I know this isn't totally on-topic, so don't respond if you feel the question is out of place. BUT, I was wondering, what do all of these kind of mods do to the resale value? Or do most people who do them plan on keeping their MINI's for a long time?

BTW, I like the black trim without the Joey mod.

_

 

I'm keeping mine a long time. Some people reverse some of their mods before selling especially bolt on parts that they can resell for better return. But if you sell via a site such as NAM you may find someone that is looking to make many of the changes you already have and therefore they'd save you the fuss of reversing and pay some of the value - that would be the route I'd take. Trade-ins would hate mod and probably wouldn't be interested and ceratinly wouldn't give you much if any return - so private sale would be way to go. When I sold my heavily modified '95 z28 camaro convertible, i left everything on it and sold it as-is, to a private buyer, I recovered about 30% of my modification cost which was pretty good you'd be hard pressed to do better selling the parts especially when you consider the labor in volved in reversing and sometimes getting OEM part back to OEM.

 

^ I think he wanted to know more so about the dechroming and painting headlight rings. Honestly I think only the savvy purchaser would notice, IMO it looks so clean and the purpose of this "mod" is that it DOESN'T stand out. A dealer, if trading the car in likely would have no idea unless it was a Mini dealer. So to answer your question, I believe resale value would be unchanged. A joey mod...that might be noticed...but this little stuff is actually very subtle.

The only way I do see it dropping resale value is if you do plan to keep the car for a LONG time and sell it as a "classic", as in those cases I would think stock would be worth more.

 

[quote=WLSH BST;2410116]That's a good question. It's been a while since I added the tint. They advertise that it doesn't affect the light output, but it's tint, so of course it does. I do remember being surprised at how much it did, maybe 25%. Straight ahead the lights are still bright, but off to the sides you really lose the dispersion. I need to use my lower driving lamps to help fill in the lost light, and together it works pretty good. I did not notice any more light loss after the Joey Mod, it doesn't seem to affect it.

 

25% is quite a hit - too much. Looks good but I'm old fashioned I like to see where I'm going

 

In addition to my headlight rings that will be arriving on Monday in BRG from Lyle. I am also installing vinyl wrapped BRG door handles, gas cap, hatch handle cover, grille, and tinting the headlights in a light smoke. The beltline blackout kit is also on the way. In the meantime, here is the new racing stripe. I like it because its very different and classy at the same time. Let me know what you think:

 

How hard is it to install those door handles?

 

The handles are a nightmare. After you take off the inside door covering you need a long allen key but its in such an awkward spot that all you can manage is 1 degree of movement. I may be exagerrating but it ceratinly feels that way take a couple of hrs each doorhandle and then double that for the reattachment. Mini service guys must have a special tool for this. I've never heard of anyone mention it though.

 

Thanks. I wonder if you can just attach the proper hex bit on a drill extension? ( the silver bendable extensions ) - I can't find a picture but if you own a decent set of bits etc you know what I'm talking about.

 

you referring to a snake driver?

 

That sounds right.

 

Here is a picture of the British Racing Green headlight Rings that were just put on this morning... they appear to be a lighter shade of green metallic. If I had to do it all over again, I certainly would have gone with a flat black.

 

Top picture...yes, I can see a difference.
Bottom picture...looks pretty good. If you decide to shoot them yourself, check out plasti-dip @ your local Lowe's or Home depot

 

If you verify that the snake driver is the magic tool to greatly speed up the door handle removal/install - please let me know. If I get my handles dinged in a parking lot I wouldn't want to go through that again without some process improvement.

 

I'm debating which type of rings to have Lyle wrap on my car. I have an MC and replaced the stock grill with the JCW grill and trim. I also have the bonnet stripes (kind of glossy).

So do you think satin or gloss will look better? I'm going to have him wrap the headlight and taillight rings and the door handles and the boot handle.

Thoughts?

 

I have the aero grill and gloss black stripes. when I painted my aero kit i painted the trim part gloss black. My handles, gas cap, side grills are gloss black. When I add the orcari scoops I'll make them gloss black too. The fact that my roof is gloss black helps. But for the light rings gloss body color is my preference, otherwise it has a blackeye - racoon look on non black cars. But everyone is different, your own preference is what counts.

 

I really like the flat satin look personally. Also, I think the glossy bonnet stripes may start to fade. The other thing that you would be matching with the flat black is the trim around the bottom of the car. Last, I think that the flat will be much more forgiving over the years of wear and possible rock chips.


I think I may keep the core headlight ring pieces instead of sending them back to try the plasti-dip. It seems like a great product. Does plasti-dip apear as a flat, glossy, smooth, or deep black? How would you describe it? Also do you have any close pictures of items that you have used the product on? Thanks!

 

It's a nice stain, deep black finish It's some awesome stuff. I think it matches the fender trim pretty darn well.

Here's some pictures of my gas cap. PaulieKeys has done quite a bit too, and it looks gooooood

 

Here's PaulieKeys' MINI

 

I think I might do the satin b/c the gloss black shows fingerprints (this will be vinyl not painted) My side grills are already black (MC) and that will most likely match better (at least the door handles)

Thoughts?

 

Do you have any more pictures of your front end? I'm a fellow BRGer looking to de-chrome my headlights and grill surround.

 

Here is the only other picture that I have right now... I just found it in my phone. I have done a few things since the last time I posted pictures. I tinted the headlights. Blacked out the entire grill, not just part of it (was wrapped in BRG vinyl and looked like crap), blacked out beltline kit, blacked center caps, etc. Let me know what you think:

 

Paulie Keys MINI is my favorite one.

 

Satin.

 

Yes I went Satin back in August - it's an old thread! - thanks for the help though!

See gallery for pics.