For those that have been getting the clubman...how is the overall build quality? I've read in a couple reviews and some forums that panel gaps, paint, etc. aren't as good as they would expect. I ask this specifically of the clubman because given the "new" status and demand to crank out mini's at capacity...I"m curious what ya'll have found when your orders showed up?

My wife and I are getting pretty set on the mini clubman s...but before I place an order and wait til 2009...we would like to know what your opinions are. Thx.

 

I could not be happier with mine! She's perfect.

 

Mine seems to be just fine. Equally as good, if not better, than any car I've owned before.

The only paint related thing you should watch out for is I recommend doing a clay bar of the entire car upon arrival. Mine was pretty good for the most part, but there were a couple spots that seemed like salt-water deposits or something similar. The clay-bar took it right off, but you don't want that sitting there for too long.

Otherwise, like mentioned above, shes perfect!!

 

08 CLUBMAN S top top quailty and fit an finish.... Solid car..... no worries...

 

No issues here - we love it!!!

Donna

 

Mine too had something on the windows that looked like salt water spots. Not a bad idea to go over it with a clay bar. Other than that, I haven't had any problems in the 1500 miles and 1 month of ownership.

 

Yeah, I even went over my windows and windshield with a clay bar too. Do yourself a favor, spend the 15 bucks on a clay bar kit, put aside an hour or two, and clay the entire car, and put a fresh coat of wax on it, and even RainX on the windows if you'd like.

Gave me a nice clean slate

 

Not one problem since I got mine in February.

 

One: My rear wipers are messed up, not in sync - new motor on order.
Two - just noticed (a week ago) the little rubber seam/gasket along the bottom of the right rear window has come loose.
Other than that, no problems.
Three: too much chrome - it's taking forever to black it all out

 

Waited two years for this car and not regretting one minute of it. I can't find a thing wrong with it and can't wait to order a Cabrio. Admittedly I am obsessed with Otto. I washed him tonight and when I went out to the garage at 9 pm to pack up an ebay sale I ended up giving him another total Xymol wax, and detailed the black parts again.
I can't say it needed a wax, as this is the second one in 5 months and I use Speed shine in between, but I love just being with the car. l hate to leave him out there. Since he hit 2,000 miles the performance is just unbelievable. Great car.

 

I changed, very happily, to a Clubman from a Jaguar so don't expect MINI to match that super-premium level of seating, trim or finish. But it's fine for what it is - and it eats the Jaguar in terms of price, running costs, storage space - and FUN!

 

Most of the bodywork seems pretty tight but there are a few areas of exterior plastic trim that seem loose compared to other parts.

Also - I don't know how others are but the panel gaps around the club-door seem a bit off. The curve of the door doesnt' quite seem to match the radius of the rest of the bodywork. I'll have to take some photos to illustrate.

Otherwise - solid. No interior rattles and everything seems to be fairly well screwed together.

One overall comment I'd make is that the plastic exterior trim just isn't very solid for a premium car. The bumpers, hood scoop, and wheel arches just feel insubstantial when you're washing/drying them. There's an overall lack of "heft" for want of a better word.

 

I am very impressed with the build quality of my 08 Clubman S. Everything is tight and seems well built. The car has a solid feel, no rattles or other noises at all. Very nice!

Several of my friends have volunteered comments on how solid and well build the car feels, too.

 

I've had my Clubman S for a week. Absolutely love the car, and think the quality is great. I do have an warning light for my airbag/seatbelt but I talked to the dealer and it was probably set off by my over-sized hand bag being right next to the base of the seat - confused the system. They will reset for me.

 

Fit and finsih on mine has been pretty good. I had a random rear wiper fall off I have noticed the paint is thin on the door edges. Family must like to hit things with the passenger door as I've noticed several spots where the paint has chipped off so be carefull with those.

It's in the shop now going on 5 days for squeaking windows. Whenever it sits in the sun the windows make the most god awfull squeak you ever heard going up or down. The dealer started to blame the tint and how precision the Mini's window fit was. I stayed calm and told them to please look at it anyway (I'd have blown up if he tried to shuffle me off). The tech is replacing all the window guts and hopefully I should have it back today. Oh and the clutch pedal started squeaking as well but that just needed a little white lithium lube and it was fine.

All in all I'm still happy but we'll see how this window thing works out. I'm in FL and the car is outside during the day so I hope they get it figured out.

