Our new baby just loaded on the vessel at the UK port today It is PW with a Black top and the Hypersport option.....so as you can imagine it is going to look...um...interesting....with the black fender arches. A few questions:
1. are the fender arches bonded to the car?
2. Anyone in New England get their arches done and can recommend a good place?
3. How much did it cost?
We've been quoted around $1250 by our dealer....
thanks!

 

On the R53 they were plastic and cost ~$20 each. I'd recommend buying new ones if you're going to have them painted. If they put ANYTHING on them the paint is going to crack...

I'd imagine any good body shop should be able to do it for under $300. I had my whole aero kit painted for ~$500, though i'll admit it wasn't a very good job, and i'd rather have paid more to get a much better job done .

 

thanks rustyboy - any other suggestions from New Englanders?

 

I think the arches are a bit more at our dealer, in the 75/ea range, though I could be wrong.

A good shop will run you 300-400 to paint them because of the prep work sanding them smooth, then building them back out with a layer or two of body mud. If you don't they will be awful thin after sanding.

Good luck.

Oh, and PW with Hypersport... great choice... but def paint the arches or prepare for stormtrooper jokes

 

300-400? So is the $1250 I was quoted at totally overpriced?

 

yeah thats WAYYYYY over priced....my best recomendation would be to paint yourself ....but you would need an air compressor and a spray gun and the paint ....butttt 3 to 400 sounds about right and yes buy the arches brand new because any sort of lubricant or product ever placed on them will seep out through the paint and make it crack and not stick right ....for about 500 or so you could buy all the things you need and do it yourself though and its wayyyy more fun that paying someone else

 

dont do it yourself unless you really know what you are doing. It will just get sloppy. How much are the arches from MINI? If they are $20 like the R53 then just spend the $80 and have them painted at a pro place. If they look good, install them.

 

TRust me, if you want the paint to stay, a $300 job ain't gonna cut it. Also, if the trim has been treated at all, the paint may crack. Most folks replace the trim. The price for 14 parts will be over $400 with shipping. there's a lot of labor associated with doing this paint job right. If you can get the whole job done for under $1K you're doing well.

Ask the dealer if the $1250 includes replacing the trim with new parts?

 

anyone ever thought of wrapping the arches and trim in vinyl? i'm thinking of doing mine in gloss black. i dont like the look of body matched fenders, but the black is too dull. if i ever painted mine, i would do gloss black fenders on my chili red mini.

 

Classic MINI in ohio will sell you the trim pieces for 20 dollars a piece. I paid about 1400 WITH the aero kit for all the trim pieces and the aero kit.

If you paid $400 for the black fender trim you're out of your mind .

 

I didn't pay anything because I not doing this yet, but finding these on Pelican Parts web site is easy (I admit I didn't consider Classic MINI and the NAM discount):

Arches
COVER, WHEEL ARCH, FRONT RIGHT $11.60
COVER, WHEEL ARCH, FRONT LEFT $11.60
COVER, WHEEL ARCH, FRONT RIGHT $11.30
COVER, WHEEL ARCH, FRONT LEFT $11.30
COVER, WHEEL ARCH, REAR RIGHT $19.70
COVER, WHEEL ARCH, REAR LEFT $19.70
Back
SPOILER CENTER $42.45
SPOILER RIGHT $21.00
SPOILER LEFT $21.00
Front
SPOILER CENTER $32.08
SPOILER LEFT $18.45
SPOILER RIGHT $18.45
Sides
SIDE SKIRT, RIGHT $75.30
SIDE SKIRT, LEFT $75.30

Add shipping to that...do the math.

Replace trim with aero kit parts and the cost of parts go way up but the labor should go down somewhat (Aero kits primed, don't beed texture removed).