"3. POR-15 will solve the problem permanently. Period. Use it and move on."
Apparently not always. See #546 above:
"I pulled my gaskets up a year after POR-15 and was bummed that it wasn't a cure either. The rust will come back."

 

All I can say is that I've used it, and seen it used, in a lot tougher places than this, and it works. I've used it in 50's and 60's vintage cars (which were built to collect water).
Without knowing the exact situation above, I'd have to say most likely it was not the product to blame. Surface prep, as can be imagined, is critical.

 

Ordered up the POR-15 starter kit, includes the Marine Cleaner, Metal Ready, and the POR-15 in gray. Its $27 shipped, cheap insurance for keeping my OCD side happy. I only found two small spots of rust on each side of the car, not a big deal, and not anywhere near as bad as some of the pictures I have seen on here. Mine is a 2003 MCS with about 14,000 on it right now...

 

Hi
I have read all the incoming remarks regarding rust in the door sills of older models MCS from 01-05.
My car is the new model 2007, but I wanted to solve the problem, before it rusts.
I live in Denmark, where we salt on the roads every winter and it rains a lot.
Therefor I checked it out on both sides af my car.
And No rust (its 16 months old) but it was very wet under the rubber list.
Therefore I tryed a number of things. While I washed the car or/and it rained!
In the end I tried to put an ordinary plastic chateque (see pictures) under the rubber list. I cut it so it was in a square. I put several pieces after each other(see picture) . It is almost not visible(clear plastic).
One picture is (as another stated)with plastic up under the A (pole)!! and here I also put a piece of plastic chateque + I put some silicon in there, where the list is open. Yes for some reason the rubber list is open in the middle?? I dont know why!.
BUT THIS WORKS - I have not any moist or water or humit under the plastic(direct on the metal door sills) anymore!!!

 

Thanks for letting us know that the design flaw has not been addressed with the redesigned MINI's. Your pictures aren't the sharpest, but if your plastic is sealing the space between the sill and the rubber gasket, any moisture that finds it's way in there will be very slow to evaporate, if ever.

 

I already have a rust bubble on the bottom of my drivers door (original paint)

 

I just checked my 2006 (here in Buffalo NY) and while it was very wet under the weather stripping...no rust yet.

We are a 2 MINI family and my son will be home with his 2005 in about an hour. Will check his.

 

I just took my 04 MINI S in for rust repair at the local mini dealer... First of all after 7 days the dealer called me to pick up. Upon picking up I removed the seals and still found rust, a bent sill plate, a locking lug nut missing and my windshield sunshade missing - GREAT. I actually assumed someone did their job @ MINI and checked the car upon return from the body shop.

I returned the car this week and was told by the body shop that the rubber door seal trim has rust in it and therefor the rust was being passed back and forth like a STD. The body shop said the issue would continue unless the rubber trim was replaced for $200 both sides - MINI does not have this part as part of the service letter. So the rust will come back because of this oversight.......or unless the owner of the car ponies up $200 bucks... Seems silly to me, I will continue to return the car for rust for the next 5 years as the issue continues or MINI wises up and has the rubber replaced......

 

Rusting rubber? Last time I checked only metals were capable of oxidizing. This MINI dealer is giving you BOGUS information!

 

I had mine fixed by the dealer and it was hell getting it done. I got the BIGGEST run around I've ever gotten from a dealer. Love the MINI, cant say the same for the dealer here in the East coast of Florida. I have a 03 MINI Cooper S. Anyway, they fixed the rust areas only to push the rubber seal back on which still had rust chips in the rubber seal and it scratched the paint and you guessed it, it started to rust again. I removed the rubber seal, cleaned the area in the rubber seal that still had the rust chips in it and reinstalled it. A simple part on there end could have solved this issue.

 

the work that was done has a warranty which could take the warranty outside of the original warranty.

 

The rubber has rust residue in it thus passing the 'rust' back to the metal - not rusting rubber.....

