I thought it was sunroofs in hell.

 

I hope you all get your sunroof fixed! I was so worried after I ordered mine and then saw these threads but so far mine has been good, even in the hot hot heat of Texas. **Knock on wood***

 

I think Joey1320 on the previous page is dead on with the fix. I was over at the dealer last week to get my third door lubed and I asked the tech about the sunroof issue. My sunroof has sporaticaly worked since a few months after purchase.

I was originally told by the dealer that there was a issues with the Clubman sunroofs and they were working on finding a solution. They said it was brought on by the sunroof motor overheating. Well last week the tech told me that they had a solution and that I could schedule an appointment to get it fixed. It involved some special type of lubrication and my guess the adjustment described by Joey1320.

I will schedule to get it fixed an post after the fix.
Good luck all but outside of the sunroof and the third door catch getting lubed I am very happy with my Clubman S. It has 12k miles and it is still a load of fun to drive.

Cya,
Malc

 

Thanks for the post Joey1320!

I also noted that there's specific directions on raising the rear edge of the sun roofs. For example, when closed, the rear of BOTH of my sunroofs is BELOW the level of the roof. The TSP says to adjust them, when reinstalling, so that the read edges are slightly ABOVE the roof level.

Thanks again! I'll be taking my Clubman to the dealer shortly for his first visit and will request this TSP be applied and also register us on the "melting scoop" list as well!

William

 

Thank you for posting the latest 'inside' information on this issue

I would be interested to know if after this adjustment, is there any 'wind-noise' at highway speed with sunroof closed

Mine is flush with roof level when closed and completely silent at highway speed when closed

I also am restricted to using pressure washer for cleaning and sunroof has never leaked a drop

Since I am fortunate enough to very rarely park in 95f+ Sun for over four hours and only saw 'sticking' a couple times last summer,
I would like to know if the 'fix' would bring other issues to bare

 

x2. i'm afraid to get this fix done.

 

My 08 MC just did this yesterday here in MN (only 60°F and sunny). Sure enough, I happen to notice this thread today! The glass panels both started to go up, then they pop back down. To me, it almost looks like the rear glass panel was binding at the back where the two ends of the rubber seal meet (they are not quite flush). And I thought it was odd the two glass panels were below the level of the roof. Thanks for posting the procedure on the previous page! As a side note, I have also had the sunroof not close all of the way. It would pop back open. Turning off the blower fixed that. Too sensitive!

 

I've said it once and I'll say it again...

THIS IS NOT A FIX!!!!

I've been in the bodyshop business for 25 years. When this first happened to me, I didn't even know there was an issue with the sunroofs.

Having adjusted a thousand and one sunroofs, I immediately pulled my car in, adjusted the sunroof and lubed the heck out of it.

It didn't work...

When I was getting the stage I kit installed, I mentioned it to my SA and they pulled up their bulletin and proceeded to do the repair. (lube and adjust)

I was standing there in the tech's stall watching him as he did the exact same thing I did a month earlier.

THE VERY NEXT DAY it was 94 degrees and guess what???

MY SUNROOF STILL WON'T OPEN!!!!

Adjustment my ***.... They have other issues.

Mark

 

Just got this TSB applied to my car. THIS TSB DOES NOT WORK.

This repair marks the third for my sunroof. I've contacted MINI corporate, and I've made the first step towards filing a claim under the CA Lemon Law.

If I get my way, I'll make the transition into a Cooper S (without sunroof) soon enough!

 

Well they fixed it. They replaced the whole cassette. So I thought it was fixed, then we had a really bad nor-easter blow through here a few weeks ago and my whole car flooded carpet seat belts water was pouring in through the airbag light that is on the passenger side between the 2 windows and it was also coming in my front window and down into the electric box that is by the floorboard on the passenger side. I called the service dept. he asked if I was sure I did'nt leave the windows down, I said no I was driving down the road in a torential downpour and the windows were not down. My car started smelling like mildew, they have had my car for 3 weeks today. They actually called me monday to come pick it up. When I got there I figured they would have taken the carpet out to replace it or at least clean it up, it was still soaking wet, man i'm pissed. So they called me today and said they ordered a new cassette for the sunroof. Could someone help me i'm not sure if Va has lemon laws or what but a 28k car 5 months old should not have this type of problems. How would I find out about the lemon laws??

