Thank you both for your kind comments . I've taken her out for a ride after a 24-hour break. Top opens and closes flawlessly so far... it's getting better and better.

Thanks miss_chiff for your compliments, too ! Have you got some pics of your own MINI to show?

 

How did you go about getting the metal blue stripes and mirror caps? I'm wondering if it's only a European option. Such a great combo with the blue top.
I've got a 2005 MCSC that I got preloved back in January. Cool blue with a blue top, black w/white edged stripes, blue leather seats. It's the first year the cabrio came out. I love it! I used to not take it out when it rains, but now I do as its so fun to drive. Won't be long until you do too!

 

Thanks ! I really wanted a blue top.
As for the stripes, they were not a MINI option but done separately by a company specialized in automobile decals. My dealer found this company for me. I was able to choose the appropriate blue tone and amongst the available colors this metal blue is the one that came closest to the blue top.

You're a blue fan too as I see would love to see pics of your MINI !
As for the rain, actually I do take her out every day since it's the car I use on a daily basis for driving to work, and my daily life, even if it rains.

 

In the meantime, I found two similar cases in the british forums of totalMINI and MINI2.com (I put the links to the discussion threads just in case someone is interested).

 

We have a 2010 JCW and are having the same problem. Intermittently, the roof will not go up. It would be helpful if someone would post the sensor part numbers that were replace that fixed the problem.

 

Hi Patyacht,
So sorry to hear you're experiencing the same problem. I'll call my dealer next week and ask for the information. Will post that here.

 

Thanks so much. I'm really getting tired of my wife calling me to say I can't get the top up AGAIN!

 

Well, that's how we girls are

In the meantime, I got a reply from my service center. They've replaced pretty much everything in that roof, but the two parts below are the ones that actually solved the problem:

54342758486
Repair kit, wiring harness for sensors
http://parts.miniofsouthatlanta.com/...342758486.html

54342758446
Drive unit for folding / sliding roof
http://parts.miniofsouthatlanta.com/...342758446.html


Good luck and let me know if this helps !

 

Thanks for the part info. I'll let you know how things go. I got the top up finally and I'm afraid to put it down.

 

You're welcome.
Yeah, I understand that. But you have to put it down again because you need to make the defect show up again, so that the mechanics can run a diagnostic on it. Otherwise it's like it's not happening to them. It took me two visits to my service center to convince them that something was wrong. The first time they just sent me away because they couldn't reproduce it.

Good luck!

 

You are absolutely correct. We've already made several trips to 2 different dealerships. They have already replaced a wiring harness, which one I do not know. We always get it back working for a while then it stops again and when I get it to them it seems to work. Electronic Gremlins. I hate them.

 

Tell them to check the sliding roof's components. It seems that the culprit was there - on the sliding, not folding part of the roof (as absurd as it may seem).

Anyway, my dealer said replacing the two parts mentioned above was what (seems to have) solved the problem as far as my cab is concerned.

Good luck !

 

Well our Cabrio is spending Christmas in Vegas at the MINI dealer. They are replacing everything but the canvas top. Sensor, wiring harness, etc. They called today and said everything is working fine but would like to keep it to test some more plus we are getting the rims painted black. Stay tuned for the final result after Christmas.

 

So it's 2013 and we have our Cabrio back and so far so good. Everything related to the top except the fabric was replaced. Top is working fine. Appears to go up & down more smoothly and with less noise than before. Time will tell.

 

Good news, Patyacht ! I really hope for you that your problem is now solved. Happy New Year!

 

I so want the weather to warm up, so I can run with the top down.

 

Had the top down today. It was 70 degrees and guess what? The top actually worked.

 

Yeah, that's looking good ! Should be solved now, keep us tuned.

 

I'm so happy I found this thread. My wife's 2011 MCS has been to the dealer twice with the top won't go back up issue.

Dealer has claimed operator problem. Not completing the retraction cycle so the top is not fully locked down. Here is what they are claiming.

"We did get a look at the roof and what the tech found was that the button may not have been held long enough to get the top into the locking position. When this happened it put the whole system into Limp mode where nothing can function. He has tested it several times and cleared all the codes out of the system and it is working great again. Please let me know if you have any questions about this."

Here's the e-mail from me to the dealer that describes what is actually happening.

"The explanation of how the top problem is occurring makes no sense to me.

First of all, you may recall when I brought her car in the first time that the lock devices were hanging from the top because I couldn't get them to unlock following the procedure in the manual. They were fully locked down. I examined them very closely attempting to figure out how to unlock them. I even had a conference call with you and your tech to discuss the issue.

Second, I'm willing to bet that when I cycle the top down tonight that it never touches the two chrome roll bars. Yet both times when we brought it in, the top had been jammed against those roll bars so tightly that the top motor couldn't overcome the friction. So if dropping the top doesn't cause contact with the roll bars at any time during the lowering cycle, then stopping too early would not cause the top to jam against the roll bars. After the first incident, it was only after I backed the four hex screws out from the locking devices that the pressure was released sufficiently to allow me to move the top up. When we brought it in the second time, the top was still jammed against the roll bars.

When the top is not fully retracted and locked an audible alarm sounds and the light next to the switch starts blinking. In both incidents, the system didn't signal an incomplete lowering until well after the top had been lowered. In the second case, we're talking about overnight. The sounds and lights went off when Chari started the car in the morning -- after the top had been down all night. In the first case, Chari experienced the lights flashing and alarm while driving home, well after she lowered the top.

We operated that top without incident at least 10 times between the first and second incident. So the fact it is operating properly now is not an indicator that an intermittant problem is solved. We are very darn lucky that this problem didn't crop up far from home in the rain. Yes, I have some experience with the consequences when a MINI is allowed to admit rain water. I don't think telling Chari to properly operate the top (which she has done without incident for 3 years up to the last two weeks) is going to make the problem go away."

So it appears as though it is my responsibility to educate the dealer. Thank you for this helpful thread.

Tom

 

Hi Tom,
I'm sad to hear you're having a similar issue than I had - I know from experience how awfully stressing that can be.
I hope this topic could give you some insights and that you were able to get your dealer to solve the issue. Let us know what the outcome was !
Keeping fingers crossed.

 

Betty,

Thank you for getting back to me. My 2011 ended up going into the dealer 3 times. After the second time they blamed my wife for not completely lowering the top. Typical chauvanistic response, which does not set at all well with my wife.

If you observe the top lowering process you realize their claim was impossible in that both times the lowered top had jammed against the back of the roll bars. The top moves forward as it locks down so their claim was impossible. If she stopped short of lowering it all the way it would have been further away rather than closer to the roll bar. I suggested they operate the top on the Cabrio on the showroom floor to observe how their own top works at the end of the lowering cycle. They did and suggested we wait until it happened again. I also sent them a link to this thread, which they read.

On noon the next day, it jammed for the third time. I told them I was not interested in participating in a parts swap meet. They needed keep the car as long as necessary to diagnose what was going on and fix it.

It turns out, MINI has issued new parts for the Cabrio top that fixes this issue. I was told by the tech there is one new sensor in the wiring harness and a new top lock mechanism that doesn't pull down the top as far as the previous part.

Even though it is out of warranty (56,000 miles), they covered the repair. It has been working properly ever since.

 

Hi Tom, thanks for the update !
I'm happy to hear your problem is solved. From the parts that were replaced, it really sounds like it was similar to mine.

As for the dealership's chauvinistic behavior, I can tell you it's the same in Switzerland. The first time I was at the dealership they thought I wasn't closing the top properly…. stereotypes go a long way. Well, after that, they HAD to believe me. I brought hubby along to spank their bottoms if they didn't.