[Griffer]

I have finally got a car to be proud of. After much discussion with the service manager Joe at Westerly Yeovil we have come up with a fix that works, thus far anyway. The seam on the modified canvas has been moved toward the body by about 20 to 30 mm. Get your department to measure it before fitting (see pics). Also the bump stops have to be adjusted to their maximum (I advised the service department to do this!) and not 15mm as recommended by BMW so that when folded the roof sits higher and you can get your hand between the roof parts when folded and the canvas is not tight. This is still not being done at the factory as I saw several brand new convertibles at the show at Himley Hall on Sunday and some had the wear marks already (esp the lady with the yellow MCSC whose roof was very tight when folded and had the side wear marks too. Get garage to adjust your bump stops all the way up and stow that cable out of the way like I showed you) and some had the roof sitting high up (i.e. the convertible next to Rakey's car). Also the cable for the rear demister sometimes sits on top of the hinges and wear little marks on the near side of the hood. To remedy this get garage to tuck it behind hinge or put some foam or sponge over the loom to protect the hood. I hope this information helps, print this off or get garage to log on to see details of the extra work needed to ensure a wear free hood. Joe is e-mailing details back to BMW so hopefully they will include it across all the dealerships globally. I think between us all who have contributed to this debate have saved BMW / Mini a lot of money as they did not get it quite right with the original fix hence some built since Feb wearing already! I will let you all know how I get on in the next couple of weeks before giving the all clear.

[Rooster]

Im glad you got your problem sorted Griffer.

Ive also had my roof changed(collected car today). Sun was shining, only to be told I can't use sunroof or take the hood down for 3 DAYS . Dealer said the hood needs to settle.
Only thing is, looks like theres a couple of dents at the front/middle of the roof. On close inspection, its the stitching in the inside that gives that apearance of a dent on the outside of the hood Not going to be concerned about that at the moment, just going to wait and see the roof go up/down a few times before making judgement.
Overall, the hood does look alot better

I JUST HOPE THE DEALER HAD THE INFO THAT GRIFFER HAS JUST POSTED(1st post)

I'll Post pics in a couple of days.

Unfortunately, I have still got another issue with the dealer that needs sorting

[gaminicool]

Griff this is good news! Hopefully this fix will work and I look forward to an update from you in a couple of weeks.

My MCSC was a March build and I am noticing some early wear marks

I'm going to print out your info and take it the dealer...after I hear from you that the fix actually works...

[arbee]

very encouraging to see that the design has actually been visabley modified! hope it stays this way!

[Rakey]

fingers crossed for you griffer, will print this off and pass on when mine goes in next Monday

[phil.tun]

Cheers Griffer
I checked our hood and it has been fitted as you suggest. The material on the new roof also looks thicker and is softe. I cant belive how much the old hood had faded in 10 months

[Griffer]

The improved weather means I can drive lots of miles with the roof down. 3 days on still looking promising. Dealers also said I could have a set of 17" Bullet alloys for all my trouble (actually I asked!) so I will get them in a couple of weeks as long as the problems do not return. Now I can finally plan some upgrades.

[Griffer]

One week on nearly and roof still looks good. However it still does not fold correctly and occasionally one side will fold in like in this old pic of my first roof. Beware as this can ruin your new roof after only one or two drives. ALWAYS check and correct this BEFORE you drive off and keep pressing the fold so it folds correctly next and every time.

[phil.tun]

Ours does the same! the left hand lower fold doesn't always fold properly. I'm sure the material is thicker / stiffer

[Lil Blue]

You know some jobs look easy then turn out being real knuckle busters. This little bumper adjustment is exactly that. This weekend I adjusted the bump stop as shown in the post, mine was still set to 15mm. What a pain in the butt! The locking nut on the bottom is very difficult to get to with a wrench. Both of mine were very tight and could not be loosened by hand. No matter which way I flipped the 10mm wrench I could not get the angle right to loosen the nut on either side. Eventually I cut the 10mm wrench in half with a hack saw and that gave me enough clearance to get it on the nut and loosen it so that I could adjust the bumper.

Two observations, it does limit your already limited rear view with the top down. Raising the seat a bit helped. It also causes the top to help cut the wind a bit more with the top down even with the wind blocker in place.

Just a warning, if you haven't done this plan on a bit of time. Only way to access the bumper is from the back with the rear of the roof unlatched, a good flashlight, and a very short 10mm open end wrench. Good luck!

Steve

[Griffer]

Rear view is slightly more restricted. You should of got the dealers to do the adjustments even though BMW recommends 15mm. My dealers said they had to cut down and grind a spanner to fit! Remember you have a 3 year warranty. I have a multitude of squeaks, clicks and rattles to cure so I will be doing them myself so I can see why you did it yourself as you can be sure it has been done properly. The faults and fixes threads has some good info on curing rattles so will be printing it off and getting my tools out!!!!

