My 2009 Clubby, who has given me not a wink of trouble until I've now paid it off, at 71K had a yellow check engine light appear over the weekend. Had it read at Auto Zone guy there told me there is a fault in the Coolant Thermostat (coolant temperature below thermostat regulating temperature). Looked it up on how-to on You-Tube, unfortunately this doesn't look like something I have the experience to fix this by myself.


Can anyone give me an idea on how much this is going to cost (I live in the Midwest), I'm sure I'm looking at anywhere between a $500 and 1K (worst case scenario by taking it to the local "slimy" BMW/Mini dealership.


Additionally, while I consider 71K as a "middle aged" car - what other things do I need to worry about down the road. The car has been well cared for, oil changes, I'm semi-retired so driving time is between 7K - 10K a year, with an occasional 5-6 hour road trip to visit family.


Thanks much in advance!

 

is it manual, auto, turbo? if you are talking about the thermostat housing, i think it is a fairly straight forward job. after removing the air pipes and air filter housing, everything should be within reach.

 

It's not a turbo, and has automatic tranny.

 

First, check with your local MINI dealer and see if they will cover the thermostat under the 8 years/80,000 mile emissions warranty.
Second, you need to find a good reputable independent shop that specializes in German brands or BMW/MINI. The thermostat housing is about $125 HERE

 

Here's a link for that.
http://www.minirepairshops.com/

 

And the DIY if you want to do it yourself.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...8-no-heat.html

 

Do it yourself!