So....the mini is having issues. Again. Last week, it was kind of hot in Sac, so naturally, it would be normal for the mini to be running a little hotter than usual. But on the weekend, when it wasn’t hot anymore, it was still running hot. So I pop the hood and I see that there was an explosion of coolant that came from the top radiator hose. I had seen this same exact thing back in September 2009, and it was a cracked freakin’ radiator. Some design genius at BMW had the brilliant idea of idea of connecting the aluminum radiator core to plastic inlet & outlet hose ends. If either of those hose ends cracks or breaks, you have can’t repair it, you have to replace the ENTIRE radiator.
What made it worse was that this occurred on a Friday night and absolutely needed my car fixed asap (the reason escapes me, but I know it was important), and my normal shop, Edge Motorworks in Dublin, is closed on weekends, so I had to take it in to the stealership, which totally lived up to it’s name. Damn their high labor rates!
Without even thinking twice about it, I had it replaced with the same exact oem radiator, thinking it was just some kind of fluke accident and wouldn’t happen again. Well, fast forward 3.5+ years later, and it appears to have happened again. It looks exactly the same. But this time, I’m bringing it into Edge. When I called to make the appointment, they said they’ve never even heard of radiators cracking, that they’ve never seen one crack. I was kind of surprised, but I trust them, and it made me wonder if the freakin’ stealership pulled a fast one on me. I do have coolant leaking from somewhere, cause I have to add water every time I drive it, and it totally looks like it’s coming from the top radiator inlet hose end. I guess I’ll find out for sure when I take it in on Friday.
To be safe, I ordered an aftermarket, all aluminum radiator. It costs about the same as the stock radiator, it has no plastic parts to crack or break, and if it does somewhere crack or leak somewhere, it comes with a “no questions asked” lifetime warranty. Worse-case scenario, I have another cracked radiator, that’ll be replaced with a better one. Best-case, it’s some kind of repairable leak and I have to pay for the return shipping cost of the aluminum radiator. I’m fine either way, I just want my car running normally again.
Here’s a list of parts, not part of normal wear & tear like spark plugs or tires, that I’ve replaced on the mini after 159,300 miles:
front windshield (x2) - due to its sharp angle & bad luck
thermostat & housing (x2) - bad gasket
power steering pump & fan - fan failed, causing pump to overheat & fail
radiator (x2) - bad luck?
Next major maintenance is the clutch, since I’m still on the factory original. How long they last depends on the driver. Since a bulk of my miles were from my Fresno commute, all highway, I should be good. But I’m still kind of scared to floor it or anything cause once the clutch is gone, it’s gone. There’s no more “go”, can’t move the car, and you’re stuck wherever you are. I’m dreading the day that it goes, cause it’ll cost an arm & a leg, even at my shop, but at least I’m kind of prepared for it. The sucky part is not knowing exactly when it’ll go.
And I’ll also have to get new tires soon. Tires for the mini are not cheap, as with everything else. But I’ve definitely gotten my money’s worth on my current set. I think they were only supposed like between 50-60,000 miles and I have almost 70,000 miles on them. To extend the life, I had the tires flipped. But with so little tread left, I will not drive in the rain, won’t risk it. That right there should be enough to get new tires, but it hasn’t rained all that much lately, so I’m not that worried about. I’m hoping to squeeze at least another month out of them.
