sorry to hear this about your car:(

oh no, thats awful. hope its easily repairable whatever it is. will be good as new in no time i'm sure

Well I saw my little car again today and it looks fine!!

I t was very dark in the compound but the wheels certainly had no knocks and no obvious sign of paint damage!!!

The policeman who chased it said that it lost his 325 so quick that he was gob smacked when I told him it was a standard 1.6!

The front tyres look pretty ragged but Don't think I can completely lay the blame with them for that, I couldn't check the mileage either though so don't now how far they have gone in it!
So all I have to do know is change all the locks and alarm frequencies and then buy a F off Big wheel clamp, Anybody able to recommend any particular one

Neil

excellent news! is the car on a drive? if so then one of those removable bollard things may be pretty good, cant help you on wheel clamps!

I fear that I am the latest victim to this defect. I'm in Atlanta, GA- Parked my car in the parking deck at 12:10 AM and it was seen at 6:00 with the window busted out. I thought vandalism at first b/c you can't possibly get into the car from the back, but nothing else was keyed/dented/scratched . . . and there is no object around that looked to have shattered the glass. It was fairly warm when I parked it last night and got rather cold this morning, but it's been colder and I don't know what would have caused it to happen now.

I'm not happy with this. Especially when every dealer I have called about this issue claims to know nothing.

They had better make this right . . .

looks like the same problem, lots of glass on the outside in large peices. They should know about this issue, UK dealers had information sent to them about it, get your dealer to contact MINI regarding it, they should confirm it to them, and then you should be able to get it resolved with a new roof fabric.

Keep us posted how you get on;)

that was faster than I thought it'd be . . .

I was expecting to put up much more of a fight, but I called today and apparently MINI is going to cover this and the parts are on the way to Hank Aaron MINI of Atlanta already- expecting them by monday.

I was quite scared by all of this, but feel OK about it now. Just thought that I'd drop you guys a line and let you know. Thanks for the posts- I'll update when this is over.

cheers
Xan

good to know its all sorted, just think if you hadn't know about MINI2 you probably would have just gone in there expecting to have to pay for it;)

Just thought that everyone would be pleased to hear that it is a recognised problem now and a service bulletin has been issued to all dealers. The problem is a 'thermal issue with 'some' glass where by inner and outer temperatures can cause 'some' glasses to shatter unexpectedly.

The fix is to re cover the hood, that is fit a new fabric and glass assembly, not the whole roof as some people have had done.

The glass problem is being looked at as for how to prevent this from making it to production, but at the moment this is still work in progress. Reported incidents are few considering how many cars are out there.

So anyone having this issue will not need to worry about having to get it replaced under insurance:)

I can't seem to post a link to my photo here. I keep getting error message telling me to remove URL's before posting my message. It's in my Mini2 gallery though so hopefully, you can look there.

I'm not sure where you got the information about it being a recognised issue because both Mini UK customer service dept and my local Mini dealer have said today that there has been no such bulletin issued and it's not a known problem ???

Our car is due to have a new roof fitted tomorrow and we have been told that as it's only 3 weeks old, we will probably get it fixed free as a good will gesture....not under warranty as such.

http://www.mini2.com/gallery/personal/9954/57584_thumb.jpg (http://www.mini2.com/gallery/personal/9954/57584.jpg)


Here is our story:

When we awoke this morning, we discovered the rear window on our 3 week old MCSC had shattered during the night and assumed as you would, that we had been victims of an attempted break in or vandalism. We phoned the police to report the damage and waited for someone to arrive. While waiting, I remembered that I had read something about the integral window meant the whole hood has to be replaced if the window gets broken and decided to do a Google search to see if I could find out more information.

Imagine my surprise when the search threw up this thread, which raised the possibility of a completely different scenario !

When the police lady arrived, I mentioned that there was a possibility that it hadn't been purposely smashed at all but may have shattered spontaneously. She was intrigued by this and decided to see if it was a known issue from their point of view. So she contacted someone at Cambridgeshire Police HQ to see if it was a known issue with them and it seemed not but they said they would send a scene of crime officer around to investigate further.

When the second officer arrived and took a good look, she agreed that what she could see didn't fit the usual pattern.

1. There was no obvious motive to explain why anyone would have broken the window. Nothing else had been disturbed at all. Obviously that doesn't rule out vandalism. However, the car was parked on the drive, we live in a quiet cul-de-sac in a low crime area and...........

