That guy is a girl, Joe. I drove the Miata every day for 6 years. It's only been garaged since I've had my MINI for the last 2 years. I live in St Louis & we have all 4 seasons & believe me the Miata has seen all of them. So don't just assume because I say the top is as good as new that the car has sat in a garage for the last 8 years. It hasn't You have to want a convertible to be happy with one. They are not for everyone but if you don't like them don't knock them

Lois & yes I am female as most of you know

 

Show me a BMW with these kind of wear in 2 weeks' normal use and I'll stop complaining. I am not knocking anything. If you are happy spending 33K (that is what the MINI cost here) and having your top wear like this in 2 weeks that is your problem.

 

Sorry, wasn't directed at you. I would be greatly concerned if my cabrio top had the same problem as yours. And from the pictures it looks pretty bad after only 2 weeks. Luckily mine shows no wear at this point.

Lois

 

LoieFromStLou, I am glad for you.

My purpose here is only to find out how common this problem is and if anyone has found a solution.

This thread has been spun before by others as confronting "whiners" vs. "cool" people who aren't bothered by little problems, thus my reaction.

When I got the MINI, I fully expected a few compromises due to the soft top, like rattles, extra noise, and top wear (but in a longer time). Up until now, the car is perfect except for this problem. I love and enjoy the MINI and would recommend it to anyone, even with this problem.

I have previously owned BMWs and am happy with the reliability/service and am pretty confident that this will get sorted out in time.

However, this is a real problem and it seems it is not a completely isolated case. I haven't seen similar wear on other convertibles like VW Beetles, let alone BMWs. Also, mine is probably the 3rd car sold in Mexico:smile: , so I can't compare my wear to anyone else's.

 

328Ci,

When was your Cabrio built? I know in the UK some of the earlier cabrios were showing roof wear & then I read that BMW did an adjustment to the roof mechanism right about the time the Cabrios were about to be released in the US. Mine was built in early September. I realize you are in Mexico but I wouldn't think that would make any difference.

Lois

 

I have looked everywhere for the build date to no avail. It is not on any door or door frame nor in the engine bay. The only hint seems to be the radiator, which says "Made in France 04/09/04" which could mean September or April of this year.

 

I am wondering if this is happening to only the blue tops, I have these wear marks, they showed up almost immediately. But one of the threads on the MINI2, recommended washing it. I rinse off my top every week and the marks go away. I haven't washed the top with a shampoo yet because I want to get one for a canvas ragtop. Any suggestions?

 

In my case, the marks intensity does diminish when I wash the top, but they do not dissappear. These marks are definitely wear since you can feel the fabric worn when you touch them.

 

I have a 2005 Cabrio with black roof. I have had the top down only a few times (purchased 2-11-05). I too found marks above the rear window like others who have posted. The dealer said over the phone he knew of no problems, I took it to auto top installer in the Buffalo, NY area. Has been putting tops on for over forty years says its wear due to poor design when top is down. To test if was inside out wear or from outside I placed masking tape on the area and drove with the top down for an hour. Put top up. There were rub marks like the ones on the top. There is no way this is a normal occurrence. Does anyone have recent info on this. I dont see how MINIUUSA can deny this.

 

Go to www.MINI2.com this problem has been documented extensively with UK Cabrio owners since the car was introduced last year.

It looks like an inherited design defect. May be you should chat with those folks at MINI2.com to see if MINI UK has come up with a fix.

 

According to the posts on MINI2 there is a completely new top design that started being put on the cabrios about a month ago which is designed to stop the wear problem. Apparently it does not allow the top to fold down as flat and therefore avoids the two wear points. Mine was built Feb. 1st and so I guess I just missed the new top.

I use mine almost exclusively top-down and found the wear marks after just a few days. It looks like if it continues it will wear right through the material but it does not seem to have gotten any worse in the last week. There have been problems with top replacements not fitting properly so I am not in a real hurry to get mine changed out. I'll just deal with it until MINI can get this thing sorted out better. I can't imagine what they will do if they have to change out all the tops on the first year of production.

 

I checked out the mechanism and found out that if you release the button until the mechanism stops completely when opening, the fabric seems to be streched too much. Since then, I have been releasing the button a bit before the roof is completely open. The roof opens all the way anyway with gravity but it seems the fabric doesn't get as strecthed.

BTW, My dealer agrees to replace the roof, but says it has not a final solution from BMW and it is dumb to do all that work (and the inevitable rattles that will result <- my opinion) without being sure the problem will be over. So, together we decided to wait for a final solution and keep wearing the current roof. As long as my warranty lasts, I'm ok with that as the wear seems to have stabilized since I applied the little trick described above.

