When I bought an '08 used MCS, I saw what I thought was some odd chafing of the bonnet release cable. I took the car to the local dealer that identified it as rodent damage. Should I repair it or just tape it up? How hard is this cable to replace should I endeavor to do it myself?

 

If it still works leave it alone. No need to spend money on that unless it bugs you knowing it is chewed up.

 

Tape it up and move on. That's the ouside sheath of the cable you are looking at anyway and the release cable is inside that. If you just tape it up nice an neat you'll keep any moisture from wicking in there and causing the release cable to bind up.

 

As long as they pull easily, looks like they just chewed on the outside. I would inspect the engine bay as I rodents like the MINI wire harnesses and cables. Check for other damage. The engine ECU harness us not far from there are its near the shock tower and engine. Just to be on the safe side.

Thanks

 

Pulls easily, just the retentive part of me wonders if I should swap it. If the part is like $50 and can be done in a few hours, I'd probably do it.

I've gone through the rest of the engine bay and I can't find any other signs of rodentia. That said, I did decide to swap the air cleaner and found a trace amount of food stored underneath the filter. It looked like pretzel fragments, actually.