OK, I did a forum search before posting this and didn't find anything, but I have to believe I can't be the only one this unlucky. 4 times in the past 6 months I've come back to my car to find my fender trim missing. It has happened in 3 different random locations. Only one time did I find the fender sitting on the ground. I'm pretty sure it isn't some person ripping my bumper off. You can tell the trim is destroyed when ripped off from the fender by all the plastic bits left behind, so it's not another Mini owner stealing my fender for their own use (I want to think us Mini owners are better than that). I don't have any enemies or scorn ex-girlfriends I can think of. I'm pretty sure it is from idiot/bad drivers pulling in & out of parking spots next to me. I try to park in the middle of nowhere away from people, but sometimes it can't be avoided. So my question is... is this a common thing Mini owners experience? Has anybody here come out to their car to find their fender trim missing? I'm guessing the low and wide Mini "stance" happens to line up with most other cars bumpers or something. There is never any significant body damage or scrapes either. Just curious what you guys think.

 

Report it as a theft of auto parts if you want to go to the bother.It looks like someone needed the part more than you.Just seems as if there would be a bit more damage if it was struck by another vehicle. But your right it is strange..

 

Only one word for that - BIZARRE! Can't image that the MINI is prone to sideswipes. Heck, when I look at my car parked between two others in the lot, I chuckle at how much room is left -- a motorcycle could park on either side. In fact, when I go to my favorite $3 car wash, the passenger side barely reaches the spinning brushes because the driver's side is in the track.

Seriously, four times in six months?! And no debris left behind? You must have pissed someone off. Too frequent to be anything else. Sorry to hear about this, but it sounds like pure vandalism.

 

very bizarre, I think someone doesn't like you. Park it somewhere with video cams in p lot and see if they can catch a glimpse of whoeveris doing this.

 

Did the one piece that you were able to recover have any signs of abrasion, (traded) paint, etc. to indicate it may have been hit? I've never heard of this happening to any other MINI, and I drove mine for quite some time with a loose front flare, although my car is a first generation. I think the bad "luck" of someone robbing or hitting your car four times seems unlikely.

 

Doesn't look at all like some other car side swiped your car, looks more like a "human" decided they needed the part more than you do. Also, from the closeness of your wheel to that curb, you're lucky you don't have a scuff on your beautiful wheel!

 

Could it possibly be your tire bouncing up and hitting the underneath of the wheel trim thus knocking it off. Your tires look like they stick out a bit like my 205's do. Just a thought.

 

I see they took both sides. My guess is the one you found ripped off was probably damaged so they could not use it. (Or somebody was coming and they had to drop it)

They got a left & a Right so I'm guessing they had put wide tires on their car and needed the wheel flares to be legal.

Just keep a sharp eye out for a rice rocket that is not a Mini but has Mini wheel flares on it.

 

I'm going to go with this one although, it doesn't bode well for me since I just put 225 non-runflats on mine recently.

 

Maybe your Mini is just trying to tell you that it wants to be naked.