Anybody ever *remove* a factory roof rail system?
 

So here's the deal...I just purchased my first Mini, a 2016 Clubman. It's dark blue, with matching roof and rear view mirrors. As for interior, it's got the Satellite Gray. To me, the car screams to have a white roof/white rear view mirrors. After doing some snooping around on this site, it looks like I can get the roof wrapped in vinyl. And I think I can find some slip-on white rear vier mirror caps.

Here's the problem--when I took it over to the local fella who does vinyl wraps on cars, he told me the factory rail system on the roof would need to be removed, along with the radio antenna. "Unfortunately," he said, "this is not an easy job. It has to be removed from the interior ceiling of the car, which would mean removing the headliner. I don't do that work." He pointed me to a local auto repair/body shop down the street that he uses often. I just got back from that shop with a $450 estimate for the removal/reinstallation of the roof rail and headliner.

My questions to the Mini hive here...anyone ever done this themselves? Or is this beyond the scope of a *very* novice shadetree mechanic? Suddenly, getting a white roof on my new Clubman seems much more complicated than I would have thought...:sad:

Thanks in advance for all opinions/advice!

Unfortunately, it does appear it has to be removed from under the headliner.

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f...rip/1VnY22JJeI

Not necessarily a task I would want to tackle myself with all those airbags.
Below is a video demonstrating vinyl wrapping a roof with the antenna still attached. Curious if the roof could be wrapped in the same manner around the roof rails....saving you $450.

What's the cost to have the roof painted?

I would talk to other shops. Call Todd at Motoringstripes. He's one of the most knowledgable people I know about using vinyl and he is a Mini nut himself.....

While it would be much easier for the vinyl guy to wrap the roof with those items removed, it shouldn't be 'required' IMHO. Any shop worth their weight should be able to get a good fit against the rails/antenna.

Also consider that when you would reinstall the rails/antenna on top of the wrap, they could 'squirm' a bit and actually wrinkle the wrap around the fastener points...which would not look very good. Personally, I would prefer the wrap to be applied up to the edges of those items rather than under them. Not only because of the potential movement, but also the sealing between the items and the roof.

Yeah, regarding the removal of the headliner...I was afraid of that.

The video above was very informative. The installer made it look so easy... I think perhaps I need to look into finding another shop that might be able to do the work without removing the rails.

Thanks for this!

SCR

Thanks for all the replies, folks! After consulting with She Who Must Be Obeyed, we are now considering simply extending some rally stripes from the nose, across the bonnet, over the top of the car and then back down the boot. That looks like it might more easily be done (I hope.)

SCR