i have had my mini for almost 3 months now and have accumulated 9500 miles. for the past month or so i have noticed that the rear sunroof seems to sit a little lower than flush when closed.
once it started getting warmer out the sunroof would not open on warm days. it would try to open and then go back to closed position. if i applied gentle pressure to the rear of the glass it would open. then it started on hot days not opening unless i applied a decent amount of pressure on the rear of the glass.
the first time this happened i just thought maybe it had a flat spot on the motor and would not happen again. well it did.
generally the sunroof will work normally every time after the first time i open it on a warm day.
whats the deal with this?
anyone else have this problem?
i am going to dealer to have ipod adapter installed and fog light condensation taken care of so i will have it checked out then i guess. just little disappointed in my mini. this is the second unscheduled visit since ive had her. and my nearest dealer is like 45 mins away. hope i can get a loaner.

 

I have a first gen R53, but had a similar problem. On warm days the sunroof was really loud, slow, and sometimes got stuck. However, since this was intermittent, the dealer could never find a problem. After my third complaint, they decided to shut me up by ordering an entirely new sunroof. This solved the problem.

Make sure the complaint is documented in detail in their system. They'll do the right thing (if not sooner than later).

Chris

 

I'd be interested to see if there are any fixes. Mine does the same....could be it due to increased pressue inside (inside has hotter air than outside)? I don't know just throwing something out.

I've noticed it more when I use the Keyfob to open everything up, although it does happen when I get in. Usually after a minute or so the sunroof will open/tilt.

Let's hear it.

 

Just recently mine started acting funny too and its generally on warmer days.

With mine it will open to the vent position (not all the way) then close. I will try to open it again and it generally messes up once more. After that it opens all the way.

 

mine does not open wehn its hot, sometimes it takes a goooooood long minute till it cools down to open, my best guess....the motor for opening the sunroof is somewhere near the roof of the car and is overheating (from the heat outside) which puts a halt on it....

 

Mine did it for the first time yesterday. I noticed that the glass was almost to hot to keep your hand on it (I park in the sun at work). I found that if I open the mesh sunshade (it is usually closed) and run the AC for a while the sunshade will work like normal. I think it is just getting too hot and the black mesh is just keeping the air right against the glass trapped and hot. I am going to keep experimenting but it occurs to me that the best solution for me may be vinyl applied to the outside of the glass. The glare through the roof as I drive has begun to get distracting and as we move through the summer it will probably just get more so.

John

 

I had a Cooper Clubman dealer loaner about a month or so ago, and the sunroof in the car also refused to open up in more than one instance. These sunroofs seem to be finicky to say the least.

I am glad I don't have them on neither of my MINIs.

 

ya if i had my choice again when i was ordering, i would not have checked the sunroof option...but oh well..,..

 

Yup my sunroof has been doing this since the beginning of April. I Just give a little pressure on the glass and she pops open every time.

 

Hey guys, I have a week 2, 2008 MCS and I've noticed that mine has also started doing this when the car has been sitting in the sun and it is kinda warm outside. It's like in the 60s today and it did it both before lunch and after I finished lunch and went to drive back to the office.

Did anyone here take theirs back to the dealer and get an actual fix?

 

Mine just started this today, too. My MINI is 8 weeks old with 8700 on the clock. 98 degrees outside.

It's going to the dealer on Monday for this (and excessive wind noise, clutch pedal squeak, clutch 3-2 squeal, boot that never seems to want to latch, and no A/C)...I'll post back with any details.

Seems like a lot of warranty work for an 8 week old car. Not even a loaner car, either. Niello Mini SUCKS.

 

LOL - I had this same thing happen with my sunroof today at lunch with my Clubman and I'm also in Sacramento. It finally opened on its own but it was struggling. Guess I'm going to have to watch it.

 

You are officially a MINI owner now...for some of us, this kinda thing is part of the ownership experience unfortunately.

Keep us posted on how things go.

 

As I just got done complaining that I scratched the inside door panel of my new MINI (I got it just on tuesday...), I drove home for lunch and now my sunroof isn't working! I think my MINI is mad at me for the scratch

It seems to me to be insane to have problems with a 3 day old car! But it sounds like the sunroof is just temperamental with the heat. Toady is 101 degrees in San Diego and we've got a heavy santa ana wind blowing so maybe that's the issue? Is it just too hot??

I really don't want to have to take it to the dealer this early in the game

Any help for the situation? Advice? Sympathies?

 

Basically, the sunroof shouldn't have ANY problem opening unless it's FROZEN shut or has 2 feet of snow on top of it. None of my cars have ever had a sunroof issue....period. I'll let you all know what the dealer says about it on Monday, but if it doesn't get fixed I'm bringing it back as many times as I have to or until I can lemon law it and get a Cooper S.

 

nsarchett,

please do let me know what they tell you! I know it's going to SUCK to be in a new car, showing off the features to my friends, about to show the sunroof, and I'll be thinking "hmm, maybe it will open today, or maybe it won't... "

I just tried what another poster said when I was on the way back from lunch, I sat in the car and turned on the ac full blast with the screens open to the sunroof and then waited a couple minutes to try again. And voila! They opened... But still, this is something that just shouldn't be happening! I've never had a problem with a sunroof in any vehicle (and I've had them in all my cars!!), and it gets this hot all the time here...!

 

No matter how new your car is, this shouldn't be happening. take it to the dealer sooner rather than later. Mini needs to issue a TSB or something...there's quite a few of us here posting about this.

 

Something tells me I'm going to hear "Dealer Cannot Reproduce Problem" or "This is normal for MINI's"
Something also makes me want to drive my new MINI through Niello MINI's showroom window.

 

It doesn't have to be that hot outside...on my car if I go out during lunch time and the car's been sitting in the sun even if it is like 60F outside, it's hotter in the car and so it does it.

 

This is a problem that we should definitely NOT have to deal with. It seems ridiculous that we would even have this issue! Could it be that it is happening on ours and not others' because the seals on ours are too tight maybe? And therefore don't properyl expand and contract with heat in the vehicle? I'm just grasping at straws not knowing anything about mechanics etc...

 

Seals too tight? Not here..mine leaks TONS of air

Edit: I'm just bitter and angry.

 

Hmm...

Well I have no idea then!

 

Does anyone experiencing the problem have the Navigation system?
I have one client complaining about this problem and she told me she gets a Nav screen message about anti pinch engaged or something like that.
Her's did not respnd well to the "pushing on roof" temporary fix.

Mine has also been doing this in hot weather, but has always responded to the push up fix.

 

I'm guessing the front sunroof is sticking to the rubber seal. The rear roof has a traditional rubber/felt seal.

My 1 week old mini did this yesterday and a gentle push on the front sunroof and it opened.

I'm going to try gummi Pfledge from BMW on the rear seal on the front sunroof. If that doesn't work, I'll try it on the whole seal. I'd do both but I'd like to figure out which seal it is so that I can let my dealer know incase they have the same problem with anyone else. I'd hate to disturb a factory installed sunroof and introduce potential leaks over something like lubricating the rubber especially with stuff made by BMW for this purpose.

 

Corey, good catch if that is truely the issue. Please let us know what you find and where you ended up buying the Pfledge from (unless BMW shops sell it)