Hi guys
I was wondering If I can retrofit the sunroof or has anyone tried . I really like the sunroof everytime I go to the dealer i get jelly of other mini copper with the sunroof. I also wonder if I can have a direct sunroof replacement

 

Best thing to do in that case is to sell the non-SR car and buy one with an SR. I believe you'll find that the sunroof assembly requires a completely different roof panel, and is far far more involved than just a hole cut in the roof.

That said, there have always been places that would be happy to cut a hole in your car and put a plastic panel in, but it will not be like the original type and IMHO will look rather cheesy.

 

Agreed. I went and sold mine for one with one. And upgraded to S at same time =].
Retrofit is a hefty task for sure.

 

Weird, I wish I'd never ordered the sunroof. A complete waste of money and weight...

 

Somewhat true. But it's neat and got the car lots of attention.

 

I agree with just buying a car with the sunroofs already there. Aftermarkets SRs aren't as solid as OEM and they tend to leak. The frame of the car has to be altered to support the weight and structural differences of a SR.

With that said, I won't own a car without a sunroof. I was looking at Honda Fit Sport before I bought my first Mini, but the lack of sunroof option lost the sale for me.

 

That's the one regret I have about my car... Wish it had a sunroof. It just wasn't easy to pass by, though. Oh well!

 

I don't miss the sunroof. I have one in my F350 Dually and never use it.

 

I had the sunroof in my first MINI, and now I don't. The only thing I ever used it for was to crack them both open at the same time because it looked sweet. I don't miss it at all.

 

Me too, it's the one thing I don't like about my car.

 

Loved the Sunroof on my R56 and was one of the first things I ticked when creating the Countryman. Like so many things on these cars "to each there own". You got to love it.

 

The sunroof was the selling point on my car. If it didn't have it, I wasn't going to get it. And, it's by far my favorite feature. I have it open all the time weather permitting.

 

Just curious, to all those who hate it's weight. How much are you really losing in performance? What is it, 40lbs difference (guesstimate)...how often has that weight, even though it is higher and undesirable inhibited what you were trying to do?

I have one with and one without. I like the look the the car with both tilted up and vented, but I like the headroom of the one without a sunroof. If I order a car it will be without just due to cost.

 

Just a WAG but I'm willing to believe that there isn't a SINGLE person on this fourm that drives their MINI at such a level that whatever the weight penalty (if any) would be noticed. People often throw out and or repeat this weight penalty stuff as if they are driving competitively or time qualifying on public roads. Nonsense! Get a sunroof if you like it.

 

 

I really like my sunroof and probably wouldn't own a car without one. BUT I had a friend who had a sunroof installed into a mustang that leaked really bad. I would probably either keep it or sell it and get another MINI with one already in it. Plus, the 1k you would end up spending on the roof could go towards another car.....

 

It seems that the sunroof is almost as personal a decision as color combo. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground on the sunroof, though. Seems like people either love it or have no use for it. I'm in the "no use for it" category, but I can see where others might like it. Anyway, Mini has made it very easy for us now that it's a stand alone option. The only question we have to ask ourselves now is, is it worth a grand? I wonder what percentage of individually ordered cars (not dealer orders) are with and without sunroofs. It would be very interesting to see stats on this and other options and color combinations.

 

Personally to me the Mini sunroof is a horrible implementation of a sunroof. I had one in my old Toyota Celica, Acura Integra and my Toyota MR2 and loved them all. But here in Texas there's months of the year where your car tries to impersonate an oven and having a good solid covering to cover the sunroof is necessary. Both of those cars had good heat shields built in (Kind of on the MR2) that blocked the heat and light from the sun.

I had a loaner Mini Cooper with the sunroof and I can tell you that mesh screen wouldn't be worth anything in August here. I know you can buy some aftermarket items to stuff up in there but I think that looks terrible personally compared to something that is stock on other cars. When I was shopping it seemed like every single car here had a sunroof, almost as if they had been giving them away. I was happy to find me a car that didn't have one at all.

Of course, England isn't exactly the hottest or sunniest place, but still...a proper sunroof cover doesn't seem like it'd be all that hard to do. And if I lived someplace that wasn't in the triple digits for over a quarter of the year it might be a better option, but not here and not for me not now.

 

I get more wave backs, when I wave through the the sunroof. I love it!

Dave

 

Anyone WITH a sunroof who doesn't enjoy it and also has a black roof want to TRADE ROOFS with me? ;-)

 

So far, my sunroof is great. It was not a determining factor on my purchase of my mini, however, it's a feature I really enjoy.

 

I'm one of those people that paid the extra $1000 to order the sun roof on my build. The sunroof was actually my first requirement, followed by the Cold Weather PKG...then I just went on an ordering frenzie after those two things were selected. I stopped myself before I ordered the $2000 black leather with white piping seats.

 

I like having the SR but I rarely if ever drive with it or any other windows open.
I do open the SR to the vent position on hot days while parked. The SR has a one touch feature to vent position which makes it really easy.
It's not that easy and kind of frustrating to try and 'crack' the side windows exactly where you want them due to the auto down AND up feature.

 

I love my sunroof, but I HATE the wind noise. It's horrible! I can only enjoy the sunroof when I'm going around town under 40 mph. :(

 

This was the other thing I noticed on my loaner. What a horrendous noise at highway speeds. Lower speeds were much better.