Interior/Exterior Interior and exterior modifications for Cooper (R50), Cabrio (R52), and Cooper S (R53) MINIs.

Interior/Exterior Alternate boot handle-Factory Saab part

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Old 04-14-2003, 11:48 AM
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Just thought I'd share an idea that I found on the internet from a BMW owner. Saab makes a stainless steel L-shaped bracket that fits behind the license plate and mounts using the license plate bolts. It provides a small, unobtrusive, lip so you can easily close the boot without slamming your hand in the process. The pictures reflect the Black Pearl trunk handle available at any Saab parts counter.

Here are the Saab part numbers and pricing:

Silver Bright (02-50-357) $19.95
Black (02-51-819) $19.95
Black Pearl (02-51-827) $25.75
Brushed Silver (02-74-245) $19.95




Enjoy!


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Old 04-14-2003, 11:54 AM
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Is this so your fingers don't get all dirty when you close the boot? Wouldn't they STILL get dirty...
 
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Old 04-14-2003, 11:54 AM
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Interesting idea, but the handles on the inside of the boot door work just fine for me. My hands never get anywhere near being slammed when closing it.

On a side note, I wish I could have black pearl badging and trim all over my car instead of chrome. Yum!

R
 
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Old 04-14-2003, 11:56 AM
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It is designed so you don't have to touch the boot when closing if you don't want to use the factory handles on the inside. Too many encounters with my arm and the bottom of the boot!
 
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Old 04-14-2003, 11:57 AM
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>>Interesting idea, but the handles on the inside of the boot door work just fine for me. My hands never get anywhere near being slammed when closing it.
>>
>>On a side note, I wish I could have black pearl badging and trim all over my car instead of chrome. Yum!
>>
>>R

I agree on the badging!!!!
 
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Old 04-14-2003, 06:30 PM
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The handles on the inside of my boot are upside down so I can't use them to close the boot unless I am actually inside the boot. I tried to fix them so that I could reach them from outside but they appear to be molded into the panel. Am I looking at the wrong thing?
 
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Old 04-14-2003, 07:07 PM
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>>The handles on the inside of my boot are upside down so I can't use them to close the boot unless I am actually inside the boot. I tried to fix them so that I could reach them from outside but they appear to be molded into the panel. Am I looking at the wrong thing?<<

It sounds like you're looking at the right thing. They are two plastic circles molded into the interior panel of the hatch with a semi-circle "handle" that looks like it covers about half of the circle.

When you say "upside down" do you mean that the opening is towards the bottom of the hatch or towards the top? On mine, the opening is towards the bottom.

This works fine when the hatch is open for you to reach up, stick your fingers in, grab the "handle," and pull down. The trick is to get enough downward momentum to be able to pull your hand out and let inertia finish closing the hatch. This eliminates you having to touch the back and "finger" it up.

 
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Old 04-14-2003, 07:36 PM
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thanks! I,m going to Saab to get one tomorrow, I have been useing the license plate to close mine so I don't get finger prints on the paint.
 
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Old 04-15-2003, 01:27 PM
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My hatch handles have the opening at the top. IOW, I could store things in there when the hatch is closed but there's no way to get my fingers in there from outside the car. You're saying that yours are open on the bottom such that you can simply reach up Hitler-style and you're fingers go right in? I'll have to look again but it sure looks like a one-peice molded panel. I wonder if they made a change to prevent people from using them?
 
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Old 04-15-2003, 01:46 PM
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Old 04-15-2003, 01:48 PM
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... I just reach over the top and push on the license plate ...

 
  #12  
Old 04-26-2003, 10:53 PM
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Someone is selling a similar item on ebay. They also offer to paint it for an additional $17.

ebay item


 
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