Anyone ever replace their rear muffler bracket? While changing into my winter treads I noticed that the exhaust system was loose. A quick stop at the dealer confirmed that the bracket supporting the muffler had rusted. They quoted me $250 plus parts - $61.00 for the parts. Looks fairly simple and straightforward so I bought the parts and will tackle it this weekend.

 

are you talking about the mid pipe area or the
near the rear bumper (the hangers?)

 

Kenchan

Its the rear bracket near the bumper

 

StillK - I replaced one of those brackets on my Cooper S last fall ... fairly straight forward and simple. You made a good call on deciding to tackle it yourself, definitely worth while. The worst part is getting the old bracket out of the rubber hangers, takes some effort.

There is another thread here on NAM with pics and some discussion on the topic that I used as reference...could try searching for that.

 

I spotted a rusted out bracket on one side of the muffler just as the car was going off warranty. The funny thing is that when MINI was serving the rear brakes they didn't "notice" the hanging muffer! I called them on it, and I got a former employee to admit that they are not supposed to fix other items that they may find when they are replacing other items. Be warned!

 

Isn't that special Wonder if it is dealer specific or MiniUSA policy?

I always wondered since when I went for service, I had to point other things (obvious) to them as the car came out!

Back on topic...I pulled out my oem 04 MCS exhaust and replaced it with a Millteck...amazingly the exhaust and brackets were in fine shape....You definately have a stealership on your hands....A little penetrating oil on the rubber hanger and a small prybar and off she comes..then the bracket is easy pickens!!

Part of the problem I suspect, is that the dealers have not figured out how resourceful a lot of mini drivers are....as well as old wrenchers like me! They figure they can just have their way with you!

 

The quality of the bracket itself is just bad. Even the brand new one I bought from the dealership showed a little bit of rust.

 

I'll jump on this pile. I was noticing a rattle when accelerating and just crawled under my MCS and noticed my muffler bracket has rusted through . Strange, the bracket on the bottom of the muffler looks good, but on top it's all rusty .

I used some stainless steel wire to tie it up tight. I know it sounds bad but I had to do something about the rattle until I get a new bracket or something .

 

I just found the upper bracket for $36.95 . The lower bracket, the one that looks good ...$9.95 . Good grief.

 

bolar, where do you find your parts? I'm a little way from the dealer and need to come up with a way to source Mini parts without the 3 hr drive (anyone else with any ideas here feel free to chime in).

 

http://www.minicarparts.net/Parts/18_20_7_520_245.cfm for the top.
http://www.minicarparts.net/Parts/18_20_1_490_024.cfm for the bottom.

They are a NAM vender also .

 

does that come with all the bolts and nuts and all that? or just the bracket... mine just came right off like dust so I couldn't even use the bolts

 

Just the braket, no hardware.