I don't know if this is really a "modification" but, I gave my 03 R50 a bath today before I drive from L.A. to S.F. tomorrow. My MINI has pretty low miles at 49K considering it's jeez, like almost 9 years old w/ a build date of 9/02.

Anyway, its in great shape except for the roof molding/gutters. The coating has started to wear away and you can see the aluminum underneath in spots.

I know I can replace the moldings easily enough for about $120. BUT, the thought struck me that I could probably just buy a can of rubberized undercoating for $5 and make them look almost original and probably more durable.

So my question is: I would imagine they are pretty flimsy. Has anyone removed then and then reinstalled them without screwing them up? And the clips underneath. How many are there in total and are they re-usable? How about the corner pieces above the A-pillars? Looking at them I can't really tell if the roof moulding snaps into those corner pieces of just slides under. If they just slide under, I guess care would have to be taken in removing them so the corner pieces don't snap.

Thanks in advance. Maybe I'm just crazy but, $5 or $10 vs $120 seems cool to me. Plus I like to do that stuff. If it is a success I would gladly post some pics.

 

I was thinking about plasti_Diping mine. Probably mask them off and spray on the car. otherwise it will take a pretty long time to take them off and I wpule probably have to replace some clips.

 

Wait a second, I had never really heard of Plasti Dip until you mentioned it! That's even better than rubber undercoating! Would you spray it or brush it on? Now we're cooking. I wonder if I could use it to permanantly black out my beltline too. I ended up taking the vinyl tape of the chrome beltline after about 18 months because it started shriveling on one side.

 

You can get plasti-dip in either spray or liquid form. But spray usually yields the best results. You may even be able to mask off the roof and windows with thicker brown paper and painter's tape, then spray the rails on the car. The belt line would be harder to do though, but I seem to recall someone using plasti-dip on it.

 

If you want texture you can use spray in bed liner too. I have used both in rattle can. If you want smooth plastic look. Use plasti dip spray. If you want textured plastic look use spray in bed liner.