Anyone having problems with the sunroof "hanging up" while you try to open it? I had this problem last year several times. Of course the dealer found nothing wrong, as it was highly intermittent. Things have been fine for several months, until yesterday. Fortunately driving over some bumps seems to release whatever is catching it, but I'm just curious if anyone else has experienced this.

 

I've had it act funny a couple times. Don't what causes it as it always catches me by surprise and I stop to think, was that me or did it just do something weird? Also, sometimes when I'm closing it from full open, it will stop at the vent position and make me release the switch and hit it again. Other times it will just continue straight to the closed position...

Oh well, as long as it doesn't hang in the open position and refuse to close, I guess it's good...

Mark

 

I think it's supposed to stop at vent--opening and closing. That's typical BMW. But you're right--a lot of times it just bypasses the vent stop.

 

I've had it 'stick' a few times, but it'll pop up after a few repeated attempts. It seems to only happen on warmer/sunny days, it acts like it's got pinch protection kicking in, eg starts to go move & then returns to the closed position. The seals might need a bit of lubrication or the software might need an update/calibration to make it less sensitive, I'm waiting for some real summer weather to see if it's really a problem.

 

Mind does this and that is the same thing I noticed/thought....

 

Mine kind of "catches" like the hinges are binding on the way open...thinking of just lubing it up a little bit...

 

My sunroof sticks too occasionally. Usually when I'm just trying to open both of them alittle. I "close" the unopened roof and then hold the button to open it all the way and that tends to clear it.

That's not the same as fixing the problem, though.

 

Yes I noticed this too, I think it only happens when it gets hot outside. My wifes Grand Prix also does this till the windows are opened and things start to cool down inside.

 

Also has happened to me twice in the last week. It has happened after the car has sat in the sun for awhile, works fine after the car cools down a bit. Was starting to worry it was because I had just tinted the sunroof. Glad to see others are having this problem as well. Any of you have aftermarket tints on your sunroofs?

 

That happened to me yesterday morning at 8:18am, 75 degrees OAT, driving southbound towards Phoenix.

Weird that I should find this today.

It would open about 3mm, then shut. I would hit the button again and the same result would occur. It did that about 7 times until I had to take my hands off the button and steer. I tried it again after turning the corner and it worked.

I won't take it to the dealer until the oil change is due as it is a 75 mile one way trip. I only have 2 issues (this one and the radio fritzed once) for them to look at. I can already tell what the answer will be, "cannot be duplicated," and nothing will be done.

 

We are experiencing similar problems. The roof will start to pop up and then return to the closed position several times, then it will open properly. I chalk it up to english electronics!

 

Wow--never considered temp as a possibility until N1tr0 suggested it. Everyone else is from a hot area! Maybe that's why it hasn't been doing it lately--it's been winter. I'm going to monitor this thread (it's mine, afterall ), and see if I can get some sort of feel for frequency.

When the R56 first came out I was the first to report a problem with the cruise control. Eventually enough reports came out that MINI took them seriously and wrote a software fix. Maybe this will be the same situation--complaints = action of some sort? I know if I just take it to the dealer I'll get the old "couldn't duplicate" and "and you're the first to report this" song and dance I always get. Note to Heather--not referring to you, wink, wink.

Please--everyone, get people to post on this thread until we get some numbers!

 

I'll weigh in. My sunroof doesn't always open. I've not identified a pattern... yet.

 

Deb- I've had the up and down up and down thing happen a few times. But as for not opening at all, I used to own a Mazda MX-3 with a sunroof. It stuck all the time, but that was a function of the gasket sticking in the hotter months. (I won't say summer since it is hot down here 9 months out of the year.) I just learned to press it open with my hand. But as to the up and down thing. I figure it is a software glitch that I haven't seen in a while. On another note, at some point, when my MINI was in for service, it was reprogrammed to recognize the detente point so it opened to the "pop up" setting to vent and then open full. If only they would change it to give us a one-touch or double-click full open and full-close. What a pain when you park it to close the windows and sunroof.

