# I drove my Mini Cooper through 4" of water **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 26, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-my-mini-cooper-through-4-of-water/318682 "2005-08-26T03:21:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-my-mini-cooper-through-4-of-water/318682/41 "2005-08-29T02:49:13Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > Me, I will take door C. Door C is okay, but I prefer Glenn Miller. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-my-mini-cooper-through-4-of-water/318682/42 "2005-08-29T03:19:55Z")
> [@Boscibo](#): > > However, I did some searches and it seems like earlier standard Coopers (not the S models) did have lower air intakes and there have been reports of these engines being damaged from water in the intake. Tough luck. Maybe get a second opinion? **Lilith** , you need to follow up on this little bit of trivia. If it turns out your car is affected by this, then it becomes a design issue and may be something BMW needs to eat. The internet sites previously mentioned might be a good place to start with this kind of info. The other information listed here on pricing and hydrolock (and brake rotor rust) are spot-on. How old is this car, and what kind of mileage did it have when it succumed to [DHMO poisoning](http://www.dhmo.org/)? ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-my-mini-cooper-through-4-of-water/318682/43 "2005-08-29T11:38:44Z")
> [@Unintentionally Blank](#): > > **Lilith** , you need to follow up on this little bit of trivia. If it turns out your car is affected by this, then it becomes a design issue and may be something BMW needs to eat. The internet sites previously mentioned might be a good place to start with this kind of info. I doubt they will admit it’s a design issue, because it isn’t one. The Mini is not an SUV, it’s not designed to ford streams. It’s a sporty little BMW(-derivative). It probably has the intake mounted low so that it can suck up cold air, which helps performance. The manual warns against driving in deep water. If someone accidentally drives it into water and damages the engine, that’s the driver’s fault. The car won’t survive a direct impact with a tree either, but no one complains about design problems when that happens. Besides, you’ll never be able to prove that the water was less than one foot deep, and/or that you drove through it at a walking pace like the manual instructed. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-my-mini-cooper-through-4-of-water/318682/44 "2005-08-29T11:48:27Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > I doubt they will admit it’s a design issue, because it isn’t one. The Mini is not an SUV, it’s not designed to ford streams. It’s a sporty little BMW(-derivative). It probably has the intake mounted low so that it can suck up cold air, which helps performance. The manual warns against driving in deep water. > > If someone accidentally drives it into water and damages the engine, that’s the driver’s fault. The car won’t survive a direct impact with a tree either, but no one complains about design problems when that happens. > > Besides, you’ll never be able to prove that the water was less than one foot deep, and/or that you drove through it at a walking pace like the manual instructed. That’s hard to say without finding out how many cars have the problem. I’ve had vehicle recalls on some issues that seemed rather benign in my mind. If there’s a statistically significant number of cars exhibiting this problem, then it IS something that needs to be addressed. That said, I’m not sure if the OP has the most scientifically sound leg to stand on. Four inches of water shouldn’t be enough to ingest water, but it also isn’t enough water to close a road. FWIW, i’ve got a couple of Corvettes that I wouldn’t want to ford ANY depth of water with, based on intake mods that sacrifice water rejection for power. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-my-mini-cooper-through-4-of-water/318682/45 "2005-08-29T14:26:22Z")
> [@aerodave](#): > > I love when people do my reiteration for me. 🙂 Hey, when you are right, you are right. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-my-mini-cooper-through-4-of-water/318682/46 "2005-08-30T02:06:46Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > Don’t know where you got this, but it is 100% incorrect. When parked in a puddle the exhaust will blow bubbles, the intake will suck up water, jus like a straw. Actually yes, this can happen if you’re on the throttle hard then chop it while the exhaust pipe is submerged. It’s the reason jeeps and such with snorkel gear also have tall exhaust stacks and why they say when making a deep water crossing, stay on the throttle no matter what. However, we’re talking serious off-roading here. I’ve only seen this happening to off-road vehicles trying to ford a stream or something. I haven’t seen this on the street, although I would allow that it’s a theoretical posibility if you’re trying to drive through really deep water. Most likely though, water was aspired through the intake. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-my-mini-cooper-through-4-of-water/318682/47 "2005-08-30T02:27:47Z")
So close, yet so wrong. Look a tailpipe is pretty much a horizontal pipe running under the car. If you were to submerge the open end of said pipe, the pipe would fill up with water. Just like any other pipe placed under any other body of liquid. If you allow enough water to enter the exhaust system it will require increased pressure from the exhaust to blow the pipe clear. If the pressure requried above the pressure the engine can generate in the exhaust, the engine will stall, just as it would with a plugged muffler or a potato stuffed into the exhaust pipe. Just because water runs into an open pipe this does not mean that the exhaust will > [@](#): > > suck water back up through the tailpipe and into the engine, directly into the cylinders via the exhaust valves. the only way this could happen is if the engine ran backward. To suggest that an engine will run backwards so that it can suck water up the exhaust pipe into the cylinders, is well, just silly. You put a tall exhaust on a jeep or whatever you are going to ford streams with so that the exhaust does not fill with water due to the force of gravity, since the engine may not be able to clear the water out of the pipe. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-my-mini-cooper-through-4-of-water/318682/48 "2005-08-30T04:08:41Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > the only way this could happen is if the engine ran backward. Wouldn’t the gasses still go out the tailpipe even if the engine werre running backwards? Or would the exhaust valve become the intake valve? ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-my-mini-cooper-through-4-of-water/318682/49 "2005-08-30T17:13:07Z")