2. There was no sign of any implement being used to break the window. She said she would normally expect to find a rock or something either inside the car or nearby on the ground, There was none. As she said, a vandal smashing a window doesn't usually bother about removing and disposing of the item used.

3. Virtually all the glass had fallen on the parcel shelf and inside the boot. There was a small amount fallen on the ledge below the window a few chips on the floor and that was it. Not a single piece of glass had fallen further in the car. She said that if the glass had been smashed from the outside, it is normal for glass chips to shoot out all over the interior of the car. If you compare the photo of our car with the others posted, the distribution of broken glass seems extraordinarily similar.

4. The first police lady called at all the surrounding houses. Not one person had heard the glass breaking or a car alarm going off in the night.

5. As you can see in the photo, the car is wet as it had rained in the night. Yet the parcel shelf was dry, possibly indicating that it had broken this morning, after the rain, rather than last night when you'd expect this sort of thing to happen.

So I'm fairly certain this was a case of the window breaking spontaneously rather than being deliberately smashed and that is what I have told the Mini dealer. Hopefully, it will be fixed free but it concerns me that it would seem they are fixing them free for lots of people without admitting that there is a known problem. I have done what a previous poster suggested and have submitted a report at the BBC Watchdog programme website and would suggest everybody who has experienced this problem do they same, regardless of whether they got it fixed for nothing.

That photo looks just like all the other, sorry I can't tell you who told me, all I can say is it was a friend that works for MINI.

It is a recognised problem now and a service bulletin has been issued. The problem is a 'thermal issue with 'some' glass where by inner and outer temperatures can cause 'some' glasses to shatter unexpectedly. This was issued around the second week of February, so tell you dealer to look a bit harder;)

I also suggest that you print this thread out and show them it, so they know that you have been reading up and know that there are more than just your window that has broken:)

That photo looks just like all the other, sorry I can't tell you who told me, all I can say is it was a friend that works for MINI.

It is a recognised problem now and a service bulletin has been issued. The problem is a 'thermal issue with 'some' glass where by inner and outer temperatures can cause 'some' glasses to shatter unexpectedly. This was issued around the second week of February, so tell you dealer to look a bit harder;)

I also suggest that you print this thread out and show them it, so they know that you have been reading up and know that there are more than just your window that has broken:)

If you are positive your friend is correct, it would be helpful if he could get the bulletin reference number for you to post here. I did show your post about it being a recognised issue to the service manager at our local Mini dealer and his attitude was that I shouldn't believe everything I read on the Internet. He says he reads every service bulletin and hasn't seen one on that subject.

I can understand him being sceptical if he hasn't come across the problem but I do find it strange that the customer service dept at Mini UK deny ever hearing of it happening before. It's obvious by the number of British people posting on the subject here that Mini UK ought to be aware of a potential problem. As someone else said, only a fraction of all convertible owners are likely to be reading this thread so there must be lots of others who have had the problem.

Message Update

I may have inadvertently set a chain reaction going or perhaps it was already happening without us knowing. I just received a phone call from the police officer that came to see the car yesterday and she says that they have carried out further investigations and are no longer treating the shattered window as a case of possible criminal damage. She said that it was as the result of conversations they have had with third parties. She can't tell me with who or what was said because of the Data Protection Act but apparently the Vehicle Inspectorate is investigating the issue and are going to be sending us a form to fill in.

If anyone in the else in the UK feels their rear window shattered for no reason, perhaps it would be a good idea for them to contact HM Vehicle Inspectorate too. If they collate evidence that there is a general problem related to safety, I believe they have the power to order BMW Mini to do a product recall.

Before the dealership agreed to fix my car, they had to run a "puma" case, which apparently is a program or some investigative proceedure that scans for related problems that have occured. They claimed to not be able to find a service bulletin, but after the "puma case" fixed it with no further problems.

that said . . . the *******s dented my car 3 times fixing the roof- I'd recommend not servicing at Hank Aaron of Atlanta, unless you don't care about your brand new $30k MINI's appearance . . .

cheers and good luck with your MINI- weather is starting to get beautiful . . . I got a little red from motoring so much with the top down this weekend

Has this been fixed or is it still a problem with the new 2006 models?

not heard of any new reports of this, and since my GF's hood was replaced it hasn't happened again. Must have just been a rogue batch of hoods with week glass;)

not heard of any new reports of this, and since my GF's hood was replaced it hasn't happened again. Must have just been a rogue batch of hoods with week glass;)

Except I notice that all the shattering incidents previously reported happened in the coldest months of winter. The first being mid December and ours being the last in mid March. Lets hope we don't see a fresh batch starting in a couple of month's time.

