So, when the rust is covered under warranty, what do they do? Will they repair the area?
Noticed some bubbling near one the tail lights on my '04 MCS. Haven't looked at the sills.

 

Yes, they repair it. Sand, paint, etc. Wish I had the longer warranty

 

arghh....I somehow ended up on this post when researching brake lines....so of course I go look under the door seal....and yep some bubbling and slight peak of rust....well it's an '05 so I suppose I'm under warranty at least.

 

Should I be looking for this on my 2010?

 

fast fun, as the title of the thread states, it's specifically 02-05 (and I imagine some 06 and 07 r52's) Coopers. Your '10 should be fine.

 

Rust starting under the hatch handle. Easy to remove and repair. Might want to check y'alls out!

 

I found rust on my car today. 2006 MCS 43k miles, South Florida car. The drivers side has rust too but not as bad.

 

My '04 S has rust on the hatch where the trim panel for the license plate brackets mounts. It took me a month to get the dealership closest to me to get it in and have the regional rep look at the car. He looked at it and denied the repair twice

1) Carfax showed a collosion on the right rear of the car. Previous owner stated it was a hit and run. Only damage was a broken reflector and a scuff on the plastic trim. No body work done period

2) Told the rep to look at it again because it has had no work done to it. Denied it again because the paint looks scuffed. Car had vinyl stripes on it and the paint surrounding the stripes aged differently but the clear coat was not compromised.

I will be fighting them to fix this because modern cars should not be rusting out after only 9 years. I will post on their forums, their facebook and call customer service until they fix the rust. The support for their cars completely sucks and I will never ever consider buying a New MINI. I was for a while but since they brushed me off for the power steering pump fan and pump issue and now the rust.. Screw them. I'll take my money elsewhere and I will let everyone know

 

Joe,
What do you mean you were brushed off for the power steering pump and fan issue??? MINI USA Corporate sent out letters to everyone saying that they will replace for free all parts and labor. Nothing short of a Factory recall on that issue! My wife almost crashed the 2004 MCS when the steering froze up! The Factory paid for everything, including a rental car. I still have the letter somewhere. MinisRcheeky

 

Hmm. The only letters I got were regarding the extension (to 10yrs) of the corrosion warranty, as well as the letter regarding the faulty O2 sensors. Never got anything about the pump/fan issue...

 

Hi Ya,
I'm 100% positive that the power steering pumps/fans in the Gen One MINI's are completely covered by the Factory, (I'll look for my letter OK. Hopefully I can post it if I find it) My power steering went out before the Factory sent out the letters. I made such a stink when it did go out, that the Dealership covered the parts, (pre-recall). I later submitted the labor costs to the Factory, (post-recall), and was fully reimbursed. There should be something in the Forums here relating to the power steering pumps/fans? It was a big deal. The Factory didn't actually send the letters out until this year, (2013). Hope this helps.
MinisRcheeky

 

I don't have the technical chops to scan and post the letter, so I've keyed the relevant portion below. Here it is:I notice that the e-mail address transformed itself into a link. I don't know if it will work or not. If you've got further questions, I suspect a phone call or e-mail per the letter will get you the info you need.

 

I noticed both of my door sills have, at the least, surface rust under the rubber strip. 2012 Hardtop. Found it when I took it off to run wiring along the side of the car. Haven't done anything yet but dry it off after car washes.

 

Having just acquired an 03 MCS, I checked the sills as described in this thread and as expected found the dreaded rust! I promptly took both side apart and perform a relatively simple and effective repair. I will continue to monitor these areas now that I know they are an issue.

Here is a link to the work I did...

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ust-11799.html

-Pat

 

Confirmed with Mini/BMW today...in Canada anyway. Warranty is 13 years for 2004 perforation, 6 years for 2003. So I'm up the creek with my '03, which has the exact same rust in the exact same spots as a 2004. Thanks Mini.

 

FWIW...

'03 MCS with the rust. I'd imagine the issue will present itself in all of the 1st Gen MINIs.

 

Regarding the extended rust warranty: does anyone have a different TSB than this - SI M 41 02 06 ? My local Mini service department told me today that I was correct that this is a legit TSB and issue, but the TSB is only for "perforation", and I can't read/see the actual TSB anywhere.

