I ordered all the black pieces from Mini. It was kind of spendy, but I didn't like the idea of painting the light gray pieces.

 

Very nice. Thanks!

I agree. that'll probably be the route I'll take. I got side tracked again---decided that I'm going to sound dampen my interior first to make it a bit quieter---well you know--thanks to you---when my bluetooth parrot thing gets here, a quieter cabin will be nicer...lol.

 

The bar is by Cusco. I got it from Mini Mania to match the front bar. I doubt it does anything, but I like the way it looks.

 

Octane, what year is your MINI?

 

It's a 2005

 

Yeah I've been considering doing the mat installation...but it's soooo labor intensive, I just don't know.

 

Yeah but you can start small too, lol. The door panels are pretty easy to remove. I had to remove mine when I painted them, and it was just a few screws and a bunch of prying to take the cover off. Then you just stick the mat there and put the cover back.

The big deal will be doing the floors. The boot can be done without too much trouble as well. Under the seats isn't a big deal either--easy enough to pull up the rear bench.

Pulling off the front seats isn't a huge deal if you remove the seat rails.

I remember DAVE did his Cooper and he said that he made the mistake of removing the top of the dash to get to the firewall I guess...said it was a pain in the **** to put it back. I seem to recall him saying he wouldn't do it again if he had to, so I don't think I'll be removing the dash.

The boot lid is easy to remove too. I just did that a couple of days ago to install a JCW CF boot handle.

Although I'm not 100% if I got enough material, I spent less than $200 for the sound absorbing materials RAAMmat BXT and Ensolite™ MLC--it was recommended for small cars.

I will post a writeup of course--the materials are supposed to arrive on Friday but there was a goof on the shipping address, so it might not come until Monday.

If you want to know what to buy read this
http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/

Here's what I bought
http://www.raamaudio.com/cgi-bin/ind...b2a6d892d56fc2

 

well,i am picking up my headliner and visors in two weeks. still crossing my fingers hoping it will all fit. Turns out anthracite wasn't even available before 2004, which i didn't know. MINI stats that even to this day you cant order anthracite for 04 or earlier models...not sure why, but I guess i'll be finding out soon enough.

 

Thought id post the little bit of progress so far. Instead of swapping headliners with a donor car, i decided to buy the pieces from Classic MINI since they happened to have a nice sale this month. My headliner and visors are in. all of my pillars and misc. other pieces should be here in a week or so. Here are the pics of the process to date.

here is how the A-pillar looks, despite what Bentley and MINI says, these CAN be removed without needing to be replaced. You just have to be careful.

there are 3 straps beneath each pillar, 1 big strap for the airbag, and two smaller straps to hold the pillar cover in place if bags are deployed. in the pic only 1 small strap is pictured as i had already uninstalled the other.


airbag strap



hole where airbag strap mounts (first screw you remove after popping a pillar cover free.


close up of the underside of A pillar and one of the small straps with clip still attached.


here you can see where the two strapped clips mount (vertical slots with round hole at either end) there is a 3rd lower clip which is not attached to a strap.


close up of a clip...4 metal prongs protrude to hold the clip in the metal slots...just press the prongs in to free them.


i used a staple remover to press the prongs in.


For the visors..... pop out the caps (2 on each visor)


cap


once two screws under the caps are removed the visor can be freed from its mounting point.


undo clip that powers the vanity mirror lights.


and reinstall.


before and after.


Once the pillars come in I will finish the project. A and B pillars can be reused, but after looking at the C pillar i don't think it is possible to remove it without either breaking a clip or cutting the strap.

Also ordered two grab bars, ultrasonic module, and dome light. The only thing I believe I will paint will be the clock pod.

 

I did the anthracite switch and it is fairly costly. Also you can't forget about the cutouts in the headliner for the roof handle on the passenger side and the extra side visor for the driver side. I have an 04 and I plan on covering these with plugs from an e46 BMW (they have to be glued on).

It gets pretty expensive since, not only you have to get the visors, but the A,B and C pillars, microphone cover, cover for the ultrasonic sensor for the alarm, and the map light assy. You'd think they'd come w/ the headliner, but they don't. Only thing that needs to be painted is the clock. Been trying to find the color that matches the headliner.

 

Very nice pictures of the conversion. I just ordered all the parts from MINI of Mo-Town they had the best prices for all the parts, 750.00 tax included and I'll pick them up so no shipping. I'm still upset that my MA never mentioned this option as I figured if the dash parts were anthracite, then so would the headliner! Live and learn. Most all the parts were in stock with only a few back ordered so it will most likly be a winter conversion. I'll be sure to do a nice write up with pictures also.