If you were to turn the engine backward, the exhaust becomes the intake, and the intake the exhaust. ---
**Author:** ![Lillith\_Fair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@Lillith\_Fair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lillith_Fair)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-my-mini-cooper-through-4-of-water/318682/50 "2005-08-31T13:40:38Z")
I just wanted to say thanks to aerodave for explaining about the rust on the brakes. I have learned a lot through this experience. FYI, the car had @ 35,000 miles on it, I bought it in May of 2003. The insurance adjuster saw the car yesterday and said that the air filter is soaked and the engine is full of water. He said the check will be in the mail within three days. I called the service department to authorize the new engine and found it should take about a week. So another week of driving in the battleax. With the boat rack on top and the bike rack on the back. The rust. The car filled with paddles, life jackets, ropes and dog hair. If only I had been driving that car when this happened! I might be getting a new car! Because that one is not worth fixing at 213,000 miles. I might have also had a kayak on top. I could have gotten home in it! Goodbye to this subject, and thanks for all your support and suggestions. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-my-mini-cooper-through-4-of-water/318682/51 "2005-08-31T13:53:11Z")
> [@Lillith Fair](#): > > I just wanted to say thanks to aerodave for explaining about the rust on the brakes. > > I have learned a lot through this experience. > > FYI, the car had @ 35,000 miles on it, I bought it in May of 2003. 🙂 Think of it this way, if it helps any: You’re paying $1000 to get a new car. (Well, motor at least) You know its quirks, you know the previous owner, and you didn’t have to deal with a salseman to get it…it just happens to have 35,000 miles of wear on the paint. ---
**Author:** ![Lillith\_Fair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@Lillith\_Fair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lillith_Fair)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-my-mini-cooper-through-4-of-water/318682/52 "2005-09-01T14:15:26Z")
And the paint was economical, too–the very wearable metallic green. Still looks new! And you won’t get tired of it like you might if it was a fun color like yellow or electric blue! (So said the master when we bought it. I let him pick the color–at least I was getting the car I wanted!) ---
**Author:** ![Dmanni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Dmanni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dmanni)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-my-mini-cooper-through-4-of-water/318682/53 "2018-12-22T15:55:13Z")
My wife has 2015 john Cooper works edition Mini Cooper. Yesterday driving home from work she crossed a 5 inch puddle slowly, then a truck moving quickly in the opposite direction created a little wave. Her car stalled. After several failed attempts to start it, we had it brought to the dealership. They immediately told my wife, before even looking, worse case you blew a motor. The fact that they said this before examining the car leads me to believe this is prevalent with the mini turbos. The turbo charger intercooler is a closed air system but on mini they apparently must pull air down low. Now I am told it’s 16k for a new engine. I could get a 430 horse ls3 for 5k. I know it won’t fit. It’s just the point. I drive a 2010 335i. Do I have to worry about such a trivial event totaling my car. The insurance company called it totaled. I am really disillusioned with Mini right now and am looking for a class action law suit to join. ---
**Author:** ![Dmanni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Dmanni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dmanni)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-my-mini-cooper-through-4-of-water/318682/54 "2018-12-22T15:59:41Z")
Was it electronic ignition or points. I remember in the old days when you wet points you weren’t going anywhere till they dried. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-my-mini-cooper-through-4-of-water/318682/55 "2018-12-22T16:09:16Z")
> [@Dmanni](#): > > Was it electronic ignition or points. I remember in the old days when you wet points you weren’t going anywhere till they dried. Welcome to the Dope. You revived a 13-year old thread, so it’s likely that the originator won’t be back to comment. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-my-mini-cooper-through-4-of-water/318682/56 "2018-12-22T17:23:31Z")
> [@Dmanni](#): > > My wife has 2015 john Cooper works edition Mini Cooper. Yesterday driving home from work she crossed a 5 inch puddle slowly, then a truck moving quickly in the opposite direction created a little wave. Her car stalled. > After several failed attempts to start it, we had it brought to the dealership. They immediately told my wife, before even looking, worse case you blew a motor. I checked a few pictures of the John Cooper works edition and it looks like there’s an air intake on the hood, which would be tricky to suck that much water into I would hope. They wouldn’t be the first company to put a non-functioning hood scoop on just for looks, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-drove-my-mini-cooper-through-4-of-water/318682.md?page=2)