I've had my 2004 Mini Cooper S for 3+ years now (bought 2nd hand) and finally decided to join the forum and make some changes to my baby.

I was working in Malaysia from '05 to '08 (beautiful country!!!). When my assignment ended and it was time to return home, I found my car on the web and fell in love right away... previously had no plans to buy a Mini but I suddenly couldn't resist. I had my dad pick up the car for me and, on the day I got back, there she was, waiting in the driveway.... even better than I expected. Has been pure joy for these past 3+ years.

She's Indi Blue with the white top and has the JCW Tuning package.

Mods to date: Zero

Have been scanning the forum for a while and decided it's time for a little facelift and, with Thanksgiving coming up and a week of vacation time, I've decided it's a good time to get started. Have already placed a few things on order and will begin the fun this Friday...

General Cleaning
- New floormats
- Degrease engine and engine compartment - some shop really made a mess of things

Mods planned - Phase I
- New front/rear emblems (the old ones are faded so bad I can barely read the word "MINI"). Will paint the wings Indi and leave the center as is.
- JCW Grill Kit
- Black out headlight rings
- Paint headlight interiors Indi Blue
- Paint mirror caps Indi Blue
- Paint taillight interiors translucent red
- Paint hatch opener black?? not sure yet.....
- Paint dash and door trim Indi Blue
- Paint the posts and other interior trim pieces but haven't decided on a color yet... not doing chrome...thinking gloss black ....
- Install JCW Shift **** and two tone leather boot set (blue/black)
- Install rear wiper delete kit and get rid of some useless dead weight
- Install new "Mini S" center cap overlays for the wheels (the current ones are in pretty bad shape).
- possibly black out door handles and gas cap.. but not sure yet.

..... gonna be damn busy but will be a lot of fun ......

Phase II (maybe in the spring)
- Bonnet stripes - white with black borders or Mighty Stripes "Cooper S" .... haven't decided yet
- Side Stripes - thinking Mighty Stripes "Cooper S"
- Rear seat delete kit and will probably cover that with carpet

Most of these ideas I got from scanning this forum so a big THANK YOU!!! to all that have posted your mods, pics, tips, tricks & instructions. I hope I can do a decent job on mine.

Here she is before going into surgery

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co.../IMG_04175.JPG

 

Welcome to NAM!!
Congrats on the new to you MINI. Would be nice if you could post some pics of it now as stock and as you transform it sorta photo documenting the modification process. Color coded fender trims in Indy Blue would look nice too. The hatch opener prolly better in IB as well. And there is a JCW E-Brake handle and JCW Steering Wheel that would go good with that shifter.

What do you mean by: - Paint taillight interiors translucent red?????

 

Hi and thanks for the Welcome.

Here's some pics I took before getting started. I'll take more as I install the mods.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co.../IMG_04175.JPG

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co.../IMG_04182.JPG

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co.../IMG_04162.JPG

I saw your pics and your color coded fender trims. Does look very cool

The hatch cover will be towards the end. Then I'll decide. It would make a lot of sense to leave it IB if I paint the fender trims IB also.... and now you've tempted me to do just that Will have a look at the JCW E-Brake handle and Steering Wheel... but will have to pay off the credit card bill for the other purchases first... sure adds up fast

I saw a post where someone tinted/painted the inside of his tail light lenses with Tamiya transparent candy apple red paint. I thought it looked really nice so will try the same.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...il-lights.html

I installed the Rear Wiper Delete kit today and plan to clean the engine and engine compartment later this afternoon. Will take some before and after pics of the engine. Also want to paint the intercooler cover but have seen a lot of posts with varying opinions so not sure which way to go... paint with IB body paint (with proper prep first) or go with an engine paint with a close match on color. I found out yesterday that there is an O'Rielly's store nearby with a paint specialist. May go talk to him later.

 

Damn I'm tired.. but it was worth it..

Over the past two days:

Painted the intercooler cover Indi Blue and hand painted the S back on the cover. Think it turned out ok but will post some pics later. I'm gonna leave it curing for a couple of days and then rub it down, wax it and mount it on the intercooler. There was the JCW sticker on it.. think i'll leave it off..

Cleaned the engine down pretty good. The power steering reservoir was a mess... had gunk all over it. I scrubbed it down good and, when i took the cap off to clean it up, a broken o-ring fell on the garage floor. That might explain the mess. Going over to Mini on Monday to get a new o-ring. Was also a little low on power steering fluid so topped it off while i was in there.

Lastly, just finished installing the JCW Style Grill Kit. Was a bit more work than I expected. The old and new grills use self threading nuts that screw onto plastic stubs. What a pain in the *** those things are. Also had to take off the bumper to get the lower grill off/on. Was worth it though.. looks great but, while i was under the car found a bit of a mess. looks like a few too many times getting too close to curbs... a lot of torn up plastic... oh well.. add it to the list

Time for dinner :D

 

Picys
Yep Aero Grill is what I forgot

 

Yep, Painted Fender Trims and Painted Aero Grill Surrounds.

The boot handle was originally flat black, but bought a new one and painted it Thunder Blue (Color Coded)

 

Wow!! The color coded fender trim looks really nice... as does the whole car. Really like the border around the hood scoop. Nice touch

 

That came with the car, specific to the GP, but I bet Lyle at Vinyl Style could come up with something in any color. I think color coded fender trims makes the car look wider, cause the original black fender trims it gives it the illusion of it looking narrower.