i pulled up the liner just now to see for myself on my 03. My car's a
garage queen and hasn't seen wet roads for over 2 yrs. no, i did not
see the rusting like kapp's picts.

but I did notice a few areas on the lip of that metal rail where there was
no paint...like it chipped off during assembly or something. Even on the
areas where there is paint, the paint is very thin on the very edge...

and the area where kapps' car is showing the blob of rust, there is some
kind of clear tape on mine.

i cleaned the rail and used some generic blue touch up paint i had.
covered up the chipped paint where it showed bare metal and very small
amount of oxidation.

 

Maybe we need to establish the RMOC (Rusty MINI Owners Club) ..... I guess I'll join (FWIW, this is only one of about six spots in my Jun 02 MC sill areas ..... but it is the ugliest of the bunch)

 

wonder if we should start using some sort of lubricant to preserve
that rail... problem is, the liner will slip right off... hummmmm...

im going to slip my liner back on now... i think my touch up is dry.

 

remember VIN numbers are critical......

 

I haven't looked at mine yet but my 05 has been wet only once so far and that's the day I bought it, I haven't had a chance to drive it much yet, so it shouldn't be rusty but if it is missing paint, what I'll do is remove the trim and will get the problem area sprayed with pick up bed liner, that stuff sticks really good but it might be too thick, I'll find out once I take the trim off.

Is the problem only on the door sill?, I have a convertible so I assume that's the only place I should look at.

 

I sent a message to Miniusa via their website. Received a response within 24 hours. Response was that they (Miniusa) are not aware of any issues concerning rust. If you have any problems please consult your dealer. This should be interesting. :impatient

 

By the end of the day if we do our job, they will all be aware

 

I just realized that if I still had my '03, I'd probably have to change my sig quote.

 

And here I thought your sig was the result of this thread.

 

I own an '05 and it is thoroughly painted underneth the weatherstrip.
I think my build date was last May, but i dont know how to verify that...

 

Even if it's thoroughly painted under the weatherstrip, I'm assuming that the paint job on our cars isn't designed to be wet 75-100% of the time, which will be the case for anyone who washes their cars with regularity. This is still a problem.

You can verify your build date by looking at the plate in the driver's side door frame. snid posted this photo:

 

I received another email from Dave Cote - to whom SpiderX suggested we send our VIN info etc. Here is the latest information:
"It has been requested that you contact your local dealer and request the vehicle be inspected by the MINI Field Service Engineer. They should be able to schedule you an appointment with him."

I am assuming he is still collecting the data- so I would still email your info if you haven't done so yet.

My MINI is still under the original warranty and I have the tiniest of rust spots, but MINIUSA better play fair and fix the damn thing!!

EDIT: I am going to MINI of St. Louis. Hopefully there are other MINI owners who are taking their cars there for this issue, so This dealer can also see it's not a one-off thing. It is hard to "photoshop" the actual car!

 

I wrote to MINI usa and got the "unaware response". I have an appointment at my local dealer this Saturday 06/03 ...I shall chime in with news when I get it.....
Hey Spider, it seems your thread is spreading all around the world much like the rust on our MINIs ...
I myself have posted links at several diffrent sites...Please spread the news all...At our local club meet, I intend to inform everyone about it....
I will send a picture and VIN to the address you posted, when I get a better picture...

 

Are there any MINI owners from Canada on this thread? How are the dealers responding to you?

Since my MINI is a week old today, and i cleaned the wetness away from the inside of the rubber seal, and haven't washed it since, it's been fine. Obviously no rust yet. However, do you still want me to call my dealer about it being wet on the inside of the rubber?

I've been bothering them about my iPod connector not working too well and been calling them almost every day now... they're going to hate me :( haha.

 

Ahh easy enough, thanks!

 

talked to Dave Cote today (Global Service mgr) and we are gaining some steam....keep it up please no resolution yet...

 

Did he give any indication why he wants us to take the car to a dealer if there's no resolution? Do I assume the dealer will do nothing besides visually verify we're not lying?

 

I just sent Dave an e-mail with my VIN and a couple pics. We'll see what he says.

 

Erik Luchsinger just called me and basically said "uncle" he is getting tons of emails from all over the country...thank you... He said the best thing is for people with the problem go to the dealers so that the problem can be verified in person..... the more and faster we can do this the faster BMW/Mini can make a decision on what to do....hopefully the "right thing" ......he asked me specifically if I would please change the post so that he would not be contacted...thanks again

 

Ouch. Rust not good. A thread damned worth bookmarking IMHO Heembo

 

Definitely not good. Once it gets a foothold (such as when it perforates the sheetmetal), it is like cancer.

 

I spoke with the Service Adviser at MINI of Mt. View (Mt. View, CA) today. He said that the only issue of rust, that he's aware of, is on cars coming out of the flood areas of the gulf.
I asked that he set up an appointment with the regional Field Service Engineer to view my car (rust under both door weatherstripping). He said that they didn't know the FSE schedule until the first week of the month. At that time he'll call me so I can be available to bring the car in (with my luck it will be when I'm out of town on a business trip).
I've printed this thread and will bring it with me.

Hopefully this will go as well as the last time I had to meet with the FSE. The paint was peeling off the driverside rearview mirror support. He took one look at it, asked what I used to wash the car, wrote down a repair authorization and my car was in the shop within 2-weeks (had to order the part) completely covered by MINI.

T

 

You would think that with modern communications that an email would be circulating to all the FSE to be on the lookout......it is unbelievable that he does not know of the problem

 

My car is going to the dealership for diagnosis of mystery death-like behavior. While he's there, I'll have them document the rust.

Spider, from the way MINI has handled known issues in the past, I feel fairly confident that they all know about it, but are towing the party line of; "isolated incident" until they figure out a way to clean it up (and by that I do mean the PR issue, not necessarily the rust...)

I never used to be so jaded

 

My MINI went in yesterday for a few other things but I pointed out the rust. They said there wasnt anything at this time that could be done under warrenty, but it was documented. Hopefully that helps us all.