Mini Convertibles - any good?

Joined
4 Aug 2007
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Wilds of suffolk
The early ones, not sure if the later ones had the same issue or not, (I had an early one so knew), did have an issue with the cables for the roof. On each side is a kind of stop end, which is a crimped on stop which the car can sense and hence stop powering the hood moving.
They could come off and then the cable would pull through. It was a very expensive repair, from memory over a grand at BMW
A fix was to liquid metal the stops back in place.
I always wondered if the issue could have been made worse by using the roof whilst moving, you could use it upto from memory 30kph, i preferred to stop personally just to reduce any stresses as much as possible

Gearboxes on very early supers, but they would likely all/virtually all have been fixed by warranty
Power steering pumps could be a bit flaky

Roofs were pretty leakproof but assuming people actually did the weatherproofing. most didnt. I assume by now sensible priced replacement materials are available

They did also have an issue with exploding rear screens during frosts. Again if you were going to get this issue I assume it would have happened long ago by now, but could maybe be an issue if a replacement rear screen was fitted
 
Soldato
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20 Feb 2004
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21,201
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Hondon de las Nieves, Spain
Good stuff thanks.

She wants to look at a regular Cooper tonight, it's cheaper, but newer and with lower mileage. Given she drives like an old woman anyway i think it's a more sensible option. She only liked the Cooper S from a looks perspective, which i agree looks much better, but for her budget i think going lower makes sense.
 
Soldato
Joined
22 Nov 2006
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23,304
Yea I rarely see any with the roof down either lol. Same with a lot of the other 4 seater convertables. What's the point :/

And Clarkson was right, anyone who rides in the back with the roof down looks like a dictator.
 
Caporegime
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Leafy Cheshire
Yea I rarely see any with the roof down either lol. Same with a lot of the other 4 seater convertables. What's the point :/

And Clarkson was right, anyone who rides in the back with the roof down looks like a dictator.
I put the roof down on my 440i every time I drive it and it's not raining. My little lad loves it, even sat in the back.

To be fair, I do the same with the TT (but it's only a 2 seater)
 
Soldato
Joined
22 Oct 2002
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8,234
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Near Cheltenham
I do admit of all the convertibles I see around the mini is one that I rarely see the roof down!

I personally see no correlation between 2 seat/4 seat convertibles and the propensity for owners to get the roof down, I certainly get my E46 roof down as much as possible, if I had a Merc E class that manages things so well (Air-scarf, Electric wind deflectors etc) that you can have the roof down when it's 3 degrees C and still be in relative comfort..
 
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