[gaminicool]

Griff, can any of these fixes be done for an existing roof or is it for those who got a new roof? I'm going to the dealer tomorrow and am considering giving them this info.

Thanks much,

Mike

[Griffer]

I would suggest a complete new roof as the seams are what do most of the wear, unless your roof has no wear at all. It is still worth getting the bump stops adjusted up and the demister loom stowed out of the way though.

[gaminicool]

Thanks. I dropped off my Mini to the dealer and mentioned the roof wear - they say there is no fix for it. In their words..."All mini convertible roofs are like this". They didn't want to hear that there is a possible fix out there

[dancefreak]

I showed my service advisor threads here about it and he called miniusa and said that a fix is in the works but not ready stateside yet. He agreed that the wear is unacceptable and told me he would be on the look out for the fix and to check in periodically about it.

[SimonL]

Got my car back this evening having has its new roof fitted, haven't had a chance to open it yet - Wasn't told to leave it shut, but might do for a while anyway.

Canvas has a label with the date 15/04/2005, and has a small gap from the body to the start of the seam so that is probably the modified one. Any obvious ways to tell if the frame is the modified one?

Looks Ok - No new rattles that I can tell yet, apart from a tapping I had to investigate and found they haven't connected the heated screen.

However, looking at the spade attached to the window, and the plug on the cable - they don't look like they go together at all... (Image attached: window connector at the top of the picture). The plug looks far to square to be right... is it? I don't want to force the issue (literally) too much, as I'd rather they broke it - not me!

Bump stops were right down - Managed to adjust one by hand and the other with the slight help of a pair of long nosed pliers. Will see how I get on.

A bit disappointed that the interior springy cloth trim that hides the roof internals from the rear passengers hasn't been replaced as on the drivers side mine has very obvious water marks*. This is despite been told by the service dept. it would all be replaced with the roof.

Cheers,

Simon.,

* which I know are not my doing as its been in frequently enough that only the dealer has washed it!

[SimonL]

Just got off the phone to my dealer who told me the frame hasn't been replaced (I must admit I did think 2days wasn't very long to replace the whole roof - frame and all).

He says they have nothing from BMW/Mini about changing the frame - Although I'm now more convinced thats why the plug and connector for the heated screen don't match (ie. the new frame as a modified loom for the new canvas!). Basically stopped just short of acusing Internet forums of scare-mongering & that they have to know more than the general public!

He's going to have a word with the technician as to why those wires aren't connected (As though he's going to have a good reason other than they weren't a male/female pair!) - and work out what to do... I sense a connector adapter... He said they haven't got the equipment to fit new frames, and those that have needed it (mechanical issues) have gone back to Oxford.

They have accepted need to change interior trim.

Oh well... Looks like its going back in... (I didn't realise I was getting free car washes every month when I bought it).

Should probably be bothering me more than it is, I'm just viewing it as a good use of the warantee I've paid for!

Simon.,

[Griffer]

Tell your dealer to phone Joe the service manager at Westerly Yeovil as they have replaced the full folding mechanism on mine and two canvas tops and at least one other car I know of. He is also fully up to speed on the modifications to get the bump stops and the demister loom sorted. Joe and I have been on this case since December and he is a really friendly and helpful bloke. He let me into the workshops on the second hood replacement when the hood was off so I could see the inner workings. He has also identified the possible cause of the semi-circular rear quarter window scratches so I will post a fix for that when I get it done ( it has to go back in for the rattling/creaking rear quarter windows and some dash rattles/creaks ).

[rentagas]

A week after going to my dealer with my roof wear, I went back today. My acr is 10 months old, had early wear that has steadily got worse and has accelerated now the roof is down more. it seems to fold correctly (no funny folds). My dealer was "not aware" of a technical bulletin and (today) sent a "PUMA" enquiry about it. I can't see the point in having a new canvas without a new (and improved) mechanism. Every single mini convertible in their car park including their 05 registered demonstrator had typical early roof wear.

[MiniMelSF]

Thanks so much for all the information...Now, I am just trying to sum it all up for myself here so I am ready with the full info when I take my MCSC in for it's first service interval. I have a Nov. build car, and there are several white spots on various parts of the roof as have been mentioned previously. This IS the roof wear issue, right? As of yet, there doesn't appear to be thread wear that I can see. But, I imagine that with time, this would get worse. I have no issues with the mechanics of the roof as it is, it works perfectly fine.

Should ask for a new roof, and new frame? Is that the consensus to get the problem truly fixed? And re: bump stop issue - I take it that even if they don't replace the roof right away (if I get the the "stateside fix is not yet avavilable" line) I should still ask for the bump stops to be turned to the maximum setting and to check that the demister loom wires are not rubbing on the roof, right? Am I correct in understanding that the latter fixes are recommended to diminish any further wear on my existing roof by loosening the tension on the top when it is in the folded position?

I just want to get all my information down correctly so I don't sound like an idiot when I present my case, as it were...

Thansk again!!