Neither....White Plastidip....the headlight rings i took off, tail lights (are drying as I type this) I taped off and left them on the car....we will see how they come out..

I initially took the car to a body shop locally, and they told me nobody in town will PAINT them due to paint not sticking to the chrome plastic....they said they would do it, but not warranty it because the paint doesnt bond well with the chrome, so eventually it would start coming off from the inside

I did my headlights and taillights in black plasti-dip and it didn't look good as it was too much black. I left it at dipping just the flags and lettering; subtle but entertaining. I thought about white but personally if I were to do them, they would have to be color matched. If I were to go that route than plasti-dip wouldn't cut it, but Mini light white would, but it would be permanent. I've done it before and no issues with it bonding to chrome. So considering all this, chrome would do the trick and since it's already done, I save money and time....thanks Mini.

i believe vinylstyles color matches wrapped trim. there's a core charge for the trim pieces if you don't get him your clean chrome. also you can get oem headlight rings on ebay for around 40 bucks each to experiment with if you'd like to try sanding the chrome down then having a body shop paint them.

Maybe dumb question but here goes, were did you fine people get your "light white" owners badges?

Took delivery on my MY12 R60 9-29-12. First time MINI owner... Absolutely love the car! Previous owner of 3 WRX (and one 9-2X Aero).

I got my rings sanded and painted Light White for $30 each for a total of $120 from a local body shop. They used the color code listed on the car itself and some sort of color-match machine to get an exact match. Looks great and they were ready in a day.

In related news, I have a set of stain black wrapped rings for sale if you're going for that blackout look.

Congrats!!! Looks great! Love the stripes.

Hujan,
Are you referring to your headlight/tail light rings? Any pictures? I love the idea..

Yup. Headlight and tail light rings. Pictures of the black or the white? If the latter, I'll try and grab some today. But it looks identical to the photos of the Duell AG R60:

Picked up our LW/blk All4 S yesterday. So excited even though its the gfs car. I wanted her to take out on the highway and rough roads to get the feel for the run flats and possible jumping when hitting bumps. I was surprised at how smooth the ride was. She is running 17" Pirelli's run flats. Can't wait to order mine next year.

Attached are some photos I snapped of my rings in body-match paint.

That looks fantastic! I'd like to see a full shot of your stripes sometime too. Very nicely done.

My wife's new all4

My wife's new all4. We've had it since December, but I have not gotten around to posting the picture!

Picked up my light white 2012 MINI Cooper S Countryman ALL-4 in late September 2012. It's already seen Las Vegas/Valley of Fire/Hoover Dam and Death Valley/Yosemite. It was a joy to drive in the mountains.

Our MINI's look like twins! Did you order yours? We needed to replace a Honda with a failing transmission, and selected our Countryman from the dealer's stock.

Looking nice! which wheels are those? I can't tell if those are the anthracites or the black 17s

They look like anthracites to me with a little tire and wheel treatment shine. Compare to my Countryman with anthracites and a picture taken on a cloudy day.

I'm envious of the anthracites! to get the HIDs we got a car with stripes(meh) and black wheels. I really liked the anthracite better... but wheels are easy to swap out in the future.

Picked mine up last Wednesday. Love being back in a MINI. My kids outgrew my Cooper S Hardtop so I've been sporting the SUV look for the last 4 years. Super happy to be back! Off for tinting tomorrow!!!!

congrats sami.

This is Bertha, she's currently going through a makeover to enhance the V for Vendetta theme (will post those when she's done) Her production date is 1/11/11.

Kind of strange but I've got more compliments since I took off all the red (stripes, mirrors and ducts) then I have since I got the Countryman. One guy even though I got a new car and said "I love the new car". It's amazing how different it does look. Personally I love it both way, but naked is my favorite right now, and I have a feeling I will go back and forth with various color/stripe combinations over the years. Just thought it was funny how it seems to be more eye catching without the red then with it.

I'm in the same boat as you. I ordered my white CMS with the JCW body kit, JCW design package, and red JCW stripes. Although I haven't even picked up the car yet (it arrived in port a few days ago), I already thought forward to the day when I want to change the look to a simple white/black theme. There's no way to save and reuse the stripes, right? That's several hundred bucks down the drain.

IMO:
With the red bits and stripes = boyracer-ish, but still tasteful.
Without the red bits and stripe= very "clean"! Are all the new compliments from strangers? Don't know why, but for some reason, I think people are more comfortable giving compliments to the owner of a "clean-looking" car.

The compliments have been from both, but you are probably right. Seems the stranger compliments from before were from a younger crowd and now more compliments from the general public, friends compliments are "Ohh that's slick, I like it better this way". Who knows though, to each their own right?

I got my stripes/JCW mirror/ducts free since there was so much drama getting the Countryman so pulling em off didn't sting as much.

There is something about the door stripes that make it look strange to me. When I was taking off the stripes I did the doors first and it looked totally different. It gives the car an awkward look I think. Not sure if I can put my finger on it but in person it just didn't flow right maybe? Or maybe just drew too much attention to the side of the car. Not really sure. Totally not bashing the stripes either. I loved them in pics, still do, even loved them when I had them. Next up is a neon green ray-line version I think, or maybe run naked for a while. Who knows.

The coolest part is that there are SO many options! A couple hundred bucks and you can totally change the look and almost feel like you're driving around in a new car!! How cool is that!