I'm new to this board and was hoping that someone could help me out. I just ordered my MC (non-S) over the weekend. I wanted to replace the standard chrome grill with the black grill from the aero pkg. w/o having to purchase the whole aero pkg. Mini of Concord, the dealer I ordered my MC from, said that they've had problems installing just the black grill in the past and encouraged me to purchase the whole aero kit. I've noticed several members on this board have made the switch to the black grill w/o the Aero kit. Were modifications necessary to make this work?

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Thanks!

 

search for my thread "my mini..and its transformation"

on the "mini talk" page of this board

i did it last weekend, and it was easy :smile:

i am in berkeley, if u need help, i can help you out with it :smile:

 

The black aero grille is two parts. The larger one fits on the bonnet of either the MC or the MCS without much trouble. You remove a bunch of self taping bolts and remove the stock grille and replace it with the black grille.
Next the lower balck grille fits onto the top of the front bumper. Remove the stock grille and then the fun begins. The black lower grille belongs on the aero bumper not the stock MC or MCS bumper so you need to look at the aero grille part and study the pegs in the plastic and try to trim them or cut them so that they will fit into the holes in the stock bumper except that those holes don't line up with the pegs your are now trimming.
Does it sound bad yet? It is and it also needs some additional trimming on the bumper support piece under the grille part where the two parts hit and prevent the grille from being at the right height to be flat with the bumper itself.
I had a professional body shop work on my MCS adding only the lower grille to the front bumper (had to remove the bumper from the car). I did the bonnet grille myself. They had to cut and fit/modify both the bumper and the grille piece to get things to fit then epoxy the two together in the end. About 4 hours work over 2 days . I got charged $180.
Some people say it is easy but I did not find it was easy for my case.
Here is an install thread but my shop said that it didn't really work well for them mostly because all the pegs and holes did not match at all. Good luck.
http://www.r53w11.com/aerogrilles.htm

 

perfect! thanks for the info! i'm going to do this when I get home!

now, does anyone know how to get the mesh grills out of the rear bumper? i want to spray them.....

 

>>perfect! thanks for the info! i'm going to do this when I get home!
>>
>>now, does anyone know how to get the mesh grills out of the rear bumper? i want to spray them.....
I can't be absolutely sure but I think you might need to remove the rear bumper first then that gives you access to the back of the rear grilles. I once pushed hard on the grille from the outside of the rear bumper and it pressed into the bumper and dislodged itself. I had trouble putting back into place since I could not reach it from inside under the rear bumper- the way was blocked. Good luck.

 

interesting.....wonder if there's a how-to on removing the rear bumper.....i think you're right though, i'm going to have to go from the inside......it'll be worth it when it's done though!

 

>>i am in berkeley, if u need help, i can help you out with it :smile:

Thanks for the offer to help! My MC is slated for August build so it should be in the BA by October or November, or so they say. I'll drop you a line when I'm ready to make the modifications.

Thanks

 

go hoop

ur welcome

and sure !