As people have mentioned before in this thread and others, the only way BMW will fix this problem is if they have to replace lots of hood scoops. I think the scoop melting problem is happening more often than not, but the majority of owners will never notice it or won't bother to get it fixed. I don't think just complaining about it is going to fix the problem so we need to hit BMW in the pocket book as hard and as often as possible. For me it is a huge pain to take my MINI into the dealer as the closest one is 195 miles away but I will make a trip sometime this fall and the hood scoop will be on the list of things to be replaced (sticky sunroof too). If it melts again I will take it in again, as many times as necessary until they fix it or give me a carbon fiber scoop.

 

No, they were ready for that one - MNS did the clear bra install. Couldn't you tell? That's why the edges are lifting on the lower panels. I better get that addressed before I have the coilovers installed lest they blame the clearbra damage on the suspension mods.

I am really tempted to do this. I could end up with scoops in a rainbow array of colors - CR, W, Black - or at least the photos as I doubt they'll let me keep the warped scoops.

 

I don't think the sun or environmental temperature has anything to do with it, either. I bought my car in February ('07), and it warped before the summer came on, even though I live in the Houston area. Feel the scoop after a drive--any drive, even to the local Kroger. The temp peaks after about 5 to 10 minutes, and it's hot enough above the turbo that I've cooked bratwurst on it at picnics. (Yeah, I really have--twice--lots of foil needed.)

 

Have you NO respect!?!

 

HA! I actually love that idea! If your Mini can cook for you- in addition to all the other great things it does, why not!

 

Yeah, see my thread "My MINI ran my refrigerator" after the storm.

Actually, if the German execs were around, I'd do it again just to prove a point.

 

I have witnessed her cook on her turbo. It is truly "Iron chef" worthy

 

Well, I'm not sure about Iron Chef (used to be one of my favorite programs). I'm not THAT good. And I'm not sure I could get an eel to stop squirming.

But, Zippeee! gets the job done. Those burgers were good today!

I wonder if I could start the Turbo-Cookers of America? Hmmm--here's the club logo:

 

I've had my scoop replaced and it hasn't warped at all. I've been careful to idle the car to cool the turbo whenever it's parked in the sun and our days here are a little cooler, but not by much. I wonder if MINI has changed the material they use for the scoops to something more heat tolerant?

 

How long have you had your car? Do you have a chrome scoop? Is the scoop "grill" cut out? It's possible there is another factor here.

Not everyone's scoop melts, but I'm about as easy on my car as one could be. After any drive, fast or slow, I have to drive from one end of a large subdivision to another, and I do it at the speed limit. It definitely has a chance to cool down. Actually, it isn't the speed so much, because the damage is done AFTER you park. That's when there isn't any way for the heat to vent, and the hood/scoop gets hot. Some owners are harder on their cars than others, though, and the degree of warping might be related to how hard they push them.

I doubt they have changed the scoop material, unless it has been very late in the model year. I know of two '08s--one early and one about mid year--and both have warped, albeit not badly. Both were replaced by the dealer.

I'm going to have mine replaced shortly, when my count-down dictates a visit. That should be about two weeks from now. Mine is a very early closed-scoop car, and it started to slightly dip during the first months. I haven't raised too much of a ruckus about it, mainly because the first folks to complain REALLY had a bad problem. I was at a picnic yesterday, though, which is where Aggie saw me cook, and I could see the deformation from a distance, so I guess it is time to go in. I'll be out of warranty in less than 20,000 miles, and the last thing I want to do is have a problem after MINI won't do anything about it, or have a potential buyer commend on it when I go to sell. And if necessary, I'll have the new scoop replaced, too.

 

Mine's a early 08 MCS with the painted, factory vented scoop that was replaced only 3 weeks ago. My first one warped on a very hot day in direct sunlight after a mountain drive. I didn't let the engine idle to normalize the turbo that day, too. I noticed when it happened because I knew to watch for it from reading posts here. Now I idle the engine for a minute or two on hot days and I'm installing an M7 shield to keep it from happening again.

Yep, it's heat build-up after shut-down that's doing it. With air moving over/through the scoop, everything is fine. Based on my experience working with plastics for airplane windshields, I think the maximum temperature for the scoop is only being exceeded by a little and it needs a combination of heat concentration causes (hot turbine, hot day, no wind) for the warping to happen.

BTW: my dealer was really good about replacing it. I had the car in for a separet issue (fuel gauge), and the dealer got me a new scoop, painted and installed it over two nights; it was supposed to be done in one night, but the first attempt at color matching didn't work, according to my SA.

 

I wonder if driving in a lot of stop-and-go city or freeway traffic might also be a contributor, particularly in hot weather. Constant vehicle movement above 20 mph or so may be enough air flow to keep it cool, even if you're not driving 55+ mph.

 

Update:

Clubman 11K miles.. Hot Arizona summer. stopping and parking directly in sun.. still no warping.. ( scoop cover removed day I got car )..

R56 JCW 18k miles.. same as above.. still no warping. ( same..removed cover first day )

 

By cover, I'm assuming you mean the little grill, right? Did you remove it completely--just take it out--or Dremel it open?

 

Yes.. we discussed this back in the 2-29 dates of this thred. R56 removed, Clubman dremel'd

 

Geeze, Louise--if you think I actually went back to February to find out what YOU decided to do, well... I've slept a night or two since then and can't remember who did what to whom.

 

carbon fiber scoop installed and loving it,pics tomarrow

 

daffodildeb my bad,,Im just **** retentive... I harldy look at this thread anymore, Not may options you can do to vent heat out of a hood.. just updating what had proven to work.. at least for us here in AZ. we started pulling them out of cars in our club after the first couple weeks of the R56 release ...I just recalled your screen name repeditively in the thread from way back then.

