I don't think the real problem is the water getting under the weather strip,
but the fact that they didn't fully paint the area in the first place.
Once the rusted area is stripped, primed, and painted over, it should remain
as rust free as the rest of the car.

 

What dealer was this?

 

A couple of thoughts:

1. Try another dealer. Even if it means a longer drive, your current dealer sounds like the dealer from hell.

2. Painting the currently rusted area would void corrosion warranty coverage on that area. But if somewhere else on your car rusted and perforated should get coverage. (Unless you went and showed the dealer and MINI where you had made a repair to an area that they refused to cover and to add insult to injury, told them: ...look how good it is doing, but you f**king idiots can't get your s**t straight to protect another area.... That in-your-face approach might get the middle-fingered salute from them.)

 

My dealer, Princeton Mini (New Jersey), came through with flying colors for my 2002 Cooper. I asked them to check for rust, which they did, saying they had never heard of this problem (!) and were skeptical it existed.
But when they found the dreaded rust, they responded magnificently. They took Max to their body shop on a flatbed truck, gave me a loaner car for several days, returned Max from his hospital visit in fine shape, all under the rust warranty at no charge. Max is just over 4 years old.
Thank you, Isaac at Princeton Mini!

 

Maybe SSMini could take his car to Princeton Mini? They (Princeton Mini) certainly seem more clued in to customer service than SSMini's current dealer....

 

The rust is covered for 12 years.

 

shep, NJ may be a little 2 far of a drive for me...

fred3, My dealer told me the rust warranty does not cover where the MINI is rusting at the door sills.

 

You might want to try Orlando. I'm up in Jax and Tom Bush MINI took care of mine without an argument.

 

Which dealer?

 

Well just went and got my 2004 Cooper Krown rust protected! Will do this every year from now on.....it's a shame...I've owned many Volvos and this has been the last thing I worried about.....we need a redesigned weatherstrip or no matter how well we clean,paint etc. the problem will come back!

 

I just took my 04 MCS in for my 10K service to Momentum Mini in Houston. I asked the MA about this issue.

Here's what the services ticket states verbatim:

"Customer states water gets up under rubber door gaskets. Rubber door seal is exposed to outside conditions water accumulation is normal unless water is expose inside vehicle" DUH

 

Ummm. If the metal is prepped down to the molecular level (dilute phosphoric acid) and a corrosion-resistant primer is used and then a color coat is used on top of the primer, absent abraision that exposes the bare sheetmetal again, you have a seal that will outlast the corrosion warranty.

 

I must admit I don't have your experience with this topic but is it still not a problem if water is getting in between the pinched metal sheets or will the treatment you recommend fill the gap between the panels.....just thinking if I should go the the body shop and get them to sand the edges, prime and paint along with clear coat

 

Most of the rust reports have been to the outside area of the sheetmetal (that is exposed from the manufacturing process). If there is rust on the inside area of the sheetmetal, you need to use something like POR-15 to convert the rust to inert iron. But for most of the rust exposure that has been documented to date (which is on the outside area of the sheetmetal), treating the rusted area (after scraping off the majority of the rust scale) with dilute phosphoric acid to get to bare sheetmetal followed by painting with a corrosion-resistant primer and then color coat will (in the absence of abraision that exposes the bare sheetmetal) seal the area every bit as good as the original paint job. I have used the above model (treat rusted area with dilute phosphoric acid followed by zinc chromate primer followed by color coat) on a 1978 VW Diesel Rabbit that I owned in another lifetime (it had spotting where inadequate pre-paint preparation in manufacturing was the culprit). The paint fix lasted for 15 years and 250,000 miles with the car being parked outside in various communitites on the ocean and bay sides of the S.F. Peninsula. In fact, the bumper covering (chrome-plating) was failing while the paint fixes were holding tight (no follow-up staining); and this on a Alpine White car....

 

It's tough to tell for sure in this photo (from a MINI Oxford exhibit of the '07), but it looks like the problematic pinch weld is less crude on the new body.

 

But the real test is what is done in actual production. The car has to be griped as it moves along the production line some how. And then, there is the question of the weather seals.... Only time will tell if MINI learned from the first iteration....

 

Can't the griping wait until after the car is actually built.

I know spelling jokes are lame, sorry.

 

Ha! Well, maybe the car could be held.... I think the Corvette is held (there are frame mounts that enable the frame to be placed in a cradle) during its manufacturing process. After the Corvette leaves the factory, the frame mounting points are used to lift the car for any under the car service requirements.

Oh, and while I attempt to get my spelling correct, I make no claims for perfect spelling - it seems to be one of the challenges of advancing age.

 

but the MINI has a 12 year rust through warranty. Why would you ever need an extension???

 

The '03s had something like a 72 month rust warranty.

 

Sounds to me like they are trying to get out of a warranted fix. Call MINI USA. Rust is rust.

 

Does anyone know if the 06 has a different weatherstrip design? I read somewhere in here that there is a break/joint in the strip that water flows down in. I should be getting my 06 any day now. I'm very sorry to hear the problems you all are having. I am in a coastal area and rust is a serious enemy that I want to keep at bay.

 

The '06 that I'm driving ('05 November production) has the holes 1/2 way up the front door jam and wicks water in. I had a few rust stains (I'm loath to even call them spots) which I wiped away with a couple passes (2-3, tops) of very fine grade wet sandpaper. I packed the area with p21s carnuba wax to help prevent water accumulation in the future.

 

I pointed out the rust to the SA at my last service, who was unaware this problem was going on. I gave MiniUSA a few sentences about it in my response to the online service survey. Just got a call from Mini in followup. The caller offered me an opportunity to file a "product complaint" which does not count against the dealership's record as opposed to a "service complaint" which does reflect badly. The caller then transferred me to "customer relations" who said BMW is not aware of this issue, but she would pass on my complaint. I think I got a blank stare over the phone when I pointed her to this thread. I asked what to expect for a response and when to expect it. She told me that if BMW decides to issuse a SB or recall, I would be notified with the rest of the Mini owners. I will not be notified of any other disposition - such as BMW refuses to do anything or I need to press this with the regional service rep on an individual basis - because "well, what if BMW decides to do nothing now but changes their mind down the road. It would be unfair to send you a letter now saying they won't do anything." I had to take matters into my own hands, so I registered a complaint against BMW's customer relations policy of not following up on complaint results with individual customers. I am beginning to believe that the solution to all of the problems with Mini is to buy a Buick and abandon all expectations of a meaningful motoring experience.

 

I checked on my 04, and no rust ( not a surprise really, I live in Arizona ) BUT, I do have moisture under the weather stripping. We do not get much rain, but i wash my car quite often.. I happened to check right before recently washing the car. It had been 2 weeks since its last wash ( ok, to those who know me, I know,I know, way too long for me ) and there was mosture. Now, you have to realize, thats 2week of driving in 110+ deg and very dry. And yet, the water retained under the weather stripping make one go HHMmmmmm....