That is a very interesting idea - was just looking at them online. I don't like the carbon fiber hood look (see them on Honda's around here all the time) and I wouldn't go with those grills (ewwww) but to leave just the stripe kit exposed sounds good. Cost is not nearly what I thought it would be.

Thanks for the suggestion, John!

 

Make sure fitment is good, no one likes gaps!

 

Albie, just saw this thread. Sooo sorry this happened, but I see you are turning it into a positive by giving Kid a new awesome look!

Glad you are ok!

I know you will post "after" pics.

 

Funny you should say that - my body shop hasn't had good experience with any of them due to gap issues. So I've moved on...

Yep - you know me too well. "First estimate" came in today: $4700. That's with used parts. There will be no used parts going on my MINI.

 

That's cuz we Miniacs are all alike...obsessive. Used parts, I don't think so....

 

Poor MINI :( Glad your ok!

 

Thank you.

I'm getting pretty tired of commuting in an Altima. This has been a slooooooooooow process. 5 days for an adjuster to even see the car (due to Sandy, they say) and I'm hoping the parts got there today. Although I know all of them won't be there since the body shop only ordered a bumper cover and I'm going to need the fog light bezels and lower grille.

Would I be right in guessing that fog lights from a regular non-s grille will fit in an aero grille? I'm going to call my dealer tomorrow, but was hoping to find out tonight... thanks.

 

Some progress...

 

Albiecrazy:

Maybe I missed any new info in another post of yours...

But any updates on "The Kid"?

Progress? Pictures?

Anything?

Pete

 

Thanks for checking in, Pete.

It's been slow going... Christmas vacation slowed things down. And I'm beginning to believe that my body shop is speaking French and the MINI dealership providing the parts is speaking Italian. And this is a British car.

On the plus side, I may have the car back by the weekend.

 

Good luck my friend.
Pictures please ASAP, when and if...

 

Ouch!
I was driving a big Isuzu cube truck on the highway some time ago. Someone did a u-turn ahead of me, and then pulled right in front of me! So size does not matter for some people.
Good luck getting a well done repair!

 

Thanks for the well wishes!







The Kid should be back in his very own garage by the middle of next week.

 

Holy Shitsky! That's gonna look awesome when it's finished.
Actually, it looks awesome now!
Thanks for the update.
And now, sir, I will be expecting completed pics...
(Or an update this time next week if not done by then.)
Thank you very kindly.

 

Hey, while it is all apart...now is the time to put in a Helix FMIC...just a thought.

Looking good, though.

 

Hey, thanks Pete. Hopefully Wednesday's the day!

Thanks. An intercooler for a non-s? For some reason, I thought IC's were more for turbos. As it stands, I'm well over what I was planning on spending on the car with the JCW kit so the money's just not there anyway.

 

Doh

I didn't even notice...You are right...I just saw everything apart, and it just seemed to be begging for one to be stuffed in there somewhere

I'll go back to watching now...

 

^^^

Well, there's good and bad to the *ending* of this story...

The good:



The bad AND the ugly:

 

Looks very nice

 

In post 38 the side-skirt is black (as it should be) but in post 43 its white. Why?

 

That's the *bad* part of this story. This is the JCW side skirt that was supposed to go on:



Had I any clue that there were two different versions of JCW side skirts for a Gen 2, I would have checked the parts before they were painted and installed. I've never even seen these side skirts on a Gen 2. They look like Gen 1 skirts to me...

I will be solving this problem - MINI is blaming the body shop; body shop is blaming MINI and I'm in the middle. There's a *cheapish* solution that I came up with today. Then there's the actual solution of having the ones ^^^^ there installed for $1200... That's just not in the cards.

 

The newly installed side skirts look like the non-aero side skirts I have on my 09 Clubman JCW. I always assumed they were the same as the MCCS side skirts maybe not. The Clubman parts seem to be just slightly longer versions of the Cooper parts.

 

John - I think you're right. These are just *paintable* regular side skirts. For the life of me, I can't figure out how these could be mistaken for *JCW*...

 

Albiecrazy, on a different point - whats the story with the front plate - is that legal or allowed in NY? I love it but it would not be allowed in MA.

 

I scoured DMV's website for anything that prohibited a front europlate and found nothing. In NY you must have a front plate. And I do have one.

I have a buddy down the street who has had a europlate for the last two years on his MINI and he hasn't been bothered about it. I think if I'm doing something wrong, they may ticket me for the plate instead of the *something wrong*. As long as I'm nice.

I honestly think they care more if you don't have a plate at all or if the front plate does not match the state issued plate. Mine matches and I also got the NY emblem on the left side so we'll see.

Back to my body work... After scouring the internet, I definitely have *factory aero kit side skirts*. I did pay accordingly (JCW are more than double the cost) and I have a solution that should be inexpensive and look good, too.