Took our 15 R59 in for a 'pre-paid' oil service and service person noted the plastic drip rails on the op were cracked in a few places (the plastic lip over the windows)

I'd always thought they were a silly thing as being thin and exposed to the sun I expected them to crack and considered it cosmetic .... surely not worth a new top

Service advisor says "no, we can change just those plastic parts, but it takes a while. Leave the car, here's a loaner."

OK, what have I got to lose?

I just picked up the car and the ticket reads: "replaced canvas top and necessary components."

SO ... approaching end of warranty? Drip rails cracked? Want a new top?

Run, don't walk to your dealer, today!

 

Thats good news they covered it. I checked my R52 and its still holding up on the drip rails (very soft and no cracks) in the top and I have that in the sun and outside a lot.

 

day 2 and case pends on this one for me

the new top IS not a 'tight' as the original. I'm gonna give it a wetting or two to stretch but right now I'm not sure letting them do this was the best choice ....

what's more disconcerting was the many questions I had with the SA who insisted the drip rail alone could be replaced .... I made it clear: a full top replacement was NOT desired .... "Oh no ... I've replaced the drip rails only and we have the parts in stock."

that's what I got tho ....

 

I seen the MINI dealership replace tops, for the first couple days they say dont put the top down and leave it outside in the sun so the top can stretch. Its set tight. So many R52 tops were done because of wear back in the day, mine was done not too long after i got it, now my top has about 250K miles on it I had mine done at ~30K miles. Must have changed with the R59, or it was out in the sun a lot after the repair?

 

it was in the sun when I picked it up ... but I picked it up about 2 hours after the call to say it was done

no mention was made of don't drop the top ... and I did drop it in the parking lot to check that the 'rear rub issue' was not happening. And left the lot with the top down ...

as one who's owned a bunch of rag tops since 1972 (first was a used 66 Mustang 'vert ... my h.s. car) I'm aware that a new top, especially a cloth top, needs some time to settle in .... so I'm gonna wet the top a couple of times and let it cook - don't really need sun to help here in FL as in the garage is getting plenty warm already.

case pends

 

Too bad to hear this... Hopefully it will be alright eventually.

Personally I haven't jump on wanting to change the top. The wear isn't bad after 4 yrs, and I know that these types of installation have always more risk than when it is factory installed. So I'm in no rush with that. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.
In the mean time I would just like the it to be a little more uniform in color. So I may further look into roof top dyes at some point.

Good wishes on yours though...

 

follow up, they did the job over a second time .. admitted they screwed up.

this time they said, don't drop for 30 days

went back to dealer at 30 days and service mgr and teck were standing with me when top went down for the first time ....

 

That doesn't sound like a bad deal at all, new top on a 3-4 yr old Roadster. And they made it right with the second go round too. How much if you had to pay for it yourself? I bet they're a grand or 2 right?