R56 sunroof, rear glass vents when front glass vents, goes down when roof is opened. The winddeflector has been redesigned and should be much quieter!

 

Do any of you have opinions on either tinting or decaling the sunroof on an R56? I want the opening for the air and moon, but I may want to tone down the sun coming in, especially if the mesh-type sunroof used previously is still the way it's going to be. What do you think?

 

Lots of people put limosine black tint on the sunroof.

 

OOOOoooohhh...honestly that never occurred to me. It's going on the mental list. Heck, this being Texas and the car being dark silver, I might even consider metallized film.

 

I heard that will damage the glass and void the warranty.
Maybe the white decal and an aftermarket removable sunshade.



Maybe in a few years, they will get enough complaints about the the inadequate sunshade to come out with a solid one.

 

I would love to have the sunroof open on cool nights, but living in florida, it will not be used in the day, I"m still trying to decide myself on the sunroof, I test drove a mini s with a sunroof, the light was a little to much that rolling sunscreen doesn't do anything!!!

 

I personally like having some light come through the screen and being able to have the roof open with the screen closed is great in certain situations, but then again, I haven't had my MINI long enough to experience the summer heat yet. In my old car, living in S FL, I used to always open the sunroof up when I first got in the car to help let some of the heat out at first, but I did usually keep the shade closed when parked, so I know where you're coming from.

Considering that the car has been around for five years and they redesigned the 07's with the same style shade, I don't think I'd hold my breath on this.

I guess if you really like having the option of a sunroof, and the shade isn't working for you, you could always take an opportunity to customize your MINI even more with a vinyl roof graphic just on the glass. It would look great and keep the sun out!

 

I had one on my first MINI, it developed a horrible rattle and no one could fix it. I didn't use it that much, so the new one dosen't have one. Just a personal choice but don't think I would ever get another one.

 

I have had sun roofs on all my BMWs, except my Z3 roadster, my Jeep was a convertible and the 2002 MINI had the sun roof. To me, sun is an important part of driving, feeling that bright light beaming down on you. The 2002 MINI sun roof never leaked, but it did rattle, a trade-off. In general, BMW car roofs are much better than most... the sun roof isn't just a hole cut in the roof, it's engineering into the car. You lose little or none of the crash-worthiness. With MINIs, the sun roof, I feel, is part of the cachet and makes the car feel much larger inside than it really is. The few MINIs I've driven without sun roofs felt strange.

All that said, if a person is quite tall, or is planning on racing a MINI, the sun roof can get in the way, it definitely cuts in on the roof height. For tall folks who plan on autocrossing and the like, I would wear your favorite helmet and sit in a MINI with and without the sun roof to see if you have enough clearance.

Lastly, the MINI sun roof is, well, expensive. I guess it all depends on what you want to determine if it is worth the cost. For me, it was in 2002 and it still is.
Mike