R56 MC

I was thinking about taking apart the headlights to get to the plastic piece for some painting...the piece, as I can see, has nothing to do with the reflection of the standard lights...i was wondering if when closing the unit back up if it will be easily back to its water tight state?

 

A lot of people have done this on their 1st gen MINIs with out any problems. Just do a search for joey mod, and you should find some useful info.

 

yeah the only problem is that on the R56 the headlight unit is really easy to take apart...just a few clips...so it makes me wonder if that makes it harder to get back together for a water tight seal

 

When I had my Blazer I took the headlamps apart to paint them and when I put them back together I put a bead of silicone around the edge and never had a problem with water getting in them.

 

It looks like they used a soft silicone sealent in addition to the clips to hold the lens in.

 

it does use both silicone and a couple of clips... although the clips dont really do anything.

I just did it to my R56 Cooper S. Its not hard and if you dont have projectors, i may even say it would be easy.

As far as water tightness goes, it hasnt rained since i did the mod but im very confident that there wont be any leaks. The sealant is SUPER tacky and begins to stick to itself very much without any heat applied. Sticking the light back in the oven with the two halves touching will make sure any voids are filled in when the sealant becomes more viscous due to the heat. I will try to report back after the first rainstorm i go through.

 

hey checkercoop, was wondering if you did the rear and front (headlight/tailight) vinyls yourself? if not then who? and how much? :P lol. also saw that you have the handle of the trunk part blacked out.. looks very nice.

 

Actually is spray paint...did it myself...$20 and enough for another round

I just went to walmart and got some sand paper (to take the shine off the chrome), automotive primer, then a plastic paint (it was satin black), and triple thick clear coat (and many coats of it haha)

It came out perfect for me, was really cheap, and it is really holding up well...no chips or dents at all and its been on for about 2 months now

Good luck