If you have a 2005 cabrio can you tell me
How many miles are on it
How many times a month you put your top up & down
and if you have had any problems with the motor or cables needing replacing

My Insurance co. who had me take my cabrio to one of their repair facilities to replace my top because the back window was broken, the shop then said I also needed to replace the motor and cables.Now they are saying that I need all new parts again.
I only put my top down maybe 20 times since they replaced these parts 2-3 years ago. I only have 43,000 miles on the car and it is like brand new.
The shop is telling my adjuster that this has been a problem with these cars since day 1. I am trying to prove them wrong and show him tha this shop is full of it.

 

Here...This should help you out on some stats...

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...sues-poll.html

Information asked in this thread are as follows for Butters (Post #8):

1 - Have you had a problem with your mini convertible roof? YES

2 - What year is your car and how many miles on it? 2005 MC ~87,000

3 - If you had a problem, how old was your car and how many miles on it when first appeared? 80,000

4 - What was the nature of the problem

- Premature canvas wear?

- Mechanical failure (cable, structure, etc.)? Passenger Roof Cable snapped

- Electrical (motor or controller)?

- Other (please state)?

5 - Has it been repaired? YES

6 - If so, did MiniUSA cover the repair under warranty? NO (OUT OF WARRANTY)

7 - How was your experience dealing with Mini on this issue (Ie. excellent, no hassles, mixed, required some discussion with management, poor, Mini did not agree to fix problem or only agreed to partially pay for the problem)
Excellent, Dryer & Reinbolt examined the roof/cable, sealed the roof & ordered the part. No charge for inspection.

8 - If Mini did not pay for the repair, how much did you have to pay for the repair and what was repaired or replaced? ~$200 DIY OEM part replaced by me. MINI wanted over $1,000 for repairs.

9 - If you paid for the repair, did you have it done with the dealer or an independent shop? DIY @ home

 

2006 cab here (which is identical).

52,000 miles

The top goes down and up on the average of twice a day. (To and from work.) Weekends as well. The ONLY time the top is not down is if it's actually raining and that's not all that often here in California.

No motor or cable problems. I did break a couple plastic pieces once when I tried putting the top up with something sticking up from the rear seat too high. 'Did that myself. And I've had the top itself replaced under warranty once for the typical wear spots. (I now put a folded over piece of black felt between the two parts of the top that rub at the rear corners when the top is down. That's stopped the hole wear.)

One thing I always do when putting the top up is just as the pin is coming down into the hole there at the top left corner of the windshield, I pull the frame of the top down so that the motors and the mechanism doesn't have to work so hard getting it into place. A small thing, but I believe it helps.

Rear window should never break unless something is left on the tray there behind the rear seats.

 

2005 Cool Blue MCSc

36,000 miles and the top goes down almost every time I drive her. I have had zero problems with the top mechanism, though there is a bit of a wear spot in the usual place.

 

What exactly is the problem? did the rear window break again or is the roof not opening?

 

The sunroof opened but wouldnt go back any further
So I closed it and only the left side latched and the passenger side latched halfway

 

Tops do require maintenance. The mechanism should be cleaned and lubricated at least twice per year. Very infrequent use may lead to rust/dry hinges that put a lot of strain on the motors and cables. Or you might just be unlucky. Or the shop may be full of it and looking to gouge you. Take it somewhere else for a second opinion.
It is pretty common to have the sunroof part fail. You can find fixes on YouTube. Greasing the rail for the sunroof mechanism should prolong the life.

I just bought an 06 with 60k miles on it. Top works great and has some shiny places but no real wear areas. It rattles a ton, but works just fine. The previous owner had no concept of maintenance of any kind judging by the state of the filters.

 

Can't take credit for this...copied/pasted from another forum. The window up down definately worked for me when the top stopped going down. I have a 2005 MCSC around 44,000 miles since January.

Copy and pasted:
Roofs can be funny some times, however there are a few things you can check,

1)In the boot on the left hand side (passenger side) on the rest where the parcel shelf sits is a little switch. If the parcel shelf isnt in or not sat correctly the roof will only go open stage one (top part opens back) Only when this button is depressed will it complete its cycle and move into stage two.

2)If the roof has started stage two and locks or shuts down this can be one of two things,
A- the motor has overheated due to over use or a jamming situation, the solution ususally is to leave it to cool down and try again, making sure the engine is running.(it takes a lot of power to drop the top!)
B- The roof becomes out of sync and the car does'nt know where it is at within the cycle. If this occurs then more often then not its solved simply by dropping all four windows down then back up to top position and pressing the roof open/close button again.

In the worse case scenario the cables that pull the roof open/closed can snap which will also cause your roof to die, but if you speak to dealers nicely, they have a few tricks up there sleeve

 

Just traded in my 2006 cabriolet, with 78k in Miles.
Happy to say I never had an issue with the top.

 

My details , I wrote response in almost the same format as user Not4No1

1 - Have you had a problem with your mini convertible roof? YES

2- How often do you open the roof? Every day i drive it, even in bad conditions.

3- What year is your car and how many miles on it? 2005 MCS ~82,000 miles

4- If you had a problem, how old was your car and how many miles on it when first appeared? Roof issue appeared @ 15,000 miles on first week i got it, car was 12 mths old then.

5 What was the nature of the problem
- Premature canvas wear? Yes
- Mechanical failure (cable, structure, etc.)?
- Electrical (motor or controller)?
- Other (please state)?

6- Has it been repaired? YES

7- If so, did MiniUSA cover the repair under warranty? YES MINI NETHERLANDS REPLACED IN WARRANTY.

8 - How was your experience dealing with Mini on this issue (Ie. excellent, no hassles, mixed, required some discussion with management, poor, Mini did not agree to fix problem or only agreed to partially pay for the problem)
OK. No charge for inspection.

9- If Mini did not pay for the repair, how much did you have to pay for the repair and what was repaired or replaced?not applicable.

10- If you paid for the repair, did you have it done with the dealer or an independent shop? Not applicable.
My replaced roof is now of course also showing wear&tear because I am quite harsh to the cabrio driving "always open". This new roof lasted 30K miles before showing the signs. Replacing this one will now be at my own expenses of course. (i knew that from the start- it's the risk i took). Even though the signs are there, there still is no issue whatsoever from "water leakage".

 

I've been putting a small square of doubled black felt between the folds of the top at the rear corners where most of the wear between the rear corner and the area just above the top rear of the driver's and passenger's window is. Yes, it's a pain to do each time, but it's absolutely prevented the holes from wearing. When I am about to drive, I lean in and put the key in the ignition and turn it on. Then I quickly flip the two windows full down and then open the sunroof just enough so I can then stand up and reach in from the top to continue pressing the button. I stop putting the top down short of full down, insert the two squares (roughly 5" to 6" square) in the proper spots and then finish the top down and hop in the car. The squares are black so you don't notice them and I've never had one come out while driving. You do need to be careful when putting the top up again, though, if it's windy out. You could end up chasing them a ways. I always keep spares in the car.