There is a rip in this netting that goes up when the sunroof is opened, I would just like to remove the piece.
Does anyone know how to do it without breaking it?

 

i wouldn't remove it. its designed to block the air from rushing into the cabin and causing turbulence. push it down when you drive and you can feel what i mean.

 

I agree with Corin. It may look goofy, but does an important job. I can't see the rip in the photo, but maybe you can stitch it up?

 

They wanted $250 to replace it!
The rip is small and can be mended. I never had a car with one, I will push it down and see the difference.

 

It's actually pretty easy. I ordered a new one and am swapping mine out tomorrow. If you can wait I'm going to do a detailed "how to" post tomorrow.

The part was around $65 from ECS. Should be less than 10 minutes to swap out.

 

^^Man, you just gotta love this site!!!!!!!!!!
Agree with others, leave it in or you'll be sorry.

 

If you take it out it will make the lowest, loudest, most annoying sound you could ever imagine. Before you take it out, do yourself a favor and drive down the road and have someone hold it down at 45+mph and you might actually think twice about simply removing it. Also, there are sponsor dealerships on here with 20% off all the time you may want to consider.

 

I certainly wouldn't just remove the piece either without replacing it.

BTW......I consider this project a 2 on a 10 point scale with 10 being the most difficult. I am pretty mechanically inclined but I'd say if you can change your wipers or oil this one is a no-brainer. Certainly no reason to pay a dealer $250 when the part is less than $90 at the parts counter. IMO of course.

 

I submitted the following for the R56 "HOW TO" forum but it has to be approved by a moderator and I'm not sure how long that'll take (I'm kinda new here) so here ya' go.....

When I bought my JCW about a month ago I noticed that the wind deflector for the sunroof had a slight tear so while at speed I touched the torn area and the damage spread quickly like it was unraveling. So I checked on this site and posted about the problem without much response and I couldn't find any info on how to replace the piece so I poked around a bit and found the replacement part at ECS tuning for $67 (MINI part #54102755850) and went about the mini project. Aside from about 15 minutes of time all you need is the replacement part and a flat head screwdriver or pocket knife.

Here is my damaged deflector.....


Here is a pic of the new one with a closeup of the front retaining clips....



I opened my sunroof and the first thing I removed were the side spring clip thingies.....


I can barely reach in with my sausage fingers to pinch the clips in towards the spring to release them so I used a screwdriver/pocket knife to gently pry the clips inward (I was too lazy to look for my screwdriver at this point.....hence the knife in some shots)....



Once the clips are free slide the spring/clips towards the front of the car and this cutout in the aluminum rail.....


.....then tilt and lift the piece free.....


Just repeat for the other side....


Where it's attached on the bottom/front edge you can see the plastic clips where they protrude through the front of the sunroof tray......


....just gently depress each one with the screwdriver/knife while applying pressure on the deflector towards the rear of the car and they will release......


......presto, all gone.....


Notice how part of my plastic is broken in the center above the clip area. I'm not sure how this happened since I didn't hear/feel any damage while I removed this clip. i suspect it was probably cracked during installation when new or maybe this piece was replaced prior causing the damage (the broken piece came off with the old deflector). I'm not worried about it, it's not like it is really visible once the new piece is installed and, once installed, the deflector feels quite secure. I only point this out so it's realized that this area is not super sturdy and damage can occur (of which I take no responsibility so perform this swap at your own risk ).....


On to installation......

It was hard to get a clear pic of this using my phone but just line up the clips on the new piece to the slots......


.....and apply pressure towards the front of the car snapping them into place....


Orient the spring and clips like so.....


....slide it down through the cutout in the channel. Now here it is possible that the spring arm and clip will become separated as you apply pressure on the spring when it contacts the bottom of the channel. It's not a big deal just pull it out, reorient and try again keeping some pressure on the clip/spring to keep them together. It took me a few tries over about a minute with some trial and error. Again, my clumsy fingers don't help in tight spaces...




Once in the channel you may have to wiggle it a bit to orient the clips in the rails properly but I found they line up with minimal manipulation.....


Then just slide the assembly towards the rear of the car to lock in place and use the screwdriver/knife to make sure that the clips are snug in their locking positions....




Repeat for the other side.

All done......


Hope this helps!

 

Thank you so much, just what i needed, ordered and look forward to installing.

 

the one on my mom's subaru sounds like a helicopter when im going 50mph its kinda fun to act as if you're flying a apache helicopter

 

See here for updated post for the R56 section.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...r-r-and-r.html



Thanks