At 60,000 miles (just out of warranty) the factory adhesive on the door sill plates for my Clubman S gave way on both door sides at the same time. I carried the car to my local dealership, assuming that they would at least glue the strips back down. The service manager came back to me with both sides pulled up and damaged, telling me that it would cost $230 to replace them ..... duh! This is without telling me anything about the cost of replacement, bending the strips while pulling them loose, leaving me hanging. I told them that it would snow in hell before I would pay them $230 to glue down two new thin flimsy stips of metal, but am left hanging about getting two new sill plate strips without breaking the bank.

This happening today with the other shoddy treatment that I have received at this dealership assure that I will not be buying another Mini or BMW product from this dealer.

Any ideas for a reasonable solution to my problem would be appreciated.

 

dont know if this helps, but its about $56 a piece, PN: 51477238261

http://www.penskeparts.com/DiagramsM...7&rnd=03192010

 

Thanks for the information. I saw that on Penske parts just like you did, but they only show the short plate for the driver's side. No parts view for the longer plate on the passenger side.

I need to find a part number for the passenger side, as I am just fed up with the local Mini dealership ripping me off.

This dealership is the reason that I will not rebuy a new Mini or BMW when I am ready to trade ..... am ready to give them a decent profit on service and parts, but they are just ripping people off right and left.

 

I am guessing that is the installed price.

It's unfortunate they have put you in this awkward position. Did you authorize / sign the repair order or just ask for an estimate for repair ?

If the latter, I would speak with the service manager or higher for a amicable solution.

 

didn't realize the clubman has different length plates. When I put on my own JCW kit, all the DIY guides said that the plates are going to roll up when you try to remove them, so its sort of 'typical' for it to happen as they aren't designed to be reusable. However, I managed to squeeze a butter knife under them and carefully slided it across and removed them without curling them up. The last thing I still need to do is remove the residual foam tape so I can re-apply them.

So its not impossible to remove them without damaging them, but its not a common practice from the 'how to' guides.

 

Thanks for your response. I appreciate such from a moderator. The whole episode stinks just like other maintenance that this dealership has done. I paid for the 100,000 warranty and maintenance contracts, telling the service manager that I thought that this strip replacement or re-attachment should be covered. He did not argue with this concept at all.

Only later after his service people damaged the strips so that they could never be reapplied with adhessive did he page me and tell me that this was not covered under the extended warranty and that it would cost $230.

I told him that I would not pay that, so I now have a Clubman S with no step strips .... the area is bare. I'm trying to find a strip that will fit the driver's side (short one) and the longer strip that fits both doors on the passenger's side.

So far, I've only found a strip available for the short (driver's side) and was asking for help on this website. Penske parts has the short strip available, but I have yet to find anyone carrying the long passenger side strip ..... would appreciate any help that anyone could offer.

 

Did you sign anything authorizing repairs? If you did not the service department should not have attempted repairs with out your consent. I dont know how many times we had a Service Rep not get the signature and then we were left holding the bill.

 

The answer to your question is no. I signed nothing. Since the service manager did not disagree with me when I said that the extended warranty should cover the repair, I was not asked to sign anything.

I walked away thinking that the repair was in fact covered by my extended warranty, until he said that it would cost $230 after they had already pulled my original plates.

 

That would be your solution to this issue. By not signing anything you never authorized repairs on the vehicle. If you look at previous bills there should be an area to sign to authorize repairs and a separate area for acknowledgment on initial diag charges.

I would go back and setup a meeting with the owner and the General Manager(Service Manager is you want also but once it reaches this level its above his pay grade). Calmly explain the situation. Do not get angry, this never helps. If they still refuse then its time to take the legal route.

I worked for a dealer for many years and sat in on these types if meetings. If your calm and collected they are more willing to listen. Even if they dont want to do anything you can come away from the meeting knowing that you still have a good case if you want to pursue this.

Also check your state code concerning this type of dispute. Know how far you can take it if they wont act before you meet with them.

 

I feel for you. My drivers side one came up on the end and tore my pants one day. So I pulled it off. Next time I went to the dealership, they said they could not replace it under warranty because I didn't have the offending part. Frankly, I ripped that sucker up and threw it away after ripping my pants. Lesson learned. Now, the passenger side one is failing. No more warranty. I'll be damned if I am going to pay the dealer piracy for that little piece of strip metal with foam sticker backing. The dealership lost my business permanently at that point.

 

I got smart and went directly to the Mini dealer parts department. Ordered both right and left sill strips from the parts department ..... $113.00 for both, which is a big rip, but even worse is the fact that the service manager earlier this week wanted $230 to put two new ones on my car.

$117.00 labor to install $113.00 parts is criminal in my book, so I will put the things on myself with adhesive instead of using the lousy factory adhesive backing that seems to be lacking in holding power for most of us.

This scenario plus the other ways that I have been treated in the past assure that I will not buy a Mini or a BMW product from this dealer in the future. They need to wear a mask and carry a gun.

 

I must have a great dealer- went in to replace driver's side and they replaced both sides.