I'm running out of exterior mods to do so I figured the next best thing was to get started on the interior! I've got a few really cool things planned for the interior and here are just a couple of them.

We purposely didn't get a special dash from MINI because I knew I wanted to customize it somehow. I like the Carbon Fiber look and wanted to go that route but had a hard time swallowing the high price of a OEM carbon fiber dash. One of my FAVORITE custom mod guys, Lyle from Vinyl Styles showed me a picture of a dash that he covered in carbon fiber. The material matched the CF center stack decal that I had previously purchased from Aesthetic Creations so I had to have it! I got the dash which is two pieces on the R56 (the piece behind the steering wheel and the piece where the secret compartment is) as well as the door pulls.

It was a pretty easy install that didn't take very long at all and looks great for a fraction of the cost for the real CF dash. I'm very happy with the results!

I also looked into ordering some custom door sills from Mike at Aesthetic Creations. After emailing back and forth with Mike, we were able to nail down exactly what I wanted for the door sills which was "COOPER" in metallic blue with "S" in orange all on a CF background.

Mike hit the nail on the head with this one! I absolutely LOVE the way this looks and it fits in perfectly with the rest of the faux CF pieces on the interior. I think this is a very nice, high quality imitation carbon fiber decal that looks fantastic. It's actually a metallic decal so there is quite a bit of depth in it.

Once again, BOTH these guys came through for me (like I ever had any doubt!). They are definitely two great guys in the industry! Thanks again Lyle and Mike!

I also gave my Mini a well deserved bath today. It's been raining on and off so much here that it's been hard to find the opportunity for a good wash!

Let me know what you think!

Thanks,
Celia

The dash pieces...








Door Sills (please excuse the dirty floor mats!)...








After a fresh wash!

 

The carbon looks great, Celia- I think you've clinched my decision to go this direction as well vs. the union-jack look.

Nice work!

 

SWEET !!!

And when did you get those orange side repeater lenses ? I must have missed that thread.

It's all coming together, Celia ! You will be entering that gorgeous MINI in the show at MOTD, right ? RIGHT ???

 

Wow I might have to give up on my quest to get a satin black dash to go for the CF instead. That looks incredible!

 

Hey, Celia... you need some Black/Blue cocomats in that MINI !!

 

nice

 

I think you'll be really happy with the carbon fiber...I know I am! This decal that Lyle is using looks incredibly good and I've actually had several people comment on it thinking it was the real stuff.


I actually have a funny story about those orange side repeater lenses. Another NAM member (Yucca Patrol) had suggested that I swap the clear ones out for orange to go with my other orange parts because the white stood out so much. I thought it was a great idea too so I started my search for a set of orange lenses. I knew they sold clear ones for Cooper owners to buy so they could get rid of their orange ones. So I figured, they would have orange ones available for sale too.

I looked and looked and had NO luck at all finding any for sale. So then I figured, okay, no big deal. I'll just post a trade ad - my clear lenses for a Cooper owner's orange ones. I figured that would be an easy swap and some Cooper owner out there could save the $36 cost of a set of clear lenses. It would be a win/win situation! However, after a few weeks I really had NO interest at all in a swap! I couldn't believe it!

I had about given up and was going to try purchasing a set of orange lenses through the dealership (but would have to buy the housing too because they didn't sell just the lenses by themselves) when I told my MA about the problem I was having. His response was, "Well, there's a regular Cooper right there. We could do that swap!" That was the last thing I expected to be offered from the dealership! He said he would check with the manager and make sure a swap was okay and to give him a call next week. When I called him, sure enough, everything was all set for us to make the trade!

When we went to the dealership, he had a Pure Silver regular Cooper sitting there with nice, shiny ORANGE side marker lenses and we did the swap right then and there! It only took about five minutes to do and I love the results!


YES! I am VERY excited about the Dragon and do plan on entering the show. I know it's going to be a LOT of fun!


Hmmm...I just might have to look into that...thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks,
Celia

 

is your color line factory or did you paint them yourself.... the reason i ask is because it looks like your door arm rests are faded a few shades lighter than your dash. It might just be the pictures though.

 

The door is open SUNLIGHT.

 

Yes, thank you. The color line is oem and the color difference you see in the photos is definitely from the sun shining directly on it in the picture. Otherwise, all the pieces are the same shade of blue

Thanks,
Celia

 

hotness .

 

So when are you going to mount the detector up high to hide the power cord? and I know you've looked at CF e-brake handles right?

 

SOON! I'm getting the headliner custom done so we're waiting until our upholstery guy gets ahold of the exact fabric we went and then we'll remove the headliner ourselves. Once the headliner is out, then we're going to work on mounting the detector up there.

I did see the CF e-brake handle and will most likely be getting that soon too. I've got LOTS of interior mods planned...too many in fact !