Hi, all!
I really like the look of "S" fuel cap and would love to put it onto my soon-to-be-mine MINI...
I called the dealer and she quoted me $275 for kit and installation.
Is this reasonable ? (she told me that its very difficult to install yourself.)
And is there any known problem after switching fuel cap? (Any leaks or damage to the car?)

My appologies if this has been discussed before...
I did the search but all the post seems to be old and was curious to see if any new development has had happened.
Any insights will be greatly appreciated!!
:smile:

 

>>Hi, all!
>>I really like the look of "S" fuel cap and would love to put it onto my soon-to-be-mine MINI...
>>I called the dealer and she quoted me $275 for kit and installation.
>>Is this reasonable ? (she told me that its very difficult to install yourself.)
>>And is there any known problem after switching fuel cap? (Any leaks or damage to the car?)
>>
>>My appologies if this has been discussed before...
>>I did the search but all the post seems to be old and was curious to see if any new development has had happened.
>>Any insights will be greatly appreciated!!
>> :smile:

DO NOT PAY $275 for that. I bought my gas cap at www.rspeed.net/mini for $80.

As far as installation, it is kind of difficult, but it could've just been me since this was the 1st mod I ever did on a car in my life. You would have to get1 small piece painted to the body color of your car. BMW of San Francisco did mine for free since it was such a small piece. You would have to wait since they won't put that in priority. The hardest thing is yanking the old gas cap out.
-First thing is to get that small surround piece painted
-You would have to jack up the rear driver's side wheel
-Then you would have to unscrew the fender flares.
-alot of unscrewing
-Yank out he old gas cap
-put the new one in

No problems at all and I put it on right when I got my car since May 2003. No leaks or anything, just people mistaking my Cooper for an S

If you have trouble with installing, I would suggest bringing the instructions from Rspeed to any body shop. They are very well written instructions with tons of pictures so you can't go wrong. The dealer always overcharges installation (i.e. $80 to install bonnet stripes )

Rspeed is the way to go...

 

My hat's off to Ivan....a braver man than I. Lots of folks have done the fuel cap mod successfully. I would hesitate because everything I do seems to have at least one tragic flaw that only I notice. It's my signature!

_________________
'03 IB/W Cooper

 

Thank you very much for your input.
jivanivan, wow, I am impressed! You sure made it sound easy but I am sure you have alot more experience (and the talent, no doubt) than you are leading us to believe!!
I am like jds, I don't think I have a courage to "Yank" out the gas cap from a brand spanking new MINI myself.

 

Yes do not pay that price!!!. I agree the S-cap is great and had it installed on my 04 Jet Black MC (it looks awesome).

Here is a tip that my Mini dealer recommended since I live 100 miles away. Go to a local body shop, they can order the Mini paint and paint it and install it.

I also have a Honda Odyssee which got hit from behind and I took it in to the Honda body shop. I asked if they could paint and install ithe cap (They said it would cost about $25.00 to do both). When I picked it up they said it was no charge!! (Probably because they made so much on the Odyssey bumper from the insurance company).

So my recommendation is to order the kit online (About $80.00) and take it to a body shop and get a quote. You will save a lot.

The dealer fell in love with my MC as well.

Let us know the outcome!
:smile:

 

I'm about to do the opposite. I've got an MCS and plan on installing a MC cap. My MINI is black and I'm trying to eliminate the chrome where ever I can. The dealer parts guy quoted me $10 for a primer fuel door. I'm having my wheel arches etc painted this week so they'll do the door at the same time. Given the RSpeed price of $80 I wonder if he had the right part.

 

>>My hat's off to Ivan....a braver man than I. Lots of folks have done the fuel cap mod successfully. I would hesitate because everything I do seems to have at least one tragic flaw that only I notice. It's my signature! For me, it'd be hard tampering with a brand new MINI myself like that. But that's just me.
>>
>>I do really like the MCS gas cap! I was considering it at one time, too, but talked myself out of it upon further consideration. I'm great at further considerations! I'm also very conservative on mods. I've looked into many, many mods but upon further study on them here and on other web sites, I've tended to back off of my initial enthusiasm.
>>
>>For anybody interested in my advise I'd say do what you feel you have to prior to delivery, but then drive the car awhile and consider whether or not certain cosmetic mods (...or performance mods) are really an improvement. Study it. They can sometimes degrade the look of the car, IMO. Why, I've seen cosmetic mods in "certain" catalogues that are absolutely hideous...almost comical! (...to me anyway.) Some seem marketed only to take advantage of our enthusiasm for our MINIs...not to our sense of good taste.
>>
>>That said, I'll restate that the MCS gas cap is way cool! I don't mean to diss the mod enthusiasts out there, I just am stating my viewpoint to illustrate a diversity of approaches, especially among the NAM minority.



FYI The original sketches, design, and first prototype of the MINI Cooper featured what is currently known as the Cooper S gas cap. So in a sense putting the MCS gas cap on the Cooper is actually truer to the original concept than what is on dealer lots now. That's one of the reasons why I have it on mine!

 

>>Thank you very much for your input.
>>jivanivan, wow, I am impressed! You sure made it sound easy but I am sure you have alot more experience (and the talent, no doubt) than you are leading us to believe!!
>>I am like jds, I don't think I have a courage to "Yank" out the gas cap from a brand spanking new MINI myself. :smile:

 

>>I'm about to do the opposite. I've got an MCS and plan on installing a MC cap. My MINI is black and I'm trying to eliminate the chrome where ever I can. The dealer parts guy quoted me $10 for a primer fuel door. I'm having my wheel arches etc painted this week so they'll do the door at the same time. Given the RSpeed price of $80 I wonder if he had the right part.

KerMini, isn't it funny we are trying to do exactly the opposite!?
I see your reasoning for doing it too.
In my case I want to break up the flatness (for lack of better words..) on the side of PW/B MINI. :smile:
You would think fuel door would cost more than $10 but who knows? The dealer quote is very funny thing indeed...

Good luck, KerMini on your mod! Let us know how it turns out.

 

>>FYI The original sketches, design, and first prototype of the MINI Cooper featured what is currently known as the Cooper S gas cap. So in a sense putting the MCS gas cap on the Cooper is actually truer to the original concept than what is on dealer lots now. That's one of the reasons why I have it on mine!

So Gabe, how did you go about getting your "S" fuel cap...if you don't mind me asking.
By the way, your BRIDGER.US is an awesome site!

 

>>>>FYI The original sketches, design, and first prototype of the MINI Cooper featured what is currently known as the Cooper S gas cap. So in a sense putting the MCS gas cap on the Cooper is actually truer to the original concept than what is on dealer lots now. That's one of the reasons why I have it on mine!
>>
>>So Gabe, how did you go about getting your "S" fuel cap...if you don't mind me asking.
>>By the way, your BRIDGER.US is an awesome site!

Thanks - be sure to check it out this weekend and next week as we'll be introducing some major changes to it.

The gas cap is a pretty easy install if you have decent instructions, some know-how and are very patient. I simply ordered it from my parts counter (they met the classic MINI price) and had them paint the plastic circle at the body shop. The whole thing was like $100. Try to have them group the plastic ring with another paint job so you don't have to pay for prep or clean up.

 

nebody know where i can get these rspeed instructions to install the gas cap? i looked on the site cant find them newhere i need these instructions as my gas cap arrives in approx 2/3 days many thanks!