One of the more recent small design changes that MINI has recently released is a new cowl vent design (found behind the bonnet and in front of the wipers). The reason for this is that MINI found that the foam material underneath the octagon shaped plastic will eventually disintegrate after a couple years of use.
I had been following the progress of the slow destruction of the vent on my own early 2002 MINI for about a year now. However when it got to the point that the left side was almost completely gone, I thought it was time to act.
After showing this to my MINI service tech, I was informed that “they are replacing vents on '02 and '03 cars, no questions asked, when they show sign of obvious wear”. It wasn't clear if “they” was MINIUSA or my local dealer, but I was told it's getting to be more common. I suppose I should take some sort of pride in knowing that, according to the tech, mine was by far the worst they had ever witnessed.
The new piece can be seen on all 2004 MINIs. It still has the same octagon-patterned plastic cover, but underneath, instead of foam, there are black plastic vents (seen in this recent gbmini.net article). I believe the entire vent has gone from two parts to a single piece of plastic.
<p>I was always suspicious of that thin foam under the vents. After only one winter of heavy slushy crap falling from the sky and sitting on the hood, my foam had torn on both sides.</p>
<p>Had them replaced with the newer-style single-piece vents no problem at the dealer (they actually swiped a pair of vents from a newer car)… but according to the dealer and others in the PhillyMINI group I asked, no one had such a problem up to that point.</p>
<p>The new plastic vent seems a bit thicker, the honeycomb smaller/tighter, but has had no discernable effect on the cowl mod.</p>
<p>At any rate, glad to see MINI being proactive.</p>
<p>What is the function of those cowls anyway?</p>
<p>Actually, I saw some later deliveries of 2003 MC & MCS last year have this new plastic vents at Bill Jacobs MINI, Illinois.</p>
<p>The new ones look much nicer than the old ones – my old ones were <em>not</em> wearing but I was happy to pay the small ($25) cost to smarten my car :)</p>
<p>Had mine replaced in 11-03-03 and had my MSC scoop foam replaced in 11-17-03. NO CHARGE.</p>
<p>ANTSMINI, AIR VENTS…R</p>
<p>hey antsmini, i beleive, well actually im sure on my mcs that the brake lines runs right underneath those vents (not sure if the design is different for the cooper, but im i think its the same)i think that the purpose of the vents is to keep the brake lines cool and preventing them from buckling under too high temperature</p>
<p>I have a late '03 MCS (in fact, I took delivery exactly one year ago today) that doesn't have the foam. I believe the build date was the second week of May 2003.</p>
<p>I wasn't sure when the change over occured but I suspected late in 2003. It's very typical of BMW (and now MINI) to introduce small changes like this during the model year.</p>
<p>I can second Tom & Gabe on that. I took delivery of and early-June '03 build MCS, and I have the updated cowl vents w/o the foam.</p>
<p>That was actually one of the first things I noticed about the car was that there was no foam beneath the vents, of course I didn't really think anything of it at the time…</p>
<p>I had my dealer change them under warranty and the new model fit beautifully with the aero front grill!</p>
<p>Tom, my 03 MCS had a build date of 2nd week of May. Took delivery July 3rd 2003. I have the foam on my vents. Why the variation?</p>
<p>I don't know John. Could be that the second week was when the change occured and yours was one of the last with the foam and mine was one of the first without. We would have to compare VIN's to see who's car was built first. Did your MCS come over on the Tosca?</p>
<p>My vents are definitly in need of replacment . Thanks for the headsup ! </p>
<p>MINIDryvr.Textamerica.com</p>
<p>To answer ANTSMINI, those vents in cowl allow air into the cabin.</p>
<p>To correct Ken ,answering ANTSMINI's question,Unlike some cars, the cowl vents chamber isolates engine heat from the cabin, and feeds the Alta air cleaner fresh air.</p>