I recently closed my top from all of the way down to closed. When I went to open it again, only one side of the sun roof started to open, whle the other side reamined stationary. I closed it back and thought that it was a one-time thing, well now that I have tinkered with it, neither side moves, no light blinking, only hear the motor engaging, but moving nothing. Any help here would be greatly apprecaited. 2005 model, non-S. How do I get into the motor area above my head where I think the problem is?

 

Dealership repair. Something has broken or disconnected.

 

This probably won't resolve your problem, but just in case.....When I first bought my '06 MCS Cabrio, I removed the rear parcel shelf to make room for a cooler...took a trip to the mtns...top wouldn't open....found that if the parcel shelf is removed, as a safety feature, the top won't open..there's a button under the left rear bracket for the shelf..the shelf holds the button down (think: button in fridge that, when fridge door is opened, button is released, and light comes on)...when the shelf is removed, the motor to the top is disengaged...supposedly to keep you from breaking the back glass if the top was lowered into something stored in the boot...
It appears that your problem is a malfunction that needs attention from the dealer, but just wanted to post this, just in case.

Good luck,

gaminis

 

When this happened to ours they needed to replace the the mechanism. If you are under warranty and have wear spots too I'd mention them and see if they replace the roof at the same time.

 

hello

I have the same exact poblem, and i am loosing sleep, can you fill me in and tell me what happened when you brought it to the dealer?

Thanx a lot

 

Hello

Can you define wear spots, i have many spots where the roof is kind of "SHINY", and one spot where the fabric of the roof is worn a tiny bit but not torn, does that qualify for a new roof.

Thanx

 

You have wear spots!!!!!! I'm on my 3rd roof & your description is exactly what I had. The early build 05 Cabrios have had the biggest problem with their roofs. Mine was a Sept 04 build, one of the first to come to the US.

Lois

 

mine is spet 04 too, i think they are twins. how did you talk your way to get a roof?

thx

 

mine has the same problem, shiny spots on the roof and the roof is broken. I am taking it to Towne Mini, will report on it.

 

does it open from one side only?

i will be taking pictures of the roof and posting them.

good luck.

 

my drivers side opens only

 

minie is the passenger. will post pics of the wear to get opinions wether i should ask for a roof change, my warranty expires in a few months and i am not really excited about paying close to 3000$ for a new roof installation...

Cheers

 

There is/was a service bulletin on the roof. The master tech from MINI USA saw the original roof (it was 11 mos old) & immediately ordered a replacement. The second roof was replaced when I took the MINI back in about 1 year later for eliptical scratches on the rear side windows. It showed wear spots again & was replaced. So I am now on my 3rd roof which, by the way, they warrantied for 3 more years.

Lois

 

wow, good service, what dealer is that? i am preparing myself for a battle with my dealer, they are quite stingy when it comes to warranty service.....

 

what does a new roof costs??

I am planning on finding myself a MCSC :D

 

Our roof was like yours is. We had white shiny spots and some areas were frayed and thinning. I pointed them out to the service manager and they ordered a new roof without any further questions. New roof has some of the same white spots but no frayed areas so far.

 

Thanks for everyone who replied, very appreciated..

 

Both of our cabrios (2006 models) have a few "shiny spots" on the roof, but none where the fabric is wearing at all (hers has about 20k miles, mine has about 30k miles).

I think the "shiny spots" are inevitable, at least if you drive a lot with the top down, but if there's any fraying at all, it seems like most dealers have been pretty good about replacing the tops.

Also, keep in mind that the warranty on a new top is two years or the remainder of your factory warranty, whichever is *longer*. So, if you have the top replaced and the new top starts to wear/fray within two years, it's still covered by warranty, even if the factory warranty on the rest of the car has expired.

 

Does anybody know if the new top comes comes with a new rear window?

thx

 

yes it does, mine is being replaced sometime this or next week.

 

OK a little understanding is needed.
"Winnie" was a 7/04 baby. I bought her 2/08 with 4k miles on her. Top is spotless and after reading this I want to understand the entire thread.
I put het top down if I drive to the mail box, 40^ or better, morning, noon or night. What should I be looking for? I want to make sure if anything goes wrong with her that she burps it up under warranty.
Any Help?

 

In our case the passenger side mechanism broke. It would not unlock the latch so only the driver side would start to retract. The mechanism was replaced under warranty.

 

As another data point on the shiny spots problem, bought my 05 mini two months ago and noticed the same shiny spots. I had some of the repair documentation on the car and it showed a tsb performed on it to realign the top mechanism. I mentioned to Kim at Markel Mini here in Omaha about the shiny spots, and after the tech looked at it they immediately scheduled me for a replacement. The car is scheduled to go back for a realignment of the top (one side is a little off), and interestingly, the same side shows a little scuffing (very light). My thought is that the scuffing may be due to slight misalingment of the top mechanism... I'll give it another check once they realign the top.

Btw, kudos to Markel Mini, they've always been responsive to both our cars and always provided us with nice loaner cars (MINI's of course! ).

Daniel

 

2xMini:
Did you notice the ware spots when you bought her? If so, how many mile did she have when you did noticed? and How much do you go topless? Trying to figure out when I should notice spots so I can hit my dealer up for a new top before warranty runs out.
Thanks, Robert

 

I think we're a bit off topic. I understood the original issue to be the top not opening -- originally just on the passenger's side. Mine did the same thing two months ago, and was diagnosed with a broken cable that was replaced under warranty.