Help please - front grill
 

So I posted this on the interior/exterior forum and no one has helped. I was hoping since everyone who reads this has a non-s cooper like I you could help!

I was thinking about doing my first mod by switching out my front grill to the black honeycomb one (front grillthis one). I have been looking all over the boards to try to find pictures showing me how to remove my grill but only found it for MCS. So if someone could pleaseeeeee help me that would be super!! Thanks in advance!

Also where is the cheapest place to get this grill....minispeed...outmotoring.... whoever else sells them?

Hey you know whats really funny and ironic? That is my car that it links too haha :lol: :lol: it was the first mod I did to the car and was very happy with pete from Minspeed...i think I was the first to order it from him

I don't have any pics of the actual disassembly, but I will try to give you a good step by step :thumbsup:

1) Open hood

2) the lower trim part (connected to grill) is held on by 2 tabs on the farthest left and right parts...push them down while pushing the trim away from the grill and it will slide out (also good when washing the car and wanting to wax cuz this spot usually holds a ton of water)

3) There are 4 clips (almost look like screws) on the top portion of the grill that holds it against the frame...these can be popped out with a flat head screw driver

4) on the bottom portion of the grill (the area the lower trim piece covered) are some other types of clips...the center part I know just squeezes together, but you will have to just mess around and see what works...be careful when taking this section off because it can leave some scratches on the top portion (i have some)

Now it should be fully off and you can just do the new grill on in reverse :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Also that top trim piece is held in by 4 screws and then some more tabs that just unhook from the frame of the bonnet

Good luck, great choice of mod, and if you need any help just let me know :thumbsup:

Awesome thanks for the post I bought my MINI last year and was wondering the same thing. The dealer told me that there was not one available and the S model did not fit.

Yeah the S model won't fit, thats why I was soooo excited when I found the grill at minspeed.net

At first I was actually sent the S trim pieces...they did not fit at all because the shape is completely different...i was sent the right ones right away and fit like a glove :thumbsup:

Wait a second wait a second will this grill fit my MC
http://www.mossmini.com/Shop/ViewPro...eIndexID=66069

This is the cheapest I have found the grill and it is sorta by me which means I would not have to pay for shipping.

Yes, the JCW version is what you need for the MC.

well it seems mossmini.com is the cheapest cause you get both the grill and the molding around which makes me happy!

Post some photos when you get everything installed.

totally! school is almost over for the semester which means a little extra free time to work on my little girl! by the end of the month i am hoping that i will have my first mod done!!

Haha same here school killed me with time, but now I'm freee....right now in a few minutes I'm actually starting my big rim, caliper, and door handle paint :)

Oh and I would say your best bet is to email mossmini and make sure it will fit....worst case is you have to return it (and trust me if you really have to struggle to get the upper piece to fit then it is not the right piece)....remember you always have minspeed for the right thing if moss's isnt right :thumbsup:

I got mine from outmotoring.com Here. Did not get the upper and lower trim pieces as I would probably get them vinyl wrapped. :thumbsup: In a way I wished I would have gotten them all together and just went with the all black look. I blacked out the beltline the same day I replaced the grille.

I got mine form Outmotoring too. I actually like the black and chrome look. And I definitely like the black beltline look!

Yeah i figured it out for the price it is only a few more dollars from outmotoring to get both pieces. At mossmini.com I would have to pay sales tax and at outmortoring I would just have to pay just the shipping.

I was also thinking of getting my beltline done anywho so I would need to order from outmotoring. If I dont hear back from mossmini by the middle of the week I think I am just going to order from outmortoring.

Once I order and get it I can take pictures of how to remove everything and replace it so all the just coopers out there will know!

Anything else I should maybe look into to order from outmotoring? I really want to get checkered out but I dont want to go crazy!

Just reviewing some of the new post.
May I interject. I would be cautious of "cheaper" parts from some suppiers. Check the quality before you buy.
As with the chrome replacement parts for the interior. I have found that Mini Mania particularly will send out the tape on versions that fit over the existing part. Outmotoring has always been Original parts quality in everything I have ordered through them. They actually snap into place, replacing the original part completely.
Just a thought, beware.

