Chillax.

 

I don't want to make you even more paranoid lilcoopr but I finally got my pics... The passenger side is much worse than drivers. Manufacture date 06/02.

Passenger side:





drivers side:

 

I just met with Erik Luchsinger - Field Service Engineer

He has 20 Mini dealerships he is responsible for..... he saw the rust and said he has never seen this before and when i told him that it is being reported daily on NAM .... he said he did not know of the site and that anything can be done with photoshop...... He said that he needs to see more cases..... he has asked that all of you with the problem email your VIN numbers to Dave Cote at dave.cote@atlantabmw.com. He has doubts about this and BMWs responsibility...... you don't want to know hat hapened to the hair on the back of my neck at that point....I stayed cool and said a few things about my background with manufacturers and told him I would get support from other owners with the problem...... please swamp Dave's email......get their attention and call your local guya s well because they are not spreading the word among themselves. C'mon team....RALLY

Dave's phone number is 678 569 7523

Eric's 800 626 2484 ext 6355 ErikLuchsinger@bmwna.com

 

I think this thread should be moved to the MINI Talk forum. Not enough people are seeing it here, and this is a major problem.

 

I was not sure but we need support on this

 

thanks for the picts. man, that's pretty bad...!!

 

Can you elaborate on exactly what kind of product you're talking about?

 

Why don't you e-mail Motoring File and get through to them that this is not (despite what they had reported) an 02 problem and this is not a case of good old-fashioned hysteria - the majority of the cars seem to have this issue and they seem to have some connections....................

Everyone who thought that BMW would take care of you no questions asked better check their heads and start prepping for the worse - it will take alot of people making alot of noise to get them to act.

 

I bolded and italicized a couple important points - Photoshop, doubts about BMW's reponsibility...........sigh.

Congrats to BMW for accurately capturing the complete essence of the old Mini - electrical problems, rattles and rust!

 

Edit: never mind; I misinterpreted a post...

That Photoshop comment is priceless...

 

will some one go to my thread about the notice in MINI talk post the link to this thread...thanks

 

The thread is already stuck to the top of Beneath the Bonnet. We did the same thing in the past for the stumble issue.

 

Chris:

I have already seen two 05s with the problem.

I fully expect the worst from BMW and Bob's post is going a long way to proving my point. In one post both a vague accusation of doctoring photos was made and stammering about BMWs responsibility - not good........

The other point was sarcastic - Motoring File stated that this was an 02 problem and that this thread was full of good old fashioned hysteria. Gabe seems to have some connections at BMW and could put the information in this thread to good use if he chose to.

Instead, the issue was downplayed and the early reporters were accused of being hysterical.

 

Has anyone also taken this issue to MINI2.com and the OL, other places MINI and BMW already know about, also will bring more attentions to the issue, I'm sure if this is as common as we has experianced that MINI owners around the world would be experiancing the same problems.

 

This begs the question .... Who, with rust, HAS had the dealer do a yearly inspection? And the commentary that from MINI's website it does indeed say perforation meaning, to me, they are going to want to see a hole before they do anything ... Is it not interesting that the 02/03 MYs have only a SIX year rust warranty meaning thats its possible there will be holes by say MY09 and MINI would no longer be responsible? Isn't that just a bit strange?

 

I defintitely have rust spots on my 04, albeit very small. I wonder if this was the reason for the increased rust perforation warranty I received from MINI? Surely they cannot say this is not covered by the 12 year rust warranty?

 

The meaning of the language used in the Rust warranty was a bit of a verbal jousting point.... it is complete bulls%%t......start filling the inboxes with VIN numbers of problem cars...that is not hysteria it is case issues that they need to deal with..... they sky is not falling.....it is a simple case of a product with a problem...they simply need to be made to acknowledge it...

He said "get it fixed and if we can verify it is our responsibility we will pay for it"

 

Apparently my post on MotoringFile is taken the wrong way by a few people. I mean no disrespect by using the term "mass hysteria". In fact I stand by my claim that it is hysteria. It just also happens to be a huge potential problem. Calling something hysteria doesn't mean it's not a real problem. I was just trying to convey the sense of urgency and emotion that this issue is generating.

Now for the real reason of my post:

If anyone would like to send their rusty MINI pics to me for a little MotoringFile project I'm planning, email them to gbridger@gmail.com with the build date and whether or not you've installed an aerokit. I can guarantee a few folks at MINI will see them.

And a little photo tip: For close-up shots make sure your camera is set to macro mode.

 

I emailed the guy and received a very prompt reply:
"This info with your vin and photo will be forwarded and documented by MINI engineering. Is there a roof rack or aerokit installed on this vehicle?"
For the record, I do not have a roof rack nor an aero kit.

 

I'll send you a couple of mine. Unfortunately, as you can see from my pics above, the real close-up came out blury.

 

After a short ride in a thunder shower I came home and ran into this thread. So I went out to my 04 and pulled the weather strip from the door sills. Both were soaking wet, the weather strip seems to capture the water rather than prevent it from getting in. After inspecting further in an effort to try to find how the water could get in I found a small hole about even with the upper hinge on the left side and about a 1inch cut on the right . All the water hits the windshield runs to the A pillar and down into this area. Once inside the weather strip it captures on the rib the doesnt seem well painted as it is a weld joint with water able to get right inside between the two pieces that are welded together. Now the weather strip acts as a incubator to create rust. Bad design to say the least. Maybe some 50 yr. silicone calk injected in the cuts will do the trick or maybe BMW should come up with a new weather strip to prevent this

 

Oh wow! Another "characteristic"!

I mentioned this thread to my VW-loving lover boy and he brought up the very sincere question; why are there never any class-action lawsuits against MINI/BMW? Apparently, VW enthusiasts form lynch mobs over everything.

Why don't we?

I pulled my weather-strip very quickly the other day and it was quite wet under there (hadn't rained in several days). Didn't scrutinize, as I couldn't bear to consider what I might find -- at least not at this point in the life cycle of my car. Maybe I'll do it now...

 

peeps.. get our act together.. swamp that bmw email asap.. give motoring file ur pics aswell.. get out act together asap b4 bmw comes up with a way to get out of this...

 

neato... i have it, too

 

I brought my 02 in for some unrelated issues before my warranty expires tomorrow. I asked for the undercarriage pressure-wash, which I assume also includes an underbody inspection. I was told that the dealer did not offer this service. It clearly states in the manual that 'your MINI dealer will be happy to perform this service at no charge'.
I then showed him the door sills and mentioned NAM. He checked this thread and called MINI USA. I was the first to report it at this dealership and I was told that MINI is not offering any repair of this problem at this time. I checked out the 06's and they have a beautiful paint job in this area with no unpainted rectangle. That leaves the 02 through 05 builds at risk. I won't wait for MINI to address this-to my body man next week.