Was at my dealer today and in one of the accessory cases was a smoked plastic sunroof wind deflector for the MINI. I asked my MA about it, he said that they were selling quite a few of them, but he didn't know anything about them.

What I'm really interested in is whether or not it will cut down on the wind noise when the sunroof is open? I find that over 50MPH there is too much noise to keep the roof all the way open, but the vent is fine up to about 70. I like the sunroof but the noise can be unbearable.

I had my parent's V-70 wagon while they moved back in December and was surprised to discover that the Volvo's sunroof is extremely quiet even all the way open and doing 70.... I'd love to get the same for the MINI.

 

It's those stupid pop up wind deflectors that make all the noise. Try pressing them down while driving at speed. Voila! No more annoying noise! I took mine out and have been FAR happier ever since.

R

 

I bought a VentShade brand sunroof deflector at my local car parts store for $25.00. The one that is sold through MINI retails for $129.00, I believe. Be careful....to me they look the same.

Because of the larger size of the MINI sunroof, the deflector does not cut much of the noise. A lot of the noise comes from the wind hitting the two panes of glass at the rear edge of the opening.

IMHO, not worth $129.00, but at $25.00 it's worth the slight noise reduction.

 

>>It's those stupid pop up wind deflectors that make all the noise. Try pressing them down while driving at speed. Voila! No more annoying noise! I took mine out and have been FAR happier ever since.
>>
>>R

Actually I tried that, and found that the wind noise gets MUCH louder with them folded down.

I thought that the $129 was a bit steep, which was why I figured I post here first to see if it was worth my time... Cooperation, how far back does the VentShade go? Looks like the MINI one goes back about 4 to 6 inches (didn't look too closely)....

 

>>It's those stupid pop up wind deflectors that make all the noise. Try pressing them down while driving at speed. Voila! No more annoying noise! I took mine out and have been FAR happier ever since.
>>
>>R

Cool. I've wondered if they came out easily. But a couple of questions... 1) how difficult are they to remove? 2) do they go back once taken out? 3)did taking them out solve any sunroof rattling problems (since on mine, I think the rattling was due to the reflectors)?

I'd love to lose those things...

 

The deflector goes back 5 inches exactly...good guess.

 

I have to admit I'm kinda buddy-buddy with my dealer and I asked them to remove them the last time I was in. Appears to be just a pop in/out kinda thing. No big deal. Will take a closer look at it after work. :smile:

I dunno, maybe the wind noise is subjective?? I've had many other cars with sunroofs, some that go up and over, and some that go inside the headliner. Neither seemed to make a noise difference so I can't see how that's the issue here. But one thing I've noticed is that the "wind deflectors" that Cooperation is talking about CAUSE the wind noise I hate. Same thing for the flaps. They CAUSE the noise...or least they do to MY ears. When I'm driving at 60mph and push both flaps down 90% of the wind buffeting is eradicated. There will always be wind noise, but the harsh, loud noise and buffeting is now a thing of the past. Besides, now I can see better in front of me out the roof!

R

 

After reading this work, I oulled off the deflectors for the 60 mile ride home. The noise is less, but at 90mph with the windows up I got wind buffeting, this what the flaps are there to prevent. But I just closed the sunroof to the popped position and went on. At 60MPH with the windows down, almost no noise.

Thanks DAVBERT......