Greetings!

Wondering if anyone can recommend an experienced mechanic in Ohio that could repair a convertible top on a 2016 Mini Cooper convertible? Top is stuck open with a grinding noise on the motor when trying to open or lock in place the top. I have not tried to manually close the top as described in the manual but may need to do so in order to transport the car for repair. The procedure is outlined in the manual but does not seem straight forward in my opinion and I don't want to damage anything further.

Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated.

TIA,
Jeff (Canton, Ohio)

 

MINI Dealer or a Convertible top place, like people that do custom cars or convertible tops. Most hot rod shops that deal with Haartz or Webasto tops as they are the OEMs, those are also the suppliers for most custom shops for domestic cars like corvette, mustang, etc... Most people dont know that.

Also here is all the F57 MINI Convertible info. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...nual-open.html

 

Thank you for the information! I ended up taking it up to Classic Mini yesterday after contacting many mechanics that did not want to work on a convertible top. Crooked River as well as the garage they recommended did not want to mess with a convertible top. Never realized that they were so challenging or a PIB (pain in the butt) to so many mechanics.

 

You are weclome. Let me know what they find.

 

Just an update on the cost and issues with my top for those that are interested.

Classic Mini in Willoughby, Ohio informed me today that the cost to repair our 2016 convertible top will be $5600. I'll post an itemized list next week once we get the car back however labor was quoted at $1100 with the remaining cost for parts. Their theory is that one of the cables first broke putting strain on the other cables and sunroof motor. The sunroof motor will also need replaced. Michael my trusted service adviser informed me that the technician working our vehicle is one of their top Mini technicians and someone who he has complete faith in.

FWiW..... this repair is a bummer for sure and I probably could have shopped around more to have it completed for less cost but I am confident that this repair will be done thoroughly and properly. ECSTuning does carry a number of parts for convertible top repair for those able and skilled enough to repair their own tops. I even found a 4 part YouTube video on the complete process of repairing broken top cables however that was pre 2016 which I believe is different from current day.

I would be interested in knowing if this (broken cable) is a common problem with Mini convertibles or whether my issue was simply poor luck. As they often say with BMW/Mini...... you often "pay to play".

Thank you again ECSTuning for your input!

 

Its common on the older Gen 1 MINI R52 2005-2008, not so much on the newer R57 2009-2015 and F57.

Glad they found the issues. On the newer MINIs for the F57 not many parts are available and not "a la cate" like the older R52. Yes most of the videos are for the R52, not much on the R57 and F57, systems look the same but they are totally different part designs and part numbers.

On The R57 and F57(yours) you have to buy sections of the top so the prices are much higher as you are replacing more parts to fix.

Glad to help.

 

Thanks so much for your input ECSTuning! Certainly makes me feel a little better about my issue knowing that there is justification for the relative higher cost of replacement parts for the convertible top.

FWIW.... My service advisor from Classic Mini informed me yesterday that this repair has a 2 year guarantee on parts and labor which is certainly a bonus imho. I was already looking at new Mini Convertibles trying to decide whether to lease a new one or keep our paid off one with only 40,000 miles. Our service advisor felt that this was a relatively rare incident in these Gen 3 models suggested that I should not worry about it happening again. Considering I have an interest in mechanical engineering, I would love to see the part that actually failed causing this cascade of issues. Our F57 is well cared for and is stored in a garage from November through March/April. the top is aways cleaned and waterproofed with 303 convertible top cleaner and fabric guard. Still trying to figure out how I could have better prevented this from happening. Also somewhat concerned that the 303 fabric guard itself could somehow penetrate the fabric and weaken any plastic parts through a chemical reaction.

BTW ECSTuning...... would appreciate your input and link to your store (if available) on what OBD code reader you would recommend for our 2016 F57 that also could be used on our 2022 Countryman?

 

Welcome!

This is the one i use on both my MINIs.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-schwaben...020sch01a~scf/