Member
Should I remove underhood insulation to eliminate MOUSE NEST problem? Replace it?
Due to a lack of garage space, I park my 2006 BMW 330Ci outside. Mice have nested in the underhood insulation over the wintertime, and regularly shred the foam insulation pad into pieces. When I parked the car in late November, maybe 1/10th of the pad was chewed up but now in late February (when the road ice is gone) about 1/4 of the insulation is shredded.A mechanic noticed that some wires in the engine bay had slight chew marks.
Should I just remove the entire insulation pad to eliminate the mice nest problem? I'm not sure what the pad is there for anyway -- is it to allow the engine to warm up more quickly in the wintertime or to suppress engine noise? I don't want to set out rodent poison because we have cats & owls in the neighborhood and I live in a rural area (with a large number of field mice).
I have driven the car hard at times at the local racetrack road course in the summertime, and I would imagine that removing the underhood insulation would help keep the engine cooler. What do you recommend?
Wagon meister :)
BMW Tech Expert
The pad is there to protect the paint of the hood, and to keep the noise down.
You can either replace the pad, with another one from a junkyard car, or buy a new one from around $100 bucks P/N: 51488193941. Just as an FYI, all E-46's use the same pad with the exception of the M-3.
Here in Germany we have Marders, they too like to chew on wires and insulation. What I do for my outside cars, is get dog hair, and stuff a handful into old pantyhose. Just hang a couple of these around the engine bay, and the critters will stay away.
Darin
Current:
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05 325it Electric Red(438)/Gray(N6TT) ZCW, ZSP 5sp Manual Back set cover, trunk mat, Euro Infra-Rot front windshield, and mud flaps! Mr. Wagon My new Winter car.
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M-Flight Member
Diesel Fitter
I removed mine for the same reason about 3 years ago. No problems since.
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Originally Posted by B4SH
Diesel Fitter
P.S. i do notice steam coming off the hood after driving in the rain, but otherwise, no issues.
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Jbird
Well removing the hood pad is not the real worry, the real worry is the mice might start eating things more important, like wiring, also the mice urine can be bad for your health, so be carefull. Remember those campers a number of years ago that were staying in those cabin tents at Yosemite and they caught a very bad virus from the mice droppings.
Member
Got rid of mine and replaced it with a dynamat type hoodliner.
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