How have they been holding up to the road salt?
I hate that stuff.
I'm starting on my first winter.

 

I'm just starting my second winter. I did not get the factory rust protection, but wasn't really worried since the body panels are galvanized steel. No problems after the 1st winter, but I got nervous and had it treated last week at Krown rustproofing (parrafin oil spray). Even if the sheet metal suposedly can't rust it's good to have everything else protected.

 

How much does something like that cost?

 

I don't see the point to get any sort of coating seeing as you have a 12 year unlimited mile warranty against rust and corrosion from the factory.

 

I can't see how the R56 will rust within that 12 year warranty. Between the fabric fender liners and the massive underbody coating/painting, there's no reason for anything to rust through anytime soon. As always, the more vulnerable locations are door/body seams and fastener pass-through, but that is not MINI specific in concern.

 

I wish it had an under-engine cover like my VW had.
It seemed to help keep the engine cleaner.

 

You mean the massive cover-up shroud of plastic? Have you ever removed any of those shrouds after 50k miles of driving? YUK! They only make it look cleaner from above. I'll take a cleanly designed and fully exposed engine bay any day over a veil of anonymity.

 

Anonymity? I replaced the full coverage plastic model with an oem steel crash plate on my TDI diesel Bug. I The car had a low-hanging cast aluminum oil pan. I changed the oil from up top. I sold the car with 250k miles. I removed that plate just a few times. Talk about hard to do. It was like 35 lbs. It did take a number of hits over 8 years. Very strong. It had a tad lower ground clearance, but the Bilstein HD's helped with that.

 

+1...maybe this question can be posted in five years or so, but you'd have to drive an R55/R56 into the ocean to cause any rust problems this soon after model launch.

 

Living in Honolulu salt is everywhere, most mornings cars are covered in a light sprinkling of salt. and no still no rust issues yet.

 

the welds on my custom exhaust is showing signs of rust...

someone on nam had theirs coated with high temp paint which is what i did... problem solved i hope...

 

Us Military guys in Germany only get 24 month coverage..

 

Washing the car frequently and the undercarriage as well will go a long way to keeping rust at bay.

Pat

 

One of the benefits of the Cosmoline goop that they apply during manufacture.

 

Given that rust became an issue in certain locations on the R53 after only a few years (and even on some cars that were never driven in the winter), I figured getting rust proofing was prudent. Of course, I live in Canada where road salt is everywhere in the winter. My previous car I had rust proofed annually by Rust Check, but after a few years the car looked dirty constantly because of the rust proofing leaking when it was warm (I never found any rust, however ). With the MINI, I had the rust proofing done at the dealer. It was more expensive (Rust Check was about $120 per year, versus about $700 through the dealer), but I only had to pay once at the dealer, and they check every year to make sure it doesn't need a respray. Plus, then I don't have to worry about rust proofing getting on everything as it builds up year after year.

 

oops! I thought you meant under-hood engine cover, not an underbody skid-plate/splash guard. My mistake. I'll agree with you there. For some reason MINI decided to make the under-engine cover smaller on the R56 versus the R53, which was much more substantial. I'll chalk it up to different aerodynamics and more likely cost savings.

 

On the plus side, it is very easy to change the oil!

 

First gen sub forum is reporting more instances of rust on doors and seams, even on models as late as 2005. Hopefully this gen wont be so prone to this.

 

This is why I went with the rust proofing.

 

Simple rust fix -- move to San Diego

 

I have an 05 and the lower portion of each door has rusted thru already - while washing the car this past weekend, a few pieces of paint/metal fell off onto my sponge...this rusted portion is about 1 1/2" long and migrates to the caulk line on the inside of the door and to about 1/4" up the outside of the door. When I saw this, I inspected both doors very carefully and I was SHOCKED!!! There are a few dozen tiny blisters on the outside of both doors and the entire area above the caulk strip on the inside of both doors has rusted. Unfortunately, the color Pure Silver is extremely reflective and I never saw this.

I am a wee bit fanatical about washing and cleaning and waxing this area. As I suggested in the other thread though, the rubber strip along the inside of the first Gen cars help to keep this area wet. This area is also near impossible to clean completely with anything but a toothbrush. Automatic car wash? Forget it, it'll never get this area clean.

Keep an eye on this area, no matter what Gen mini you drive!!!

I called Mini USA today and was told I have a 6 year unlimited mileage rust warranty. I have an appointment set up for next Wed at 9am with my dealership. I was told that both doors may need to be replaced...

 

Wow, post some pictures of that area if you get a chance...

 

I'm a rust belt sissy. I did the Ziebart diamond coat and the rust protection. In addition, the treated gravel roads make it really nasty. So...she's tucked away for the winter With the moisture we have and road salt...I wanted her covered for everything. If you are storing for the winter in a cold garage next to your salt covered beater...salt residue will end up on your baby. Yeah...I'm a sissy

 

This weekend!

 

$120. But maybe it was a waste of time:

I just read the owners manual - it says "every MINI vehicle receives thorough corrosion protection treatment during its production" and also "the warranty is for a period of 12 years without kilometre limitation".

Now I'm wondering what the extra rust protection the dealer tried to sell me was? I was under the impression it was necessary to get the warranty. I'm glad I said no.