M7 grill on PW (round 2!)
 

Ok for those who saw my car before, i had installed black m7 grills on my PW. The problem was, the metal behind the grill was also white and it was highly visable behind the grill. Soooo...i painted it this weekend and also installed a hole in the bottom grill to have access to my tow hook hole. Here are the pics, enjoy!!! :)

getting started...jacked up the car and took off front the bumper/grills

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...ooper/B005.jpg

before taking off the front bumper i lined up the spot i needed to cut with the tow hook hole. Then i cut out a 1 inch circle from aluminum tape and stuck it onto the spot. This helped me ALOT!.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...ooper/B011.jpg

I then painted the ends of the exposed metal that had been cut and waited for it to dry. After it was all dried i installed the 1 inch rubber grommet.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...ooper/B018.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...ooper/B017.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...ooper/B019.jpg

Then it was time to paint! i taped off the area and used brown paper to keep off any over spray.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...ooper/B012.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...ooper/B013.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...ooper/B016.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...ooper/B023.jpg

after everything was dry i peeled off the tape and paper, and re-installed the m7 grills.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...ooper/B025.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...ooper/B027.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...ooper/B026.jpg

Then the only thing left to do was put the bumper back on and check for fittment. Making sure the hole i cut lined up perfectly with the tow hook hole.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...ooper/B028.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...ooper/B020.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...ooper/B033.jpg

Everything turned out good, and fittment was perfect. here is the finished product and the before pic.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...er/MINI022.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...er/MINI018.jpg

the before pic...

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...er/MINI016.jpg

That looks MUCH better. I think you make the right decision. I love the M7 grilles because it really exposes the "guts" of the MINI.

Nice work and nice pictures MINI Mizer! :thumbsup:

very VERY nice.... defenite suits the PW alot better than before... and also goes with the theme of blacked out grilles :thumbsup:

looks much better..

100% better, good job man! :thumbsup:

:thumbsup: Good job - Good report! :thumbsup:

NICE! I love it...Could you do mine... Just kidding thanks for the great pics...

looks so much better!!

how hard is it to take off the bumper??

not hard to take off the bumper. 2 torx head 30m, 4-8mm bolts, and about 6 phillips head screws. Along with undoing the bulbs from the blinkers.

100% improvement

Look great!!!
 

I was wondering if the M7 grills hod a hole for the tow hook.
Would there be any benefit in airflow to the rad if you removed some of the material behind the upper bumper cover grill?

The final product looks fantastic!