*Update to my last post on the subject further up the page*

I discovered later, the reason the police were so sure that the damage wasn't vandalism is because they had a covert surveillance camera installed in my neighbours house after his house and car were attacked by animal rights activists. (He works for Huntingdon Life Sciences I presume) It just so happens that the camera also covers my drive, so the police collected the tape without telling me and were able to tell that nobody had been near the car the night the window shattered.

Secondly, the hood was eventually replaced free of charge back in March but never fitted as well as the original. It had several crease marks across the top that we were told would disappear with weathering (They didn't) it also soon began to display the white marks mentioned in other threads on this forum. So, a couple of months ago, we complained to the dealers that we weren't happy with the replacement hood. Without hesitation this time, they booked it in for replacement. So far we are very happy with our third hood but are keeping our fingers crossed that we don't get any problems when the cold weather returns.

Rear window just shattered in my 05 MCC a couple of days ago. Only had it for about 3 months now, hoping the dealer will work with me on this one.

Can't believe it was over a year since this happened, how time flies:)

No more problems with windows on our Convertibles:)

Came to my MCC last night and the rear window was shattered. It was parked in a private car park behind a locked gate and a wall. It appeared that there was no attempt to take anything; had a good torch, some CD's and the Mini CD changer in the boot. There was no glass on the rear seets; most of it was on the passenger shelf / boot. I could see no more damage to the car.

I work within 20 feet of where my car is parked; the alarm did not go off (and no-one else in the office reported the alarm being triggered). Could find no bricks nearby or in the car.

Possibly another case of the rear window shattering fault? I must admit I'm not totally convinced, but the evidence so far is quite convincing.

Came to my MCC last night and the rear window was shattered. It was parked in a private car park behind a locked gate and a wall. It appeared that there was no attempt to take anything; had a good torch, some CD's and the Mini CD changer in the boot. There was no glass on the rear seets; most of it was on the passenger shelf / boot. I could see no more damage to the car.

I work within 20 feet of where my car is parked; the alarm did not go off (and no-one else in the office reported the alarm being triggered). Could find no bricks nearby or in the car.

Possibly another case of the rear window shattering fault? I must admit I'm not totally convinced, but the evidence so far is quite convincing.

The fact that there was no glass on the rear seats suggests the window shattered spontaneously like all the others. The police sent a forensic officer to inspect our MCC and she said that whenever a window is smashed from the outside, glass pieces are sprayed throughout the interior of the car. There wasn't a single piece of glass further forward than the parcel shelf on ours. She concluded therefore that it was unlikely to have been smashed from the outside. The dealer fixed it free of charge but had to get authorisation from Mini UK.

Can't believe it was over a year since this happened, how time flies:)

No more problems with windows on our Convertibles:)

I't's got to be cold weather related...the same thing has happened as last year. I predicted it might in my post to this thread on Oct 14th. Nothing through the summer months and then as soon as the weather starts getting really cold in December, reports begin coming in again of windows shattering for no apparent reason. The latest one has been reported in this thread a couple of days ago and another in a new thread 11 days prior to that.

A few more weeks and we should be out of the danger season in Europe and N America, though I have a horrible feeling a pattern is emerging that makes it likely we shall see this happening to a few unfortunate people every winter.

The fact that there was no glass on the rear seats suggests the window shattered spontaneously like all the others. The police sent a forensic officer to inspect our MCC and she said that whenever a window is smashed from the outside, glass pieces are sprayed throughout the interior of the car. There wasn't a single piece of glass further forward than the parcel shelf on ours. She concluded therefore that it was unlikely to have been smashed from the outside. The dealer fixed it free of charge but had to get authorisation from Mini UK.
Thanks. Just got my car back from the dealers and it has been fixed to my satisfaction. They came to pretty much the same conclusion without being pushed; very impressed with the dealers and the after sales service, bit concerned about shattering windows! Did a good job on the roof as well; not folded it down yet (it was raining) but it looked like a factory finish; nice and tight with no wear marks.

I would tend to agree with you that it could be the shattering fault; just no conclusive evidence either way!

