.. no joke.

A buddy recently asked how my hood scoop got 'dented'... I walked over to check it out, and by golly it does have a slight depression in the right/rear portion of the scoop. Not a big 'dent', but once you notice it, it's definitely there.

I knew it couldn't be 'dented' - since it's plastic, so I popped open the hood, and bingo!.. the indentation is directly over the turbo - just to the right of where the heat shield stops. (I'll shoot some photos so you'll know where I'm describing).

I had the car at the Mini dealer in Winston-Salem last week for some routine service, so I showed the service writer. He agreed.. so they're going to warranty my hood scoop (which will need painting once it arrives).

Anybody else notice the same thing happening to your scoop? I've been told that there's a mod to the scoop to eliminate this from happening, but I'm not sure what the mod is. I may take my Dremel and open some of the holes in the black plastic scoop filler to help vent the hot air.

 

here's a pic of the holes in an '08 scoop

 

Mine has insulation under the scoop and the holes in the intake and I keep touching it after I drive to see if it's hot and it's not...

 

its a known problem. Your dealer should replace it. I would recommend going with the chrome or CF to avoid anymore issues.

 

How would that help?

There is a thread about excessive bonnet temps after stopping. You might want to check it out. People have been measuring the temp with an infrared thermometer. They are available for around $50 from Amazon. I bought a $100 version that goes from -40 to 1400 F and use it a lot in my workshop. It is one of those things you never knew you needed, until you got one.

The early 2007 MCS scoops came completely blocked. Early in 2007 they started showing up with about 50% open in the scoop grille. There was some talk that opening up more would increase the air pressure under the hood at speed, reducing the amount of air coming through the radiator.

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=116642

 

The R53 scoop never had this problem.

 

We have a heatshield in the works to address this problem as we had a slight denting issue with our car at the track. It was 107 degrees out both days so it was a bit on the warm side We will post something up as soon as we finish it off.

Randy
M7 Tuning

 

see these too:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=106704
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=108615

 

I thought I read in a thread somewhere that they switched back to completely blocked scoops later in 2007.

 

I just bought a late 2007 about a month ago. I have not noticed the heat issue yet maybe due to cooler outside temps. I have noticed my 2007 MCS scoop is completely blocked, but I do seem to have allot of heat resistance material around the inside of the scoop. Is that the correction to the heat problem? Did the earlier models have this? I just am more curios as I would like this fixed on my car if needed before I have any real problems.

JJ

 

It never had a turbo either

 

I hadn't heard that.

 

Whatev. Go back to the 1st gen forum and quit trying to stir the pot!!!

 

Earlier models did not have this material. My Feb '07 model has a completely blocked scoop and no material at all, but someone posted a pic in another thread of some material installed under the scoop by his dealer, which likely comes standard on the newer cars, and it sounds like what you have.

If I knew the part number I would ask the dealer to place an order.

 

The 2008 models thus far are not blocked. After i drive my car and park it in the garage, I go back and check on it to see how hot it gets. I can feel heat coming out the holes in the hood scoop, but it doesn't feel that hot.

 

Ok I stand corrected. I looked closer at my scoop today and it was not as noticable as I thought, but I do have the vented scoop.

JJ

 

Ooo--you meanie. You beat me to it!

As for the scoop, I've got a very slight depression. Not enough to do anything about, but I'm watching. I have a week 3 build, so the scoop is blocked. It does get extremely hot (heated some bratwurst at a picnic, wrapped in tin foil), and I'm not too happy about that. Fortunately we live in the back part of a fairly large subdivision so the turbo has a chance to cool down before I shut the engine off.

 

LOL! Perfect for tailgating and camping!

 

Mine was melted @ 4k miles, replaced with CF. Only fix I found since MINI says there is no issue with 200-350 deg scoop temps.

 

my November 2007 MCS has some holes in the scoop air intake.

 

My 2008 MINI Cooper S has the unblocked hood scoop and thanks to a handy-dandy infrared thermometer, I have measured the max temps at their peak (about 7-10 minutes after engine shutdown).

In a 60 degree garage, the metal hood directly behind the hood scoop gets to 165f.

The air coming out of the vent holes gets to 195f.

The plastic hood scoop itself seems to hover around 150f.

My guess is that these temps would go up as the ambient air temperature increases, but probably not 1-1. In other words, it might get up to 180 degrees on the hood during a 100 degree day, but it would say hotter longer than it would on an 80 degree day.

These temps are hot, but not hot enough to cause damage. About like a black car sitting in Phoenix sun, or the exhaust fan from a first generation MacBook Pro.

 

My Sept car has holes, does the cf have holes?

 

My astro black has a dent in it over the turbo as well. I opened up the scoop and seems to help. Has anyone actually used that heat wrap for the turbo....
http://www.jscspeed.com/universal/thermotec/turbo.htm

 

But it had a sweet sounding supercharger the R56 never had

Plus... a fully functional hood scoop, not a fakey

Oh and the supercharged tritec engine never ran hotter than 140F. The Prince is a French Fryer at 350F?

Bring on the fries!