There definitely is a difference in the temp of the scoop with the shield in place. The new scoop has better air coming through the vents as well. I guess I was taken care of pretty good by my dealer. They told me they had to order both the scoop AND the heat shield as they were not in stock. I wonder if there is a new bulletin about the scoops?
Hah.... Apparently the extra insulation is supposed to be a part of the warranty fix. I called the dealer and gave them the part number for the insulation. They looked it up but weren't sure what it was because it was in German. I email pic's of the underside of your hood JC55MINI. The part is on order and they will install it when it gets in. Thanks! JC55MINI
I'm guessing... that they use the same mold with different plastic, but found that wasn't good enough and added the shield. But it's just conjecture. Anyway, Engineering over bean counters or beancounters over engineering? I can hear it now... "This is Gerd in Warranty Accounting. We're still fixing tons of hood scoops. Even with the new plastic? Can't you guys in engineering just make a heat shield or something? A piece of metal and two bolts will cost us about .2355976 Euros per car, but that's less than the .79886565 that we loose on each scoop." "But Gerd, the heat tranfer modelling that Hans and I did shows that the new scoop is fine!" "But Helmut, we're still getting warped scoop claims." "Then Gerd, next time I request the money to get the upgrade to my modelling software, you should approve the expense!" "Whatever Helmut.... It's not all about you. Now what about a heat shield?" "Ja, Ve can do that." "Great! And then we can go back to the cheaper plastic. That will save us 0.0076 Euros per scoop!" Or something like that.... Matt
Matt - LOL, you're giving the bean counters a lot of credit, if you mention the word scoop to the ones I work with they think it's time to get ice cream (with someone else buying). Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk
"You know, you'd be better off just trading in your MCS and getting an MC rather than wasting your time on these scoop updates that aren't effective." Justacooper owners finally get a chance to reverse the table on the "HP mods? Trade it in for an S" responses they've been hearing for years :lol:rrr:
It's interesting that the dealer considers the turbo rust issue as "normal". It looks like perhaps its being addressed on the new Countryman S. So..... design flaws are "normal". Fixes are "new and improved". Not sure what fluid is being supplied by the tube on the "cold side" of the turbo. If it's the oil line, then they moved it away from being directly over the "hot side" to prevent "oil coke"?
I don't see where you get design flaw out of this discussion. The man has a piece of tubing that the plating didn't hold up on, that's all. I seriously doubt it has anything to do with the design of the turbo installation, but more to do with where he lives - in a place where they salt the roads like crazy. Worst case, at some point he'll be replacing a $20 line.....and the one that's rusting is a water line, not the oil line. I also don't see a coking problem, since the turbo's bearing and housing are water cooled, if there was going to be a coking problem that's where it would be. I have read that a couple of people have had a clogged oil return line, but in all of those cases their oil had never been changed and the cars had well over 20K on them. Seems pretty obvious what the issue was there.... So, other than better plating or powder coating on the affected line or some such, I don't see a design flaw situation.
Perhaps...... Or perhaps not..... I'll bet the Countryman could have used all of the exact same R56 turbo pieces (saving $'s). Yet, they made changes on the lube/cooling plumbing. As well as that little cover ( maybe people were getting burned, however no room for the "hot Hand" logo). Shouldn't have needed to make the changes for hood clearance? So it's all conjecture at this point. However, I do see moving the line away from the hot side if the turbo, if it's the oil line, as a good thing. Mine still is very hot even after the cooling pump shuts off. And yes, the new design will probably still rust. And yes, I'll still consider it a design flaw, as for just a tiny bit more, it should have been made out of T304 stainless. But that's just my opinion.
I think the bulk of the changes to the Countryman were due to packaging, the addition of the All4 components takes some room, and under the current configuration - there was none! Purely conjecture on my part too......although if they found a better way to do it in the interim or while looking for some extra room under the hood, it would not be unusual to take that opportunity to introduce those changes.
I just think its sad for a 2009 MINI to show that kind of rust damage after only..... what one, maybe two salt seasons? OK, here's an example, and I know the accountants hold the purse strings in any business, but if they had made those lines out of stainless steel it probably would have added less than a a couple of dollars. The manufacturing and installation costs would have been exactly the same, the only difference being the raw material costs. I very much doubt that all of the lines would have weighed more than a pound total. Current selling price for mild steel is roughly $0.60 per pound, T304 stainless steel about $1.90 per pound. So the difference about $1.30 (I'm being generous because I don't think we are dealing with a pound of raw material). Granted this probably only shows up in those areas of the country that use salt. So why add $1.30 extra cost for all MINI construction? Because it's not justified. The rusted lines are not a problem. In reality I would have gladly paid an extra $1.30 on top of my $36,750.00 2009 MINI price.
I agree MM. And just for clarification, that is one winter on that turbo. May not be an overall design flaw, but a flaw indeed on mine.
You can mitigate some of this by washing the engine compartment of corrosives. Plus I don't think it covers it but there is a 12 year rust guarantee on all MINIs.
Basic math good... but you forgot a few steps.... Supplier cost delta $1.30. Add overhead and the like. Book cost delta $2.00. Add average margin on the part; cost delta now $3.50 when sold to MINI. MINI mark up on part cost. Sales price delta now ~$5. the Mini is expensive enough as it is! While it's true that this could have been fixed for a relatively small cost, you look at all the little bits and pieces where they could step up with better materials, and you've added a couple grand to the price of the car. That said, this one may justify a change, and we'll probably see one if there start to be a lot of faults on it, during warranty! If it lasts longer than that... well, it may be a part that the prudent would paint with some high temp rust barrier paint..... Matt
VHT to the rescue. If that $2.00 part goes bad it will be a real pain in the tochus for sure. MINI/BMWs only goal is to make as much money as possible & spend as little as possible in making the MINI.
Well....... I didn't forget about the costs you pointed out because they should have all been in there in the original part. Granted a scosh higher for the SS, but not much. It's not so much what something costs anyway.... It's about what someone wants to charge for it. Now hopefully Richard (OG), can check something. I hope I'm not straying off topic. With his recent DIY turbo mod from WMW, I noticed he has the new line routing away from the hot side of the turbo. To me it looks almost like MINI changed the metal the line is made from. If a magnet sticks, it still plated steel. If it doesn't stick, there's a good chance it's been switched to SS.