Wind chill, we don't have no stinkin wind chill!!!! +12 F this morning, drove in with the top down but actually had to turn the heated seats up to 3 to compensate. It was great! I got a few stares and the tips of the ears got slightly chilly but 'twas a fine ride!

The only thing that stops this top from coming down is rain harder than a drizzle and even then, if I can keep the speeds above 40, I'll still leave the top down!

 

Weeellll, I'm baaaaack. With 16,000 miles on the car I again have a broken plastic piece on the new replacement top that was installed at 7,000 miles. I hope they don't have to replace the whole top again for a $2 plastic part!!

 

Had my top repaired on '09 mcs a few months ago and they replaced both plastic parts with new metal ones (even though only one plastic part was broken). Sounds like your shop just replaced one part and used the old plastic part. My dealer service mgr. says the new parts come in a kit (2 pieces) and that both sides were replaced. Good luck!

 

Good to hear that they now have a repair kit and that it uses metal clips. They replaced my entire top with a new one - twice. After the first new top they noted that the glass rear window had optical distortion. They called me and advised that they were ordering another new top.

Unfortunately, the new replacement top had the plastic clips- so here we are again.

 

i hope the new 2012 ROADSTER dun have all these problems

 

Surely they'll have learned their lesson by then. This is such a simple thing! The overall top quality is good and it is a shame they screwed this up so royally.

I've had three BMW 3 series convertibles and the problem with them was a $5 plastic part that pulled the headliner tight on the sides. They also used plastic and the eyelets would crack. This would eventually mess with one of the position sensors and the top wouldn't go down.

 

What is the "factory fix" for the broken plastic clip problem?

 

C-Pillar Reinforcements per "SIB" The part number of the kit
54BMZ04 repair C-pillar reinforcements per SIB

1 54-34-7-276-922 Repair kit for convertible
T:54999934

part number is in there somewhere

cheers

 

Are they using the new improved parts on the 2011 top from the factory?

 

Odd question as the part numbers are factory kit numbers in the parts book. It seems odd they would have more than one kit for fix the same part. If you are asking are these parts the same as the 2011 production parts. I would doubt that, but the function would be the same.

 

No, I'm basically wondering if they have fixed the problem on the 2011 tops. Mine's a 2011 and I am curious if they have fixed the problem or if it's something I need to be on the lookout for and maybe have them replace the plastic pieces proactively before they break.

 

Mini took care of the problem and are using the metal parts.

 

Cool! Good to know since on average I open and close the top 2 or 3 times a day.

 

I had advice from my service rep at Baron Mini. He said that when you can keep the top up. It keeps the top in better shape and there is some evidence leaving it down will cause worse wear points. So I keep mine up in the garage and take her down to go out.
Norm Conley

 

Yeah, that makes sense. I only have it down when I'm driving. That's why it goes up and down several times a day.

 

Mine has always done this, if i put some vasiline on the areas that make contact, it seems to help in the short term...

 

Well to add another story to the on-going saga, I had SJ in a couple of weeks ago for the 1 year maintenance and while I was there I showed the service manager a spot where a piece of the fabric was poking up from the body on the drivers side. This wasn't exactly the same as when a clip broke (I had a top replaced for that already) but once bitten, twice shy (great song also). So they installed the repair kit and a new piece of trim that runs on the inside (I think they call it the "C" pillar). Everything seemed to be ok BUT yesterday morning when I got to my dental appointment and tried to put the top up, the drivers side (not sure about the passengers side, didn't notice) missed the landing zone and caused a jam. The lock symbol showed in the display and then the top jammed tight. I couldn't get it to move in either direction and ended up shutting off the car. After I powered it back up, I was able to get the top to retract and then close normally. I tried to get the dealer to look at it since I was literally down the road from him but they claimed they were all booked up and to try and schedule a service appointment. I'll take care of that this morning and get them to provide a loaner but anyone experience this? I didn't hear any unusual noises when this happened but it did leave a scratch on the plastic covering the windsheild pillar where the clamp would usually lock the roof in. It's got me a bit spooked now but hopefully they can set it right since I was planning a road-trip to FL in a couple of weeks and if I can talk the wife into it, I want to take SJ on the 1800 mile roundtrip so I can go topless in 5 states!