 

azminiman: I think this is a pretty good alternative if it has proven to work for you and members of your club. Not a whole lot of down side (e.g...too much water in engine compartment when driving in heavy rain?...perhaps not a problem in AZ).

How about giving a quick tutorial on removing the grill without breaking something?

 

Im sure some cars here have had issues.. just having seen when the honeycomb peice was removed right after purchace.. As for water in the heavy rain.. dont see where that would be a issue. The heat from the turbo should vaporize as soon as it enters the engine compartment .. no really, I have driven in numerous heavy rain storms here in AZ, Cal, Co.. rain isnt going to hurt the engine. Especially the amount that would enter thru the opening. I would only take percausion if you have a CAI. Which I do. It has a reflector shield over it to prevent direct hits of water.. ...( www.vipcustomparts.com/minicooperparts ) I have actually taken a hose and sprayed water directly in to my scoop while the engine was running to see how much water actually get onto the engine before evaporating. very little. If concerend, try it.

Note to thread bashers, Im shure there is a proven case of water damaging engines due to rain being driven perfusely into a small hood scoop opening somewhere in the world.

 

After installing a heat blanket to the underside of the hood scoop area and an M7 heat shield - 1000 miles later still no warping. Of course I never had warping to begin with but at least I know it won't be happening now.

 

There are a lot of factors here, and 1000 miles doesn't say a whole lot to me. I didn't have a problem in my first 1000 miles, either. Or the second 1000 miles.

How hot is ambient air temperature when the car is driven? How far? How fast? How energetically? What humidity? What kind of cool down period? Open scoop or closed? What week manufacture? What color car? Does it have a so-called "chrome" scoop? Etc. There are so many variables involved in a problem like this. Why does Joe's Astro Black car not have a problem, when Sally's Pepper White car does, even though both are driven in Phoenix all year? (Not quoting actual people.) Even my dealer is perplexed. If it had been so consistent a profile, and the fix so simple, BMW probably would have had a recall by now. After all, it's probably a pretty expensive headache for them to replace scoops under the warranty program.

My CR/W Week 3, '07, has a minimal dip after 30,000 miles, Houston heat. I have a minimum trip length of 10 miles at highway speeds, just because that's where the closest ANYthing is. I started noticing the dip after about 2 months. That would have been when Houston's heat started really building for the year, and at about the 5000 mile mark. Even at that, there has been no change in over a year. I'm going to have them replace it now, though, simply because I want to make sure a replacement has had enough chance to sag before I go out of warranty. That, and I want to bug BMW to do something about it for all the other owners!

Now, had you said that an infrared thermometer measurement of the scoop temperature was 230 degrees 10 minutes after the car was parked, before blanket, and it is now 190 degrees 10 minutes after the car is parked, with blanket, I'd feel a little more confident that this is the solution.

It's a lot like the weeping washers problem of last year. All over NAM people were complaining about this situation. I never had it, even though I typically use windshield wipers a lot, and over filled it for my convenience before the reports started coming in. (There is now a check valve fix.) Ditto sunroof noise. Never had a problem. (That one turned out to be a misalignment of the glass on some cars.) Lest it appear that I have a charmed car, why did I have cruise control "dropout" problem, but others didn't? (A softwear upgrade fixed it last July.)

 

From a review of the WMW heat shield in issue 3 of NAM Alliance:

The results are in: the IAT, ECT, and MAP measurements
practically overlaid each other. I could
not detect any changes under the hood with
my Scan-Tool. The thermocouple probe, on the
other hand, proved one observation the Test
Driver found; one under hood temperature was
signifi cantly different. I measured the “don’t-putyour-
hand-here” position of the stock stamped
aluminum heat shield with the WMW Turbo Heat
Shield in position and with the car in stock confi
guration. The measurements were done exactly
30 seconds after engine-cut after pulling into the
driveway of the Lab. The thermocouple was positioned
in the exact same position, and was held
in position for 2 minutes. The peak temperature
was recorded, and we observed the temperatures
over each 2 minute period. With the WMW
Heat Shield installed, the reference thermocou27

Way Motor Works Turbo Heat Shield
ple probing location was 70 degrees Fahrenheit
lower! This is a significant delta. Why then, did this
delta not show up in other temperature-sensitive
locations like engine coolant or intake manifold
air temperature?

The whole review is here, in issue 3;
https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/alliance

Mark

 

I read the article, and was intrigued by the comment that the shield would "improve the turbo spool-up time." If anything, my experience has been the opposite with regard to heat. This past summer, on a typically hot Texas day, I participated in a driver improvement school in Kilgore, Texas. It is not the same thing as a DE, but is held at a police academy. Some timed exercises involved maneuvering around cones set up on a concrete surface, and on one our small class allowed 7 or 8 runs in rapid succession. After completing the course, somewhat similar to a parking lot autocross, the driver was instructed to proceed through a gate to the timing lights as quickly as possible. On the first couple of runs everything seemed normal for this portion, but as the exercise went on, I found more and more turbo LAG, until literally "flooring it" didn't help.

Comments?

 

Unscientifically and with my uncalibrated finger, before I installed the blanket and M7 heat shield I couldn't keep my finger on the scoop or that area of the hood. Now with the both items installed I can keep my finger on the same area with only a slight warmth being felt. Don't need fancy equipment, graphs, statistics, etc., to tell me heat from the turbo is now being redirected away from the scoop. It's working on MY car, living in Hawaii, with blue paint, low humidity, high salt, pineapple juice and poi all around. Oh wait, it must the hula dancers absorbing the heat....