Which accessory will you buy first? Assuming you DO NOT plan to change OEM suspension at all.

OEM Aero Kit or aftermarket wheels?

 

I would personally buy wheels first.
But, if you buy the aero kit. I only like the front and sills. The back bumper just has not really grown on me.

 

Wheels, unless I had nice factory wheels, I would just look like a fool riding around with a aero kit with my 5 stars

 

I'd go wheels...
A) so I can have snows and summers mounted on different rims.
B) the factory 17" crownspokes are absolute PIGS (and weigh the perverbial ton)

The lighter wheels, w/ non-run flat perf. rubber really made a huge difference in the handling and ride... both got better.

 

do the kit. do the wheels IF you do the suspension.

 

+1

 

Kit because it goes with factory wheels nicely. Then you can find the best wheels to go with your aero kit rather than your regular bumpers.

 

+2

 

The great part of buying the aero kit is you can sell the parts on NAM of the stuff you take off. Poss enough to buy at least 3 wheels and tires

 

good point.

 

+1


Art

 

Thank you for your feedbacks!

I voted aero kit as well. I was quoted by Mini dealership $1400 for complete aero kit (incldg. paint and installation), is this fair price?

 

Which dealer is this becuase I need to get them to do mine.

I was quoted about $1800 (I think) for a factory painted aero kit. Doing the install myself.

 

I hope you get a better price since you are going to install the kit on your own.

The price I was quoted (painted/full kit installation) was at German Auto Body Shop (body shop San Francisco Mini dealership uses for all their aero kit installations). Contact Jeremy at 415-551-BODY.

 

DEFINITELY!!!! Aero Kit on a stock Mini makes a HUUUUGE difference in my opinion.

 

that's a steal compared to wat i paid over 4yrs ago.

 

Another question on aero kit...

Which do you prefer?

Paint all the plastic same color as the car
or
Leave all the plastic parts as is (black/OEM)



One of my friend said, if you paint all the plastic parts the same color as the car, the MINI looks wider from front/rear view.

 

actually from the front, the car looks wider when you get those
black pieces around your fog lamps.

i was surprised how much wider my car looked after installing them.


personally, i like the trims black on the R53. on the R56, definitely
get those trims and arches painted.

 

Eh, I was going to order mine in primer and get them painted along with the trim pieces, but after I got quotes for painting those and the trim it will be cheaper to buy it pre-painted from the factory. Plus the dealer told me they used to do it and had problems with stone chips. My paint in front of the rear wheel trim looks sand blasted so it woudn't look good if I painted the trim unless I repainted that panel. I'm trying out a new method for cleaning trim pieces and if it works I won't mind the trim at all.

 

I never looked at the front from fog lamp view, what I do know, the black aero grills look so much better. I prefer to keep OEM as well, especially if body shop is going to charge me another $500.00 to paint all the plastic parts.


Interesting - the person (a woman - I know it's irrelevant, if she can read part #s, she can talk cars - LOL) I spoke to at SF Mini said aero kits DO NOT come prepainted. I'll have to contact another MINI dealer to find out if that is true.

 

It was a my main man who has never let me down. He assured me it was painted and it was like $1800 minus whatever my club discount is. I hope he wasn't wrong because the trim pieces only come like that from the factory

 

buy the wheels and then have your arches and sills painted. Looks almost as good as the aero kit for a fraction of the price. I too do not like the rear bumper of the aero kit. . .

 

I'm sure your guy is right. Again, nothing against women working in auto industries (specifically parts dept.), but when I was talking to her, didn't sound like she was all there.

I asked the body shop about matching the trims/arches. He said, they use a special machine to match the black arches/trims.


I thought about that Yucca, however, I don't plan to change the OEM suspension any time soon, sole reason I will probably go with aero kit uprade, for now.