I cleaned and waxed my new MINI this weekend (R56) and plan to work on the interior cleaning tomorrow. After parking, I opened the door to exit, and the area on the bottom of the door where your foot will hit if the door isn't open wide enough, there's a small little tear in the material - black vinyl, I think. So there's a tiny pea-sized piece of the material that sticks out, and the inner material of the door is exposed. I think the car came like this. I didn't notice the rip when I bought it but I wasn't looking. I only use really soft, barefoot running shoes lately, so there's no chance my shoe made the rip, but if I do hit it with my shoe, I fear the rip will get worse.

Is there some sort of protective material that looks nice, that I could maybe tape across the bottom of the doors to protect it from shoes scuffing it? Or is there a repair for this kind of rip?

Advice appreciated, thanks in advance! It's dark now, but if a photo would help, I'll be happy to take a snapshot tomorrow morning.

My MINI's first boo-boo!

 

You might have more luck in the second gen forum

 

oops, thanks for the heads-up, I'll move over there, thanks very much

 

I had extra pieces of 3M clear film that I used on the rear bumper, so I used a teeny piece to cover the rip on the door. It's glossy but it works for now I don't have black electrical tape which would probably be more discreet. I think maybe I'll do both doors with a film. I'll.search for a matte finish film but this glossy 3M will do if I can't find it

 

Your dealer may fix it if your lucky.