Roof Rails Rusting

[X5_2_OBX]

Try saying that one 5 times fast!

When fitting our Yakima clamps and cross-bars to the roof rails, we noticed some bubbling under the paint on the rails that looked like it could possibly be rust. We had to take the car in today for other reasons (a warning that came up saying not to make sharp turns and the trunk won't open fully) and showed this to the service guy. Sure enough, he confirmed that the rails are rusting.

Just for ID purposes... The car was built in February of 2007. The area where the rails are rusting is at the seams where the straight piece meets the curved pieces that attach to the roof.

It's obviously not a major problem or a difficult issue to fix but it's worth checking out just to make sure you can get it fixed before it gets bad.

Anyone else experienced any rust problems with the E70 this early?

[X5_2_OBX]

UPDATE: Just got it back from the dealer. All roof rails were replaced due to rusting. The tailgate struts were also replaced since the tailgate would not open fully. They could offer no explanation for the DCS warning that advised against making sharp turns.

To re-cap, we've now had the following replaced in one year of ownership:

• Entire sunroof and lining (faulty at delivery)
• Air conditioner hoses (leaked which caused electrical shortage and car to stall in the middle of the road)
• Electrical components (shorted due to the leaking air conditioner hose)
• Software update to solve freezing/automatically re-setting iDrive
• Roof rails (due to rust)
• Tailgate struts (due to tailgate not opening fully)

We have also had the car in 3 times for warnings (engine and DCS).

I will say that one thing that concerns me is that outside of the iDrive freezing/re-setting and the warning messages, I have not read about anyone else experiencing these same problems. Although it's never good to have a widespread problem, there's something reassuring about the fact that others are experiencing the same thing and BMW is aware that there is a problem.

It's a good thing we have a great dealer, always get nice loaner cars and love the car enough to put up with it!