Thanks again

Mr. Jim

Needless to say there will be a grey headliner and components available :-)

 

I know what you mean, I found everything out the hard way. I've place 3 separate orders with Classic MINI because I was unaware of all the parts. Do you have a picture of said plugs? id like to see it and have that as a second option. I've just ordered the front grab bar and drivers side visor, and the mounting hardware...from the looks of it, it all should fit and look just like an 05+ roof....should be here by the end of the week and i'll know for sure.

 

How much are we looking at in order to buy the visors and pillars from the dealership?

 

it depends on the dealer, but i can give you an approx. price.
Visors will run you around $100 for the pair. A pillars are the cheapest at just over $30 each. B pillars are $40 each, and C pillars are the most expensive, almost $50 each. I bought my parts from Classic MINI when they were having their 10% above cost sale. which was a great deal. I saved over $100 on the headliner alone. I have a receipt at my house (im at work) that have the price i paid and list prices on it. so i'll update this later with more accurate prices.

 

I just put my new headliner in yesterday. For the front grab handle and side visor, I noticed that there were two square cut outs in the metal where the holes are. Does the hardware you are speaking of insert into the cutouts?

 

I'm going to be having the stock headliner re-covered (most likely in an ultrasuede) along with the A, B, and C pillars. Would I need to buy new C pillars or could the old ones be used?

Btw, for those considering swapping. It is cheaper to have the headliner recovered. I got quoted around $200 (plus the ultrasuede, anywhere from like $60-400 depending on brand) to recover the headliner. I think I'm going to wrap the A, B, and C pillars myself to save some loot.

Also, have you guys considered wrapping the clock with a matching fabric instead of painting it? I ask cause I'm just going to wrap mine in ultrasuede to match.

 

Got the headliner from MINI of Mo-Town for 270.00. But if your going to match all the trim pieces to headliner then it might be cheaper to go your way.

 

Now factor in labor if you don't DIY.

But I agree, it isn't much. For broke people like myself, every little bit helps lol.

 

I'm actually really taking a liking to the two tone. I think the black visors with black clock and black a b and c pillars would look awesome with the beige headliner, those colors seem to contrast themselves very well together...kind of like the blacked out look on a pepper white. Have you gotten prices on the visors a,b,and c pillars and well for me its the led lights and airbag light not the clock??

Steve

 

unfortunately, i'm not 100% on this yet as the parts were supposedly on back order, and are being shipped from oxford. However, you can't just buy the visor and handle and pop them in. I know there are some brackets, and screws involved, very similar to the metal brackets for the two front sunvisors.

The A, and C are supposed to be one-time use only(they have straps that are fixed to the car and have to be cut. However, I was easily able to remove the A pillars without breaking them. The C pillars are different, I didnt see anyway of getting to the strap and unscrewing it, I could barely get to it to cut it. As long as you dont break any clipps, they will snap back in place, but if youre ever in an accident and the airbags deploy, and you dont have them strapped, they become an instant projectile.

LIST PRICE//////PRICE I PAID ON SALE
Visors 76.30///// 50.36 (each)
Headliner 337.95////// 234.20
A pillar 33.81 ///// 23.43 (each)
B pillar 47.38 ///// 32.84 (each)
C pillar(mini calls them D) 42.98////// 29.79 (each)
ultrasonic module 25.78////// 17.86
dome light 46.88 //// 30.94


thats what i have purchased. however, i am still waiting on my grab handles, driver/passenger visor/handle, and the hardware.

 

wow even without the headliner its still really expensive. I just did a rough addition of the list prices and came up with almost $500 without the headliner. then like you said add the grab handles, driver sun visor, and hardware close to 600 not sure if its worth it anymore....now I really wish I had gotten it as an option from the factory (I think it was only a $250 or $300 option!!)

 

You can save a big chunk of money by re-covering your headliner. We're talking about $30 worth of headliner material and some spray glue. Others have had success using spray on dyes.

Since the A-pillar covers are removable--paint or cover them.

I bought some used visors off eBay, though in hindsight, didn't save much money over new discounted ones. I'll need new grab handles and side visors.

Richard

 

I have the headliner in and reinstalled all of the grey pieces. Two-tone FTW. I am just going to do the parts little by little so it isn't a huge expense. I'll order the sunvisors and A pillars first and then just work my way back.

 

Any pics?

Replacing all the factory parts is soo expensive. You definitely save money by just wrapping the pillars since they CAN be re-used, aside from the C pillars. It would likely be cheaper to wrap the sunvisors instead of replacing them as well. A route I'm going to look into.

If no one ever uses the back seats then simply painting them yourself is an option. There are ways to cut costs. It seems more logical to just have the headliner re-covered and to wrap all the existing parts that can be re-used.

 

Two-Tone