1st Gen R52 Cooper Convertible FES R52 Top Commander Review!

I have owned my convertible for a very long time. I am not going to claim to be the first one in the country to own one. Or even the state. Or the city. As a matter of fact, I bought mine two days after I saw one at the corner of Melrose avenue and Crescent Heights. But it does have the first month manufacture date for the R52 of 09/04 stamped in its door sill. And it came into my possession on October 15th of that same year straight off the show room floor with barely 6 miles on the odometer. So all told it has been with me for a little over five years and 48,000 miles. It has mostly been a love hate relationship. I love the car. I hate the fact that I had my convertible top replaced twice. Same with the rear windows with those notorious half moon scratches which prevented many of us with R52s from getting our windows tinted for years before BMW came up with the fix. I now browse with amusement the stack of receipts from the dealer documenting various fixes, adjustments, replacements and regular maintenance. Over all my repair history is longer then Suge Night's rap sheet. But I love my car. I love the way it drives and lets face it, it just doesn't get much better then a convertible in SoCal.

But the one thing I always disliked was the convertible top's operation. All the button pushing and waiting was annoying. I suppose if you're a small Dutch boy, standing around with your finger in something is acceptable behavior. But for a grown man... lets just say the cool factor is not very high for that. One of my first mods was Ian Cullen's Auto Up with the DSC option. All those years ago I asked him if he could make something similar for the convertible top. Sadly, he did not have access to an R52 and so the dream remained unattainable. Thus, for years I was stuck leaving parking lots with one hand working the top, second hand putting on the seatbelt, third hand shifting gears and fourth hand trying to steer (no, I don't have four hands, but you get the idea). But not any longer. Thanks to the guys from FES (http://www.fes-auto.com) I now have an option to automate the tedious roof opening and closing task.


I will forgo the pictures due to an untimely death of my camera. Besides, there are plenty in the instructions which can be downloaded from the FES web site. The install was about as easy as a DIY project can get. The only thing I could find to pay attention to was the orientation of the plugs in the bulkhead once you connect them to the unit. I inadvertently connected the harness for the roof buttons upside down which caused some very curious behavior. Once corrected the rest was a snap. All told, with the wiring mix up, the install took about 15 minutes and that includes having to go upstairs to find a plastic card to remove the light assembly.


My initial impression? The unit does exactly what I asked for when I first talked to Dr. O about it. I have it set up with the sunroof option, which allows for single press opening of the roof in sunroof mode. My wife loves it. Double tap on the button opens the roof. Another double tap closes it. A tap on the windows close button and all 4 roll up at the same time. It is pure magic. There is an initial learning curve. I found myself inpatient and pressing buttons before the unit had a chance to do its thing, thus interrupting its programming. Not a big deal, just needed some mental adjustment on my part. Sadly, in accordance with Murphy's law, the weather in Souther California cooled down enough so I do not put my top down. But after nearly draining my battery playing with it in my garage all I can say is: thanks, Doc. Well done.

 

More then happy. This is something that should have been made straight from the factory. I know, I know. Product liability. Seriously, just as Ian's Auto Up was a must have for windows, this is a must have for convertible tops. If the R57 guys don't start beating a path to your door....

 

Today I have found a con to Doc O's wonderful product. Had to load the vert on a trailer for a trek back home from track after a blown clutch. Once loaded up the doors, could not be opened because of the side rails. The top was still down. So, with everyone looking on I said watch this. And I double tapped the top close button. And then I stood there with that "oh my" look on my face as the top went up.... and SO DID THE WIDOWS!!! Doc, you gonna need a disclaimer.

P.S. It is good to have a mechanic who is not only there for you, but is skinny enough and has arms long enough to get your keys for you. Another shameless plug for Danny at Minicorsa.