Saw the same thing on the demo up here in Canada.

 

That's what I was told in May....

 

I've gone into the dealer three times over the last month. The answer is the same every time. "Were still waiting for one of the trim pieces. Come back in a week." Next week, the response is the same. I am convinced the dealer never orders the parts, and simply pushes me to the back of the list.

At least they can't claim not to know about the defect. They had two CM's on the showroom floor, and both had severe trim failures. How someone could go into a dealer and buy a car with the trim literally pealing off, is beyond me. When I showed this to my MA, he laughed, and said "we don't hide anything". Yeah, but they also don't fix anything. I think I know where the replacement trim pieces go. They use them to repair new cars they can sell, and ignore the customers waiting to have their car fixed.

I've had it with Mini. The CM is a great car, but MINI's service response sucks. Yeah, people will tell me that it is the dealers fault, not MINI's. But to the customer, the dealer IS MINI. The people at the dealer are nice to talk to, and I HOPE they are actually trying to get this issue resolved. BUT, when you go over four months waiting for a fix for a relatively simple issue, you begin to question the company's focus. It appears to me that they focus on new sales, and, once they have their money, you fall to the back of the line.

Mark

 

I got a message from my CM saying that the parts are on order. Woohoo!

 

I am supposed to be getting my new trim installed tomorrow.

 

Whatever trim you are getting installed is not the "new trim" BMW has put a hold on all dealers ordering and installing any window trims unless it is replaced because of an accident. They will not reimburse dealers because it is the same old "bad" material.
Apparently a new trim made by a new supplier is coming but there is no ETA as yet.

 

Got the new trim installed yesterday. So far it is holding up longer than the original and previous replacement.

dhroz - I do believe this is the actual fix replacement. The last time I had talked to the dealership they were on hold and Mini was not allowing them to do any replacements until the new trim came out. That was a few months ago.

They replaced all the pieces as I marked them discretely before dropping it off.

Pics of new trim

 

Wish I could say its so. I work for a company that supplies to BMW/Mini. New product has not completed and passed Arizona and Xenon testing. These are longer term automotive durability tests that must be performed before new product is released for use. They take anywhere from three to six months to complete. Sometimes these tests can be ran parallel to the construction of new molds but it was not possible this time. BMW does not want another failure on their hands to deal with.

 

My appointment is next Saturday and they REFUSE to replace any but the one strip that is peeling.

We were going to buy a another Mini Convertible next year to make a three car Mini family (All Mini), but this whole event is affecting my decision. Not the fact that it happened but more about how it is being handled. Mini should have gotten out in front of this and then made a COMPANY WIDE decision on which pieces were to be replaced. Some here get 100% and some only get the broken pieces is not fair to the customer. I am also not happy with my dealership and now having to use a different dealership to get the parts since my sales dealership still has not gotten the part but a different dealership was able to????? The entire brand seems to being going down the tubes; Product build quality, Company Policy, and Customer Service have all taken a vacation from the Mini Brand.

 

bradrulz,

Did you happen to get anything showing the part #s of the replaced trim pieces? I've posted the original part numbers on this forum in the past, and I thought MINI was going to generate new #s for the replacement trim. It would be interesting to see if the #s they put on your car are the same #s that were in the system last April.

Mark

 

Look to be the same part numbers mentioned a page or so back.

DHROZ - I had called and checked on the status about a month ago and was added to the list for the replacements. I had the replacements put on back in July time period or so. When I called a 1-2months ago the parts person stated that Mini will not allow them to install any new trim until the replacements are ready. Received a phone call from them a couple weeks ago stating the new replacements have arrived.

It seems they wouldn't redesign a whole piece if it is only happening on cars built after a certain time. It would be obvious then that it is a supplier issue. Not say I am 100% sure these are the true 'permanent' replacement, but I am crossing my fingers as it is a 140 miles each way trip for me to get to the dealer. I must say after getting this set installed it has solved the wind noise on the driver size window.

 

bradrulz,

Thanks for the update. I also hope you received true 'replacements'. My concern is that everything I have seen on the failure mode has to do with high heat breaking the chrome 'skin' away from the substrate. Now that we are going into winter, MINI could put the same trim pieces on, and none of them would fail until mid summer next year. Then, what do you do...

I will call my dealer to get an update from them, and question them about any ordering restrictions from BMW. I don't know if I will ever get a straight answer from them, but it will be interesting to hear what they say.

Mark

Proud to say that I have now driven 5 months with flapping trim pieces...

 

My exact thought with Mini supposedly. Oming out with replacements in October. Is getting cooler in most places. I will see how these hold up as we are still in the 90's here.

 

It is sad to say but Quality has taken a vacation at mini. I do not believe there ever was customer service. The inner door panels are made from the least expensive plastic - polypro - which is recycled plastic bottles. Plasticizer and UV stabilizers are added to make it last longer and be fade resistant. The flooring has no jute padding for sound suppression. The headliner is made from old newspaers pressed together with a flame retardent added. The wheel well liner are made from grasses in africa and India which are shreaded and held together with adhesives much like pressboard. My new mini countryman is full of rattles, squeeks. The run flats are hard on the people inside. They could have at least designed a place to put a spare tire if one wanted to change to conventional radials. I bought this car as a third car for the family, a grocery getter but I do not think it will last three or four years. I own two BMW 's and another reason I made the purchase was for resale retention. Once the media starts telling the public what and how these vehicles are made there will be no resale value left. It is just a cash cow for BMW.

 

We are having the same up here in Canada, where I live the hottest it got this year was maybe 75 for one day.

Average summer temp around 60-68 on a good day.

I think the temp story is just a stall tactic

 

Apparently I'm still waiting on one of three pieces of trim to be delivered. It's the hood trim for whatever that's worth.
At least the dealer has started noticing this happening on newly delivered cars too and admits that there's a problem. What I'm wondering though is how many of these new cars are getting parts before my car?

2 months and counting. Called ASK MINI today to document a complaint, not that I expect anything to happen from that either.

 

Got the one piece replaced today. SA said these are not the finished replacements. MINI said maybe January before the redesign may be available. The SA did put the order for ALL my trim though.

 

i can't imagine that they they wont be available till after the new year. you should call around to other mini dealerships.

 

Is anyone having this problem on 2012's?

 

I can't say from personal experience, but my dealer told me that they're still seeing the problem (and more frequently) on cars that are being delivered.
When I was first in 2 months ago they hadn't heard of this happening, so I can only imagine it must be the 2012s showing up that have the problem.

 

my dealer said that the chrome peeling issue has been resolved. time will tell.

 

Hey Guys,

The trim pictures are up in my gallery. For some reason I am having issues adding them here. The trim looks like chromed metal tucked into black plastic, a change from the plastic foil tape. Only time in the vegas heat and sun will tell.

PS. Go over your trim carefully and look for any small bubbles along the edge. If you see any, it is an early sign. I had them on every corner of trim. I just helped it out a little and peeled some back with a fingernail. All pieces were replaced because they all looked damaged at that point. No questions or arguments from the dealer.

 

My trim replacements are all holding up well, but as the Service Manager told me at my Texas dealership, "We will see how they hold up next summer."

 

Looks like any day now the trim below my front windshield is going to start peeling again. Just replaced with the claimed redesign a little over a week ago. Seems like one corner is showing signs of lifting. Temps have been in upper 80's during day here and in 50's at night.

 

This "chrome" trim reminds me of the cheap stuff GM used in the 80s, held up about the same...