 

I've had my Cabrio for over 6 months now. I noticed the scuff marks early on but they disappeared when I washed the car. But now with the warmer weather arriving, I have had my top up & down a lot & the areas that were scuffed are now getting a shiney appearance instead of the normal matte black. I'll be due for my 10k service sometime this summer. I figure by then I'll know for sure if it's wearing & see what MINI of St Louis has to say. If nothing else, it will be documented.

Lois

 

I have had my MCC with green top for about 3 weeks. Took it right off the floor - luv it and it is not my first convertible either. I started to put the top down and have startingt seeing two faint white marks above each rear window. I am bringing it to the dealer tomorrow for them to look at it.

I have been following all the threads and would like this documented early - not sure how this would be received at the dealer so I printed out all the message from this thread and mini2.com

I will keep everyone posted.

 

I've driven MCC loaners while my MCS is being serviced, and have seen significant roof wear on both loaners just above the rear window on both side--both cars had less than 1k on the clock. disappointing.

I hope your problem gets solved, because I have my own problems. Sometimes I feel like a beta tester for BMW and their "new" designs, like the 3-piece dash. none of the 04s I ever demo'd rattled that bad.... JB

 

Yesterday I called Ask Mini customer service. Told them about the wear marks. He said fix is in the works, documented the complaint on my record for the car. He also admitted that UK may have fix first. I have had no luck with stopping the top just short of turn off as suggested. I have placed masking tape on the areas and this has prevented wear. Also foam on the areas sandwiched between the affected spots and where it rest on the area below the window. I am not sure weather to try to prevent the wear or just let it go an get a new top when the fix is out.

Also noted a scratch on rear window. Any one have suggestion on how to remove or lessen. The glass must be on the soft side

 

Okay - Went to the dealer today to show them my roof. Much to my surprise the service advisor informed me he did contact mini and they are aware of the problem and working on a fix.

His suggestion and I agreed - Is to wait until the fix is confirmed and actually works before replacing the roof, otherwise the roof could be replaced more than once resulting in a waste of time for me and effor for them. He documented the issue in my file and now it is a wait game.

 

All the Cabrios I saw today had marks in the same place I guess it's best to document & then wait for a fix.

Lois

 

Ahem, there were cabrios with the top up?

Let's hope the MINI tops don't get as bad as what happened to the last convertible we had. I put it down one day, then when I put the top back up, I heard a ripping noise and the stupid thing just ripped open about 9 inches.

**edit** because bad spelling makes you look dumb. :p

 

Only when the MINIs were left alone & non loving MINI persons could possibly do them harm otherwise mine was down all day I have the sunburn to prove it

Lois

 

I called ASk Mini today, I have called in the past they say there is a fix in the works on roof wear. Today the woman Darlene (customer service) said dealers have received bulletin for specific fix. Said they must diagnosis problem as indicated in the bulletin. The bulletin # is SIM540105. Does any one know how to get access to these bulletins.

 

I had my Cabrio in today for it's 10k checkup. Pointed out the roof wear & eliptical scratches on the rear side windows. My service advisor scratched his head & made an appointment for me with the master tech when he comes to St Louis next month. The mark on the passenger side is showing some fibers starting to fray And the roof has hardly been up this summer

Lois

 

I am one of those people who have been complaining on MINI2 (and I'm not from the UK). The reason a new top was designed was to address all the complaints. The roof wear marks showed up on mine shortly after I got it-much to soon for a 27k car, IMHO. I have a whole new top (mechanism and cloth) that sholuld be at the dealer next week. They are also replacing the rear side windows because of scratches caused by the mechanism. Check your cabrio, I bet you have them as well.
My local dealer wasn't aware of the problem until I brought the car in and showed them. I also gave them the link to the complaints. A couple of weeks later, I got a call asking to bring my car down so a BMW/MINI tech from the factory could document the problem. A week later I get a call saying they are replacing everything.

 

That's exactly what I'll soon be doing. Perhaps after the master tech looks at my roof, a new roof will be coming my way, too. The service advisor obviously felt something was wrong when he looked at the roof. I wouldn't consider myself a nitpicker since I waited until the 10k service to address the issue but at the same time I don't want holes in my roof at 20 or 30 thousand miles. Please let me know how your roof installation goes.

Lois

 

Can someone post a picture of the roof wear? Just want to see what it looks like, since I am not seeing it on mine. Or maybe I am just blind?

Edit: Never mind. Found the pictures in ....THIS THREAD!!!