I have been doing a lot to my MINI lately, both aesthetic and performance wise, and have done some things which have changed the car's look beyond belief. I have blacked out the chrome everywhere except door handles, lowered it 1.5 in., and given minor changes to things here and there. With all the changes... I'm kind of starting to like the black contrasting look that the black on red offers, as my car is purely black/red now with the chrome gone.

My question... and I was you all to help me make the decision, as MINI owners know best.

I was thinking about taking off my stripes, and getting a black hood scoop from either OEM or M7. Do you all think this would be a good look, or should I keep the stripes (if I did keep them, I'd extend the stripes to the front and back bumper)

My car now:





Thanks!!!

 

I like those stripes, but your idea of a black scoop sounds appealing on your particular car as well. One thing I really don't like is full stripes, so if the choice was to extend the existing stripes, or nix them in favor of the black scoop, I'd definately go with the scoop.

On my car (1st gen) I like all the chrome. But your blackout looks great.

 

Agreeing with Blackbomber. And please drop by and black-out my lights and grill surround

 

I really like the stripes you have, so I'd also second Blackbomber's opinions

 

I am having the same dilemma, I have a PW, and just completed stripes down to the ground on both sides... but now I feel like I want them off! lol.

 

I think you should go with the jcw or m7 Carbon fiber scoop and remove the stripes, since you have the OEM stripes anyway. I feel like the look is cleaner and stands out more IMHO.

 

I'm just about to swap out my bonnets for sport stripes, and take them down over the bumper so I vote also to keep your stripes.

I also have a Chili/Red black S and I did swap out the hood scoop (a gift from my best friend) with a black one and it made all the difference! I'd also recommend plasti-dipping your scuttles and getting some tinted turn signals!

Looks great!

 

Oops.. my 3rd angle didn't go through.


Ignore the car's dirtiness... this is the dirtiest it's ever been. Washed it last night. Also, door handle covers are soon to be here.

Thanks for the suggestion guys...


macboyx- Do you have any pictures of your car? I'd love to see it. Also, how did you manage to take off the scuttle to plasti-dip it? I can't even begin to try to take it off.

gothmdoc- That's kind of what I'm leaning towards, but I'd like to hear some of the opinions first before doing anything. Also... if I had a pepper white with black roof and rims, I'd be in pure heaven. If I were in your shoes, I'd for sure go with taking the stripes off and getting a black hood scoop. I've seen one before with that exact set up beside me at a stop light and my jaw dropped!

oldsbear- Sure, anytime--- if I were local... It's really not that hard at all. You just have to be a little patient in taking the pieces off and painting them. You can PM me and I can tell you how to get anything but the side scuttle off (as I have no idea how to do it either)- including most of the chrome beltline trim.

 

Since it wasn't part of the initial question, I withheld: I was going to suggest blacking out the door handles, but leaving the scuttles chrome. Looks like you are already on that track.

 

Both. Extend the stripes and get a black scoop/

 

There are pix in my user gallery and also here at my flickr page...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/macboyx...7626775382302/

The scuttles are easy to take off, open your hood gently push them forward toward the engine and they will just pop off, you can then pop out the chrome portions or just tape off the plastic.

Hope that helps!