Does the F56 paint rubbing issue affect the SE?

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SpeedyRS

SpeedyRS

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I’m not so patiently awaiting the arrival of my Level 3 Mini Electric and to pass the time I’ve obviously been looking at all web posts associated with the car to get to know any potential issues in advance. One thing I noticed is that there are a lot of posts on other forums about the F56; including post 2018 LCI models having an issue where the door seal rubs the paint off the B pillar. In some cases it’s showing up with only a few hundred miles on the car and there are some where it’s worn all the way through to primer. Mini had been changing out the offending seals and repainting under warranty, but they also fitted some paint protection film on the affected area. Does anyone have this problem with their Electric/SE, or have Mini solved the problem now? Hopefully it’s no longer an issue but if it’s still a problem I’ll get the dealer to fit some paint protection film to that area before I pick it up.
 
In post 9 of the thread accessed by the first link above, there’s a link to an older discussion thread on the same forum.
 
I'm at the dealer right now for service on our Clubman and the newest car they have in the show room is a 2020. I don't see any scuff marks and the gasket doesn't have hard plastic like this picture from one of the above threads.

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There's a second piece of gasket roughly in the shape of the circled area. It's a different material than the rest of the door gasket, but it's definitely not hard plastic.
 
I was cleaning the car interior today and noticed that the rubbing issue is still a thing. It’s tricky to see in the photos but it’s definitely there on both driver and passenger side. I don’t want to take it back to the dealer to have it repainted but I will need to get some plastic film onto it as it’s very noticeable after less than 5 weeks and just 348 miles, and there’s only one way for it to go. I did give it a wipe down with a cloth before taking the photo so it’s definitely rubbing the paint.


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Searched and found this MNI Service Bulletin on the defect. Apparently:
1) There was an update to the rubber seal in 2017 (softer part?) but the problem persists.
2) The official dealer repair procedure is to buff out, touch up, and apply protection film. An actual repaint of the affected area is not described n the service bulletin.
3) The service bulletin includes patterns to cut out film for the F56.
 

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Thanks for posting that bulletin @Alf_W . There was another forum in which someone ended up having their whole rear quarter repainted by the dealer to “blend in’ the repair. As it’s in an area usually obscured by the door that seemed like overkill to me so I’m glad this bulletin doesn’t include anything like that. I contacted the dealer today but being a Saturday the service department weren’t around after 12, so I’ll speak to them about it on Monday. It’s not a huge deal as some paint protection film should prevent the symptoms. I did find a photo of a template online and I have some paint protection film left over from a project on one of my bikes but I’ll hold off doing anything until I’ve spoken to the service department at my dealer.
 
This is starting to show on mine after 5000mi... Definitely not going to drive all the way to the dealer but I will be ordering some clear film to install
 
I’d love to use that but I don’t have the required Cricut machine. My Mini dealer has asked me to take it over to them. The dealer is only about two miles from home so it’s not a hardship to take it over to them, I just need to find the time to get over to them.
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I don't have any way to cut a nice pattern so I just ended up wrapping the whole section from top to bottom. Wasn't too difficult for my first time installing PPF and I still have a bit left over from the $20 roll

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I just heard from the service dept who want to take the car to their bodywork shop to repaint the affected area. I’m really not keen on that at all. I’d rather they buffed it out as best they can and then applied PPF but the person I spoke to said it would be painted and they knew nothing about applying protection to it afterwards. I’m waiting to hear back from someone who does. If they still talk about repainting I might just cancel, polish it myself and apply some film because I don’t want that area repainted.
 
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Just spoke to the workshop manager and he agrees that it looks like I’ve spotted it early enough and he’s confident that they’ll be able to machine buff it and apply the PPF film on top, so panic over. It’s good that they’re fixing it but it’s ridiculous that there are documented cases of this issue all the way through since the F56 was launched in 2014 and it still happens. I believe there’s been a redesign of the seal and it’s made from a different material now, but there must be a fundamental problem there. Hopefully the new Great Wall Mini will solve that when it appears in a year or two. Worth having a check to catch it early as it can wear right through to the metal according to the workshop manager.
 
I didn't even bother to buff mine, just cleaned and put the PPF right over. It's really not noticable anymore since the PPF kind of acts like another layer of clear coat plus it's inside the door so I don't really care!

Definitely annoying that they haven't solved this already. At a minimum the factory or dealer should be installing the PPF before delivery
 
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