Hi all

I was detailing my MINI yesterday when I noticed something I don't recall seeing before. On the passenger side front pillar of the windshield, where the pillar meets the roofline, there is a small gap between the pillar and the roofline. It is large enough that I can see the top line of the pillar, but it is small enough that I can not even get my fingertip in the space. The space is only about as wide as the tip of a house key. It almost looks like the pillar slid down from the roof line, but I tried pushing upward on the pillar and it seems to be snugly in place. I suppose it could have been there since I bought the car in May of 2010, but I would think I would have seen it before since I give her a bath and detail her every week! Does anyone think I should be concerned about this? Am I worried about nothing? I have driven my MINI in the rain plenty of times and have seen no leaking, but again, it still seems odd that I never noticed this before.

I tried to take a picture, but since the pillar and roof line are black, and it is hard to see much of anything.

thanks!

 

not good . . . nobody else has this issue except me!

 

Picture?

 

I always cruise the "New Posts" so I didn't see this until now. I'm pretty sure I know what you're talking about. There is a gap between the top part of the A pillar and the rubber strip on the roof of the car. I noticed there was a gap sometime last year and I went to the other side of the car and it's the exact same. So is this normal....well if my car is counted as normal then yes.

I think the gap is there because the water escapes from the hole in the guttering through that gap.

BTW If you take a toothpick you can clear the crud out of the holes on the guttering/rubber stripping. Same with the cowl holes. I did that because water was pooling on the outside cowl under the wipers.

 

sorry, but as I mentioned in my first post, I tried taking a picture, but nothing showed up . . . all the black on black, combined with my iPhone crappy resolution makes for a terrible photo.


MisterClean: thanks for responding. I will take a look to see if water drains from that spot when I wash her today.

 

MisterClean: I suppose it does seem as though the area is made like that for drainage. I was watching water run out as I rinsed off soap during bath time. Thanks!

 

I also have this issue. Mine is because the top two A-Pillar studs are broken. If you open the door and push the rubber gasket under the A-Pillar towards the car you can see the screws attaching the A-Pillar. I wasn't able to tell they were broken until I tried to take the A-Pillar off and the studs came along with the screws instead of staying with the A-Pillar. My issue started when I had the windshield replaced. The people who replaced the windshield also replace the first A-Pillar cover, but it has broken again

 

Hahaha, I was in the same situation. I was detailing mine this past weekend and I stumbled upon the "gap" between the pillar and roofline too. I even went as far as doing what you did and pushing up on the pillar, but did notice as well that it is snuggly in place. I don't think you have anything to worry about

 

thanks Eddyboi77! I am glad to hear that I am not the only one. I have been watching that area very closely on my MINI, and I have not detected any water intrusion. So I am guessing everything is as it should be. Whew!

COKen: sorry to hear about the A-pillar/stud issue. Hopefully you can get that fixed.

 

my girlfriends 11 MCS has the same problem but only on the driver side

 

WTF is it with that? Is it because of someone messing up at the factory? Something else? I cannot imagine why some of our MINIs have the problem, and some don't . . .