top won't close when it's cold
 

So I may be crazy, but it seems like my top won't close when it's cold outside. It's only 60 degrees out, but it still seems to cause problems. If I move it to an heated garage, the top closes just fine.

Anyone else run into this?

Am no mechanic but if someone has greased the top frame in the past with wet rather than dry lube it will collect dust and crud. Wet grease is more likely to cause trouble at lower temps although 60F is not very low. I would clean all joints and dry lube.

Are there specific joints that are more problematic or do you just grease everything you can see?

Thats weird, my closes at even very cold temps. My guess is you need to grease the pivot points.

Grease all the scissor joints.

if someone has greased the top frame in the past with wet rather than dry lube it will collect dust and crud. Wet grease is more likely to cause trouble at lower temps


WD-40 will dissolve most other lubricants allowing you to clean up .... pack the area with paper towels and spray on WD-40 then go to work with a toothbrush ....

It's trying to tell you something. Lower temperature is not a reason to put the top up. 21° so far here for top down. Only reason it goes up in the cold is if my co-pilot whines louder than the supercharger so's I can't hear it...oh, wait, you don't have a supercharger. Never mind.

Brought it to the Mini dealership. They replaced the microswitch in the trunk. It worked for about a week before it stopped working again.

The dealership has now replaced the wiring harness for the top. Seems to be working now.

Ok, so it was that main harness to the top maybe that was snagged and damaged?

Yeah. It got to the point where the top wouldn't open or close 90% of the time. Seemed like something was shorting out somewhere. They tried replacing the control unit for the top and adjusting some sensors, which seemed to have worked for a few days, then it went back to not working 90% of the time. It's been a few weeks since they replaced the wiring harness and it's been reliable ever since (fingers crossed).

I think the manual says to not lower the top below 15°.

Low temperature may not be a reason to put the top up when driving, however, parking is typically a good reason to put it up. Parking can occur at both low and high temperatures.