Hello everyone. I am wondering if anyone has installed the Exterior Door Handle Covers. If so, are they a plastic cover or are they "shrink wrapped" on? TIA

 

Which ones are you talking about?

 

The ones that you use to open the door of you MINI

Which ones are there?

 

Well, you COULD be talking about the door handle cups that slide into the depression underneath the handle itself, to protect your paint from keys and hand jewelry.

 

LOL. Not the handles, the covers...... Handles??? I don't like to get them dirty, so I just crawl in through the boot.

 

Nope, I mean the handles

Ahh I don't care which ones actually. I am considering painting them instead of the actual handles to see if that is easier/better for blacking out the chrome.

 

arent they a whole new handle mechanism, rather than a cover?

 

As far as I know thats what they always are.

Lagston will wrap them in vinyl, but they still require you to remove the door handle for installment.

 

Why can't there be an easy way to black those puppies out without takin' em off? Huh?! WHY!?!?!?

It'd be nice if MINI sold black handles, like the checkered ones and flag ones. I'd buy a set... Too easy.
Instead, I have to fret about painting them. :impatient

 

aesthetic creations makes a cover that applies to the existing door handle. It's under the carbon fiber section of the list on the left of the website. They come in carbon fiber, gloss black, or primed fiberglass.

 

i'm painting mine this weekend! Rough up the chrome, self etching primer, vht bumper satin black...will be doing the side markers and headlight rings too! From what I have gathered here...with REALLY REALLY good prep it should last.

 

the ones on aestheticreations, are those stick on covers or handle replacements? if covers what are the black ones made of?

 

Covers. Not sure of the materials because they are not here yet.
I did not want to get into removing and replacing the handles so I opted for the covers.
Waiting, waiting, waiting....

 

I've heard that removing the handles is a BIG job, and a pita. I'm also on the list for the AE door handle covers.

 

good to hear theyre covers. I dont want to remove my handles either. I found a set of chrome covers on eBay for about 70 bucks. may go that option..just paint them black to match the car and stick them on.

 

The AC door handle covers are DEFINITELY the way to go! I'm not sure what material they are made out of but they are definitely VERY high quality. You really couldn't ask for anything more - great quality, great looks, and great ease of installation (just peel and stick!).

I think the ones that you can order that are complete replacements - the checkered, union jack, or black jack ones are shrink wrapped to give them that appearance.

Celia

 

What do you mean by shrink wrapped? The checkered handles are like the checkered mirrors, only in smaller squares.

 

I covered mine with them still on the car with 3M flat black vinyl.. Not the easiest job but can be done. Did have to seam it on the bottom side of handle. ( can't see it unless you are looking from ground up ) Also in an area close to the key hole. Plan to redo that one soon to try to get it with out the seem.

 

I purchased a set of the checkered door handles and had them sent to CooperGear so that he could apply his black carbon fiber application to them. He had to prep the handles before he could do anything to them and he told me that he removed the checkers from the handles. Apparently, Mini uses a vinyl shrink wrap material on the handles to give them that look. Blake from CooperGear told me that you could remove the checkered vinyl shrink wrap but not put it back on. The first one he did came off in a bunch of little pieces but the second one he removed came off in almost one solid piece.

Celia

 

Ohh, good to know. This whole time I thought they were painted on. So long as they stay on and don't fade, I'm a happy customer!

 

It's not really that big of a pain...the first handle is a learning experience, just like anything. The second handle flys buy. You need to have a T-handle 5mm ball joint allen wrench and a ratchet offset screwdriver with allen/torx bits. The ratchet is for the end of the handle towards the front wheel and the ball joint allen is for the end towards the back...you have to pull/peal the rubber surround up to get to this nut/bolt. The only real hard part is getting the wire back in the plastic guide. If you have a couple ounces of patience, it doesn't hurt either. It's one of those jobs where you can't see quite what you're doing, so just close your eyes and get 'er done

 

Agreed i added leds to my door handles, and painted them while they where off and i didnt think it was that big of a pita.

 

what do I have to put on the ebay search to find this covers, because I have ben searching and I dont find anything.

 

what do I have to put on the ebay search to find this covers, because I have ben searching and I dont find anything.

 

aestheticcreations.net