Anyone regret painting their wheel arches, rocked moldings and other trim pieces? I am considering this, but wanted to hear pro and cons before I decide. For instance, does the paint chip real easily from these areas or is it just as durable as the rest of the vehicle?

Thanks for any input you can provide!

 

i have not had any problem with my painted arches.. EB, i painted them myself they have been on my car for over 17000 miles and there easy to keep shiny and clean no fading of the black.. just make sure you buy new one before you paint there only 60 bucks for all 6 pieces... you dont want to paint the ones you have put any kind of silcone products on. It will cause the paint not to adhere right to the pastic.

good luck
david
000

 

The paint has chipped on the rear wheel arches of GBMINI - where dirt thrown up by the front wheels hits them. The bottom edge of the front bumper is also chipped (standard bumper sanded & painted, not aero bumper).
I think if I was buying another MINI, I would not have the parts painted again; but I do like the looks - depends what color the car is, too.

 

My car is Dark Silver.


So, we have 1 Pro and 1 Con.

Anyone else what to chime in, please?

 

HarveyJoseph has a DS with painted exterior trim ... check out his website and some of his pics ...

 

how was the process of painting the arches? I went to the body shop I usually go to, and they said you'd need to sand them down smooth, then prime and paint. Is this correct?

 

I saw someone on another forum say they ordered them by color - pre-painted. That would be nice. Anyone know about this?

 

Yes, this is what was done on my GBMINI, and on Harveys car ...

Supposedly you can order the parts pre-painted from the factory but I have never seen details (part numbers, etc). I suspect it may be an option for some countries (England?) but not USA.

 

Hmm, I wonder how much labor $$ I can save by sanding them myself. I don't think I would want to try to paint them myself...

 

What paint did you use? What color did you paint them? Where did you get the paint? How difficult was it? How many more questions can I ask?

 

if you have never painted before, don't try it. you have to mix everything and it is a lot to talk aobut that has been covered in other threads. i did a write up here that shows everything you need to know. there is also no need to sand the parts smooth as any good primer will fill in the texture. i have had mine painted for about 32,000 miles and have had no problems. good luck.

 

I have the Factory Aero Kit on mine and had the dealer do the Wheel arches.

Pros: I love the look. It's very clean and sharp. I'll try to get some pics posted.

Cons: I had to have the L front redone and will need to do the R Front as wheel. The L Front started coming off and it was obvious that the paint on part of the arch just plain hadn't bonded to the surface. When we (Sales Mgr and I) drove my the body shop to have them take it off to redo, one of the paint techs commented that the original tech didn't sand them properly. They redid the arch and it looked great.

About a week ago I noticed the same problem starting on the other arch. I still need to call them to get it repaired.

Even given this, I would still do it again.

One caveat, there are a bunch of clips that hold the arch on the body. Be careful in that they appear to break easily when removing and putting the archs back on. Not sure why.

MacGuruTX

 

When I ordered the car I told the dealer that I wanted them to paint the air dams, arches, and under-door sills. They said no problem and when it arrived they took off pices and had a BMW body & paint shop do the work. The paint is the factory paint and is as, if not more, durable as the rest of the car. If your dealership cannot or will not do it, find a custom shop. You do not want a mickey mouse job. When done right, you will love it! I painted mine body color wheras some are doing contrast, i.e. light silver on dark silver, or gloss black.
Price varies, but you get what you pay for with something like this.

Hope this helps...

 

I am getting ready to do mine in gloss black on a Pure Silver MCS. I love the contrast but find the stock matte finish dull as well as a pain in the butt to keep clean.

 

I was actually gonna do this exact same thing but decided to wait till me aero grills come in, then paint them all at the same time. I'm doing the molding, aero grill surrounds, and my stock s-lites gloss black on my Pure Silver MCS.

 

I've heard that they are extremely prone to chipping and should have a clearbra applied to prevent it. (Again, I think Harvey has that)

I know for similarly sanding and painting textured black plastic on my last car, sanding plastic is NOT easy, as it simply kind of melts...the dust doesn't go away or aid sanding, it just kind of rolls up. I wouldn't recommend doing it yourself just to save some labor.

 

I guess I'll swing by the shop the local Mini dealer farms their work out to and get an estimate. Still not sure if I should go with body color, or gloss black.

 

Below has a great before/after pic of the DS, which I think looks excellent with its trim painted to match. This is the shop that we use around here and as you can see id Harvey's and Ian's MINIs.
http://www.sublimerestorations.com/other.html

He mentioned to me he was considering painting and shipping the arches to order...so you may want to call him and ask, as they aren't too difficult to install yourself if they were shipped to you.

 

What's an average price for painting and sanding all of the pieces? I ordered my parts (discounted from MINI of Sterling on Roadfly) and they are en route.

Doing gloss black arches with either PS/black aero skirts or all-black regular skirts. Haven't ordered the skirts yet.