I have a 3 day old 2010 Cooper S R56 with 150 miles on it, and I have already experienced a problem. The heat is noticed as soon as I open the hood, even after driving for just 5 minutes, its very hot under the hood. I have never had a turbo engine, in fact I have only ever had 1 vehicle before so maybe its normal in the Mini but its much hotter than I thought it should be.

The main concern I am having though is that today, after driving for about an hour I got home and was unloading the car of groceries. When I turned on the car to go park it, it immediately died. Ive had the ipod charging and playing the whole time and the music cranked, but even so its hard to imagine that this is drawing enough battery power to kill my car. I havent left the car on when I am not in it at all, not even for the unloading of groceries. The car died upon starting twice in a row. I had to turn off the stereo and start the car, and it really sounded like it might die, but didnt that time. Is this a problem I need to take in to the dealer to get looked at, or call them out even (unfortunately the nearest dealer to me is about 1hour 20mins) or am is the ipod really sucking that much juice by being on constantly?

 

I'd try charging the battery first , or have the battery tested (car parts store)

 

The "S" engine has the turbo (nearly as hot as the actual exhaust manifold itself) right on top in the front of the engine compartment, so when you open the hood, it's the nearest item to you. So yes, you WILL feel heat, and that is not necessarily an indicator of a problem, but let the dealer reassure you on that point.
As to the battery issue, some questions here:
Are you powering your iPod from the car? If so, is the outlet you are connected to live when the key is turned off? If not, you may be surprised at the number of OTHER systems in the vehicle which are also powered up with the key on, which are more likely to be a source of significant current drain than the iPod.
Assuming you are not listening to the music on ear buds, you must also have the car stereo system powered up plus whatever else comes on at that condition.
Given the vintage of the vehicle, I'd certainly be inclined to letting the dealer have a go at setting things right. That's why the pay them the big bucks, you know!
Bob