The other night while in a drive-thru for a late night snack I noticed that my temp gauge was blinking and beeping at me. It was at the top at the red! :0 So I pulled over and let it cool down for a little bit, then drove very very slowly back home. The next morning I added coolant and brought it to a BMW/Import shop here in Thousand Oaks. He showed me a leak in the radiator and pressure tested it again to show me. Cost of repair, ~$1,100 for a oem radiator and thermostat + labor. Another shop in town that isn't a bmw specialist will do the same for 950, and my boss will kick in 250 cause it's the shop he recommended and wants me getting the f*** back to work. If I had everything my way (which I don't) I'd buy a new radiator for $250 and replace it myself. Although I haven't installed one before so I don't know how complicated that operation is. Maybe there is a NAMer in the area who can advise me about that or recommend a good shop for Minis nearby.

 

but you'll also have to recharge your AC system. Have it drained at a place that can recover the freon (it's nasty to the atmosphere).

1) Take off the bumper cover (easy)
2) Take off the aluminium bumper (easy). Now the pastic radiator support will be loose.
3) Take off the under engine dirt blocker thinggy (very easy now only held on by two screws).
4) Drain coolant (oops! You don't have any in your system!)
5) Disconnect the AC condenser lines (two of them, pretty easy).
6) Undo all the light/horn wiring (pretty easy too!)
7) Remove whole radiator support thinggy. The AC condensor, radiator and fan assembly will all come off with it.
8) take the sucker apart and put the new radiator in, reassemble and reverse the steps.

When you re-fill the radiator, make sure to purge the system well (air in the Mini cooling system is a PITA).
Drive to an A/C shop and have them re-charge the A/C system.

If all of this stuff is a first time for you, plan on a whole day to work your way through it. If you've put the car in "service mode" before, expect 2-3 hours of work.

I know I glossed over a bunch of the fastener locations and the like, but that will give you an idea about how hard the job is.

I'll let people in So-Cal comment on shops....

Matt

 

if you can make it to van nuys or tow if you don't want to risk it - i will heartily recommend danny at minicorsa. does all my work at his shop and is quick and very reasonable. he's basically a MINI only guy. his number is 818-994-0338. at least give him a call and get a price. let him know andy sent you.