I received my new baby, a Mellow Yellow MCS, on Nov. 29, 2008. I absolutely love the car! This morning my neighbor came to my door asking if I knew that both of my windows were down. Did I say that we are having constant downpours, and that it has been raining since midnight?! The car is soaked! Water is standing in the new Tuscan Biege leather seats! Water is standing and sloshing in the foot well! The steering wheel and dash board are soaked! There is water standing in the tray below the E-brake! What a mess!!

I contacted the dealer after I confirmed that the key fob has to be held down for the windows to open. The dealer tells me that they have heard of the problem with '07s, but this is the first for an '09. Warning for '09 owners; beware of leaving your baby out in heavy rain!!!

Midwestern Auto Group is the dealer. They are sending a loaner car to my house, and they say that they will investigate and "take care of" the issue. I'm thinking new car with the problem fixed before it gets here!

 

Let everyone know what you find out.

Thanks for posting. I too have a 09 MCS. Will be sure to check him over.

Hope everything gets sorted the way you want. Remember to keep smiling

 

WOW!!! What a bummer!! Thank you for the warning!

Boy, would I be upset. You are clearly handling it much better than I could. I wouldn't have been able to even type, let alone put together a logical thought process and email.

Wait. I can't do that when I'm NOT upset!

 

Donkey has been in a few heavy rains and has come through fine. Maybe you got a finicky one.

 

Hasn't happened to me yet, but I'll keep aware. Thanks for the warning.

 

I wish you luck. But, I can already hear Mini saying, "We couldn't duplicate the problem. You must have just left the windows down."

 

You need to search in the "problems" forums (I don't have time to do it now), but there are some other reports of windows down from '09 owners (if I remember correctly).

Sorry, and good luck with getting it resolved.

 

The dealership diagnosed the problem as a wet sensor in the driver-side door handle. It will be replaced and tested before they return the car either Friday or Monday. I am told that it has been disassembled and is being properly and thoroughly dried. The dealership is expecting it to be "100%" when it is returned. Thanks for your good wishes.

 

glad to hear its getting fixed. and glad that MAG is being so nice.

 

So sorry to hear about your car!

Thanks for the heads up on this. My '09 is on the way to the dealership, and I'll ask my MA about it when I pick up the car.

I actually had a similar problem one night on my 1st gen. MINI when the unlock button got held down by accident while it was in pocket. Woke up the next morning to all the windows and sunroof open! Luckily, it wasn't raining that night.

 

ya I can see this problem happening from the safety feature that's supposed to roll down the windows and turn on the lights if you drive into the water.

Were your lights on as well?

I suppose the sensor is supposed to be protected from the rain, but if it isn't.....

 

Apparently can happen with condensation from temperature change, too, going by the Stock Problems forum.

It'd be a cool feature if it was less sensitive

 

Glad to hear that the problem was diagnosed and that the car is dried out. For me, MAG service has always been really good. Sam is one of the best service advisors I've ever met and he understands both the MINI and the MINI owners.

 

hmmm condensation, I guess if it can bring down a B-2 it can screw up a mini too.