Open Mon–Fri 9–6 · Open Saturdays 9–4 54/58 Princes Hwy, Arncliffe, Sydney NSW · minutes from Sydney Airport Call 0418 200 289
Roof stuck open? Don't force it. Call 0418 200 289 before you touch anything. What to do →

Home / Makes / Mini convertible roof repair

Mini Cooper & Cooper S convertible · soft top specialists

Mini Cooper convertible roof repair, Sydney

A Mini convertible roof arrives four ways: it hums and goes nowhere, stops at the same point every time, jams a hand's width into sunroof mode, or won't start because a rear window won't drop. Each is usually one part. Three roofs sit under the same shape. All three fold with a hydraulic pump and rams, the current car with fussier sensors watching it. The front section slides back on its own small motor and cables. All three lower the rear quarter windows before the roof will move, which is where the trouble often starts. We rebuild the rams, sort the pumps and windows, show you the failed part before anything is quoted, and water-test every roof before it leaves Arncliffe. Fixed, the roof works on the switch, the sunroof trick works again and the back seat stays dry. Call or text us the year and the symptom; you'll usually hear back the same business day.

20+ yrs in automotive repair 1000+ roofs serviced 4.9★ Google rating
Call about your Mini Submit an enquiry Submit an enquiry

Known faults: Mini convertibles

What goes wrong on a Mini roof,
and what we do about it

A Mini soft top packs a lot into a small car: a pump or a motor, rams or cables, a sliding front section with its own guides, a handful of sensors and two rear windows that have to drop out of the way first. When it stops, the fault is usually one of those, and it is usually not the one the symptom points at.

Fault 01

Roof stops partway, or hums and does nothing

Hydraulic pump · rams · relay · all three generations

How it shows up

You hold the switch, the roof lifts, hesitates and stops at the same point every time. On the older cars the pump hums under the boot floor and nothing moves, or the roof goes slow and lopsided for months before it stops. On the current car the pump runs and one side moves further than the other before it stops with a warning.

Why it gets misread

A new pump is the first quote on all three, when it is often a ram weeping past its seals, a tired relay, or on the current car a sensor that has lost sight of the roof. Either way the expensive part is rarely the failed one.

How we fix it

With the car in the workshop we watch which stage stops and read the roof module. Leaking rams are rebuilt in-house, pumps repaired or replaced, cables and guides renewed, sensors replaced individually. You get the rebuilt-versus-new choice on the ram and the genuine-versus-second-hand choice on the pump, side by side, with photos. Then the roof is cycled through every position and water-tested before it goes home. If yours is stuck partway right now, don't keep pressing the switch; call first. Covered by our parts & labour warranty, and if the roof ever misbehaves after, you call us first.

Call about a stuck roof Submit an enquiry Roof won't open or close → Hydraulic pump & ram rebuilds → Stuck open right now? Do this first →
Fault 02

A rear window won't drop, so the roof won't start

Rear quarter window regulators

How it shows up

The switch clicks, the windows twitch, the roof does nothing. Or one rear quarter window has sunk into the body and the roof has refused to move since. On a Mini this is one of the most common reasons a perfectly good roof stops working.

Why it gets misread

It gets quoted as a window job and a roof job. It is one job. The roof lowers the rear quarter windows before it moves and checks where they are as it goes; a regulator that has jammed or dropped stops the roof before it has done anything.

How we fix it

Regulator rebuilt or replaced, the small rear glass aligned to the roof seal, the window initialised so the roof knows where it is, then the roof cycled including the sunroof slide. If it still hesitates, the roof gets its own diagnosis; most of the time it was never the problem.

Window regulator repair (same job, our CLK & SLK page) → Call about a dropped window Submit an enquiry
Fault 03

Sunroof mode jams: the front slides a bit, then stops

Front section · guides · sensors

How it shows up

The front of the roof slides back a hand's width as a sunroof and then stops, or won't come forward again to close, or the roof folds fully but won't do the sunroof trick any more. Sometimes a scraping noise from the side rails as it moves.

Why it gets misread

Because the full fold still works, owners are often told the sunroof function is a separate system and not worth fixing. It is part of the same roof, and we work on it. The front section slides on its own small motor and a pair of cables, and what has usually happened is a cable that has stretched or come off its track, guides that have worn or filled with grit, or the sensor that tells the roof where the sunroof position is has drifted.

How we fix it

Cables and guides checked and renewed, the sunroof motor tested on its own, the position sensors reset and the roof taught both its sunroof and its fully open positions again. What it needs depends on whether the cables have gone, which is why we look before we say, and it is worth having done properly rather than living without it.

Call about the sunroof function Submit an enquiry Grinding and scraping roofs →
Fault 04

Wet rear seat, damp boot, foggy windows

Drains · seals

How it shows up

Damp carpet in the back, a wet boot floor, a musty smell, fog on the inside of the glass on cold mornings. It usually arrives after the first proper storm of the season and the roof looks fine from outside.

Why it gets misread

The fabric gets blamed first on an older soft top. More often the drains at the rear of the roof well are blocked with leaf litter and the overflow is running into the cabin, or a side-rail seal has hardened and lifted at a corner.

How we fix it

We wet the car down in stages and keep going until the entry point shows, with you there to see it, before any quote. Drains cleared and flushed, seals replaced or reseated, then tested again before handover. Trimming is not our trade. The drains and the side-rail seals, which is where a Mini usually lets water in, are. Covered by our parts & labour warranty. If the fabric itself has failed, we will tell you straight and suggest a good motor trimmer.

Call about a leak Submit an enquiry Soft-top leaks in detail →

Models we cover

Every Mini convertible,
all three generations

Three roofs that look alike from outside and fail in different ways underneath. Text us the year if you're not sure which you have; the fixes below apply either way.

