I also have Cosmoline drippage problems with Harriet. The Cosmoline drips out of the bonnet onto the passenger and driver side wheel trim piece like everyone is posting here, as well as onto the front bumper.

I was able to remove the Cosmoline completely from both the trim pieces and the bumper by using some 70% isopropyl rubbing alcohol soaked into a paper towel. A couple passes of light to moderate rubbing and all signs of the goo were gone. No apparent damage to the paint finish or the trim pieces, although it's possible the wax coating may be diminished. I get the car detailed every few weeks, so I don't think it's of much concern.

I also try to get ahead of the problem and take a shop or paper towel and run it inside the crevices of the bonnet as much as I can where the Cosmoline drips out of. I managed to get some rather large deposits of gelatinous Cosmoline out of the front where it was dripping onto the bumper, and I haven't noticed a re-occurrence since then. I didn't get as much out of the sides and it's started dribbling onto the trim pieces again.

I think other items such as a plastic or silicon cooking spatula could be used to get into the tight spots and scrape out as much Cosmoline as possible which will help reduce or eliminate the dripping, especially if the weather is warm and the car's been driven recently. I don't think I'll ever get all of it out, but if I can get it thinned down enough, there won't be enough to drip out, and it'll remain up inside the crevices where no one can see it anyway without a borescope.

 

I've not been able to get into the dealer to address my cosmoline drip problem. We've had a sweltering hot summer and the dripping continues. What I have done is to thoroughly clean under the hood w/warm dawn soap and water and a towel. Then I stuffed a piece of folded paper towel into a hole in one of the hood braces just above the trim. This has stopped the goo from dripping onto the trim.

I still plan on having the dealer replace the trim if it can't be restored to like new condition. On my car, in spite of all my efforts at washing, if you look closely, you can see where the trim has been discolored.

I'm glad to hear the Mini is apparently aware of this problem.

 

I'm not sure if i posted this earlier or not, but when i contacted my dealer, they said that they would clean the cosmoline (free of charge) for every MINI only once...

 

Huh???

 

The cosmoline that sometimes drips onto the black trip on the sides of the bonnet. They said they would clean all of the residue off for everyone, but only one time. Did that make sense?

 

.

 

That's absurd. Do they really think you went out and purchased a can of Cosmoline from your handy-dandy auto parts store, swabbed it liberally on your MINI, and then went to the dealer wanting them to remove it?

 

Years ago, when the Japanese cars were built in Japan and shipped over there was a bottle of cosmoline remover with each car. It changed the cosmoline to power and with water the dust would wash off. I'm almost positive it's it still sold at professional detail supply centers.

 

Ha, yeah, i suppose they do think something like that. I doubt my 'one free time' will remove all of the cosmoline that's gunked under my bonnet.

Hmm, i should look for that...google, here i come.

 

I see your in Rockville. Which dealer told you this? Cause I wanna stay far away from those idiots. If it was TATE, you may want to recheck with them since they have been sold recently and seem much more customer oriented than before. MINI put the crap on their cars to get them over here. It's their problem if your car is still having issues with it.

 

Yes, i'm in rockville. I went to Mini of Sterling though. I'm kinda midway between MoS and Mini of Annapolis. I'm supposed to take my car to the dealer this Wednesday for a few other things, also hoping that they fix my cosmoline problem.

 

I'm getting ready to leave soon to take my MINI to MINIofSterling for the cosmoline issue, an icon that keeps lighting up, a piece of my dash is coming apart and my window decides to not "one-touch" up sometimes....

wish me luck...and a MINI loaner =)

 

Good luck 219. Keep us posted on the cosmoline cleanup. My windows do the same thing from time to time so I'll be interested in what you find on that issue.

 

I'm picking up my MINI this afternoon.
Supposedly they were able to clean all of the cosmoline off without replacing the trim and they were able to check or update something on the windows. They weren't able to duplicate the window thing there, so updating, etc was all they could do. And my icon that kept coming on, my fog light(s) were out apparently. I guess we'll see when i pick her up this afternoon!

 

Luck219,

Let us know if your black trim truely is clean

 

Alright, Zoe is safely home again from MoS!

I'm not sure what they used, but all of the cosmoline on the black trim has been cleaned off. If i look REALLY hard and close up at it (in bright ligtht) then i can see a very faint line, but for hte most part, it's off! Woot! I spoke to my tech about this and a few other simple questions - HE told me (unlike my SA) that if it happened again, I could just bring it back in and they'd clean it off. I didn't question, but made sure to get his name for the next time (if there is one).

A piece of my dash was drooping on the left side beneath the steering wheel. They were able to secure that back in place using... whatever. =)

My (front) foglights were out which is why i kept getting that exterior lighting icon whenever i'd start the car. The tech said that I probably just had one faulty bulb but that they like to change them all in pairs so they replaced both of them. (could be a bunch of bull, but either way, new bulbs!)

And lastly...**thinks** My passenger side window would blip out every once in a while (maybe 2-3x since March) and not go up on the one-touch. They couldn't get this to happen when they tried, so there wasn't a whole lot they could do about it. However, they did sort of 'update' or maybe 'reprogram' something in the windows so hopefully it wont happen anymore.

This was the first time that i've taken Zoe back to the dealership since i took delivery in March. I've heard some negative things about the service dept at MoS but I didn't find anything wrong with it whatsoever. We picked up Zoe right before they closed (about 20min til 8) so we had ot wait for about 15min or so to get the tech so we could ask him questions, because he was pulling other cars around, etc, etc. But other than that little bit of waiting, everything else went very smooth. My service advisor was Debbie (at MINI of Sterling). She was very, very nice. I found out that she started working at MoS on the day i took delivery! How wierd! Oh, just to continue my experience story, I was able to drive a MINI loaner all day wed after i dropped Zoe off, and yesterday until i picked her up. I had an 08 MC Oxy blue w/ white stripes. AUTOMATIC! Bleh. I was SO SO happy to get my MINI back. I love it. But in the same respect, i wanted to have a loaner of something different than what mine is so i could compare them. My thoughts - i love my S and i love my manual!

rwwilsonjr- I just checked the paperwork that i got from the dealer on the windows... it says "windows need to be initialized" - so, that's the technical jist of what they did, if that means anything.

 

Actually, that makes sense with older bulbs. Barring actual damage, it would make sense that they'd wear out at the same rate. Your case isn't typical because they haven't been used much, but it's not surprising, especially if you have a distance to travel, AND you have a generous SA. Not something I'd expect from a dealer, though...

We've got a light fixture in our house that is about a zillion feet above us, so when we have some painting done (on a scaffold), we're going to have all of the bulbs replaced preventively.

 

That's smart!

 

We hope--don't know what we'll do if one of the bulbs proves defective.

 

My dealership (Ferman MINI of Tampa Bay) did one excellent job of prep on my MINI, no cosmoline or other typical 'Dealer Prep' issues at all,
they did charge enough.

Should they ever need (or if you are up there again), you can get "Long Life" light bulbs that will last many times longer than a 'standard' bulb,
at the cost of a little less light lumen output for the same wattage.
__________________________________________________ _______________

I have been very disappointed with the 'lifetime' of those 'curley tube' replacement bulbs that save so much electric wattage.

 

"rwwilsonjr- I just checked the paperwork that i got from the dealer on the windows... it says "windows need to be initialized" - so, that's the technical jist of what they did, if that means anything".


Thanks 219.

 

Can't do it. These are those little "flame" shaped bulbs common in chandeliers.