Thanks for any help,
Sky

 

I had mine fixed about three weeks ago... A problem that I had often because of the heat down here in NM hasn't happened since. Bravo, MINI.

 

I hope it works for you but unless you've experienced the mid 90's and up temps, I think you'll see it again.

I still think they don't have the answer yet.

Mark

 

This wouldn't qualify under most lemon laws, the damage was caused as a result of a repair that the dealership did. So here's what I would do...

I would tell the service advisor that if the leak was caused by their incorrect replacement of the sunroof, they should be repairing all of the water damage done to the vehicle, including replacing the carpets. If they refuse, do not threaten them. Be calm, cool and collected and just politely say, "Okay, I will get back to you after I have talked to my lawyer." Do not say anything else. If they offer to fix it for free after you've informed them that you have legal representation, go with it. If they refuse, then, just call a lawyer. The lawyer will probably cost you, but a thousand dollars to a lawyer is a hell of a lot better than 26k on a new MINI. One letter from the guy should be more than sufficient to get your vehicle fixed.

If you have to call the lawyer, I don't care how far you have to drive, never, ever, work with this dealership again. Service departments should take responsibility for their repair work, and stand behind it. If they don't, you're wasting your time by giving them your business.

 

Brought the car back in on Tuesday for them to have another look.
Unfortunately, it still does it.

Car is going BACK in on the 11th when the factory rep is around.

 

My MCSa 2008 has done this even if the ambient temp. is 55 degrees. Only will happen if car sits in direct bright sunlight for a while

 

I had mine in about a month ago for the melting hood scoop and they said they also did the sunroof adjustment and lubrication, and it's been working fine so far. No wind noise or anything like that either.

 

well, this its my firtst time in here, i have a MC56 2008 sparkling silver since junuary 08. well let me tell u... this car have visit the local service many times if i put all together its sems like almost 2 months whit this horrible problem whit the sunroof.
0) the sunroof didn make it!
1) they make a "adjustments" and lubricate 2 weeks
2) the problem goes and they make the same in 2 weeks again..
3) Rain season and the car make "glu glu glu" water filtration, te car returns to the service, this time almost 3 weeks..
4) After 3 weeks in service the water problem has been fixed but the sunroof do not open in sunny days.... the car return..
5) On this time now they change all the sistem but they forgot install the wind deflector... upss! 3 weeks
6) Looks like now its ok,...?? no!!! they dont make the real adjustments and the sunroof's glass makes a terrible noise whit the wind a mid speed!!
7) Tomorrow they going to send a technical to mi place to mae the adjustments...
Tks for your comments..
Sorry my English its not good!

 

Please Someone tell me I'm insane...
15 pages...

ok here we go :

SITUATION
At high ambient temperatures, typically above 90 degrees, the sunroof may not open from the fully closed position. When this occurs, the rear edge of the glass panels will rise by about 10mm and then either stall in that position or close again.

Assisting the glass by pressing upward on it, or allowing the sunroof to cool slightly, will restore normal function.

CAUSE
The blocking protection feature of the sunroof drive is being activated due to the presence of higher than expected frictional forces in the sunroof cassette. Such forces are only present at very high temperatures and are caused by a lack of proper lubrication, along with incorrectly adjusted glass panels.

I may have missed something somewhere in the 15 pages that says what I'm about to say.

Ok here we GO!:
With that given description, and My first hand experience with this exact situation. I can say that the problem has very little to do with incorrectly adjusted glass and has a lot more to do with higher than expected frictional and the blocking protection feature.
Stuff expands when it gets hot right?
well I think the problem is that the glass and the part of the seal that is attached to the glass is expanding under high temperatures and is causing excessive lateral pressure on the seal which is what is causing the friction. take a look at the two parts that touch and seal when the glass is close they are definitely not designed to be able to move easily. This forces the motor to overwork and stop itself. eventually wearing itself out if done repeatedly.

REENGINEER THE SEAL, using different materials or allow for proper expansion and movement!!! problem solved.

