| I'm not sure what BMW soft tops normally say, but I practically fell off my chair when I originally read "-12C" in the Mini's manual. It seems a ridiculously low temperature for a fabric roof to be lowered.
I'm all for driving with the wind deflector up and a beany hat on my head on a cold day - I love it - but not that cold. I still stick rigidly to the same rules as laid down for my fabric roofed MX-5, which said that "+5C" was the lowest temperature you could lower the roof. I think Mazda even used to say that for the folding hardtop too. I also don't think I'd want to hear the roof motors trying to fold a roof at -12C - mine make enough noise as it is.
P.S. I had to chuckle today when, with our roof closing issues, I saw the original publicity videos for the second generation convertible, "Rain is just a four letter word", "Always open". For us it seems that this is by design!
PAUL, Worcestershire, UK
2009 Cooper S Convertible | 
