Sunroof jammed - with tree sap?

[tallon]

Recently the Panoramic Sunroof on my R56 Cooper S stuck - it would tilt, but not slide back. Then as I tried it some more, it would only tilt part-way - afraid I would end up with it stuck open, I stopped, and took it in to the dealer to sort out.

The Dealer (HR Owen, London) told me that it was stuck because it was 'full of crap', and that it would cost £700 to take it apart, clean it and put back together again (I declined). They asked if I park it under trees, suggesting that the sticky stuff from the trees had perhaps got into the mechanism. Really?

I'm not particularly impressed with the quality of the MINI (having previously owned several Japanese cars) but to suggest that the sunroof is of such poor quality that tree sap penetrates the mechanism and clogs it up sounds ridiculous - or is it?

Anyone else experienced this?

[iain cooper]

is there evidence of tree sap anywhere on the sunroof ? on the guides, etc ?

tree sap should be easy to spot and I couldn't imagine it could penetrate the mechanism of the sunroof, unless the sunroof was left open for a long period beneath trees ?

and if so it would be all over the seats !!

Iain

[Macguyvic]

Mine doesn't want to open if the car has been parked in the South Texas heat. It tries to lift and then closes again. After driving it around for a few minutes I will try it again and it works as designed. It only acts up when parked in hot direct sunlight. It can get extremely hot in the parking garage at my office but as long as it's in the shade it will open.

[The Nun]

Tree sap? never heard of that before, sounds like a job for the Special Branch to me.

[tallon]

It is parked quite often under trees, but there's no evidence of any residue - the roof is clean and kept that way pretty much all of the time - it occasionally gets bird mess on it, but I tend to clean it off straightaway before it gets baked on. And the car is NEVER left with the roof open - in the UK it would soon fill up with rain.

[davethehearse]

Not sure about tree sap but seedlings and leaves can and will clog up a sunroof. Ive never encountered them clogging a sunroof drive mechanism, but Ive had them block the sunroof drain pipes on several cars. If theyre in the roof void theres no reason why they couldnt block the runners.
Strip n clean n regrease as proposed by the dealer is the only way to cure it and hope its not stretched the cable mechansim that pushes/pulls the roof to open/close - or thats an even bigger bill
Id try a non franchised dealer to get the labour costs down - or try yourself on a sunny day.