Would be my reply word by word

 

POR 15 is the best! I used on some rusty beasts and on new metal restoration where rust is prone to crop up again. Old Porsche for example have some great spots that POR 15 works like a champ. My body guy didnt believe me, so his test is to dip a screw driver in it and then use it until it all chips or wears off. Lasted a lot longer than he thought, so he was sold on it. Hard as a rock and bonds with the rust to stop it in its tracks. Just dont get it on your fingers or clothes or your wearing it for a long time.
Good luck.

 

Sounds like the Krylon Fusion paint i got on my shorts a year and a half ago. It's still on there...I'm wearing them right now . I'll be bringing my MINI to the dealer either this week or next. Since the passenger side is pretty bad, they might actually do something about it. If not, I'll definitely get to grinding and re-paint with POR-15.

 

Why would you use clear finger nail polish (apart from wanting to observe whether rust gets started again)? I thought the objective was to prevent rust from getting started; or, if rust is already started, to neutralize it and then prevent it from spreading further. Clear finger nail polish will do nothing to prevent rust from getting started. (Or, neutralize existing rust; or, or, stop rust from getting started again after being neutralized....)

 

I would suggest against doin any sanding or grinding on any metal on the car that has clean paint on it.

all you will need to do it knock of any scale (if all you have is surface rust, LEAVE IT ALONE!!!!) and paint it with POR-15.

The POR does indeed stop oxidation. what you will need to do it get all all of the area under the rubber, wether it still has clean paint on it or not, with the POR.

POR not only stops rust , it will prevent it for a very long time.

you will need to get alot of POR into the crevices where the panels were joined, also. 3 panels joined with spot welds was a very stupid idea on MINI's part. there are a few large gaps for water to sit.

I can see this being a very bad place for rust to occur if its let to rust. Ive seen these kind of panel joints on other cars that we have restored, and they all will rust thru eventually, painted or not. so POR is the best way to go.

btw, my car is a 10/03 build 04. its driven every winter, in a very heavily salted area.

i had one spot about the size of an earaser head on a pencil. thats it, nothing else. i dont believe this rust is weather related at all.

That being said, i would suggest getting ALL of this area heavily coated with POR soon, wther you have rust or not, its extra protection.

 

umm... well... how do i put this....

you do know the exterior panels on a Saturn arent metal, right?

 

I once backed in to my friends saturn in my drive way. She parked right behind me and I wasnt paying attention. I hit her square on the side right on the door.

Not a scratch/dent on her! I hit her so hard that when I looked behind me to see what I hit, 2 of the tires were off the ground!

(I didnt hit her with my MINI, it was my 3 and a 1/2 ton Landrover Discovery!

 

On the Saturns, I think it is called touch-in-cheek.

I did not mean to imply that I would not clean up rust before coating. Take an irk eraser that looks like a pencil. Usually they are green. Chuck it up in your drill and you have a precise, not-too-abrasive way you clean up minor rust spot. Then you could put POR 15 on it or just cover with clear polish. I like to monitor and I cannot see through POR that has reacted with the oxide. I think the real issue is between the two sheets of metal (the gasket is over the top of this joint) not the surface stuff we see in the photos. Maybe some POR and pray.

 

I just checked my 06 mini (built on 09/05) it has the aero kit on it, the drive side is dry the body is painted all the way around, passenger side had water in it but no rust. keeping fingers crossed

 

The following is a direct quote from BMW/Mini management regarding the rust problem...

" ."

I hope no one is waiting for some formal response about this problem..It ain't gonna happen. B/M will at most quietly sanction dealers to repair rust when it's questioned by owners. A silent recall. It's not a safety issue so they would be foolish to make some sort of announcement that's going to send every current owner running out to their car to pull up the weatherstripping.

There are very likely some dudes in white lab coats with pocket protectors working out a fix for '07+. We're going to get grinding and repainting - if we ask.

 

My 06 convertible was bone dry under the weather strip and no sign of rust at all. Perhaps the convertibles have a different drainage happening.

 

It appears to me that it is coming from around the window area and running down the inside of the weatherstrip. I checked mine (10/03 build) and only found a bit of water, but quite a large standing open seam of metal that looks like it could hold a lot of water. Looks like a definate design flaw and something that needs to be fixed.

Can POR 15 be used to fill up the small gap/seam between the sheetmetal parts or should it be filled with a body putty?

 

POR doesnt need to fill the open gaps, but it does need to coat the exposed metal in the gaps.

 

I was hoping to fill in the gap at the seam with something and was hoping this would work to keep the water from pooling there.

 

You dont need to.

As long as all the surfaces are coated in POR, you could let water sit in there, you could put salt water in there, and it wont ever rust.

 

Well folks... you can count me as one more MINI owner with the rust. It's not much (yet), but is exactly in the location described.

I have an 03 MCS.

 

I have rust too. Very small pin size spots on both drivers & passenger sides. Mine is an '05 MCS.

I'm the one person on the planet w/out a digital camera, so no pictures though.

 

Where is the quote?.....

 

I think it was supposed to be the "sarcastic" part of be -O--O's post (as in "there wont be an official response").

 

lol, yeah i figured something was up...:impatient

 

I met with the Area Manager from MINIUSA today at my dealer in South Florida to show him a small area under my passenger-side door that was missed while the robots painted it during production. As the car is only 2 weeks old, I want to get paint on there to start protecting the area. He was very nice and took the time to inspect the car and helped me setup a time to bring my car into the body shop to take care of the problem.

While I had his attention, I brought up the rust issue and asked if anything was being done. He was aware of the issue but he said he has only seen 3 cars that had this problem out of the 20,000 + cars sold in his region. He said it is something they are working on improving on the new model MINI but at this time it did not seem like the problem was that widespread. I told him the problem has just been discovered by the masses in the past few weeks and to be on the look-out for more cars coming in.

He did offer a preventative measure to me if I was that concerned about it, however. He told me to lift the rubber seal and apply electrical tape onto the metal seam and then put back the rubber seal and that should keep the moisture from getting to the metal. I am not sure how effective that will be but may consider it if nothing else comes of it.

Any thoughts on the "electrical tape fix"?

 

Here's a thought...He blew smoke up your !#@.

Those guys make me laugh..Like he's going to admit to you that just about every car he's seen has some rust?! Sorry, but it's not in his best interest to tell you the truth. Of the people on this board who've looked at their car, most have found something.

The electrical tape thing is priceless. He should send that up to MINI HQ so they can roll that out in the '07s. That'll save a ton of money. Pure nonsense to tell people that e-tape will waterproof a seam. He's probably still laughing...

 

Just passing the info along....

 

I have to agree, thats one of the most asinine things i have heard in a while.

 

Sorry dude, not directed at you. Those service guys get me pumped. Many pride themselves on their ability to blow you off. I know, I have family that was in the car business for many years. They think this stuff is funny.