I really like them, but don't know if they should be on there forever. I know they'll last another year or two, and then I could replace them, but maybe I'd prefer to change the look, by removing them or going with another style stripe. I park the car in direct sunlight (Florida) all day long, 6 days a week.

Will the stripes leave a shadow on the paint from all of the sun exposure if I leave them on much longer?

 

In florida sun with that much exposure time, Id say that theres already lines on the paint.

 

If the thinking that the sun has etched them in is correct, it'd be like shadow stripes when removed, right?

 

I was worried about the same thing. I bought an 8-month-old electric blue MINI in Houston. I don't know how it was housed, but I wanted the stripes off and was concerned about fading. Yesterday, I peeled them off and was pleasantly surprised to find no fading at all. (Had there been fading, my plan was to simply install new stripes.)
By the way, they came off incredibly easy. I parked it out in the Arizona sun for two hours, and they peeled right off. No additional heat needed.

 

^^^Innovative, yet interesting.

 

My best guess would be that you will see no fading if you remove the stripes. Modern paints are pretty good.

 

If you like them then keep them fading or not.
If you don't like them then remove them- if no fading then fine, if faded then replace the old stripes with new stripes over the same area to cover up anything you don't want to see.
What is the color of your MINI?
_________________
ALOHA

 

It's Cosmos Black with white roof and stripes.