A friend of mine asked me to post this. Seems Mini convertible rear screens are still exploding. THere was no glass on the inside of the car, proving it exploded, rather than imploded due to an object hitting it. Interesting that Mini rescue initially tried to fob it off as not a fault.

my friend said:

Went to collect her car from work at Gatwick Airport to find that the rear windscreen had been shattered. As the car was parked in a secure place under CCTV. The tapes were impounded and viewed and no one had gone anywhere near the car.

Phoned Mini Rescue and they didnt want to know as they classified it as Glass. Drove home with job not done yet. Spoke to autoglass the next day who didnt want to know either as it was a specialised job. So I had Min Rescue, Autoglass & interested and Damon Hill Mini (warwick) said it would be an insurance job and a new hood.

As a final check before I instructed the insurance company to bring in hood specialists from London, I phone Oxford Mini. Their service dept said its a common fault that they had dealt with before. They instructed me to phone Mini Rescue again and inform them to pick the vehicle up as its a warranty job, and they did!! Window fixed within 2 days!

Its very disturbing that I nearly layed out my £300 excess on my insurance policy to get this job done, especially when some garages are more aware than others of the fault

Since losing faith in the car, its been replaced with an Adui A3.... :(

http://www.mini2.com/galleries/data/500/medium/conv.jpg

This scares the living daylights out of me!

My car will be 2 years old in July, and that's when the warranty expires (only 2 years here). Of course, there was no option to buy an extended warranty either, so if this is still an issue, and if it happens to my car after July, then I'm out of pocket big-time......except that I do have legal insurance, so I'd probably have to go to the courts to make the case that there is a design/manufacturing fault, in which case there remains a MINI liability byond the mandatory warranty period........

Let's hope it doesn't come to that.....:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

This scares the living daylights out of me!

My car will be 2 years old in July, and that's when the warranty expires (only 2 years here). Of course, there was no option to buy an extended warranty either, so if this is still an issue, and if it happens to my car after July, then I'm out of pocket big-time......except that I do have legal insurance, so I'd probably have to go to the courts to make the case that there is a design/manufacturing fault, in which case there remains a MINI liability byond the mandatory warranty period........

Let's hope it doesn't come to that.....:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

why not sell and perhaps buy one which is only a year old?

Hi,

I am about to pick up my spankingly new MCSCJCWCHilli:red: , and i wondered what teh latest was on this issue..

Are we goign to see some screens this winter go bang? I hope i'm not onw of them!!

Anyhow, im still looking forward to zooming aroudn with the hood down...:D

Pete

It was a one off batch type thing, and nothing since, don't worry, since this happened to my GF's original roof we have had no issues with it since or with the MCSC I went on to order;)

Hi,

Thanks for the update., *phew* :biggrin: ... i pick up my car :brgblack: on tuesday .. I saw it yeterday in the garage being prepped..looks awesome... so i'm just going to have to post some pictures in the piccies section..!

chairs
pete

Hi,
Just about to enter into the same scenario. This morning when my partner was getting in her car
Mini Cooper S conv, the rear window shattered.
Initial call to Mini Assistance fruitless and she was told to deal with insurers.
Same story, limited glass cover etc, but they finally agreed to deal with under accidental damage. The problem here is the £650 excess (high because of works bodykit).
She has just been told by the dealer that its a complete new roof which will cost £1800.

I did a search and found you guys. She is going to the dealers later and will start the process.
Will report back later

Hi,
Just about to enter into the same scenario. This morning when my partner was getting in her car
Mini Cooper S conv, the rear window shattered.
Initial call to Mini Assistance fruitless and she was told to deal with insurers.
Same story, limited glass cover etc, but they finally agreed to deal with under accidental damage. The problem here is the £650 excess (high because of works bodykit).
She has just been told by the dealer that its a complete new roof which will cost £1800.

I did a search and found you guys. She is going to the dealers later and will start the process.
Will report back later

Any idea when the car was built?

Hi Pingu,
it was registered 1.3.2005 so I guess it was built just before that. Current position is that the dealer is going to speak to BMW , but their response was that they were unaware of the fault...yeah!!!!!!!
From what I can gather this is one of those problems that they try to keep the lid on (excuse the pun). I find it incredible that anyone would design a car roof so the only way the rear glass can be repaired is to replace the whole roof. She's only had the car for two months and would never have bought it if we'd known about this sort of problem.
We are going to have to make a stink about this. Even worse now, the insurers insist that the car cannot be temporarily repaired as it compromises the security, and getting anything done this side of next year is an imposibility.
We await further developments with interest