Hello, just wanted to let you guys know.

Price drop on these cables. Limited amount. 42% off

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...t/54347174761/

 

I thought they were about $500 a pair a year or so ago. Prices have really gone up. Crazy!

 

Yep looks like back in 2021 the price changed and went up, then it went up really high again, most places now set at ~$1,000. We are able to get a better price for a small amount of stock. I dont know if they will go down again. With MINI most prices just get higher on older parts till NLA.

 

I have the same issue after the fix … did you find a solution for this behavior 🥹

 

I'm in the same boat - watched the Tullid videos, but even on a big monitor I can't see the detail of what he's pushing on at the 7:40 mark of the video where he's showing how to slide the carriages back - in his case to finish taking the top cloth off and exposing the bolts to remove to pull them out.

I quoted this thread because that red circle in the photo is the part that broke on mine. I haven't had any issues with mine, but was driving in a real windy condition and my wife was talking and I closed the sunroof to hear her better and just before it closed I felt a gust of wind and heard a "bang" and the rounded end [left-most in the red circled area] hit her in the passenger seat, broken at the swivel point there.

I'm wondering if this is the release/lock mechanism, somehow? That 7:40 mark in the Tullid video? It's unclear what he's pushing against, but I have the other snapped off part inside the track, and I can push it back - but that doesn't unlock the slider, in mine. Anyone know if this is the lock/release that broke?

The left side - the unbroken side. I didn't have to do anything to unlock it, I suspect it's because I did open the sunroof a few inches before I started. You can see, I circled the bolts I need to get to:


That of course didn't work for the right side, where this thing is blocking the bolts I need to get to. It's not totally jammed, you can see from where it is in the curved part of the track in this pic, I can move it forward about a half inch, and back - but it definitely hits a hard stop then. How do I release it?


Hoping maybe @ECSTuning might know, or @jitweety (thank you for all the information - been scouring that factory doc for clues) could offer advice.
I CAN push the mechanism that the bit broke off of down the track - that's all I can figure Tullid had pushed on. But mine just goes "slide" down the track, there's no clicking, or releasing - I don't get what he's pushing on to release anything.
If I can get it apart, I certainly would be a customer for that kit, even at $1500.

If I can't get it apart, I can't imagine - likely having to replace the whole top assembly from a junkyard? What a nightmare...
I just need to get this thing out of the way so I can get to those bolts!
Please help, anyone who knows.

Mine's an 06 S if it matters. Thanks in advance.

 

Pop the motor out in the center for the sunroof and then slide that part back and you can access those torx screws

 

I wish... I spent over 8 hours poking and probing and getting the video in full screen and pausing and trying to get different tools and picks to feel around....
Spent at least another 4 hours trying to find and analyzing pics of the mechanism itself (yours included - thanks) to derive how whatever this locking mechanism is, where it is, how it works, so I can find how to unlock it.
This thread specifically was one of the best, but even the service manual pics aren't showing that detail.

My motor has been out, since nearly the start. I followed the Tullid video steps in this order - my notes:
(based on a comment Tullid made in one video, before I started I turned the car on and used the "roof open" button to push the driver's side back just a few inches)

1. Turned the valve in the trunk counterclockwise 1.5 turns (T25)
2. Removed roof motor (3x T20 long bolts)
3. Removed the bolts securing the top plastic trim from the center locations (one T20 per side)
4. Manually unlatched main latches and raised the top (mine also appears to have no rear latch that needed releasing in the Tullid video)
5. Unclipped the top along the front edge and removed the cover off the taped flap, and peeled it free.
6. Removed the tension cables from the sides of the soft top.
7. Removed the four bolts to remove the front metal structure from the rails (4x T30)
8. Removed the bolts securing the top plastic trim from the front locations (one T20 per side)

Also, this is the broken side. It's the other side where the cable is still attached where I was able to push it back.


Here's a video so you can see it has some range of motion but won't budge beyond that - ironic since it was in the motion of closing when it broke:

I suspect the part that Tullid pushed at that 7:40 mark is the plastic part the cable was attached to...?
​Here's a screenshot of that:


You can see in this photo that I pushed THAT part so far back, it's totally past the carriage. There was no "feel" of anything (Tullid vid says "you can feel it unlock").
I set the piece that broke off of it on the rail, the arrow shows where it broke off. Is this part of the lock or what releases it?

If you or anyone can explain how this lock mechanism works, where it is, anything - I could use that info to release it. I'm just not seeing it in the photos and it really seems like the Tullid vid, he's pushed that part that I already pushed.

Unfortunately I need to release the carriage to move it so I can i get to the bolts to get it out and determine if the repair is feasible.

I can't imagine that little broken plastic bit renders this permanently locked and unfixable - please say it ain't so...

 

Miraculously:

​​​​I got it.
For anyone else who has this little bit break off, you likely will be in the same boat I was in:

That broken bit balancing on the rail up there is what's circled in red in this pic:

Which means even if you push that sliding past back (7:40 in the Tullid video), it won't do anything to unlock the carriage.

You have to go fish for the arm that's supposed to be attached to that plastic part, and it's not down where Tullid pushed, it's up above it, but fortunately not too far inside.
And you don't want to push it, you need to pull it down.

I tried to take a picture (note I unbolted the lock hook so it's dangling below, that's why you don't see it):

It's so hard to see in there, much less photograph...

The important part is that there are two tracks. The inner track is a little higher and that's where the carriage will be.

The lower track is where the bit attached to the cable slides along at the bottom, and above it is the arm that attached to that until it broke. I tried to outline both in red.
Above it, circled in red, is the rivet that used to be going through the plastic part that broke.

I used a small but long flathead to reach up there and pull it down - I was assuming that plastic bit would have been pulled down to go into that track below.
I pulled the lever down, could feel it move down a little - and gave the carriage a push back.

Pretty sure it's visible in both the above photos, just barely.
You'll be feeling for it anyway - but this should help anyone aim.

 

Really glad to hear you got it! My job was too long ago to remember this kind of detail. I do remember struggling mightily at a couple points where it didn't behave like on the video, probably due to to the broken part like you.

 

It's definitely a complicated piece, that whole carriage assembly.
I've wanted a bench top mill for a long time - seems like it might be a good first project to machine an aluminum or steel replacement for this plastic link in this assembly, and rivet it in to replace the broken piece entirely.
Wouldn't be far off in concept from the aluminum thermostat housing you can buy to replace cracked plastic ones (which I did!).

I could fix my currently broken one and keep it as a spare. Odd place to have plastic.

 

Hi Guys

i have a 2005 r52
love it... but now the roof has stopped working.

i have watched the 4 piece video, but the problem that is discribed is not what i have....
so i am wondering what is wrong with mine.

Roof worked perfectly, no sounds whatsoever, and all of a sudden, it won't open.

What happens:

• i press the "open roof" button
• Sunroof slides back perfectly
• i release the button
• press the button again.
• Windows go down
• Latch on the passenger side opens all the way
• Latch on the driverside only open half way

Closing the roof works perfectly...
(note, driversside is on the "left" of the car, as i have a LHD car in the Netherlands)

i hope i don't have to replace the cables.... prices have gone WILD on those... djeez