HELP! Top won't open
 

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.

TOP WON'T OPEN
 

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.

mini conv problem
 

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

mini conv problem
 

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:grin:

roof problems
 

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.

roof problem.
 

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

mini conv problem
 

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.

roof won't open
 

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.

top won't open
 

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? :sad:

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

milage
 

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. :impatient:
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.

I would have to agree:roll: There are many threads in this forum about roof wear.

My cabrio did the same thing last summer. It was a broken cable also. Fixed under warranty:thumbsup:

Lois:cool:

Apologies, won't comment again.

Daniel

Wasn't directed at you in particular as a whole bunch of us got off track in this thread including myself:sly: So, please, no hard feelings. We're lovers not fighters here in the Cabrio threads:wink::nod::nod::nod:

Lois:grin:

Sorry
 

Yep, Me 2 :mad: :mad: ,Sorry.
Just trying to get as much info cramed into my wee little brain as I can before the warranty expires. Can't even think about all of the potential problems owning a auto drop top. :impatient:
Can anyone recall: age, date, mileage, etc. when cables/mechanical showed symptoms of failure?
Not sitting on my owners manual, so if it stops working in the open position is there a manual way to get it back up? Then I would be blue, :cry: and sitting in the rain. :no:

My cable broke last summer after approximately 2 1/2 years of use. My husband was able to manually get it back into the latch but once there it would not move again. Good thing, as it rained 2 hours later:no: It showed NO signs of anything wrong. We had put the top up to shop, came out to put it down & bingo the cable snapped:roll:

Lois:grin:

This is my second cabrio - my 05 had a similar issue - it would start to retract and only release from one side (while the roof motor was still trying to open it). Before you tear the whole thing apart look for one thing - if the latch looks like it opened but the top is still stuck on one side, you can pop the corner out (DON'T TRY IF THE LATCH DID NOT RELEASE). Once it has popped out, see if the post on the end of the top has come loose (screws in w/ an allen key). It is the black piece that fits into the metal holes above the windshield. Mine came loose over time, but one shot tightened it up, and did not have the problem again.

AHHRG! I think my cable may have broken.
 

My 05 Cooper Cabrio's top has malfunctioned. It is way out of warranty (89,000 miles) and I need to try and fix it myself. Now when I hit the button to lower the top the drivers side starts to move back on the sunroof function but the passengers side does not move! So I stop the process immediately to prevent further damage. I hit close and the drivers side closes right up fine and the passenger side is still closed.

Anyone have any experience, diagrams or such that could help me with fixing this myself.

I really want to tackle this myself as I just paid this car off and don't want to throw $3K at a dealer.

Thanks,
Mike
Houston, TX

Top-fixer
 

I had an '05 and now an '07 - My top in the '05 had the same issue, and maybe this will help.
1) open the sun roof
2) sit in the seat closest to the "stuck" side
3) hold the button to open the top just long enough for the metal latches to open.
4) Did the latch open on the stuck side? If no, the STOP. If yes, then "help it open by gently (or not so gently) pushing up on the corner of the roof as you try to retract it with the button.
5) if it is no longer stuck, with your help, then it may be the same problem I had - the corner has a small metal post attached to the roof that drops into the mount over the windshield to help align it when closed. Over time that post will come loose and will stick when you try to retract. A small allen key is all you need to tighten it back up.

Sorry, I can't get past step one. My sunroof portion will not open. The passenger side does not move back at all. The cable is maybe broke or carriage stuck? I think mine must be a diferent problem from what you had.

Thanks,
Mike

This past September I had the same problem on my 2005 Mini. It was still under warranty, so I took it into the dealer. They replaced a "failed sunroof casette" (per the repair order) under warranty. That fixed the top but then i had a rattle over the drivers side. Took that in twice, last time only last week and it seems to be fixed now. This time they "adjusted top to factory spec and applied felt tape to area".

I can't tell you what the cost was as it was all done under warranty.

Some pics
 

Ok, I've started to dig into this. Only I can not get the right side mechanism to slide back at all! It is not being pulled by the cable drive. It appears to have become unattached from the cable at the bottom edge of it where the cable slides through the track and secures to an end anchor?

http://inlinethumb34.webshots.com/42...425x425Q85.jpg
Sad Sight:eek:

The stuck side looks like this
http://inlinethumb39.webshots.com/43...425x425Q85.jpg

The side that still moves looks like this
http://inlinethumb50.webshots.com/44...425x425Q85.jpg

Anyone know how to get this all apart? I can't get the cassette on the right side to move back. If I could get it apart I might be able to remove the rail and reattach the cable or replace the rail / cable.

Anyone have any advice? I know the cable comes from the motor in the center of the roof.

I think I might have to remove the whole fabric cover to get to motor to replace the cable if needed. But the right side cassette must be moved somehow?

Thanks,
Mike

FIXED
 

ITS FIXXED !:thumbsup:


Well after about 10 hours of labor to tear apart and put back together it is fixed.

It required $406.00 worth of parts from the dealership after 15% discount.

The parts only come in pairs for both left and right sides. (I used only my right side parts) It is pretty difficult to do this the first time. (And I hope to never do it again)

See pictures with some explanations here:
http://community.webshots.com/album/...host=community


Thanks for the help everyone. Happy motoring!
Mike
Pearland, TX

I wonder if you could buy the parts directly from Webasto? I don't see why not.

Not My Baby Butters Too!
 

Thanks for your great explanation. This exact thing just happened to Butters last night. & your pictures helped me verify my fear.

I stopped at the daycare to get my daughter & while I put the top up to go into sunroof mode I heard a loud POP & my heart dropped.

The exact same side as yours. So, I went through all the pictures & realized it is beyond my capability or time allotment, so I took Butters to the dealership after calling everywhere else that repairs convertible tops...everyone said "Dealer needs to take care of it."

So early next week I should get a call (when the part comes in) to schedule an appointment & see how much it will cost --- out of warranty ---
...why can't I find a crying emoticon?:mad: *face palm...tear down cheek*

So, I'm gonna do it myself
 

Okay, so, “Early Next Week” turned into 3 weeks later. I called the dealer (Dreyer & Reinbold) when I was told the part would be in & he stated that the part is backordered & it will be another week. So I wait 2 weeks & still no call, so I go ahead & ring them up.

The part came in (who knows when) & I was quoted a price of $921 for the part alone. "WHAT!" Labor will, obviously, be additional…I wasn’t prepared for the quote. He still couldn’t tell me how much labor will be, but that is a moot point now.

So I am now going to order the part from ECS Tuning http://www.ecstuning.com/stage/edpd/pagebuild_v2.cgi?gkww=54347174761
The OEM part will cost $272.44 & 4-7 day shipping is just under $15. Now I’m off to find/write some detailed instructions on how to repair this issue. If anybody else has fixed this issue themselves, I would appreciate any pictures or instructions...thank you TXNemo AKA Mike.:thumbsup:

Incase you are interested, The part I ordered is number 14 on the image below.
Attachment 166708

I will do my best to remember to take pictures of each step in the operation & I hope the instructions will help anyone else that has this issue out of warranty. So, hopefully, when I update this post I will have a set of instructions, a happy car & be a happy owner. *crosses fingers & prays*