I finally found the actual water leak into my passenger footwell. I thought I had fixed it previously but did not. The metal portion of the drain tube inside the A pillar had ruptured. I discovered this by sending water down the tube, starting at the metal, not the rubber connector. Some water dirbbled out the tube's exit point. Most emptied into the inside of the A pillar and then into the footwell. I replaced the metal tube with the widest diameter vinyl hose that would fit for the application. It drains as it should now. I'd like input on the video accessed by the link. The sunroof is in fully closed position. Do the gaps in the weather seal appear within spec, and does the sunroof appear as expected in its fully closed position? Thanks for any input.

 

The weatherstripping isn't expected to create a 100% watertight seal. It's expected that some water will get through - hence the need for a gutter and drain tube system.
To my eye, it looks like the glass lines up well with the sheetmetal, but your seals do look like they've shrunk a little bit from age. New ones can't hurt - but the cost and labor might make you realize they're fine they way they are, presumably since the sunroof is no longer leaking water into the footwell.

 

Thanks for the input. I have not yet had the car in the rain. After installing the new tube it functioned properly under the controlled situation of spraying water directly into the rain channel just above the inlet with the sunroof open, on the top of the car. I suppose I can hose down the top of the car to see if the rain channel is overwhelmed with water. I am guessing that it would be too expensive to pay a pro to fix this, given that just a new door seal is $900.

 

These are the seals you can get: https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=54_0290

You can see with a copy paste of the 11 digit OEM part number what the seals look like. They just seal the top from rain and hitting you head.

The gutters/frame (main flow of water) goes into those drain tubes and those are what leak.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...of-drains.html

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...m-sunroof.html

 

Thanks, if only it were that easy. The rubber tubes are fine. The metal tube ruptured inside the A pillar, probably due to expanding ice. When I checked for leaks, the rubber tube was removed and I poured water direeectly into the metal pipe. It is repaired now, and I used a sealant at both sides of the rubber extension piece. I was wanting to know if the seals around the sunroof had shrunk to the degree that the entire drain tube would be inundated with more water than it could handle. My skeleton crew examined the problem to great depth, I have confidence in their skills.

 

lol, those guys better work faster and get it fixed.

Yea, as long as the drains are fixed you should be fine. Now if you go through an automatic car wash and water comes near the inside seals, not the gutter system, then you might need them replaced.

If you hear wind noises and whistle then they might need replaced also.

The test would be the touchless auto wash.

 

This link may or may not be of help to you. http://wtxmc.org/MiniCooperDocs/MOONROOF%20REPAIR.pdf

 

Thanks, that's extremely comprehensive. A few years ago I learned to inmitialize the sunroof because it was not functioning at all as I expected. I was so relieved to successfully correct the issues without having to pay for any parts or labor..............Last night we had hours of torrential downpour, and I did not cover the Mini as I have been doing since winter, 2023. This morning - she's dry inside. I am so relieved that I have my Mini back in service. The Mini is my daily driver, it is smooth, comfortable and very fuel efficient. Everything works on it as well. I have been daily driving my very lifted off-road YJ Wrangler and my high mileage NB Miata (on dry days). The Wrangler can be a bit unwieldy and doesn't have much top end, but it will get me to where I am going. I don't want to put a lot of miles on the Miata and I refuse to drive it in rain, snow, or even with residual dry salt on the roads. Dang skeleton crew! They're heading toward the garage at high speed and not paying attention!