Gas Recirculation Valve (egr Valve) problems of the 2006 Mini Cooper S

For about 2 weeks now I have noticed that my cooling fan comes on each time I turn off the engine and then it shuts off after a minute or so. So I thought that the fan was just acting up or something. However, yesterday I also noticed that the engine temperature gauge was at the maximum (250 degree f) and the indicator red light had come on. I had been driving for about 20 minutes at about 50-60 miles per hour on side roads (so I had been stopping at lights at intervals). The weather is actually unseasonably cool (60-70 degree f), and I had been changing gears (I have the automatic with sports drive). So naturally, when I turned off the engine the cooling fan came on again and didn't turn off for another 3-5 minutes. So on the way back, I drove at about 30 miles with my hazard light on as I was driving on the free-way and put it on cruise control. But the temperature gauge still went up to about 3 quarters of the way and the fan kicked on after I parked it after about 15 minutes. The manual says to immediately stop the car and let the engine cool down if the temperature gauge goes past the half-way point. I have an appointment with the dealer in 2 days for what I thought was a cooling fan problem. But this seems like an engine issue. So I am planning to get the car towed to the dealership first thing in the morning.

I started leasing my Mini cooper in 11/2005. I had leased cars with mitsubushi prior to this for 8 years with no problems. Recently, I was coming home from the airport in my Mini cooper. It started to "clunk", seized, I pulled over - then black and green fluid started pouring out of the front of the car. The roadside service sent a tow truck to pick me up. I sat in 95 degree heat on I-95 for 1 hour and 45 minutes waiting for the truck. The truck came and we took the vehicle to the closest BMW dealer - the dealer I leased from - princeton BMW. They looked at the car and told me that it would not be covered under warranty - even though the car was only 8 1/2 months old and had 6,300 miles on it. They told me that the reason was that the car had gone through water and this was not covered. 2 weeks prior to this event, I went through water on a regular street in my area, the car stopped, I started it up and went on my way. I then proceeded to drive the car down the shore, to work, etc with no problems, no engine light or warning signs. On July 9, I drove to the airport, parked the car, and went on a business trip. On July 11th the incident on 95 occurred. I have never had a car that was not able to go through water on a street.