I have had a couple of melts on the driver side mirror and on the side panelling of the door....I dont know whats caused it at all? Anyone had the same experience? My car is still under warranty...BUT no one can tell me whats the cause? Hoping that someone out there has had experience and can provide comment. I have attached a couple of pics.

 

Do you park the car somewhere that a concentrated reflection of sunlight can hit it?

 

It is parked outside - but I have had other cars parked in the exact same spot before I bought the Mini (they were Honda Civic and a Chevy Aveo) - nothing ever happened to those...

Is this a mini defect?

 

There may be something wrong with the electrical in your car but calling it a MINI 'defect' seems a little premature. If its still under warranty then take it to your MINI dealer & let them figure it out.

 

Those parts are plastic and that looks a little like a chemical reaction like from a solvent or something. Anything like that in it's environment?

 

Just a thought. I recently read about about someone parking next to a glass building in London and having melting from the reflection.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23944679

Also, do you keep your mirrors rotated in/up while parked?

 

That is precisely what i was hinting at....

 

If you can't work it out with your Mini dealership there's a good chance your insurance might cover it. Comprehensive coverage covers all losses 'other than collision' and that's a VERY wide area. If it's unintentional, unexpected and unavoidable it's considered accidental. When I handled automobile insurance claims I would have covered it.

 

Exactly. And having parked two other cars there doesn't make a difference. The height of each car, the angle of the mirrors, the curvature of the surfaces, etc. all makes a difference.

 

Thank you all for your comments

 

Its not parked near any windows.....nowhere close to windows or reflection (I had checked on that)...no where near any chemicals in environment