I was just on a factory tour at Plant Oxford (it's still Cowley for me...) and I talked to the very knowledgeable tour guide about my top at the point on the line where they fit them. He said the wear issue was a "supplier problem" that has been fixed, and is backed up by detailed inspections on every car by management.

 

Another data point: I checked my Roadster which has a build date of 3/13. With the top up there are no wear marks visible. With the top down, it bunches in the two areas shown in the pictures of the previous posts but there is still a small gap between the top and the rubber seal. When I wash the car I use a wet microfiber rag and gently wipe under the rubber seal. It gets quite dirty in there and you see the black marks on the rag.

 

That's great to hear. Picking up my new Roadster this week. This site has been great. I have taken some quick notes on stuff over the past month and pinged my MA on several things. A little concerned that there are all these little pesky issues as well as some bigger ones. Thought the British Roadster issues went away with the Triumph...apparently not.

 

I don't what difference it makes to this problem but I care for this top and my wife's BMW using the recommendations from Haartz, the people who make the fabric. Don't wash too often but vacuum with a soft brush attachment. When you do wash use Raggtopp and seal with Raggtopp protectant. Pretty simple routine and my tops look great and so far no issues. They tell me the fabric is treated with Raggtopp from the factory.

 

Good thread! Bummer... this looks like a top replacement, no?

 

Looks pretty much like mine was when I got it done this spring.

 

Mine looks just like that too.. Having it swapped out next week. 😁

 

My replacement roof has arrived. It's being replaced when we get back from MM10 at Disney next week.

 

Be sure to let us know how it goes.

 

This forum is really interesting and I was kindly directed to it by someone on Facebook. Yesterday I took my roadster to my dealer to show him the marks on the roof and where they are rubbing. We looked at four used roadsters he had in his dealership and all were the same, but to a lesser extent. Mine is nearly 3 years old and owing to the lovely summer in the UK I have had the top down nearly every day this year. I have been noticing the marks for some time now and more recently they have become worse. He took some photographs which he will send to Mini, so I am now waiting for feedback and the next step. I agree with everyone on here that replacing the roof is only part of the problem and if nothing is done with the rubber strip the new roof will continue to rub. However, mine is now in such a state that I think it needs replacing. In hindsight, maybe if I had taken it in earlier adjustments could have been made to avoid such drastic action. Is there anyone on here living in the uk who has had this problem resolved?

 

Well I got the roadster back with the new roof installed. The fabric looks the same as the original roof. It feels much tighter to close and to lock into place when opening as well. It also rubs in the same places as the original roof on the rubber strip - even a little worse than the original roof.

On the paperwork it described the problem as 'rubbing on rubber strip causing wear marks' and that they made adjustments as well to the new roof. Unfortunately it was raining when I picked the car up so I couldn't put the roof down to see the rubbing at the time.

I'll talk to the service advisor again to see if anything else can be adjusted. I can't imagine paying to replace the roof out of warranty. It's an obscene amount of money...

 

I'm still not really convinced it's a different design. My guess is that there is some adjustments that is just hard to tune in the factory. So when they replace it the tech knows the problem and is provided documentation to adjust it.
the reason I'm feeling that way is also because Spiney had front rubber seal rub issues after they replaced his which tells me the action of adjusting it forward added rubbing action to the front window seal.

now if we could only get our hands on that documentation?!


Your top feels most likely tighter because the fabric is brand new and tight. It's just like shoes


By the way I've had my own trick I'm testing out since last June/July. I found some material to wedge under the water seal where it rubs with the roof. I have not checked it out but it was initially helping provide more space when the top is down, while still staying in contact once the roof is up.

 

You're right TG...it doesn't look like a new design at all. And whatever adjustments were made didn't really make a difference to how it rubs on the rubber seal. So the roof will just self destruct again.

I'm interested to see what you've done with the material inside. Do you have a pic to post? If there's nothing else that can be done to fix the rubbing, I'm going to create something on my own. Rubber and the sharp edge will continue creating friction on the roof and it will fail again.

I'm thinking of putting something round and hollow over the rubber seal edge at the 2 rub points - like a small, thin, smooth and hard plastic pipe with a slit in it to slide over the edge of the seal when the roof is down. I think that would reduce the friction as well as remove the sharp edge against the fabric.

 

I have been following this thread since I acquired my 2012 Roadster this past April. Fortunately it appears that my Roadster will not suffer the rub marks from the rubber molding that has been reported here.

However I have a different issue with wear marks and an unexpected result.

Here is a photo of the wear marks I have encountered. The marks exist on both sides of the top.


The top has been down almost exclusively since I got the car; in fact it's been up probably less than 10 times total (sunny SoCal, sorry ). The wear marks are caused by the folded fabric rubbing against itself while down.

Whatever the cause this is something that could be considered "wear and tear".

I took the car in for service and asked for some recommendations on how to prevent this from occurring in the future. My SA came back to me later that day and told me "it's covered under warranty, would you like us to order a new top for you?"