Again. I may have missed something somewhere in the 15 pages that says what i just said, if so ignore me. But if i haven't missed anything and the problem is so blatantly obvious....... I am very scared.

 

Well, my trip to the service department included a myriad of things:

1. cosmolen dripping was repaired and those black plastic fender thingys were replaced because of staining.
2. my sunroof sunshades would not stay closed, so they fixed them...not sure how...
3. had a runflat tire replaced because there was about a dime size HOLE. PSI was 0 all the way to the dealer!
4. Had my tailpipes shortened per the TSB
5. had my sunroof "fixed" as realting to this thread (wouldn't open when hot out..).

So far my sunroof has been operating just fine, I was very nervous to get this done because first off, I didn't think my sunroof was all that bad off in the first place and only didn't open a couple of times, and I didn't want the service department to make it any worse! I decided to go ahead and do it because I couldn't stand having a brand new car with all sorts of problems, and so far the "fix" is working. No wind noise, no leaking, and they're opening just fine. But then again, it hasn't been AS hot as it had been here in San Diego...I guess only time will tell!

 

I have been saying this same thing for months. We adjust sunroofs in both my bodyshops all the time. Before I even took my car in, I pulled the sunroof to check adjustments and lubed it.

Obviously it didn't help.

Mini then came out with another bulletin. I took my car in and watched the tech do the exact same thing I had done a month earlier... nothing more, nothing less.

It's simple. The coefficient of heat expansion from the materials is incorrect. I'm not sure exactly which piece is wrong (seal, motor, gears, etc) but I do know that adjusting the sunroof DOES NOT WORK.

As long as Mini is making an attempt to fix this problem, I don't have a problem with it.... having said that... I don't think they are doing crap about it.


Mark

PS. I'm sure there are a few people out there that their sunroofs simply need adjusted. No manufacturer is going to produce a car with sunroofs that are adjusted 100% on every car. I'm talking about the real sticking problem that only occurs when it's mid 90's or higher.

 

I found a very thorough write up on Google, about DIY sunroof repair for the R53, the writer even posted step by step instructions and photos. here is a link if you're interested http://zippeegear.com/documents/blog..._id=1215268800

 

Interesting find, I'm a bit worried though about cutting a capacitor and not replacing it!!! Seems to me it performs a function in the motor and while disconnecting it may make the motor functional at what risk to the total system?
I do think it would be interesting to point out this capacitor failure to MINI and see what they say!!

 

I spoke with a member of the "executive" team at MINI NA, and the gentlemen was absolutely certain that this is indeed a "very fixable problem". He claimed that dealerships just "aren't doing the fix right" and pushed for me to let a factory rep have a crack at it. I declined, as I'm seeking another solution..

Of course, I mentioned that I'm aware of MANY others with the same problem and that the same group of people have also had their sunroofs repaired as outlined in the TSB, only to have the same results. He asked "did you read that on northamerican-whats-it.com?"

At least MINI is READING these threads, and I actually got a high ranking employee to admit to reading!

 

I spoke to my Mini Technician today and showed him that "Mini Cooper Sunroof Repair" blog (http://zippeegear.com/documents/blog.php) and I asked him his opinion on cutting the capacitor. This is what he said "if the sunroof motor is currently not working, cutting the capacitor couldn't make the problem any worse. But if it fixes the problem then why not? You have nothing to lose and just saved yourself hundreds of dollars and many hours of troubleshooting. Especially if your original plan was to replace the motor anyways, and now you wouldn't have to." I completely agreed with his statement.

 

Way off topic for this thread, as that blog was about an R53 sunroof motor failure at 'half-staff', but:

It was a big job to get to that capacitor, why not just replace it, capacitors are low cost.

There is now a possibility that the motor will soon fail again without it and this time will be due to a burned armature.
__________________________________________________ __________

I hate to see this Thread steered away from the issue of some R56 Sunroof 'obstruction protection' reversing open command when heat soaked.

Mine exhibited this three times last summer (but rarely 'heat-soaked') and would be concerned if the offical 'fix' results in a sunroof that has wind noise when closed.

Have seen a few complaints now about wind noise on 2009's sunroofs and wonder why.