The popcorn popper hood scoop must be an option that we don't get in the us. They must be forgetting to turn off part of this option at port. This is why some have the issue and some don't. I think we only need the retrofit kit and programing to get the popped corn in the cabin.

 

It was pouring here today in KC... I pulled into a parking lot and underneath an overhang. Walked into a McDonalds to grab dinner before class and came out to the water above my bonnet scoop boiling. When you see steam rising off your hood on a 62 degree day it makes you stop and stare.

 

Great... now Al Gore is going to start claiming the '07 MCS's are why the ice-caps are melting.

Just kidding, nobody get their panties bunched up.

 

Nah, if anything, it's the R53s. The smog index on my vehicle is pretty high!

 

so do you think if after they replace 4 scoops, you can get the lemon law going?

 

McDonalds!? Couldn't resist

 

30 mins between work and going to sit in a masters level strategic business planning class for 4+ hours.

Desperate times call for desperate measures

(And it's monopoly time!)

 

I had to go back to the dealer today. I talked to another service guy. I asked about the hood scoop and he said mine is the first one they have seen. I asked if I'm going to have to come back once it melts again. He said Mini knows about it but they have not given the dealers and info on a fix.

 

Allright ! They Know about it !

 

I don't think so. The Lemon Law varies from state to state, but the car usually has to be in the shop a total of 30 calendar days during the first 18 months of ownership, or the dealer has to fail to repair a major issue after a certain number of attempts.

I don't think warping bonnet scoops or leaking washer jets rise to the level where you could force a buyback.

 

I agree... The hot bonnet is a hazard but exercising lemon law on 4 deformed scoops is a bit unreasonable in my book.

 

darn, I don't know the laws, but how would it work if you needed a new scoop every year? Cause it seems silly for them to just keep replacing if they don't ever address the real issue.

 

If it ever got to that point, MINI would do one of two things:

1) Fix the problem
2) Come up with some rules for replacing the scoop that would ensure they didn't have to replace very many of them. They've done this before with the spontaneously-cracking windshields on the first-gen cars, using the "pen test". If a windshield cracked, and the service adviser could catch the tip of a ball-point pen in the crack, then "it must have happened from an impact", and they wouldn't cover the replacement.

With the bonnet scoops, they could institute some guidelines like "the paint has to be blistering", or "the scoop must have deformed at least X millimeters before we'll replace it under warranty".

 

People throw around "lemon law" here in NAM like it something you can do on your lunch break, or they think by mentioning it manufacturers wet themselves, sorry folks this is not the case.

Take my word for it, it is a long miserable process, and even if you have a legitimate claim and meet your states criteria, the manufacturer you go against will still prevail 80% of the time.

I'm not trying to be a downer but these are the facts.

 

That sounds more like the Magnuson-Moss act than the Lemon Law. I know several people that have forced buybacks under the Lemon Law, and you see plenty of buybacks on eBay (after the manufacturer has supposedly fixed whatever problem the dealer couldn't fix after many months and multiple attempts). I guess it varies from state to state, though. In Virginia, at least, the conditions that warrant a buyback are pretty clear.

I've never seen or heard of anyone pushing a M-M case all the way to court/arbitration and winning, though.

 

It's not the fact that's the downer, it's the attitude. Anyways, I'm just wondering what you can do in the future if they replace scoops till the end of your warranty and then you get another deformed scoop. Although in reality, the scoop is a small issue, I'm more worried about other parts getting exposed to this heat.

 

I believe that any parts that the dealer replaces are warranted for either two years or the remainder of the factory warranty, whichever is longer. So, if you get your scoop replaced and the new one warps within two years, they should replace it, even if the warranty on the rest of the car has expired.

(The warranty for replacement parts might only be a year for some parts/accessories, but if a replacement scoop hasn't warped in a year, it's probably not going to.)

 

Ah.. good to know. Thanks for the info.

 

You're welcome. I researched it a little bit when I heard some convertible owners were having problems with wear spots developing on their roofs. Since they take a while to show up, I wanted to make sure that if we had the roof replaced and the replacement showed wear spots after the regular warranty expired, that the replacement roof would still be warranted.

