2nd Gen R57 Convertible Most liked posts in thread: The rollbar chrome is ..... PLASTIC?

  1. BThayer23

    BThayer23 Well-Known Member

    Jun 12, 2009
    1,315
    154
    63
    Civil Engineer
    Durham, NC
    Ratings:
    +155 / 0 / -0
    #2 BThayer23, Sep 29, 2011
    I'm not sure you'd want to tinker with that. Don't the roll bars pop up in the event of a rollover?
     
  2. N2MINI

    N2MINI MINI of the Month

    Dec 4, 2009
    3,349
    575
    113
    Sign Maker
    Winston-Salem, NC
    Ratings:
    +594 / 0 / -0
    #3 N2MINI, Sep 29, 2011
    If the 2nd Gen is like the 1st Gen there is metal under there just a plastic cover that pops on around it all...
     
  3. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
    Supporting Member

    Apr 22, 2009
    2,189
    1,486
    113
    Project Manager
    Charlotte, NC
    Ratings:
    +1,866 / 2 / -0
    #4 agranger, Sep 29, 2011
    Maybe someone who can build roll cages could bend some tubing to replace 1, 2 3 and 4...

    [​IMG]
    RealOEM.com   BMW R57 Cooper S Trim panel roll bar

    Ben is right, though... I'd be worried about performance of the pop-up roll-bar things. I don't like messin' with safety equipment
     
  4. jorn

    jorn New Member

    Sep 24, 2011
    29
    1
    0
    Ratings:
    +1 / 0 / -0
    #5 jorn, Sep 29, 2011
    Yeah, I'm tracking with both of you on the "this is part of the safety system" worry.

    Still, swapping an exact dupe of even piece #1 from the digram shouldn't change anything. My neighbor *is* a machinist. Plus, he's the one who pointed out the plastic, so he should do this for me for free. :)
     
  5. Kikimowse

    Kikimowse Active Member

    Sep 18, 2010
    125
    25
    28
    California
    Ratings:
    +25 / 0 / -0
    #6 Kikimowse, Sep 30, 2011
    I think that I would rather have a piece of decorative plastic smack me in the head in the event of a rollover vs. a piece of metal should either choose to pop off. But that's just me, I'm prone to dinting.
     
  6. BThayer23

    BThayer23 Well-Known Member

    Jun 12, 2009
    1,315
    154
    63
    Civil Engineer
    Durham, NC
    Ratings:
    +155 / 0 / -0
    #7 BThayer23, Sep 30, 2011
    You can always just disconnect the battery and start unscrewing things. Never hurts to take a look.
     
  7. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
    Lifetime Supporter

    Sep 29, 2009
    12,731
    7,688
    113
    Ex-Owner (Retired) of a custom metal fab company.
    Columbus, Ohio
    Ratings:
    +7,960 / 1 / -0
    #8 Metalman, Sep 30, 2011
    Be careful swapping out a plastic piece with a metal piece. If you increase the mass of the part, and you will be doing this going from plastic to metal, it takes more energy to move.... E=MC2. Should a roll over occur, it will take longer for the roll bar to activate in the up position, and I assume it needs to lock in place at the higher position for roll over protection. It may not reach this locking point. All of this action is supposed to occur in a very short period of time.....