Dan

 

This is about as close a description as I can think of. I pull the toggle, there is a sound like the seal is releasing, and it moves about 1/4". At that point it stops--won't open to the tilt and of course, won't open fully. I had been thinking the problem was a metal part that was poorly machined. At one point in a former life we had a latch problem with the canopy on an airplane we owned, and it turned out that something was not releasing (not electric, etc).

When I get home I'm going to print out all of the responses to date and ask my SA to contact MINI. I now realize there is something going on. The relationship to heat seems pretty clear to me. When I drive the car with a stuck sunroof I got the impression that it was "bumping" past the problem. It now appears that the more likely scenario is that it releases as the car's airconditioning cools it enough!

In the greater scheme of things, this isn't the sort of problem that is life or death (unless of course, I crash into a pond, my MINI is sinking with me in inside and I need to get out! ). I would like to fix it, though, if only for the challenge. The cruise control problem I referred to did ultimately have a fix, although it took about 5 months for the software to be developed, and cars built after about mid-2007 were already properly programmed..

I find all of this interesting. NAM, and boards like it, provide a tremendous source of information. I've heard some MAs and SAs poo-poo them, but on a relatively low-production car like the MINI, there are so many advantages to linking people together. I actually started the thread because I wanted to know if I was alone!

 

Yup.

 

I've had it happen two seperate times in the last 2 weeks. The weather has been warmer, but certainly not hot (80f). The first time it happened I was opening the windows and sunroof remotely and not really watching until I heard a weird noise. I glanced at the sunroof and saw it pop shut. I though "huh" I guess you can hold the button on the remote too long and it shuts. I got in the mini and tried to open it manually and it popped up about 1/2" and immediately shut. I tried this 5-6 times before I figured it was truly broken. (I'm persistent ) I didn't want it stuck in the open position so I stopped trying.
I tried it once more a day later and it worked, but again, worried it would stick open and with wet weather still a possiblilty, I immediately shut it.
When describing to a friend what the sunroof did, it actually repeated the problem. I thought, lovely, my mini's broken and right at a time when I want to be able to open the sunroof!
I've been too busy to call my MA, but I hope to get it reported/fixed asap. I want to drive with the wind in my hair!

 

Precisely the reason I wouldn't own a car without one! There are, believe it or not, quite a few days when a/c isn't needed if you have a breeze, and on the RIGHT day they are fabulous. Like last winter when I was laying out a route, the sky was blue, traffic light, nice twisties, and...there was a hole in the roof!

 

I have two 05s. MC, MCS. I've had a situation where the Sun Roof would stick (to a halt) while closing, and then return to the open position. I simply gave it a very short burst of WD40 in the track near the area where the frame connects with the drive "screw" which pushes the unit forward and backward.

I have no further problems.

Louisiana is a very Hot, Humid location. I recall that it was it the summer when this was occurring about two years ago.

 

This is exactly what has happened to me on numerous occasions tho intermittently. The nearest MINI dealer is 100 miles so I haven't complained yet.

The last time it happen was a sunny day, my car was outside with the roof closed. The previous occasion my car was again outside, but this time it was open (cracked) and I had to run out to shut it as it started raining. Of course it wouldn't move more than a little, doh!

Each time it clears up in a minute but you can get wet in less time.

 

I had this happen to me twice over the last 3 weeks. The roof would try and open, move about 1/2 inch, then close. If I push up on the rear glass when opening, she opens right up. I used some grease with a paint can lid remover to push the grease into the track. Now she glides normal. My guess it is the dust which gets into the track up here in the desert. Sounds like lube is in order.

 

I just had this problem...My car is 1 month old. I'll see how it goes, as it did open up eventually.

 

It has happen to my 07 MCS when I leave my car out in the sun for about an hour. I think the heat causes the switch to malfunction because it doesn't happen when I don't leave my car out in the sun.


+1 add me to that list

 

Tell the dealer to leave you car out in the sun for about an hour and it will happen.............

 

Did it again yesterday, 94 degrees OAT after sitting in a parking lot for 30 minutes.

This time it pissed me off.