 

Correction....I've found that I'm putting the top up and down about 6 or 7 times a day! Pretty much every time I get in the car I either open the top completely or halfway in sunroof mode.

Anyone know if there has been any kind of durability testing on these tops? Is there some kind of life expectancy of how many times the top can open/close before breaking down?

 

-- Update:

I took Sarah into the dealership on my way to work to have this looked at (as well as have the sealent/protectorant that I purchased as part of the maintenance package applied to the top) and picked up a loaner since I fully expected they would take a few hours to look into this and repair it. Much to my surprise, I had a call shortly after I got into work from the service manager saying that everything was fine and the car was ready when I was. After inquiring into the resolution for the top I was told that they could not reproduce the problem and the only error captured on the key fob was one that said I had tried to lower/raise the top at a speed in excess of 40 kph (the error occurred while I was sitting in a parking lot waiting to go into the dentist) so even though he did not say it directly, I'm thinking he chalked the problem up to "human/machine interface error, i.e. dumba$$ behind the wheel). He even quoted some tech bulliten saying that MINI had issued concerning this and offered to provide a copy of said tech bulliten. I politely and diplomatically told him it wouldn't be necessary and that he could keep the bulliten as part of the cars maintenance documentation and place it in a secure location (that was the diplomatic part). I don't know about other MINI's but if I try to raise/lower the top at anything above 20 MPH, Sarah gives me a very loud and strict lecture and locks out the motor circuits. So I'm not convinced the problem has been fixed or possibly they did do some adjustments to correct the problem but won't admit it for some reason. But whatever, the issue has not returned as of yet so I'll just keep an eye on it.

That would be some interesting data to see. I do the same thing, I probably lower/raise the top between 2 and 6 times in a day. I don't really like the "sunroof" mode since my opinion is that the ambient sound is much louder, the wind is worse and it just plain makes the car look ugly! I did make a trip down to FL and back last week and rode with the top down 98% of the time. The 2% I had the top up was due to either weather, darkness or the resulting sunburn hurting like heck! It never occurred to me to carry sunscreen and I got pretty burned since it is a 13 hour trip each way. But I sure do love being topless!!

 

Mat, one cool trick I learned from a couple of people here is that you can reduce the wind turbulence when in sunroof mode by opening the back windows. I tried it and it reduced the wind buffeting by about 75 to 80%. It really makes a huge difference.

Yeah, I know the car looks a little odd with the top half open and the rear windows down but personally, I don't care. I'm willing to look a little strange for the sake of a more comfortable ride.

 

i took mine in to mini of stevens creek the other week for this very problem. i just pointed out the loose sides and he acknowledged it w/o saying much. they fixed it but i'm not sure what kit p/n it was since i didn't get a copy of the final paperwork.
they also replaced the left rear light fixture since i've been told that one was brighter than the other.
these and other problems like the fuel pump are really making me think about extending the warranty...

 

I had the exact same problem occur with my top locking up last week. They tried to tell me it was because the top was not put down all the way and then I drove the car. However, I was parked when I put the top down and seemed to have no issues... Went down as it always does. Then when I drove off it began beeping at me. Of couse they said they could find no issue with the top and it was working just fine. I have also had the plastic pieces brake and the top replaced several times (5 times in 1.5 years)! I have filed for a lemon because it breaks so frequently. Sad, I used to love the car. Now I hope I can get rid of it!

 

Wow, that sucks! 5 times in 1.5 years? What year is yours?

 

I have an 09. And I actually settled with Mini today and I won! So glad to be over with the whole thing!

 

Awesome!

What was the outcome?

Also, what kind of problems did the top have that required that many replacements?

After reading some of the horror stories on here I can only hope I'm one of the lucky ones and don't have these many problems. My last car was full of problems from day one. I bought the Mini hoping it would be a little more reliable.