The contact owns a 2005 MINICooper convertible. Whenever she pressed the button to open the sunroof or convertible, the drivers side opened but the passenger side did not. The dealer stated that it was a lapse in the cable and she'd the entire unit needed to be replaced at the owners expense. The manufacturer stated that they could not offer her any assistance. The contact stated that the failure is a defect that should also be a recall. The current and failure mileage was 55,000.

- Bolton, CT, USA

Strut towers deformed. This is a result of standard equipment run flat tires hitting pot holes. The fix is a reinforcing plate attached to the top of the strut tower. Either the run flats should not have been available or the strut towers should have been of sufficient strength.

- River Vale, NJ, USA

(1) I recently traded my 2003 MINIcooper in for a 2005 MINICooper S at a private dealership. (2) upon inspecting the 2005 Cooper S, I noticed that the strut towers were deformed, but since this was not a MINIdealership, nothing could be done by them. I bought the car thinking this could be fixed under warranty. After calling the closest MINIdealership which is 200+ miles away, I was informed that this was considered abuse to the car and it would not be covered under warranty. The previous owner must have hit a pothole. The problem I have with this situation is there is a serious design flaw in the MINIcooper's shock towers. This is the first time I have seen this happen to a car. I have owned many cars in my lifetime, and never have seen this happen. I am not the only owner to experience this and it is a pretty common occurrence in MINIcoopers. I'm concerned because this situation causes the car to wander on the road. After doing research, I'm getting feedback from other owners. Some say their dealership is fixing the deformation, others, like myself are denied. I'm a little frightened at what could happen to the car over time from this. Will the sheet metal get even weaker as time goes on? I believe BMW should address this issue. (3) I have not fixed this problem on my car yet, but the fix is to either pay money to have the shock towers cut out and have new ones welded in, or pound down the old ones until they are flat, then buy reinforcement plates from a vendor to keep the already stressed metal from bending again.

- Navarre, FL, USA