Of course, neither one of our convertible tops have any wear marks after 20k+ miles on each car, so I guess I was worrying for nothing.

 

Hi Everyone

MiniUSA is now saying I need to work with my SM. My SM says MINI says the temps are normal and no one else is reporting this issue.

I need everyone experiencing bonnet temps around 200F to report this to their local service department and MINI customer relations CustomerRelations@bmwusa.com . Also, please call the 1-800-831-1117 and ask for Laurie B at extension 6274, or transfer there directly. At least we can insure a single Mini rep is getting these calls.

I asked him for the documented technical specification for safe bonnet temps. He replied “MINI does not list acceptable temperatures for the bonnet under any condition.” I don’t know if that means there are no documented acceptable temperatures or MINI will not release this information. Either way doesn’t support their assertion that these temps are normal.

I asked why some owners are only experiencing 165F temps and others 235F, to which he had no reply. I need a fellow owner that is not experiencing the problem, near Mini of Towson, to meet me there to confirm the differences in front of the manager.

krut or aem421 - either of you game??

At this point I asked him if he can give me the temperature ranges that the radiator cooling fan turns on and off for the 07 MCS. He said he could get that for me, but has yet to deliver. If any of you know these temp, please pass them on.

If the fan isn’t kicking on at the correct temperature, I can at least get that fixed. Mayby the vehicles experiencing the issue have defective (or out of spec) temperature sensors and the ECU thinks the things are cooler they actually are.

MINI is in denial and definetly giving me the run-around!

 

I emailed the customer relations. I am still waiting to schedule a service appointment to when I have time. Further will they be cool if I schedule just for the hot bonnet?

Also, try your local mini club for a volunteer to go with you.

 

I'd love to but I still don't have my car back yet!

For some reason they only have one GT2 (or whatever it's called) computer and it broke. They are waiting for a new one to come in. As of today, it's still not in. They hope Monday. It's over 2 weeks now and I'm still driving the loaner. It's starting to get a little more than just frustrating.

Like I said, I'd love to help, but I don't even have my car! Sorry.

 

That really sucks. I would have thought by now they could diagnose a TPMS issue ... please update us on the thread you started regarding this.

I'm amazed that some folks are reporting no fan activity at all. My MCSa runs its fan full-blast for about a minute or so, every time, even on a cool day. The water pump runs for quite a bit longer. What duration of fan & pump runs are folks with this problem seeing?

 

[quote=pastabatman;1814303]That really sucks. I would have thought by now they could diagnose a TPMS issue ... please update us on the thread you started regarding this.quote]

Yes. I will keep everyone posted. It's pissing me off because the car's only 3 weeks old and they've had it for the past 2 weeks. I mean, jeez! Fix it already!

 

Speaking in general terms, to clarify additionally -

Magnuson-Moss is based on breech of a warranty, a Lemon Law buyback is based on and ultimately proving that a "unit" (auto for sake of our conversation), is unrepairable and can't be fixed in a under reasonable amount of times or repair attempts. Lemon Laws vary state by state, and Mag-Moss is federal. Mag-moss is more toward smaller consumer goods, Lemon Laws are based on vehicles. Threaten Mag-Moss related to your mini and MINI USA will all laugh about it behind you back after you make your "threats".

Texas is by far the easiest state to be successful under a Lemon Law claim, but in any case it is a ton of work, documentation, and in most cases you may even need a lawyer to be successful in a complete buyback.

Most manufacturers will always try to work you into trade out assistance toward another unit with the consumer paying some $ (based on the miles you have put on the unit),and the manufacturer working the deal through a dealer, that way the unit does not need to be labeled a "lemon" and can be repaired at their leisure, if at all. This usually occurs after a many, many hours of "leg work" by the consumer, the burden of proof is completly on you and they are not going to give you one ounce of help, obviously. Unless you get an LL atty and then you are spending dough out of your pocket.

Food for thought.