Parts are starting to trickle in but dealer has priority because of all the people that have deal warranties come first. I wouldn't be surprised if I had to wait another month!

 

FYI, I have confirmation from a dealer tech that the thermostat housings that are coming in now are the same as the original ones. I see no reason why the ones we are all buying won't fail again in another few years. The design has not been revised, and it seems like all we are doing is buying ourselves more time.

 

How was he able to confirm it? Rev levels? Just curious since if it was a material change it may not be evident. As in different plastics. Mine that I got from I assume an "old" dealer stock was marked 22/07/13. If it lasts till Feb. that's all I need, then its getting the boot. Just don't have the confidence in it for a daily driver.

 

I got mine from Motorwerks BMW in MN, shipped one to me no problem. Try giving them a call.

Or I know my local dealer has some because they called me. But had already gotten one from MW. Could prob. send one to you if need be.

 

I meant that they haven't changed from a construction perspective. It is possible that the plastic used is different, but I can't imagine the original plastic wasn't designed to handle 200 degree coolant... It's a fundamentally shitty design with two plastic pieces held together with adhesive. Unlike the water pump which went from a plastic to a metal housing they thermostats are still plastic.

 

Gotcha, yea I agree that part about its quite a shitty design, not to mention being made of plastic. I imagine the split is where mine was leaking as I couldn't find a crack anywhere looking quickly. Just have to see how new ones hold up I guess.

 

I had to get my thermostat and thermostat housing replaced last week on 07 MC. $475 from an independent BMW/Mini shop.

 

My thermostat housing was replaced today, all they need to do now is replace my gas tank level meter. Link for that below ->

Link here

 

Well I finally finished installing my thermostat housing this evening. All is well so far. I also replaced my vacuum pump. Now I have to decide if I will sell it or not.

 

Mini was running great after installing newmthermostat housing, but on the way home from work while accelerating to pass another car, there was little power and a yellow check engine light came on. Any ideas? I replaced it with a used thermostat housing from a friend, maybe a bad thermostat or sensor???

 

A used thermostat housing? Why in the world would anybody remove a good thermostat housing? As for your last question what do you think if using logic?

 

Got my thermostat done today after waiting 3 weeks. These should really be an extended warranty item like the HPFP.

 

After waiting almost 2 months, thermostat was replaced under warranty on Tuesday. Parts Department said they were waiting for 15 more that were already accounted for.

 

They had a used thermostat housing because their 2009 mini clubman s dumped its oil and seized its engine. The new engine they bought included the thermostat housing. I took it because I was tired of paying for a car that does not work, and I could not get the part to fix it.

 

pmi, do you know why or how the engine dumped its oil? i am just curious as to the reason so as to add to my checklist for maintenance.

 

I do not know why it dumped the oil, but will reply if I do.

 

What is the life expectancy on the main water pump for our Mini's? I know for a fact that the replacements don't have plastic housings anymore, in fact they are metal now. Sure would like to see a metal thermostat housing, I would install it right away instead of waiting this the new one to crack yet again! A ticking time bomb.

If the engine seized up you can expect that the thermostat would fail along with it, the water temperature on a seized engine can be very hot! Never heard of an engine dumping its oil before, holy cow!

 

I am hoping it is just the sensor so I do not have to remove the complete thermostat, but I am planning on taking it by an auto parts store to have the error code read today. If I have to, I will buy a new thermostat housing and replace the whole thing, but it was worth the try for a free part at a time I could not buy a new part.

 

I took it to autozone, and it returned no codes. He reset the light, but it came back on before I made it home. I suppose tomorrow I will take it apart again and check all connections and the temp sensors.

 

Mine was replaced today by local mechanic. 5 years and 37000 miles. Cost $350 (including the housing). Took him about 2 1/2 hours.

I would not have attempted this job myself it's just too difficult. But if you're an experienced DIY'er give it a go. I sure saved a lot of money by finding an experienced mechanic to do it for me.

The overheat light/warning came on about a week ago while I was taking my grandson to his football game. I immediately pulled off the highway and into a service station. Let the car cool a bit and added water to the expansion tank to top up the cooling system. Cranked the car and the light stayed off. Got car home without problem.

From this point the leak became noticeable, but only when the engine was hot/pressurized (in fact I had not noticed the leak at all previous to the warning light). The leak was on the driver side dripping off the transmission housing but I could not see the source.

I called the dealer, did a little research and decided it was probably the thermostat housing (a bit of an educated guess here because I couldn't see the actual leak site). Called the dealer again....part back-ordered. Found it at Way Motor Works. Had it replaced today.

Everything seems to be fine now. No codes, no leaks and no errors.

 

This was also my experience, leak was on the driver side dripping off the back of the transmission housing. I knew whatever was near or above the transmission would be the source, removed cold air pipe and there was coolant squirting out of a crack near the mounting surface. Luckily I caught it before my check engine light because I could have been in the middle of nowhere which I often am! Mine lasted 6 years 49,000 miles, it seems the amount of mileage varies greatly! I think time not mileage is the factor in failure. In either case it's a bad designed part the second plastic was chosen!

If this part is improved upon (aluminum version) I won't hesitate to install it.

 

Replacing our '07 MCS thermostat housing with 45,000 miles on it, assuming one shows up sometime soon.

 

If you need one call us tomorrow.

 

It would be interesting to see if we could put together a CAD rendering and have it CNC machined out of aluminum...

 

That would be at least a 4 figure thermostat. Its a very complex part. Best bet would be to make a mold and cast it then machine the surfaces but even then there's a lot of development costs. Aftermarket water pumps were pretty simple but there's a reason they've shy'd away from this part. Just have to suck it up unfortunately. I wouldn't recommend the N14 to anyone looking for a reliable car to put miles on. It is a blast, but best relegated to weekend duty only IMO.

Mine tripped the temp light once or twice but then almost immediately went off before I could even do anything. Other than turn the heat on. So not concerned about any over heating damage, hopefully. While watching the temps in mine waiting for a housing they would spike and lower quite a lot, even going down the interstate. Which I attributed to having a lot of trapped air in the system and low coolant levels.