up a bit... I wonder if the old R53 scoop screen would still fit. I guess the down side would be excess water on the top of the engine? Our '07 MCS got so hot... Maybe a better (aftermarket) heat shield over the turbo there would be a good thing too.

Franny

 

My dealership is super fantastic awesome! Apparently enough is known about the issue for them to keep the car there, rather than continue to clear the faults and send it back or to send it back after each step. Not to hijack the thread but they're following a long list of procedures to get the car back in order and they've been nothing but the most awesome, upstanding people you could hope to work with. So four thumbs up for Otto's!

I've had it for 16 days and today is day 6 with it in service. So far, they've checked the harness (no problem there) and reprogrammed the module (yesterday). Engineers suggest running it through four drive cycles, instead of the usual two. The typical fix seems to be either a valvetronic or DCE replacement so they're working on that. They said the codes it threw were indicative of abuse and they know that's not right. Stop and go in rush hour traffic on a highway and shifting from third to fourth might be abusive but only on the human, not the car. :-)

So we wait. They're being awesome and I have faith it will be fixed. It's just slow going. And my PW/B MCS loaner feels HUGE by comparison to the Coupe. Ha!

As for the scoop, same here. Just small holes. I suspect my fan was on because it was a super HOT day and I'd just driven it for 80 minutes through more redlights than anyone should ever endure. My R53 would have done the same thing. Even if the holes aren't fully functional, I'd still like to allow a little air in there, if possible. So I'd be interested in how you vent that insulation! :-)

 

JenniferL. I've measured engine temps via the OBD port both with the insulation off and on and I've found no difference here in the UK's recently warm weather, so I think the engine scoop is merely cosmetic (esp for these temps).

After all it's not a great area so how could it be that significant? Far more cooling air must come in from underneath...

I'm not going to cut any holes in the insulation for the time being.

Keep us all posted on your MINI's developments, though.

 

Hi All,

We just picked up our Roadster S last night and no shield was installed from the factory. It has been a week long process to pick up the car, so last week I gave the service dept the part numbers (51 48 7 266 543 Heat Insulation) from Page 5 of this thread given by BlueToy (Thanks so much for all your work on this!). They ordered the part and installed it and this what I saw when I pulled the bonnet last night...

I have no idea what this thing is other than it is flimsy, sharp, pressed tin and scratched the paint down to the metal in several places. I sat with the service guys and showed them this thread and the numbers again and they finally found the correct part. It is evidently listed for the Coupe, but not the Roadster although the bonnet for both cars has the exact same part number. It should be here Monday and I'll take the car back down there and have it installed as well as the repair work to the paint next week.

Franny

 

This just keeps getting stranger and stranger. This is the first I've seen of that type of heat shield. Looks like this is yet another possible "configuration" for under the hood.

For those keeping track, it seems we have the following so far:

1). Nothing
2). Insulation
3). Insulation and heat shield (foil-like)
4). Heat shield only (tin-like)

Did I miss anything?

 

That's progress!! Please keep us posted!!

 

We'll see what they come up with next week!

If your parts guy is confused and he is looking at the Roadster catalog, have him take a gander at the Coupe parts list. Everything forward of the A pillar should be virtually identical (in theory).

Franny

 

FrannyB. Look at my post #151 above.

My attached photo in this post shows what your insulation should look like except it's not quite correct since my silver heatshield is at the back of the insulation for a different turbo position (diesel application) even though it's the only one listed for the N18...

BUT your wrong heatshield is worth keeping to stick over the top of the black fabric insulation that they correctly get for you. It's an extra for the MCS turbo position at the front of the engine (rather than the diesel turbo position at the back of the engine) so it'll reflect away excess turbo heat. In the (proper, in my view) N14 version this is 'built in' to the black insulation fabric that fixes to the bonnet with plastic rivets. I bet their holes are in the same place as our N18, too...

Yes, whole this bonnet insulation issue doesn't seem to have been very well thought out by MINI does it? It's not even an after-thought yet! (Perhaps they rely on us customers to 'sort' their ideas for them. We must due show gratitude...)

 

I was thinking the same thing... The dealership got the cart before the horse - thus all the deep scratches I now have under my hood. Not to mention the piece is so flimsy it flops around and rattles as it is currently installed. I can't believe the service dept thought this was correct. I took one look at it and I was like, Dude... They should have gone back and re-checked their numbers... If it wasn't for you folks on the forum, they would have never figured it out... I pulled up this thread to show them.

This metal piece goes over the big black piece as you have stated... Not in place of it... I would deserve a tongue lashing if I had done this myself, but the dealer should know better...

Yeah, I don't think it is super high on Mini's list what with the redesign of the other models and getting these two new ones out the door. It seems like a small detail, but I think we put three chrome scoops on our old Cooper S. They would last about nine months before going all potato chip on us.