So a few questions, thanks in advance.

Is it just me or does this seem awfully generous of MINI to replace my top for this type of wear damage?

Those of you who have had your tops replace it sounds like these have been (mostly) problem free. Would you replace your top given this type of damage?

I still have a year and a half, I am also thinking of postponing until closer to the warranty end date.

 

Honestly.. i'd wait until you're closer to the end of your warranty. The more replacements they've completed before they touch yours, the better. Mine took a return visit and another week at the dealership to get right.

 

I'm not even sure this would fall outside of normal wear and tear.

It's a soft top so it does require some extra care. I never leave it top down at night in the garage. Except for some occasional summer day parking by a restaurant for example, the top is up when ever we are not using the car. This helps the fabric not set in a folded position. It will always have some marks of fold to a degree but good care can reduce that.

 

As a follow up, my MINI dealer replaced the top and sub assembly under warranty, no hassles, and with a loaner Countryman. Well done BMW.

So far so good. Behind the roll bars the sub assembly does appear to be a different design than the original. The top is also 'tighter' and harder to close as others have mentioned. Asking my SA if this was a new design or if I would see wear marks again, he mentioned it was a design change and that is why the entire sub assembly also had to be replaced. He said the top should not wear again. He did have a multiple page document from BMW on the R59 top replacement procedure with detailed pictures. No I did not get a copy. Time will tell how well it holds up...

 

You didn't take before and after picture of that frame?

 

Funny, mine is actually easier to operate now than it was before!

 

Does not look as bad as the R52 Convertibles. The R52 also were adjusted which fixed most of the rubbing, we also used small towels when putting down the top between the fold where the top would wear, in some case only in two confined spots.

As an old R52 convertible owner cleaner and treatment seem to help extend the top a much more on wear marks and rubbing as well as keeping the top looking new.

MINI Just came out with a new line , looks to be the same as the old stuff just a different bottle. I use it with a little with a microfiber mitt ( no lint ) and wash, right after the first wash and the top is wet use the cleaner below.

Soft Top Cleaner - 16oz

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/83192339689/




Then wash off and leave top wet, dilute replant in a bit of water and apply with a sponge. Then let dry. you have to watch the paint with the repellent as if not careful it leaves a this clear film on the paint. I set towels around the back on the body if a spray it with a nozzle bottle on.

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/83192339697/




I think by coating the Haartz Top ( manufacturer ) twill as they call it , helps with the compression marks and wear a bit more then just no treatment.

Thanks

 

My October '14 build Roadsterdeveloped the wear marks within a few days of ownership, so I am afraid what he told you cannot be true.

 

After following this thread I decided to check, and yes mine does it too. Have found that if you apply slight downward pressure on the hood when down it will sit slightly more below the rubber strip. Almost like the mechanism isn't taking the roof down far enough. Will be continuing doing this until someone comes up with a permanent fix. Also found if you run your fingers between the rubber strip and roof this also helps with the gap between both.
Not ideal I know but better than the outcome if you don't take any action at all.
Doh! on MINI for not picking up on this sooner.

 

Did you treat and condition the top , for some convertible Gen 1 and Gen 2 owners this helped with the compression marks.

 

Hey guys, I thought I'd provide a quick update on ours and share the little trick I tested out since maybe a year now...

So long story short I've been following this thread. Upon review of ours, it was touching and I was noticing little bit of felt marks as described by everyone.
I thought to myself let's see what we can do.

Now to give you a little background we've had the car since August 2013 and it has roughly 16,000 miles on the clock. It's a daily driven car and since we live in the North East and since we optimize as much as we can the top down use it goes up and down a whole lot.
I've washed the top quite some times and decided to check on things tonight.

To my surprise I'm having a really hard time finding the wear marks that were more visible before. It's worth noting that when it was new the top had a slight felt feel to it. After these many month the felt feel is gone and the soft top looks more like solid fabric.
See how the marks are not visible:
[IMG][/IMG]

Now here is what I did. A few month back I found a piece of plastic vinyl sheet thin enough it would bend and thick enough it would act as a spring. I slipped the piece between the rubber seal and the frame that is holding it like so (near the wear mark locations):
[IMG][/IMG]

Now since then it seems to have sagged and I need to find something with a little more memory to it but as you can see even though it's very close I think it helped removing pressure from the rubber seal edge to the soft top fabric when top is down.
Right side:
[IMG][/IMG]

Left side:


I believe it's an easy fix that seems to work some. As I said, I have to find a piece of material that has better memory and that does not lift the rubber seal too much. It's a careful balance if you want the rubber to stay in contact sufficiently against the soft top when up.

I'm not implying there isn't a real wear issue by any means, but I'm also realising that some of our impression as to do with the felt aspect of the new top and how that felt effect disappear over time showing underneath stronger fabric. Again I'm not saying there is no wear marks to be concerned when too much pressure of that seal is constantly applied. At least that my conclusions for now having experience marks and now hardly any to be seen.

I hope this helps.

 

Looks like a good tip.