Thanks Gluhwein, this was a brilliant suggestion. I first tried the "pop the mirror off" technique, but that seemed a bit too brutish so I ran across this thread. I searched the house for something like SlimJim's plastic scraper suggestion, but couldn't find anything. Then I saw your post and headed out to Home Depot. I found a 2" plastic putty knife and within 30 seconds I had popped the original mirror caps off. Now my wife's MINI is sporting some checkered mirror caps.

 

Northern Tool, and I'm sure other tool places, have a set of plastic pry bars about 10" in length for removing plastic parts like interior trim panels. I got my set for less than 10 bucks!

 

Nevermind answered my own question...

 

It has been a while since I posted on NAM. Just got my Fiance a set of chrome caps for her b-day. We now have a 2010 S con. It is nice to see that the there is so much how to info on the site. I remember trying to get the caps off of my 04 and breaking most of the tabs. It was a snap to get these off.

 

now that was so easy i couldn't believe it- probably took a whole 3 minutes for both sides

 

Thanks for the DIY. Sometimes when things are too easy it also becomes easy to screw up. I'll be doing mine one of these days.

 

thank you op! great post.

i just bought 2 putty plastic 2" knife at lowes for $0.98 each. i'm glad i bought two just in case one broke. however, i ended up using both of them to make it easier to 'pop' the mirror caps off.

the first putty was used like the op said and i left it there since i couldn't move it along easily toward the car. i ended up using the 2nd putty for 'popping' out the rest of the tabs. once i popped off the top tabs, i just used my hand to pop out the bottom tabs. i took it super easy and slow to pop them off.

of course putting back the new caps were EZ.

 

Just installed the Black Jack Caps Bandit got for Christmas, using these instructions, with the exact same tool, and Eureka, it worked! By far the easiest DIY project yet! Thanks to the OP for posting this!

 

Just a FYI, this method also works on the mirror caps for the Countryman.

 

Have to say a big thanks to allwho contributed to this "how to".The plastic I had was to soft so ended up using a a wide thin piece of stainless steal, but I cautain, you can scrape and knick the components. One was easy,and the otherside was probably put on by someone who had a bad day, it was hard to get off. My advice is to try one side and if it doesn't pop off easy, try the other. Hope fully one willjust pop off reallyeasy. Thanks again, we did the checkered black and white type on our new BRG Mini Cooper S....Chili Pirate

 

I am glad to find this post. Had tried just popping off the clips with a long thin screw driver, but just wasn't happpening. I knew there must be an easier way to do this. So I thought I would come in and do a bit more forum searching for a better way of doing this. Found this thread and 5 minutes later I have swapped my chequered mirror caps to body colured ones. Just followed the instructions in the original post using a trim removal tool - very easy, just like it should be.

 

Is there really a difference in power fold and non power fold mirror caps?

 

Just wanted to say thanks. I used a blue plastic pry tool just as directed and they popped right out. In about 60 seconds my new mirror caps were on. Thanks again!

 

Thanks to all for this how-to! I just replaced my black caps with UJ using this technique. I used an old rewards program card that was the same plastic strength as a credit card but without any lettering. It took less than three minutes. I must say, the pop the clips make when they release is a bit alarming, but no broken tabs.

FYI: Prestige Mini of Mahwah, NJ has the factory UJ caps on eBay for $139 with free shipping. this deal, and the technique above, saved over $150 from my dealer!

 

Glad I found this post! Wish I had found it before I did my bonnet scoop. Good thing I have some Pampered Chef scrapers - worked like a charm!!

 

Just gone done installing my 3 year old Black Jack mirror covers on my fourth MINI using the 98 cent Lowe's spackling knife. I got it down to a science now: start at the inside curve of the mirror, closest to the car window. No pegs there so you can slowly work the edge of the knife in until you hear the plastic snap. Not loudly, but enough to clue you in that you're making progress. Slide the knife up and around the curve toward where you stand. The first peg should release, then you can dig in again a little further up the line until the middle peg releases. Then the rest is easy. I can do it in half a minute now.

Ironically, I saw a mechanic at my dealership using a long plastic stick the looked like a flat knitting needle to pop off the covers on a Countryman earlier today. I'm faster! No brag, just fact.

 

This is a great thread! Here's a top tip. When the first one came off my black mirror cap went flying. I just wasn't ready for it to pop off that quickly. So on the second one I taped the foam material that came in the JCW mirror box around the mirror I was trying to remove in case it dropped on the ground. Once you get the hang of this on the first one you will be able to feel when it is going to release. I used an old credit card to wedge the clip along the middle top, then I used a plastic calk removal tool to pry it off at the top outside edge, by just putting the tool in the gap and then giving it a slow twist. This was on a 2012 CMS.

 

EXCELLENT! E Z, P Z! No muss, no fuss, no screw drivers, no probing behind the mirror glass!

Thanks!

I'll wash it tomorrow, I promise.

 

I tired to remove the chrome caps on my wife's Clubman today and they were not coming off - so I'm going to get a differant tool and try again later. I get flustered when things don't go right but I've learned to stop and try again after I've cooled off.

Are the chrome ones harder to take off?

 

I used one of my wife's cake frosting spreaders. Worked great, but don't tell her.

 

My wife is a retired chef - but has spent the last thirteen years as a pastry chef - she won't let me near any of her kitchen utensils - but I'll ask her when she gets home with her MINI.

 

I noticed that this tread addressed R55 and up so I have to ask if this simple technique will work with my R53? I do not want to pry off the caps and find out that I damaged the OEM's so if anyone has experience with removing the caps on R53's let me know ASAP so I can take advantage of deal on them I found on eBay.

Thanks in advance.

 

Someone with a white vehicle was kind enough to remove the passenger mirror from my Mini (before I bought it). The door will eventually have to be replaced, but in the meantime, I want to put it back on the car. Apparently I use my passenger mirror often and it not being there is freaking me out.

So, I needed to pull off the cap to get to the screws that attach it back to the door. The mirror itself is already off so I could see the tabs that hold the cap on, however it was very difficult to get them to release. I ended up using a flat blade screwdriver to pry up the tabs and slipping a little thin piece of cardboard under the tab to hold it open while I did the rest one by one. It was only then that the cap slipped off.

I only posted this because some of the posts make it sound like they will just pop off, but that was not the case with mine.

Best of luck!

 

Ugh, I read this and really took my time, but still broke at least two tabs on each mirror removing them. Then I wasnt really satisfied with my vinyl wrap job, and THEN I broke another tab or two putting them back on.

FML next time im just going to paint the damn things on the car.

 

I got another pair of mirror caps so I knew exactley where the tabs where when I was taking off the original caps - and that made it eaiser. I took my time and used a long flat plastic decal removing tool and they came right off. I also used a blanket on the ground in case I dropped one. All in all it took around five minutes to do both with no broken tabs.