First door I'm tapping on is what is supposed to be a brand new door purchased from MINI. It was examined before it was painted and installed.

Second door I am tapping on is the original pass door which has been on the car since new, never damaged or ever repaired.

First door sounds like it is filled with cement, more of a "thud" sound while second door ( original ) clearly has a hollow sounding resonance to it.

I ordered a body filler detector and should have it by Tue/Wed.

What you say ?

 

That's interesting, curious to hear the verdict.

 

My guess would be that the new door has a different sheet metal than the original. Most likely the material is the same as the new F56s. A stronger, thicker, more rigid sheet metal.

 

Different metal...
Maybe some "mass damper", aka tar or rubber sheets glued to the inside?! Maybe done at the factory or even strips added to improve radio sounds or lower noise levels?
Just a guess, but it might be with yanking the intior door panels off and looking at the sheetmetsls interior...

 

The first one was mounted on a car and already had paint? Also was the door panel off and window/regulator/lock/and everything gutted from the new on?

If so to any of the above, then its not apples to apples. You could test the thickness of the metal and paint or combination, but I wouldn't be too concerned as long as the fit and finish is right.

 

First door I'm tapping on is what is supposed to be a brand new door purchased from MINI in usual gutted primed fashion. It was examined before it was painted.

Second door I am tapping on is the original pass door which has been on the car since new, never damaged or ever repaired.

First door sounds like it is filled with cement, more of a "thud" sound while second door ( original ) clearly has a hollow sounding resonance to it like a snare drum.

I am wondering if a new door was used as specified or, if the damaged door was bondo'd and re-sprayed.

 

Panel arrived black primer, usual fashion. No insulation seen, in fact the typical plastic sheets in the inner panels are not there from factory. All hardware mounting points are the same.

But when tapping on the outer skin on the purported "new door", not only does it feel different, like there is bondo under the paint but also sounds much different. Was curious if anyone else has had similar experience with either new doors or those who have had bondo used for a door repair. And as far as thicker metal goes, that is the opposite they would typically do. And once a car has passed side crash safety standards they are not going to make " upgrades " to a production car. It would also be counterproductive as then it would require replacing both doors for this fix to maintain the balance of the car on the suspension system.

I'm having suspicions maybe a new door was not used at all. I purchased new hinges as well to get that new car feel to the opening and closing of door and to be honest it still feels the same as before.....

 

I would think the bondo would create 2 tones, since you would have metal touching non metal, two frequencies in which you are creating sound. I would say theres a cross beam in that door to help with safety regulations. or theres more spot welds making it more rigid.


did cabrio doors have extra reinforcing in them? that's also another possibility

 

I thought that was possibility too, but if they add new/additional beams to a door 12yrs after production, one would think issues would crop up leaving room for oem parts such as window regulators/glass and areas for running the bowden cables for older/original design...Also not sure they would try to make an already proven / safe car more safer by hiring engineers/designers to perfect the wheel or in this case make the door of a 12 yr old car with a perfect safety record, safer.

There is a definite difference in the sound resonance when tapping on it....muffled like it has dynomat on the inside or something. Hope the door doesn't have some added sound deadening material sprayed/applied in there, done a bunch of mods to this puppy to purposely reduce weight.....hahahaha.

PS: As far as I know, both the HT and R52 share same part no. for this door, good thought/idea though.

Maybe the new doors have some sort of Rust Proofing sprayed on the inner sheet metal to combat the rust some have had issues with on the lower half/bottom of the doors ?

 

Was thinking the thin dynomatt type padding was on the original and the new one does not have it. Magnetic test for bondo and if you could test the thickness of the metal , that would be cool.

Good luck.

 

I know that manufactures HAVE been using lots more high strength steel, and less mild steel...maybe it sounds different...Bet if newer cars use it, they just kept using it to press the old doors...right alongside the newer ones...
One more idea...
You have an older r53...think since all parts must fit all cars of the generation, some engineering changes happened in 2005+ or even 2006+ on the cabriolets..... Maybe too improve crash standards...I remember many older makes (other brands) had crossbeams added to doors till heavier steel as added...
Interesting info...still odd it is so noticeable...
Try a magnet...old test for bondo...
How bad was the old door?
Labor is so $$ I would be surprised if they reused it....I know insurance wants places to "rework" parts to save $$, but a few hours on a door then making the seams fit well...seems like WAY too much work...

 

This arrived Wed night. Even came with a 9v Copper Top battery.



Worked great ! NO filler in the door !!

Used a test area on the boot where it had a ding/fill repaint when the door was done to clean things up. Detected that spot filler instantly and even gave depth +/-.

Seems the new OEM doors have a sheet of noise dampening material adhered to the inside of the door skin. It doesn't cover the whole area but in the area of concern....

 

Like really thin dyno mat, Must be the update for noise and such. Seen some of it on 05+ MINIs doing window motors.

Thanks for the update.

 

Good to know...
Saw a program on CNBC (I think) about a year ago...
Had a 15 minute portion of an hour show about BMW dedicated to the department at BMW that engineers "sounds" for the car, and the dings, door slams, exaust, intake sounds, etc...and how BMW was proud to be obsessive about the tiny stuff, and how that attention to detail helps make BMW the ultimate driving machine!! Guess they are carrying over more of that stuff to MINI...