I have an '05 Cooper S with sunroof. The front edge of the headliner suddenly started to delaminate by front windshield (this started after getting windows tinted). I bought some 3M headliner adhesive spray, but it seems like I would be able to do a better repair job if I took the whole headliner out. Or, is that crazy?

 

It really depends on how bad the headliner is drooping. I had the same issue with mine after a windshield replacement. I was able to avoid the headache of removing all of the trim and pulling the headliner down by just using some spray adhesive, as you said. You just have to be very careful not to get any on the bottom side of the headliner because it really is a pain to get off.

 

Altus, Oklahoma. I have an '06 R50 without the sunroof. My auto upholstery guy replaced the entire headline in one day, using the same color material as the original (a little thicker) in one day and charged me $200.00. Great installation.

 

Removing the headliner is not difficult, though it is a bit challenging when removing from the car.

If the headliner is already starting to fall, the jostling will further cause the material to fail.

My kid and I are currently doing the headliner now and we removed the headliner yesterday in about 45 minutes taking it slowly, maybe a little less.

We took another 45 to remove the foam from the board. Acetone to finish it off the left behind residue.

For spot repairs, you'll have to be super careful with over spray of the adhesive going everywhere! Use painter's tape and paper to block and isolate the spray pattern if you're going that route.

 

 

What are the basic steps? It looks like I'll need to remove some plastic around the sunroof and pillars. Does it just snap in? Any advice before digging in would be great. I was wondering how tight it would be squeezing it out the rear hatch.

 

Basic steps would be the remove all the grab handles, lights, visors, sunroof surrounds, and pillars.

You don't have to remove the pillars just loosen the A pillars by pulling them off to give clearance for the headliner. The B-pillars you will have to remove two screws that can only be seen once you separate the rear panel from the body. Take off the rubber door seals as well. The C-pillars are tough to separate off the body, so be careful. Again, just separate and get enough clearance to push headliner around the plastic panels.

Search on youtube for videos as well as other threads here on NAM.

 

I recently reupholstered the headliner in my '05 R53. It was quite an involved process. I fully removed the A, B, and C pillars without breaking them, which was the hardest part for me, and debatably unnecessary.

This video helps to show the steps involved:
If you have any hangups, feel free to reach out, shoot me a DM.

 

Give yourself time to do it without rushing, and have a work space ready so you have something to work on. I never like working on the floor, I'm a work table guy, so I can work on my projects comfortably.

Best of Luck.

Motor On!

 

I recently did my headliner and I also have a sunroof. Be careful with the middle of the headliner as that will be where it will want to fold due to lack of support as its the weakest part. Take your time pulling everything out as thereis plently to disconnect. While you have the headliner out check the sunroof drain tubes and clean out as needed.

 

OK, awesome. I plan on attacking this within the next 3 weeks. It seems like that foam deteriorates and then the cloth delaminates. I think I should rub the foam off where I need to reglue the cloth first but seems like it could leave a bump?

 

If you rub off the foam, it may give the fabric more of a chance of staying put, HOWEVER, the glue will soak through that cloth insta-pronto if you're not super careful.

If the leading edge above the visors and rear view mirror is where it's failing, there's very little room to see, much less maneuver a spray can of adhesive. You may be better off using some sort of brush to apply glue to the headliner. More control that way.

Eventually, it appears to be a right of ownership for many Gen 1 owners when, not if you will too join the rank of experienced headliner replacement specialist.

We just got done with the headliner in my kid's car and it turned out okay. I'd give it an 83% due to a few spots that didn't lay down correctly. It is 100% better though since it's no longer sagging and sad.

Source: yourautotrim.com
Headliner: fabric "Lt. Grey" PH-2075
Amount: 3 Yds.
Glue: 2 cans of their 'Performance High Temp'
Total: $67 and change.

Probably more info than you were asking!


What we started with. Sagging and falling

Sucking up the dead foam. Used Acetone to clean up residue.

Peeling back the ugliness.

Drain tubes intact! Whew.

All done. Much nicer.

 

Great thread! I'm getting ready to pull mine and redo it soon also. Lots of great info here!!

 

Here's the link to when i did my headliner. There are some tricks i learned from reading other threads that made the job easier. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...y-project.html

Take your time if you decided to do the whole thing. If you intend to wrap the pillars be prepared to take lots of time to complete it.

 

I got the headliner out of the car. Boy was that a pain. Few question at least.

1. Does anyone sell the pillar clips with nylon straps on them? I had to cut the 1 ea. in the C pillars.

2. The rear ultrasonic enclosure seemed to be empty. I remember unplugging a cable out of it, but it looks like it might have been plugged into nothing but plastic? Unless I put a circuit board somewhere and forgot about it.

3. I want to pre-wire a radar detector power wire before putting the headliner back on and have it come out by the mirror. Is there any reason this is a bad idea?

 

Not sure if the straps come with the clips. Here is a link to the pillars on RealOEM that show the clip part numbers at the bottom https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=51_4298 Armed with the part number you should be able to call around and find out if they have the strap attached. I would imagine that since the clip is sold the strap might very well be included.

The ultrasonic detector itself is just a small black piece that snaps into the cover. Unless you wrapped the cover and removed it.

Now would be the time to do the pre-wiring for the radar detector as you can hide the wires no problem and run them were you want to. Otherwise you will be tucking them into the headliner later.

 

If you don't have the factory alarm, the rear ultrasonic enclosure will be empty. The plug was probably snapped into a holder on the cover so it doesn't rattle. Do you have the red light/lens on the end of your headlight stalk?

 

OK, that would make sense then. I need to check the headlight stalk, I never noticed a red lens there before. It seems like the plug from the roof actually plugs into the blank plastic enclosure where there aren't any other wires. Sort of strange.

I dropped car off for some engine upgrades today and won't have it back for a day or two.

Got the headliner all fixed and cleaned up. Just waiting on my radar adapter install kit now.

 

It should be easy to spot. If you look back at my thread that I posted, one of the pictures should show mine being red and on the wiper stalk.

There is an updated version, if I'm not mistaken, that they changed the placement to the light stalk and changed to an amber color lens.

 

On the face lift MINI's the red alarm lens in on the headlight stalk next to the window and the amber lens for low wiper fluid is on the wiper stalk.

Supposedly, if you install an alarm headlight stalk on a car without alarm components, or even programming, the light will still flash when the doors are locked.

 

One strange thing that I noticed when I finally got headliner out of car was my airbag warning light is now on. I did remove driver's seat to help get headliner out of car, but I always disconnect the battery before unplugging the seats and plug them back in before re-connecting the battery. Not sure why it's on this time?

 

I was thinking about replacing the drain tube rubber pieces. Are the rears as prone to leaks as front? Are they as easily accessible? I don't see as much info on them online.

 

The rears are one soild tube so not as many issues. The rubber for the front drains can slip off from the sunroof over time. That is also where they tend to collect dirt due to the design of the rubber. The rubber doesn't get any direct sun so unless they are damaged there shouldn't be a need to replace them. I do recommend put a ziptie on each of the front rubbers them to stop it from working free.

 

Is the map light/passenger airbag light connected up by the mirror? If not, maybe the airbag light is on because something is missing in the circuit. I wouldn’t think it would prevent the airbags from working, but letting you know something is not right.

 

I'm not sure. The airbag light is on the speedo. When I put the mirror back on, I noticed it had 4 wires going into the connector, but only 3 pins on the mirror on the mating connector.