So is anyone taking bets on how long (post warranty) the active rear spoiler on the Coupe/Roadster will last?

My wife's daily commute takes her up and down a five mile stretch of road twice each day. The rear spoiler on our Coupe must go up and down at least 20 times on that particular stretch of road. I kid you not.

This got me thinking about how long the rear spoiler will remain "active" after the warranty expires on the car and the dealer wants five grand to fix the silly thing.

Also, I've noticed lately that our Coupe seems to have a problem if we manually raise the rear spoiler and then shut the car off. After doing so, the next time we start the car, the spoiler is always stuck in the up position and it won't go back down even with the toggle switch (and the spoiler light on the OBC comes on). One time the spoiler light on the OBC went on and the alarm chime (which sounds just like the no seatbelt chime) went off and wouldn't quit sounding for several miles until I finally pulled over, switched off the ignition, and then restarted the car again. Not very confidence inspiring I must say.

If left to its own accord in the default "automatic" mode, there's never been a problem with it and it works as advertised every time (which is a good thing I suppose ).

Hopefully, the active rear spoiler will remain problem free for most Coupes/Roadsters, but it sure seems like an awful lot of movement going on back there for it to remain reliable for many years IMHO.

 

You can rest assured that any repairs on the spoiler won't be cheap. If I were buying a Coupe, I would much prefer that the cost of the active spoiler be instead put into quality control.

No disrespect to those who will take great delight in watching that little thing go up and down. With a little luck, it may last longer than some of the chain tensioners.

 

I just hope that when it does finally break, that it at least gets stuck in the up position. Hearing that annoying little alarm chime go off every time I drive the car will get old real fast.

 

I was wondering today how well it will handle this winter. I'm presuming in actual snow I'd stay under 50 mph considering the conditions so clogging it with snow shouldn't be an issue, but I have to wonder about the possibilities of it getting frozen. Granted, I'm in a basement garage (not heated but always warmer than outside) but at work I'll be parked outside.

This should be a very interesting season.

 

Yep

I drive 11 miles to work one way.. It goes up a good 8-9 times on my way there :P

I'm sure it will last a while w/o issue. If I get worried I could just always keep it in the up position.

We got 4 years! (50k miles!)

 

If it breaks out of warranty it will be justification to purchase the JCW Coupe Fixed Spoiler! That would be the bright side...

 

Wondered about this ever since I ordered my Coupé, and I don't even live in a harsh climate. No freezing/snow here in Tampa. I just wonder how long the mechanism will last.

Just one more reason why I got a 6/100 extended warranty. (I figure my spoiler gets stuck halfway up at 100,003 miles.)

 

I actually believe the system should do pretty good though as a first for BMW/MINI its likely to experience issues along the way. To me its not much of a worry as the fixed JCW is going on the car as soon as its available.

 

Yea I think I may go fixed as well. I can't wait until it's available.

I also have another issue. The radio will not hold the Satellite presets. I set all of them and then went out of town for 3 days and the car just sat. Upon my arrival home the radio had lost all of the presets. I am going to reprogram them in and then let it set again and see if the radio holds them or loses them.

I hope it was just a freak think cause I hate to have them yank the radio. It could be programming but I don't know if they can program with the radio in or if it has to be pulled. I'll reprogram tomorrow and then do the test in the next few days. I need to run my GTO for a few days so I'll let it sit during that time and see if they remain.

Anyone else have this issue?

 

Im having the same problem with the satellite presets also bluetooth wont hold the pair with my Samung Infuse phone. Second trip to dealer next Wed for the problems.have. Hey Pat I have a 2006 GTO my son is using while at college its a great car also.

 

I got in the other day and all my presets were gone. Then I realized I was using the 2nd key, and it hadn't been set with preset stations yet. I was quite confused until I remembered each key holds it owns set of "personalization".

perhaps that's what happened??

 

Yea the 06 and 05 have the same 6 ltr motor. 400 Hp and a bunch of fun. Is his an auto or 6 speed? Mine has 113K and runs like a champ.

Upon further research not only did it lose the Sat presets it also lost the turn signal set up and the windshield programming but the door locks remained programmed. Weird. I'm going to reset everything and then proceed with the test and see if it loses again.

My iPhone has remained in the programmed state throughout.

 

Nope. I thought of that and the keys have two different keychains as well so I don't think that is the issue. But its good to know that the Sat presets are controlled by the Key. I wouldn't think they would be thought I thought the other functions like door locks and signals would be. It seems to me that my R56 held the radio presets no matter which key was used but the other system things like TS and wiper speeds etc would change.

I'll test it out and see what happens.

Pat

 

Are you saying this thing does not include a de-icer?

 

I don't think the spoiler has a deicer. You may have to make it part of your routine like when you clean the windshield. You will have to remove the snow from your spoiler. If this is true I can't believe the engineers didn't think of that. I guess they thought it would only be driven in the sun belt states.

Go figure. I don't remember seeing anything in the manual and I pretty much read it cover to cover.

 

Pat the GTO is auto with 40,000 miles runs like a bat out of hell.

 

Hmmm...suppose it's not snow. Suppose it's ice. Will the motor try to make it come up at the designated speed when it's frozen shut? It really should have a de-icer. Not an issue for me because mine is a MCS, but it sounds like an interesting design.

 

Nice low mileage but couldn't hang with the auto. Got to have the 6 speed.

 

Yup, conceivably it could break things if it did try to come up. If it did I wonder if it would be covered under warranty. Doubtful.

 

And I have the feeling nobody considered it might be a daily driver, either.

I'm one of the (very, very few) people in this state who gets ALL of the snow off of the car before driving it. So if I need to take a couple of extra steps to keep the spoiler happy, it's not a thing. Like, I imagine that if it was snowing but not enough to slow down driving speeds, I'd leave it manually raised until getting home where I'd clear it all out before lowering it and putting the car to bed for the night. Even if I was told it wasn't necessary.

I'm definitely going to pick my MA's brain about it when I take delivery.

 

I thought about this and personally, I'm going to spray the joints, etc. down real good with a quality gun CLP product like EEZOX, etc. These products work great for many things. CLP stands for cleaner, lubricant, protectant. I've used many different brands in the military and found they work wonders at keeping things like paddlocks, etc. unfrozen, moving, and rust free in the winter.

Be careful, because some of these synthetics will eat plastic so read the labels. Not all are the same. EEZOX WILL EAT certain rubbers over time but Breakfree does not (or hasn't in my using it).

 

I don't think snow is a big problem, freezing rain is a whole nether ball game.

 

When it fails I'll just buy the fixed spoiler. Problem solved.

 

My recommendation is when it seems like there is a possibility of ice, put the spoiler up. I've always kept the spoiler up in winter on my Crossfire and have not had any problems with icing/freezing down.

 

I bought some einszett de-icer, we'll see how that works out for me.