 

I posted this earlier but nobody responded!
I noticed a rust bubble along the bottom edge of my drivers door as well, found it quite by accident a few weeks after mini fixed the rust on the door sill. I only saw it cause the car was on the lift and i was able to look straight down the side and notice the bubble, so I wen to the other side and behold the same thing. My car is a 2002 R50 and at the time of discovery I had just two weeks left on the rust warranty (6 years unlimited mileage) on the early coops. So I rush it back to the dealer. They took pictures and told me a rep would have to decide! a few days later lucky for me they decided it would be covered. They did both doors and took two weeks during which time I was given a 2008S to use. At first they tried to tell me it wasn't rust, but when the body shop opened the door panel it was a lot worst that could be seen on the outside, in fact the body shop called the dealer to take more pictures since the repair would be extensive. If you see rust bubbles on the lower edge of the door and you are still in warranty do not hesitate! cause it will cost you a lot more.

 

uhhh! I found a small amount of rust on my 04 MCS as well as a load of mildew in the rubber seal. Guess I have some work to do :(

 

You should have a 6 year rust protection warranty. Check with your local MINI dealer.

 

Has anyone replaced the rubber seals yet?

 

10/04, 2005 R50, driver side completely soaked, passenger side totally dry.

I'm wondering if it can be from the sun roof drains, if in fact there is any.

I don't do anything special with this car it stays out in the rain and it gets washed about once a month, I do have a habit of drying around door, hood and trunk on all my vehicles

 

Cars with or without sunroofs have the potential for this problem. The water is getting in through the drains at the top of each A pillar on the roof. Glad to hear you didn't have any rust yet.

 

Question...I just found this thread. I went out to my car, tried to pull up the rubber...nope, it wont come up. It doesn't appear as though Mini did anything to address this problem, but I swear it seems as though my rubber is SEALED on that seam...it just wouldn't budge.

Ideas? I didn't want to try to REALLY pull it incase there was something sealing it and the metal, like a silicon. That perhaps the previous owner did or had Mini do?

Thanks

 

i really don't know if the water is coming from the roof line. I pulled up my seal today (its raining) and the ONLY moisture was at the bottom. There was zero moisture up either side of the door seal.

 

I ended up being able to pull mine up on both sides. There was no rust or even hints of rust on my 05'

 

I just got my car back from San Francisco Mini today after spending a week in their service department for 9 warranty issues. My Mini is a May build ’05 JCW with 43k on the clock right now. They successfully fixed 6.5 out of the 9 issues, but they totally left me ticked on a couple of issues, one of which was my clutch issues. The other was my door sill rust issue, which I only list as partially resolved, thus the ½ fix.

It was a hassle from the very beginning of my service visit. When I explained what I saw to the SA, he told me to show him, and when I pulled the rubber door seal, he immediately told me that by removing the seal, I have compromised the integrity of the paint, which was the cause of the rust!

Today, while checking out, the Service Manager explained to me that there shouldn’t be water being retained in the seal, and that the water should drain out and away from between the two metal sheets that are tack welded to form the seam that the rubber seal attaches to! I told him that I washed my car, left it in a garage for a month while vacationing, came back and had tons of water trapped in the seal, which means that there must be a blockage somewhere in the drainage system. He said that he wasn’t sure what the problem was and doesn’t know every nuance of the car’s drainage system. He then said that water normally does collect in the rubber seal. Totally inconsistent response! He didn’t seem to like me calling him out on these things. The Service Manager basically said that they wiped the rust from the paint, but didn’t do anything further to fix the problem as it was only on the surface. He suggested that I wax the area to help better seal the paint. He made no mention of me to not remove the seal, but it was documented on the invoice that I was removing the seal, which could void future warranty work. This really worked my nerves!

Needless to say, but San Francisco Mini/BMW has lost a customer…well two actually, as my partner has also had poor service visits with them and has sworn them off for good. I just hope that other dealership experiences do not put me off of Mini/BMW altogether!

 

04 MCS with rust underneath the rubber molding in the door sill area of passanger side. Should I sand it down and then prime it? or is there another solution?

 

Wait, found the Tech Bulletin from MCT. Am I still under rust protection warranty though? 04 MCS?

 

can you post that up some how?