Is there an updated TSB that covers flaking, but not yet perforation? My '04 is still covered but I have rust flakes and not perforation (yet). He was nice about it but he kinda blew me off, so if I want Mini to deal with this I'll have to do the legwork myself.

 

I have a 2006 R 50 that had rust on both door sills but not very advanced. I used a drill with a wire wheel and removed the rust, then I use a product called "OSPHO".

Primed and Painted the door sills 3 years ago, the issue is no longer I keep an eye on both doors, spray occasionally with W-D 40.

 

I own a 2002 R50, it has rust on both doors AND the tailgate where the latch striker is.


A 1 hour drive to the dealership (time and fuel) to see if there is a possible Australian warranty on a 12yr+ car.


A 1 hour drive home (time and fuel) after making a booking if its covered under warranty.


A return journey back to the dealership IF its covered, Cost of Insurance for a loan vehicle to return home (more valuable time).


Return journey to take loan car back and pick up Mini after repairs IF covered by a warranty on a 12 yr old car (even more time)


So, with all the running around, petrol, time, negotiating work to be done (btw my time is important), wear and tear on the car.


A short trip to the local auto spares, 1 x wire wheel, 1 x roll of masking tape, 1 x small bottle of rust converter, 1 can of undercoat, 1 x can of touchup paint and the rest of the morning to wire brush the paint to clean bare metal, apply rust converter, apply undercoat, apply topcoat. Job done in under 4 hours and unless you pulled the rubber one would never know.


Satisfaction of a job that took under 4 hours compared to the hassle of running around, wear and tear and the petrol used let alone the time this would have taken on a 12 yr old car plus I got out of mowing the lawn ! Priceless and 100% satisfaction.


Lesson learnt, pull the rubbers occasionally and clean out the build-up of dust and grime and ensure its dry. Learn to maintain your vehicle and take pride you can do such a simple job. Its a lot easier than jumping up and down having a hissy fit or maybe your time isn't as valuable as mine. If the car was a couple of years old, I could understand it but on Gen 1's ! lets take a reality check.

 

I had to replace the rubber weather seal on my driver side when I got my car(used) it's a 2010 and there was none on the drivers side but a little starting on the passenger side. I noticed the passenger side because when it rains sometimes I get water ingress ,there was a post about it...so after cleaning and painting I applied a bead of silicone to the pinch weld all the way along it to keep water from settling there again. Done!

 

I had not noticed this thread and posted this elsewhere. If the moderators don't mind I will include it here as well as it is on topic.

My '06 MCS had a bit of paint bubbling under a tail light. When I posted about that I was told to check my sills, which I did, and found rust on both.

I brought the car to the local dealer who took pictures of the issues and sent them to BMW USA, who after doing a CarFax report on the car, approved the warranty claim. Apparently if the car has had previous bodywork in the rusted area, the warranty is void.

The dealer told me to get two estimates, one from their shop and one from the shop of my choice. I presented the estimates and BMW chose my shop, likely becasue he was cheaper ...and as it turned out, didn't know what he was getting into.

Long story short, after he discovered it was worse than he thought and submitted his new estimate my car was taken (flatbed) to their preferred body shop, where the car received a new rear quarter panel and new sills.

Here are before and after shots of one of the sills ...





They did nice work and I am pleased.

Total turn around times was about 5 weeks ...which obviously would have been less had the car been taken directly to the more MINIcentric shop.

As I only have 1.5 years left on the rust warranty I'll be keeping my eye on the other rust trouble spots ...and I'll be pulling up the rubber covers on the sills and cleaning/dry there at least monthly.

Dean.

 

Yes, this is another well documented area prone to rust...glad you got yours taken care of while still under warranty.

 

What is this another area? The only one I understand about reading this topic is the one under the doors seals

 

Yup, I know several MINI owners who have had issues in this area of the car. I make sure to dry the inside of the hatch after every wash...so far, no problems on my 02 R53 with respect to rust.

 

I`m sorry I don`t really understand what other area is this one you are referring to