Well my service appointment today was pretty much a waste of time for everyone involved.
I had 3 issues to deal with when I arrived and out of those 3 only one is going to be resolved. Kinda sucks.

My 1st issue was the Cosmoline ruining my wheel arches. I was basically told
1) There is no way to get that stuff cleaned out so it wont continue to leak. I just have to let it eventually all melt out at some nebulous point in the future. Supposedly can take up to a year or more which to me isnt really acceptable that I have to allow something to continue to damage my car for up to a year or more before it can be resolved.
2) I was offered a repair now ( either cleaning or replacement) but that if the issue happened again the implication was that it would not be covered since I would be choosing to ignore the suggested wait till who knows when for it to stop melting on its own. Also NOT acceptable IMHO.

My 2nd issue was for the melting hood scoop issue.
1) I asked about the new scoops and the SA thought there were some new ones that were coming in. There are but the new ones are ONLY the chrome plated ones. They come with a nice new heat deflector of some kind. When asked if they could maybe swap me one of that style at no cost(since many have had them sub in a carbon fiber one) the SA said let me check. Multiple calls were made and it was said that I could get one of those. Apparently it was not cleared high enough up the chain and I think the Service Manager said no way. Supposedly would cost another $120 to get a chrome one.
2) I get that there is supposed to be a new part coming and all but now I get stuck with a warped scooped and now wheel arches that are damaged making my car look like crap. I hate that a new car has so many problems with no actual fix in sight just some vague assurance that at some point in the future there might be a part that fixes things or my car might stop leaking caustic substances. I was kinda happy to have one of the big issues resolved and now its basically back to square one... Damaged scoop and arches with no resolution in sight.

My 3rd issue was so damn minor as to be almost a non issue. One of my wiper nozzles is not working right. Its just my luck that the issue thats the least of my worries and actually so trivial is the only thing I am managing to get resolved.

Just frustrating and maybe I should not be disappointed but its hard to not be when something you paid for is damaged through no fault of your own and the company that is supposed to make it right can not do so. Guess I should count myself lucky that these are the things I gotta deal with but its hard to take.

Maybe I should be happy they are willing to even do the work at that nebulous point in the future rather than the "thats just how it is" some people get its just really hard to take not knowing when in the next year or so things might get a resolution.....

 

Get some black wow from Octane Guys showcardetailing.com and go for the year, then get new wheel arches.

The hood nozzle has a fix, it is simple, but even mine still leak a bit after 2 replacements.

Scoop, go for the CF one, if they work with you, just take it an run.

I had to pay for mine, even have a darksilver new one, but I did not want to mess with it melting again.

Good luck, these are little things that add to the love for your MINI.

Don

 

on the Black Wow or Armor All or any of those plastic protectant products, it'll protect the plastic from the cosmoline and hide any damage already done...

 

Actually my detailer(I get my car detailed professionally every two weeks) tried everything he had in his bag of tricks short of actually busting out the rubbing compound and the buffer and all it did was hide it really good for about 10 mins or till whatever product it was dried. So the arch is pretty much replace to fix but the way the dealer acted they will fix it once and once only and I better wait long enough to make sure the crap wont come out and damage it again. Its also their belief that there is nothing that can be done to clean out the Cosmoline other than the heat melting it and it coming out that way.

They were working with me I thought on the scoop deal too right up till management got involved and then all the sudden it was something I needed to pay for unless I wait for the new part that no one has a clue when it will actually be available. Even worse in my mind was finding out the new chrome scoop comes with a new heat shield. IMHO that is something all the MCS cars needed several years ago and considering I bought every damn warranty they had at the dealer you would think they could eat $120 bucks to keep me happy especially when you consider the labor to paint the scoop when they get it. I just checked and on MINImania.com the non painted scoop is $125 plus mounting hardware and the chrome scoop is only $190 so thats just $65. I would have made my customer happy rather than calling them back and asking them to pay for all but $70 of the actual cost of the chrome scoop.

Just frustrating as hell to have MINI damaging my MINI and then get told that there is nothing short of prayers that will fix the cosomline issue cause even the dealer said that stuff could leak out for years. Also frustrating that I cant get my scoop dealt with for some also unknown amount of time. I guess thats my big deal with it all. There is no known ETA or anything on these fixes.

 

Kodan,

Save yourself some grief and pick up a bottle of CosmoNot from Richard (OctaneGuy). It will remove the cosmoline deposits pretty easily. Use it on the arches to get rid of the residue and use some Black Wow to treat them. It won't erase the damage, but it made mine much more livable.

Take a peek at the pictures in this link:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...e-remover.html

 

I was just being pissy yesterday. I was disappointed about having to wait. When I think about it the dealer actually was nice and they did agree to do all the work. They just want to do it all one time and be done. Thats actually the right way to do things. If anyone deserves a beating though its MINI for putting that crap in our cars in the first place and for not getting out a proper scoop solution before now.

At this point there isnt any of the actual cosmoline left on the arches...The stuff actually chemically bonded with the plastic.So when I complain about Cosmoline stains its not really the Cosmoline anymore but the chemically scared plastic where it was. It bubbled enough that there is no amount of cleaning that will do anything but hide the spot and then for just a little while. I worked as a polymer researcher at SWTSU in the 90's so I know a bit about plastics and that stuff just ruined the plastic. Since the plastic is textured there is really nothing short of replacement that will fix it once its to the point mine is.

At the end of the day though it will all get fixed but yesterday didnt go how I wanted and that pissed me off. Waiting for someone else to fix my stuff though does suck.

 

In the mean time, you can clean it with this stuff.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...cs-detail.html

 

you can get cosmoline cleaner from Jaguar I forgot the exact name, but it is for cleaning excessive cosmoline on Jags. I use it on wheel arches all the time. works great and a final coat of wurth Rubber Care gives the flare a nice shine. This is paint and fender arch safe when used with a microfiber cloth.