Hi Folks:

Despite rigorous care, and garaging, by 2005 Mini Cooper's rubber is cracking on me! This is the Chrome rubber trim that goes around the back part of the car along the convertible roof line. I've never had a car this new have such bad cracking like this. I use Armor all on the rubber regularly.

Anyway, it's beyond what a little silicone is going to fix and looks horrible. I've been trying to find a good source of these parts at a reasonable price. So far, none of the web sites seem to have these bits, at least that I can find. Can someone point me to a vendor that has these at reasonable cost? Are they hard to change out?

THanks!
Lee

 

I have been using them. They ship fast and they even follow up with you about your order.
http://www.minicarparts.net/?NAM_banner

 

That's what Armor All does. If you want a cracked dash it will accomodate that too.

 

I have the exact problem and do not use Armor All (that sucks). I went ot the link above and they do not sell the trim piece. Any other thoughts? There must be thousands of people with this problem.

 

The lower rubber portion of this trim is very flimsy, thinly made. Both of mine cracked on the 4th and 5th year. If your Mini is still under warranty, the dealer should replace it w/o charge. Otherwise, it's $115-$150 per side.

Here's another thread: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ting-away.html

 

Common problem on R52s. As Cadenza pointed out, there's a long-running thread on this issue.

My post to that thread includes part sourcing and a quick overview of my replacement process: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post3408123

 

Old and well known problem. I have a thread just a bit lower down. I finally got around to filing a complaint with Mini, even though I'm out of warranty. I should hear back from them by next week sometime. I'll post back when I hear. I hinted it would be great if they covered the whole thing as it's a known problem and it was showing signs of degradation before I went out of warranty. (Never showed it to them.) At the very least I'm hoping for a big break in the cost. I can get them online for about 116 apiece last I checked, but even at that, it's too much. My local dealer here in the Silicon Valley wants 158 apiece plus if they install them, they want 90 bucks per side. Highway robbery.

 

Well, I got my call from Mini USA. 'Said they aren't going to do anything. They said the part is not defective and that it's due to environmental conditions. My protestations of "all the rest of the rubber trim is in perfect condition" were to no avail. Mini simply is denying that there's anything wrong with this part. Buch a crap in my book. And my opinion of them has just been knocked down quite a few notches. And, of course, the person telling me this is not a technical person and has obviously been given scripted responses. A bunch of crap.

So, where can I get the best price for these parts?

And I may give it another shot at Mini.

 

Could you pass the LINK miniparts.net of the MINI CABRIO molding? Thank you.

 

We have the parts here: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ng-away-2.html