So, I was driving home from work on the interstate at 70+ mph and some unidentified flying object came hurling at me from under the car in front of me. As soon as I made impact, I immediately pulled to the shoulder as I knew there was damage. Came to a stop, and saw steam. I knew it was really bad at that point. I called insurance and tow truck. Upon inspection, it looks like said foreign object just pulled lower rad hose off, so not that bad really. The lower bumper, however, did not fair so well. Well, it got towed to the body shop for an insurance comp claim. They will see it Monday morning.

All that to lead me to this question:

Will I be able to possibly "upgrade" my stock bumper to an Aero bumper. I understand that I may have to pay a little more, and if so, how much more do you think it is or will be? My car is Pepper White and I know that places like ECS Tuning sell already painted Pepper White Aero kits. I would think that an already painted kit would be cheaper than an unpainted stock bumper and then paint job.

Does anyone have any sort of experience with a situation like this?

Also, I did not get too far into looking at the car, but I may need a new intercooler. May upgrade that as well.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers,
-Steven

 

I would not get a pre-painted one. It won't match your color. Time and Sun make a difference. The insurance company will pay to have it painted to match. Which usually means blending and fading into the other front panels.

 

I did this exact swap myself.

Just an FYI: Though the bumper is a direct swap, you will need the grilles in addition. The upper grill that matches the "aero" lower grille has a unique bottom trim as well. I'm referring to the chrome surround that goes around the upper grille. The top half is standard and attaches to the hood, the bottom half is unique to the aero-style grille. The standard surround doesn't fit even though its the same shape and size. I haven't a clue why MINI did this during design. The fog lights should be a direct swap. I had some trouble getting mine off the old bumper and broke a fog holder, but other than that it was easy.

I also think you should go unpainted and have it matched; however, I've never bought a painted piece yet - primarily due to fear.

Good luck! I think you should do it! The 'aero' front looks awesome. The 'aero' rear doesn't. This way you get the best of both worlds!

 

Here's a spreadsheet that I put together with prices from ECS Tuning. Be warned that this was for my car which is a 2013 and your model year may require slightly different parts with different part numbers but it should be in the same ballpark.

Total price is about $800 plus shipping. Estimate that paint is $400. It is really easy to install yourself.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9g...ew?usp=sharing

 

thats not Aero, thats JCW

This is Aero:

 

Nevets , we only have access to R55 Clubman body kits ( painted ) left at the new higher price. All the R56 kits are were primed at a discount and are gone. Just the normal price body kits left that are primed.

There is the Aero Kits ( hyper sport or aero sport ) tecnia posted above, then the JCW aero kit like cerenkov mentioned.

You could do just the JCW Aero I or JCW Aero II ( brake ducts included) front bumper and trim if you would like, look like you have an 07' MCS.

 

Thanks for the info everyone. The car is at the body shop and this is an insurance claim.

The JCW Aero front end is what I would like to upgrade to. I suppose I need to call the body shop and tell them to get me the cost to replace with the JCW kit as well as the stock/standard front.

ECS: What is the difference between teh JCW Aero I vs. the II?

I have an '08 MCS

Thanks again.

 

JCW Aero I vs JCW Aero II ; JCW Aero II has the brake ducts retrofit kit and a little more Flare ( aggressive lower lip ) . JCW Aero II is a little more money. Both look great, just depends what you want.