When I showed my minimal rust on my 04 to the service manager at MINI of St. Louis, he indicated that it was supposed to get wet under the weatherstripping. And although he looked at the rust, he was unconcerned about repairing it, instead deferring to the Field Service Engineer. I have been waiting since July to see the FSE. I live 2+ hours from the dealership, so they promised to call me with an appointment
So, no resolution, or even an indication of one.

 

Distance from MINI dealers is the biggest hassle to have to deal with. I hope MINI expands their dealership count with the introduction of the R56 models. Otherwise, they run the risk of being marginalized in the market. Other manufacturers are releasing new models that in many ways are competitive with the MINI and you don't have to drive for 2+ hours each way to get to a dealer. MINI, it is time to GET A CLUE!!!!

 

If they would just expand the service to allow some BMW dealerships, esp. in areas of America where MINI dealerships are few and VERY far between, to work on MINIs it sure would lessen the burden for customers.

If I lived in Montana I would find something else to drive.

 

Well, it would seem that the dealer shortage is not confined to just Montana. If they (MINI) allowed non-MINI BMW dealerships to handle service, the MINI dealerships would rightly throw a fit - MINI asked us to make an investment in MINI-specific showrooms, etc. (basically a branding investment) and now our branding investment is being marginalized.... Because the moment you allow non-MINI dealers to do warranty repairs, the camel's nose is under the service tent - which is where most of the dealership's profit is made.

 

I understand both sides of the BMW service issue. Right now, I really wish the BMW dealers could do some work on my car. I'm way out of warranty and my airbag light just came on. It would be nice if the BMW dealership a 5 minutes down the road could tell me what the code is / which airbag is the problem one instead of having to drive 3 hours to the MINI dealership to find out. But, a stop at the BMW service desk resulted in the old respose "we're not allowed to even touch a MINI". :(

 

I looked on both sides of my 2005 (July 2004 build) and noticed a few very small areas of what looked like surface rust that wiped right off. I will check here every time I detail my car to make sure it isn't presenting itself as a bigger problem.

FWIW: MINItron is a daily driver in Michigan that has seen massive road salt in the winter.

 

Interesting to see how variable the dealer response can be. Just today I took my early '05 into Otto's near Philly with a broken motor mount and, as you say, minimal rust on the door sill of the pass side. They are re-painting the sill, no questions asked.

 

Well, after three months of trying to schedule an appointment with the RSA at my MINI dealer (over an hour's drive)....

First, they wouldn't accept my emailed pictures.
Then, they said I can have the RSA check the car when he's at my local BMW dealer (10 minutes away).
Then, they changed their mind and said it had to be done on MINI hallowed ground.
Then, they said they'd accept the pictures.

My car is finally scheduled to go to the body shop @ Keeler Motors in Latham, New York on Wednesday for a two day repair.

I'm no expert on rust, but my gut feeling tells me that no matter how great a job they do with the surface prep and paint job, any metal that is in long term contact with water and oxygen will rust prematurely. Any word on a fix that focuses on the underlying cause? I for one, will be checking out the 07's, not to buy one, of course, just to see if the brilliant engineers at BMW have figured out what the rest of the car manufacturers have with respect to keeping water from pooling on the door sills. Okay, maybe everyone except Yugo.

I'll post an update after I get VINI back.

 

I got my rust fixed with a little persistance at Motor City MINI in Detroit. '03 MCS. They said there is no offical fix from MINIUSA but said that MINI did approve of having a body shop repair it. I should be getting it back today.

 

The airbag is covered by an additional "warranty"...Call the dealer, they extended the warranty...I had the airbag light on mine and it took 3 visits to the dealer to fix it...
As for the rust issue...I had it "repaired" by the dealership...guess what 3 months later it's back..
I will fix it myself...I'm done dealing with the dealer. Mods here I come...

 

That rust issue will nto go away and at various mini events I have helped others check their cars and a huge percentage have a problem. maby some of the members on here with some paint experience can give us a quick home fix if it is possible. Wire brush? rustoleium perhaps ?

 

i just went and checked my 06 MCS and it had lots of water in there i just dried it right now, i think if i apply silicone where the 2 pieces of metal meet it can stop the moisture from getting inside the metal where we cant actually see, i might have to do that this weekend

 

You might want to try reading through the entire thread. There are ample suggestions for how to apply a home remedy to the problem. The first post that I recall that covers a home remedy was #25. There are others.

