I have had my 06 MCSC a little over 39 months. He spends nights in the garage, weekdays in a sunny parking lot, and is washed every week or so with Meg's Gold Class car shampoo. I have put nothing on the molding in question. Has anyone else seen this kind of deterioration? The upper flange of rubber is about gone! This is the worst part, but it's cracked all the way around.

 

Yeah, that the same problem. Had dealership replace under warranty. It puzzled me how trim could crumble away only a year and half after the car was produced. Another quirk of mini.

 

WOW!!! Mine isn't that bad, but it is cracked all along the back trim. Only one little chip is missing...so far!

I haven't searched, but does anyone know how much that back peice retails? (no warranty)

Side note, has anyone's rain gutters cracked yet? Mine just did yesterday

 

I did search, and if I have the right one (and I'm afraid I do) it's $140/side. Of course, the next question is whether it's a reasonable DIY.

 

My car had similar deterioration when I purchased it used. I had this changed under warranty...as well as the convertible top and rear side windows (scalloped scratches on windows and "white marks"/wear on fabric top).

I also have significant wear at the rubber trim above the windshield and may get a replacement.

 

I just had the weather stripping replaced this week, it was flapping all around. While it was there I had them look at a tiny little pull in the top. I told them it may be small now but it will become a hole (I know this from the holes I patched in my old Celica). They contacted Mini corporate and got permission to replace the top. So that's getting done next week. The worst was that it took 3 days to get permission and they had to keep the car on site the whole time. I had to drive the Prius loaner car while they worked on him, the Prius is boring after driving a Mini. Whined the whole 3 days about missing my Tigger.
Luckily for the top replacement I'll be on vacation in Ca, we rented a Mustang convertible so I shouldn't be suffering as badly

 

I believe this is a constant problem with the convertible. On my 05 I had the trim replaced twice under warranty and on my 06 I found that the previous owner had it replaced once.

 

I'm in month 46 of the 48 month warranty, and I just had the trim replaced due to cracking. Also just had the top replaced due to two small holes on the driver's side top, just past the door. It looked like the frame was rubbing it too hard.

I've had the back windows replaced due to the scraping. Looks like they made an adjustment, so no problem with them now!

And I'm waiting on the parts to arrive to replace the driver's seat, where the seam has come apart, and the hydraulic motor mount that's leaking (another known issue that seems to happen around 40k miles), and the mushrooming strut tower.

Even with these problems, I love my MINI

 

Just got my car back from getting this done. Not so lucky on the warranty. Bought mine, one of the first Cabrio's no 48k warranty for me. $400+ later. Pissed it will happen again it seems, glad it wasn't something I did. Hope this rubber is better. You think it has to do with the exhaust and shape of the car?

I am going to have to be real vigilant about cleaning the back and conditioning this stuff often.

 

Can you buy these trim pieces and install them yourself to save some money?

 

Kinda what I've been trying to find out. It sounds as if no one has DIYed. I'm pretty sure you can order just about any part.

 

If you open the rear hatch and look under the weatherstripping, I think there are just a few screws that hold the trim in place. Should be an easy DIY.

 

Yes, you can DIY and it's fairly simple. As SMC stated above, you just have to open the rear hatch and you'll see the screws.

The trim piece goes for about $75-80 at the dealership. I've already replace 2 of them, not due to this issue, it was for customizing purpose. But, they are really straight forward to replace.

 

Is it REALLY that easy - 8 screws? What holds the forward ends of the trim piece in place?

 

When I bought my Mini it was cracking on both sides. Went to the dealer and bought 2 new ones ( I wanna say $65 each, couldn't find the recipt). Easy to do, just lift the rear of the top and screw them in.
That was the worst looking part of the car when I bought it, so $130 to have it look new wasn't too bad.