 

The gap around my club door is almost perfect. But I have been conversing with another clubman owner that put a OEM rack on his car and what we found was that the window glass seems to be crooked. Mine lines up perfectly with even gaps at both sides and the top where the meet other body parts, but his does not, there seems to be as much as 1/8" difference between the glass and rain gutter across the top. This is probably just a alignment issue but it would be nice to have it come in correctly from the factory.

As for the rest of the fit and finish of my Clubman it is great. All gaps are even. No loose rubber or plastic parts etc. Much better build quality than a coworkers new Dodge Charger. But that is not saying much either.

I am very happy with the build quality and finish. I did not have to use a clay bar on mine but that may have been done by my dealer. Even to this day with over 5000 miles and sitting outside (no garage) she is just getting to the point of needing that type of treatment.

 

That's good to hear. I don't have a garage either and was a bit worried about that.

 

Well made. Some minor issues. Wouldn't say the build is PERFECT, but I would say that having the Clubman is TOTALLY worth it.

1. Rattle in sunroof and door (?) - will need to fix
2. One speaker cover arrived broken, had to be replaced
3. Hood scoop is sagging from the engine heat - will need to replace

Alll covered under warranty.

 

Had my Clubman 5 months now. Happy to report no problems whatsoever, beautifully built car, not a single fault, blemish, or other issue at all.

Still rare enough to attract admiring attention wherever it goes. I have never had a car for which so many people stop to ask about it. Forever demonstrating the rear doors which everybody loves.

Here in the UK the MINI has been named as the least-depreciating car you can buy, so I expect top residual value when I come to trade it in (for another Clubman I expect!)

 

I agree with Aluvendale, not perfect but worth it....for the reasons we all bought them. With mine 3 months old and 4K miles, my fit and finish has been almost perfect, with these little annoyances:

1. The rubber strip at bottom of driver door was missing when delivered (as reported elsewhere) - bought one for $27
2. The black plastic trim on left windshield post is loose where it meets the roof line (seems to be missing a retainer clip) - not a big deal
3. The felt material inside one of my front wheel wells is trimmed too short and leaves a small gap where it should reach under the black fender cover - also not a big deal and not even noticed until I got down to clean the wheels
4. I've experienced the strange window up-down issues reported elsewhere in another thread (but followed suggested reset and it went away and has not returned)
5. When you open a door and the window drops down a tad, and reverses on closing....one of my windows goes up and down much more than the other - not sure if its even an issue

I plan to have the dealer change oil at 5K miles and check all these items then.

Bottom line is I have had a lot worse with a lot more expensive cars.

 

Thanks. I currently have an F150 crew cab (build quality so-so, but good for its purpose), an S2000 (great fit, finish), and a 2000 Acura TL. We have 2 kids and will be replacing the TL with the clubman. Question beyond build is how well this car will hold up. I buy and keep my cars for a long-time, so when they get out of warranty - really don't expect them to be expensive nightmares. BMW and Porsche....are pricey at best out of warranty.

Here's hoping build quality is an indication of how well these cars will work as long-term drivers.

 

I'd say the quality of build on our S Clubman is equivalent to my 1995 E36 BMW 318ti Club Sport. That's not a bad thing (The ti was an entry level car and lacked here and there, but what a honey for 10 years). We have had zero problems and it's put together BMW-wise as expected. Not as good as my 04 330ci ZHP...but there's a $15,000 difference involved. I love the performance, 60 to 90 is probably faster than the ZHP. Good cars (Think it's going to be a great engine) and better built than I expected.

 

So far my Clubman is holding up after 4500 miles. The hood scoop is sagging from the turbo heat and is very noticable. The front sunroof shade is not staying locked and starts to roll backafter a couple minutes. Also the window controls are a bit quirky, sometimes if I flick the window switch and then do the other window, both windows decide to back down and this happens if I am putting the windows down, they both will go back up. I will keep posted with any changes to the sunroof.

 

Front sunroof shade? Do they come with sunroof shades, or is one available through the dealer?

Our only complaint about the test drive was that the car didn't have a sunroof shade device like our other cars had. In the end, we liked the car enough to order it without this thinking we were going to have to find a solution on our own.

 

Web sites are filled with those who HAVE problems.
Many here have had few or none.
I won't say what has NOT gone wrong, out of fear of jinxing a perfect Clubman.