Ok, I finally got around to getting these things mounted.

I thought about going with the epoxy route but decided against it. I didn't want to deal with the potential drips or the epoxy possibly oozing over onto the keyhole.

After a couple trips to the hardware store I went to my local AutoZone & found a small roll of 3M's molding tape. It's not the VHB tape but it's close and it's got a little bit of foam thickness to it. The foam nicely fills in the gap between the handle & the covers. I figure if the tape is sticky enough for OEMs to use it for mounting, its good enough for me.

If anyone wants a picture of the tape's package I can post one.

 

Reviving and old thread so that maybe someone can benefit from this experience.
I also bought a set of the CF door handles, painted them white (can always strip the paint off) and installed them this April. They held OK but always seemed a little to loose. Yesterday I pulled lightly on one and found that it removed to easily. I got some tape out, that I use to install my Lip extensions, applied a strip replacing the VHB tape that was the previous method to install these parts. I found that the extra tape thickness did not make the parts stand off farther, in fact they actually fit better now then before with the thinner tape.

 

I would have never thought to paint the CF but this looks great!
Glad that you feel confident in the mounting. I found that a thicker tape really helps also.

I wonder if AC is aware of the tolerance issues and has updated their tape thickness?

 

Is there any DIY to mount them?

 

Yes. As stated above the 3M Molding Tape that you can pick up at any auto parts store works great.

The full product name is:

3M
Scotch-Mount
Molding Tape

dimensions: 1/2in x 60in

Part # 03609NA

I think it cost me $3.

 

I meant a DIY for unmount and mount the door handles, but thanks for that info anyway. Any new knowledge is welcome!

 

I just did my door handles wrapped in satin black by Lyle of VinylStyles and I looked all over for a do it yourself and could not find anything! It was a major pain in the a$$ I'm not gonna lie. The first one took me about 4 hours. The second one, which I had to do the next day cuz I ran out of daylight, took me an hour and a half and that was with the knowledge of having done one already. So its not fun at all but it looks killer once they're done. I can type it up for you if you'd like but you know what they say....a picture is worth a thousand words. An explanation might help you along though.
Steve

 

Oh, sorry. These CF handles are "skins" of CF that go over the existing handle.

The best DIY book you can get for any MINI project is the Bentley Service Manual.

http://www.amazon.com/Mini-Cooper-Se.../dp/0837615119

Loads of pictures and decent descriptions on how to almost anything on your car.

 

My door handles took less than 2 hours...ya just gotta know where to look!

 

well that's really frustrating because I searched for almost an hour on this, mini2, and m/u and was a complete bust. It's too bad people don't share information more willingly I always thought that was one of the best perks of belonging to a group like this....that if you needed help or guidance on something someone was there to help ya out. I found dozens of threads on people who asked how to change them and no one responded. Hopefully people will see this link and will come in more handy then it did to me.

 

Well, at least you learned how to do them!

 

Hey all, I thought I would pass on a little update I heard on door handle production. I made my periodic stop to see Jim (Rogue Se7ens) our local carbon guru and ask if he was going to be making any more door handle caps. He said no more caps and that he doesn't like the stick on approach, but is working on full carbon replacement handles and is overlaying some with carbon. I hope to be the first to get his full carbon pieces and judging by all his other work they should be very nice and at a good price. I'll post more when I hear more.