I've seen more than one reference to factory painted Aero Kits for the R53; does anybody know if these are still available? I'm looking for a kit for my '06 S in Hyper Blue, no PDC......

 

im looking for these as well :(

 

VERYYYY few dealers( generally) offer the factory painted aero kit its basically and call each one and cross your fingers deal ...i believe classic mini offered it . dont quote me on that though ...most you will find will just be primed

 

I assume that buying peices unpainted from some place like Outmotoring and then having them color-matched is not an option? All the ones I've seen are supplied unpainted... Your color code is inside the door and it can be used to very closely match your OEM paint, provided it's not all terribly faded or something...

 

Local painting is one option; but places around here want big $$ to do it, so if I could find a dealer that still had kits, I was hoping I could save a few bucks that way....

 

Pre-painted aero pieces are (or were) available from MINI dealers and take about a month by special order from Germany. Classic MINI gave me a quote last year for the side skirts (I decided to do something different). However, someone posted recently that pre-painted is no longer available. I would not be surprised now that the R56 is in production.

 

I also heard they were no longer available.. Some dealers did a clearance sale some time ago..

 

Ultimately, I guess this is what I was hoping; that someone knew of a dealer that wanted to rid themselves of a HB kit that they had lying around, at a nice savings, since the R53 is discontinued and all....

A long shot I know, but I figured this place would be the best shot if anyone knew of such a deal.....

 

i too am interested in hyper blue side skirts....i talked to classic mini and they said today that they are no longer available no one in the country have the pre painted hyper blues only primed ones still available??anyone out there have these prepainted ones by chance???

when the primed ones painted do you have to paint the 2 toned??

what about the wheel arch pieces when using the new skirts? do you get new ones? the ones on the car now is all one piece with the stock skirts???

does this make since?

thanks
Wade

 

classic still has them, got a quote last week. Painted would take about 4-6 weeks to deliver, but they still have them. Call them or email them, they will help you out and give you a NAM discount, so make sure to tell them you are a member.

 

I just ordered my Aero-kit from OutMotoring yesterday, because i too was told from several dealers that Mini no longer offers the painted Aerokits! Too bad, but i am getting mine painted and getting the arches to match locally in NJ

 

No, if you look carefully the wheel arch pieces are NOT one piece with the stock skirts, and do not need to be replaced.

With the primed pieces you paint them two toned if you want to match the existing bottom black trim. Unfortunately two toned means two paint jobs (almost twice the cost). Or you can paint everything one color (you'll also want to paint your wheel arches to match).

 

so the ends of the primed aero kits have to be painted with a grained matte black paint to match the arches around the wheels if we choose not to paint our wheel arches.

IS THIS CORRECT?????????????

 

rphman, yes that is correct. The aerokit plastic is smooth and matching the wheel arches is accomplished by using textured paint. See the fitting instructions here: http://www.motoringfile.com/howto/Ae...%20Bodykit.PDF

 

so where do we get the textured paint since the prepainted ones are not available anymore from mini?

What about using flat or matte black paint??????

Thanks
Wade

 

Looking for a prepainted front bumper in Chili Red myself...anyone have one?

 

An experienced body shop would know how to match color and texture. Also see page 5 of the instructions.

 

^ Exactely! My bodyshop would do either or, but in the end i chose and was convinced to get the wheels arches painted to match the aerokit. This is a little more involved, because the arches have to be taken off the car and "smoothed" to match the texture and surface of the rest of the car. So that Textured surface on the arches will now be nice and smooth like the rest of the body
See pic below

 

PS full body paint is the hawtness. That looks GREAT!!!!

 

Yeah, I've been going back and forth on matching arches; the PS does look awesome....I've seen a couple HBs that look cool too; I do think that lowering and aftermarket rims are required to really get the full effect of painted arches though.....

 

^ Yes i agree. I am lowered and i will have some sort of wheels by spring. Now if i could only decide on what rims to get...

 

I've actually seen a matte black finish on the Aero Kit arches. Really looks to be a close match to the textured finish. I couldn't tell until I actually touched it.
I'm sure glad I found an aero kit factory painted already.

 

I'll post pics when I get my aero kit installed this weekend. I have my arches painted already, just waiting to pick up my aero kit at the painter.

The arches don't necessarily have to be sanded. If you find a very talented painter, like I did, it will be alot cheaper. I was astonished to see the outcome because I was skeptical of seeing texture without it being sanded. The results are amazing.

 

Hey... question... MUST you use the areo grille with the areo front bumper, or will the OEM grill fit? I'm one of those wacky people that feel that the areo grille is too overused and common (sorry). Plus I like my chrome/black DIY grille. The Aero front end IS awfully neat, though...

 

I believe that I've seen the stock grille used with the Aero Kit bumper...if you swim around the Gallery, you'll probably find some pics...

Personally, I dig the Aero grille...it totally transforms the look of the whole car. The grille alone makes the car look more aggressive, IMO.

My tax refund checks have been deposited...with no luck finding a prepainted Chili Red bumper, I think I'm going to order an unpainted one from Outmotoring, and maybe the Alta light bar with yellow lights.