Mini Convertible, 2004 to 2008 (R52)
The hydraulic roof: a pump under the boot floor and a pair of rams. Pumps, weeping rams and rear quarter windows are the three arrivals. Rams are rebuilt in-house and the pump is a part we source and fit regularly.
Mini Convertible, 2009 to 2015 (R57)
Hydraulic again, with a better roof and a fussier set of sensors. Weeping rams, sensors and windows that won't drop are the pattern.
Mini Convertible, 2016 onwards (F57)
The current car: hydraulic again, quieter, with sensors that are quick to stop the roof when a window or a guide is out of place. Mostly sensors, guides and windows so far.
Mini Roadster, 2012 to 2015 (R59)
A simpler two-seat soft top with a manual or semi-electric roof depending on grade; seals, drains and the latch are the usual work.
Cooper, Cooper S and John Cooper Works
Engine makes no difference to the roof. The JCW convertibles use the same hardware as the Cooper S of the same year.
Mini panoramic sunroofs
The twin-panel sunroof on the hatch, Clubman and Countryman is a different system and has its own page.

Not sure which roof yours has? Text us the model and year or call 0418 200 289 and we'll tell you straight away.

How a visit works

Four steps. No surprises.

  1. 1

    Tell us the symptom

    Call 0418 200 289, or text a short video of the roof trying to move to the same number. '2007 Cooper S convertible, roof lifts then stops and the pump hums' is enough for us to say whether it's one for us and what we'd check first, usually the same business day. The number comes after we have the car in the workshop, not before; a price guessed over the phone is a guess with your money. Then we book a time to look at it.

  2. 2

    We diagnose, you see it

    The roof comes into the workshop. We read the roof module, watch which stage stops, test the pump or motor, the rams or cables, the sensors and the windows one at a time, and show you the failed part, photographed for you, before anything is quoted.

  3. 3

    We fix it properly

    Rams rebuilt in-house, pumps and motors repaired or replaced, cables, guides, sensors and regulators replaced individually: OEM or premium aftermarket parts, fitted by factory-trained technicians, with your go-ahead on the quote first. Covered by our parts & labour warranty.

  4. 4

    We rain on it before Sydney does

    No roof leaves on a promise. Cycled through every position including sunroof mode, drains flow-tested, seals soaked, cabin checked dry. The water test is why our repairs stay repaired.

What owners say

Repair first, replace last.
Owners notice the difference

★★★★★

“Have a Golf Cabriolet and the roof wouldn't close completely and worked intermittently. Two other service centres couldn't fix it and then I took it to Michael and he sorted it out.”

Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet · Roof not closing
★★★★★

“Michael was terrific, convertible roof fixed quickly and not expensive. Went out of his way to help. Great bloke.”

Convertible roof · Quick repair
★★★★★

“Awesome service. I brought my car in as the sunroof was stuck open and the gear broke so it wouldn't close. Mr Kuang repaired it on the same day. Drive home with a working sunroof.”

Sunroof stuck open · Same-day repair

More on the reviews page, or read them on Google.

Straight answers

Mini roof questions
we hear most

If yours isn't here, call. You'll get the same straight answer.

Ask us directly Submit an enquiry
My 2006 Mini's roof hums and won't move. Is it the pump?

Sometimes. On the 2004 to 2015 cars the pump does fail, and we fit them regularly for that reason, but a pump that hums is often working while a ram leaks past its seals or a relay has gone. We test the pump, the rams and the relays individually on the car before naming the part. Leaking rams are rebuilt here, so you pay for the ram that failed rather than a pump for a fault the pump never had. If you've already been quoted elsewhere, bring the quote: we test the car, show you what we find, and you compare the two side by side. If they were right, we'll say so. Worst case, you find out exactly what is wrong and decide from there. Best case, it is one part.

The rear window won't go down and now the roof won't start. Two problems?

Usually one. The Mini lowers its rear quarter windows before the roof moves and checks their position as it goes, so a regulator that has jammed or dropped stops the roof before it has done anything. We rebuild or replace the regulator, initialise the window, then cycle the roof. Most of the time the roof was fine all along. More on the window regulator page.

The sunroof function stopped working but the roof still folds. Is that worth fixing?

Yes. The sunroof slide is part of the same roof and it has its own small motor and cables. What has normally happened is a stretched or jumped cable, guides that have worn or filled with grit, or a position sensor that has drifted. We test the motor, check the cables and guides, and teach the roof its positions again, and you see what we find before anything is quoted.

Do you replace the fabric on a Mini soft top?

No. Fabric, the rear window stitching and re-covering are a motor trimmer's trade and we don't do trimming, and a Mini roof that has done a lot of cycles is often blamed for what its drains did. The pump or motor, the rams or cables, the sensors, the windows, the drains and the seals are ours. If the fabric is the problem we'll say so and suggest a good trimmer.

Does a Mini roof have to go to a Mini dealer?

No. Roofs are all we do. The parts catalogue sells the roof in large assemblies, so a new pump or a roof module is often what gets quoted; our job is to watch which stage stops in the workshop, read the roof module, and test the pump or motor, the rams or cables, the sensors and the windows one at a time. The failed part is replaced on its own. The parts are OEM or premium aftermarket, the people fitting them are factory-trained, and it is water-tested and warranted before you get it back.

Visit the workshop

Bring it in, or start
with a text

Address
54/58 Princes Hwy, Arncliffe, Sydney NSW 2205, minutes from Sydney Airport
Hours
Mon–Fri 9am–6pm · Sat 9am–4pm · Sun closed

Start an enquiry

A few details so we can tell you whether it's a job for us and how we'd approach it. By appointment; for most faults, we diagnose before quoting. For urgent enquiries or if we missed you, call 0418 200 289.

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