 

I believe I fixed the problem:

I saw this a while ago checked my car. I had no rust so I dismissed it. I read all the posts again and thought no one has though about how the water gets in there in the first place. I did notice a few threads about water and suds from washing etc., but it was an unsatisfactory explaination. I went out and checked again. This time I pulled the 3/4 of the seal out to look carefully at it. I had moisture on the bottom metal but no rust. When I looked at the seal where it clamps on the body joint there was allot of water up there (up in side the crease). More examination showed that when the seal is on the car there is a gap between the bottom of the seal and the threshold of the door. Because the threshold is almost level the water does not really drain properly and through capillary action gets sucked up into the seal where it now has no place to exit. There was enough water up there to where if put a Q-tip up there and slid it along the bottom length of the seal it picked up a lot of accumulated dirt and water. When the water gets in the seal it stays there and rust develops. The dirt makes it worse like a sponge. Every time you wash or get water on your car more water goes up. So it really does not matter if you sand and paint it will happen again. I checked my M3 and it has a good slope outwards on the threshold and the seal clamps down tight leaving no gap.

I dried the whole mess and laid in some black silicone where the black of the threshold meets the body next to the aluminum MINI S. I then re-installed the seal and took my finger and created my second seal at the location making water intrusion impossible at this point. See if that works for you.

 

Alpina, I think you are correct in stating that sanding and painting won't prevent this problem from recurring. However, I think you are mistaken in your assessment of how the water is getting into this area. Try this experiment. Now that the sill areas are all dry on your car, pour a little water near the hole in the roof along the drip edge where the A pillar meets the roof. This water will end up under your seal in a few seconds or minutes, depending on how much you put in. Your silicone beading will make it even more difficult for the water that gets under the strip to evaporate.

 

Yes Veggivet, good observation! I thought of that when I looked at it and seal it up with black silicone some weeks ago. It looked like the water could go down and behind because there is joint there correct? When I checked my seal I checked down the inside of the seal at the A pillar and it was dry for whatever it was worth. I think that when the water hits the door it can also run down the front and back of seal at the door. It just gets forced up and stays there until rust develops. I also think that a problem like this is the result of very poor design. With the available size, shape and extrusion profile of door seals this just flat out should not happen in a modern car.

 

This is interesting... I just purchased an 02 MCS, and i checked the driver's side sill, and there is hardly a spot of rust down there. Maybe the previous owner never washed the car.

 

I checked my '04 MCS last week, and no rust here, thank goodness. I do live in a rainy, salty climate though (car came from Sunnyvale, CA and is now in Kodiak, Alaska). I noticed that the sill area is very moist, if not downright soaked. This has me worried - I don't want my 'new' Mini rusting out anytime soon.

I was thinking about drying out the sill with a hair dryer or something...then putting black silicone or windshield urethane in the seam to 'seal' it. Any thoughts?

 

Just checked my 05 MCSC and no rust on passenger side sills, which are full painted in HB to match the body.
TC

 

Okay, time to inspect my '02 cooper, sounds like there's a good chance I'm going to find some rust. Yet another weird problem that you won't find in many cars.

 

This is how BMW tell their dealers to fix any rust:-
Door Seal Rust Fix

 

Finally, we have an official document to see how this problem is being handled. I notice two interesting things about this. First, it lists the models affected without any reference to the years of production. That leads me to believe that all years up to and including 06 models will be at risk for this problem to develop over time. Second, in bold, the 'Based on customer complaint' limitation. Unfortunately, the vast majority of MINI owners are totally unaware of this problem and will likely remain so. It will be interesting to check out the 07 design and see if any modifications to the weatherstripping were made to eliminate this problem.

Great job unearthing this document! Can you identify your source?

 

Mab01uk, Thanks for the link!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now MINI wont give me the run around about getting my MINI fixed. It may have just been my dealer, but they have been a MAJOR ROYAL pain in the rear about this. I went down to the dealer 5 times just to hear them say: "Untill MINI gives us the OK we will NOT fix the problem" Thanks again for the link.

 

Mab01uk gets my vote for NAM member service of the month! (Maybe even for the quarter....)

 

I'll second that motion!