True what you are saying! The old saying is you get what you pay for which is almost 100% true. I have heard nothing but good thing about Outmotoring. So I think I am just going to go ahead and order from them.

Yeah nothing but good about Outmotoring. Aaron's great guy to deal with.
Note that the tape they sell is glossy so make sure that's what you want for the beltline. Lyle's vinyl is satin.

I ordered the front black grill with the upper and lower trim pieces from MossMini yesterday. I'll post some photos in about a week after I get it installed. For a while I didn't know what people were talking about when they said beltline. After I see some pictures now I know what that means and it looks good. Is it only a snap over piece or tape that is applied to the existing beltline? Or is there actually someone who sells the entire trim pieces in which you have to remove the existing ones? "anderezd" you have almost the same exact looking car as I do from the exterior except my stripes are different. Thinking my next step is some black rims without runflats. Anybody have experience putting 17's on the non-S?

Baron, like the look of your car. I considered the viper stripes but they had this one on the lot for exactly what I wanted to pay and the bare bones packages I wanted. I just have the convenience pkg.

The beltline is just a tape kit that you apply over the top. This way, for cheap you change the look of the car drastically with minimal effort. did the grille and the beltline on a Friday evening. I used the outmotoring glossy tape and like the look, though satin would match the satin look of other trim pieces around the car. IMO the glass goes well with the gloss black pillars and black roof. To each their own. good luck and have fun.

Did anyone have to use epoxy to get the lower black trim to fit snugly? Outmotoring and Mossmini both mention it, but I'd like to be able to switch back to the chrome trim easily if the mood struck me (I like the black grill/trim, but the black grill/chrome trim that anderezd also looks really appealing).

So I emailed MossMini about their grill that they sell to see if it fits. This is what I got back:

Thank you for your inquiry regarding our part 102-795_GRILL KIT,AERO
KIT,OEM. This kit fits both the Standard Cooper as well as the Cooper S,NON
CONVERTIBLE. As long as your Mini isn't a convertible, this combination
(your car, and our part 102-795) will be fine.

To checkercoop:
 

Do you know of anyone who has ordered the black mesh grill that has driving lamps? I've wanted to get the grill replacement, but am concerned about cutting holes in the new piece just to fit the lights. Any suggestions or experience with this?

Thanks!

No unfortunately I do not know anyone who has ordered that. There is a grill that is offered that already has the holes cut out for the driving lamps. So when someone does order then from factor, they get a totally different grille. So if you were to order that grille, and you have factory style lights, there should be no need to cut into the grill.
Personally I would see how my brackets penetrated and cut it myself because I know the driving light specific one has 2 rectagles for where the brackets penetrate.

I thought minspeed offered the driving lamp one at one time, but I cant find it there or outmotoring. You could always give Pete at minspeed.net an email...he is very nice and great with customer service

Goodluck and if you have anymore questions, just let me know :thumbsup:

It seems like these you dont need to to cut into the front grill but I am not sure. http://www.minspeed.net/R56DLK.htm

or these you can pick which grill you have and it should fit.
http://www.outmotoring.com/mini-coop...light_kit.html

If I were you I would email both places to double check if this is what you wanted. Sorry if I was no help.

The JCW grill I got from Outmotoring had the holes pre-cut for the driving lights. If you order there, just talk to Aaron and he will get you the right one.

I'm bummed. I ordered the JCW black out grille and trim moldings, tried installing it today but had a few problems. I checked the invoice and according to the invoice it is the non-S 07' (which I need) but the grille just does not fit right The molding pieces seem to be fine. First only two of the four tabbed pins for the grille fit directly where the existing pins were. Second the grille seems to sit too far back into the opening not aligning with the top trim piece. Third if I were to reuse the existing bottom chrome molding piece it does not sit right on the grille and you can see part of the exposed non-chrome plastic piece. Do you think they shipped the wrong one but had it correct on the invoice? Any one else have this problem? Another thing is that the hexagon pattern does not match the other hexagon pattern just below the bumper. Did anyone else notice that?