My daughter had a mechanic bypass her heater core in a 2012 Mini Cooper S and I can see that one of the heater lines coming out of the firewall in the engine compartment is completely corroded away. Has anyone replaced the interior heater pipes that connect to the core? The part is only about $90 and it would be nice to have the heater functionality back (even if I need to replace the core also). They bypassed by just putting a coupler between the engine bay heater hoses.

Thanks.

 

A little more investigation yielded that once the heater core is removed the pipe assembly seems rather loose to the firewall but has a pretty big bend behind the center electronics in the driver footwell. On the engine side of the firewall the heater pipes come through a rubber grommet. Should I just pull hard from the inside and pop the pipes out of the grommet or will I damage something? I just so happen to have the right side CV axle out doing the oil volume solenoid kit and have clear sight to the heater pipes. Any clues would be much appreciated!