Thanks,

Franny

 

A question for those of you that have purchased the black insulation fabric for your Coupe or Roadster is -- what price was quoted or paid for this product? My dealer quoted $170.00 installed for the insulation only as I already have the foil shield.

 

My insulation came with the heat shield attached (at the rear, as for MINI D assembly). Because of my MINI club membership, I get a small discount. I believe I only paid for the part and the 11 clips. I was comp'd installation, since it was super quick and they're just awesome that way. I paid about $85 for the part, total. They were being really nice to me there.

I have to say, tho, that you probably don't need anyone to install this for you. The 11 clips are those standard plastic round clips with the little black foam. You just push them into the holes in your bonnet with some needle nose pliers (carefully) and then snap the insulation onto the clips. After seeing it, I know that I could do it. And if I can do it, you could do it. (Trust me... I can't make toast. I have other life skills.)

 

$85 is about what I paid in the UK (for the wrong part, it seems)

Don't talk to me about the ineptitude of some dealers! It's taken a month, 4 visits amd no car for a week to get them to believe that constant engine cooling fan running when the car warmed-up was not the 'a feature of the car, mate' and 'they all run hot, mate' that they claimed.

Now I have two repair receipts (billed to MINI) for two thermost replacements. What hurts most is that they wouldn't (or couldn't) listen to a customer who's on his 5th MINI and 3rd R56 MCS (all consecutive).

Anyway, glad we've caused some interest and, perhaps, answered a few questions.

What they seem to have done to your car by fitting that part wrongly isn't ineptitude: it's abuse or criminal damage...Hope you get it sorted!

 

Mine was the one with the heat shield in the back also. I paid $85 for it. Don't you guys think it is odd that we don't have the(D) Mini here in the states, but the hood insulation is available. I got mine in less than two days. It seems to be working fine, but it does touch the JCW strut brace, leaving some rub marks. I would prefer that the heat shield would be up front and will change when available.

 

Well, I cut an airhole in the underbonnet insulation. It's easy enough to do but the black layer sandwiches a grey substance rather like cotton-wool.
As an afterthought I held a naked flame near to an offcut it and it burned easily. ie Very flammable!

So having rendered it effectively useless I carved it into chunks and put it in the dustbin. An expensive experiment but very necessary.

Now, why isn't a suitable part being offered for the N18? Or, will the N14 part fit 'cos that seems the only dealer alternative. I'm tempted to go to a car-accessory shop and fashion my own. It'll be much cheaper, too.

 

"This metal piece goes over the big black piece as you have stated... Not in place of it... I would deserve a tongue lashing if I had done this myself, but the dealer should know better..." FrannyB

Actually the piece is almost installed correctly. The four fingers should be inserted into the hood scoop and pushed forward with no pressure and then the two pushpins will line up to the holes where they are now. No more rattle and it does not go over the black mat because it would need a hole cut into the mat to work.

 

Sounds like a number of people have removed this insulation - anyone with stripes removed it and had any issues?

My car came with it and I'd like to remove it to make the scoop functional.

 

I've measured OBD temps with insulation in and out in UK and it didn't make any difference at all. I don't think the scoop is there to provide cooling air anyway; the thermostat seems to 'rule the roost'

In hindsight I should have left mine installed as it was. It's effective at shielding the bonnet paint from the high turbo temps; I bought it because I poached some seagull mess onto the bonnet but I've since found out that a faulty thermostat was causing overheating and continual engine fan/high underbonnet temps anyway.

It's listed as: (Heat insulation, engine compartment lid)

And if it delays cooling down, then so much the better for the turbo?

I felt a bit cheated that it seems to be a factory bin afterthought (from the diesel model) in some cases! No-one was thinking when they built my MCS, obviously.

It's not cheap to buy. The N14 had it, why not the N18? Costcutting, I suspect.

 

There are alot ,but not all,N18 Coupes being shipped to the USA with the insulation installed at the factory. Mine was not included so I bought it at the dealership and installed it myself with help from a friend.

 

Plan on swapping the intake, so wanted to make sure there wasn't an issue where my stripes would start peeling off or something. Thanks

 

DAVESTER what part did you buy, the turbo reflector metal foil (51 48 7 266 543 Heat Insulation) or the black fabric part with the reflective metal foil that sems to be 'anywhere'? (sound insulation?)

If the former, are just two plastic expanding rivets sufficient to hold it decurely or do the prongs slide towards the plastic scoop under something else(?) give it more stability?

It seems that the black fabric stuff is listed as sound insulation but happens to be a good (if not, better) heat insulator that protects bonnet paint from excess turbo heat as well...it happens to have silver reflective heat insulation on it, too. I think this is causing so much confusion.