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JCW GarageInterested in John Cooper Works (JCW) parts for your 2nd Generation MINI? This is where JCW upgrades and accessories for the MINI Clubman (R55), Cooper and Cooper S (R56), and Cabrio (R57) MINIs are discussed.
It is under warranty. This is just one of the few other trim parts to be fixed or replaced at the next service visit.
Odd. As Ian (flyjets01) said, soft-touch paint does eventually peel on pretty much everything, [i]but[/] I am astonished that the center spoke peeled so quickly. I had a mouse I used daily take over two years before its soft-touch paint started to come off. The only way I can imagine the center spoke taking so much wear within the first few years of ownership is if you were using the spoke as a pivot point in turns. If your fingers were twisting relative to the spoke as the wheel spins, I could see the forces being enough to wear that paint unusually quickly.
Which isn't to say I think it's acceptable that the trim wear that way. Just that I could see a situation in which it would.
Perhaps this is why on the Gen 3 cars, the JCW steering wheel trim is shiny black.
So this thread made me curious… and I found a fascinating article on the state of soft-touch paint technology from the American Coatings Association: Formulating Soft-Touch Coatings: A Balancing Act
For automotive coatings, chemical resistance to the insect repellant DEET (N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) and suntan lotions is essential, as is resistance to cleaners, perspiration, and grease staining. Adhesion can be a challenge as well. “A coating that sticks to one substrate may not stick well to another, or it may be affected by hand creams and suntan lotions, which at elevated temperatures could soften the coating and migrate into the plastic, causing a failure in the adhesion between the coating and the plastic substrate,” Chavannavar explains. “To achieve the required chemical and mechanical properties, the coating would require a higher Tg and increased crosslinking density, which would harden the film and make it resistant to attack by solvents and other chemicals. Since these requirements are the opposite of those necessary to produce a soft feel, the coatings would either exhibit good resistance properties without being soft or they would be soft, but fail in the chemical resistance tests,” she continues.
I had never really thought about the chemical-resistance requirement of interior car surfaces, at least no further than seating surfaces. I can see where a steering wheel would be a particular challenge, as it's exposed to direct sunlight, extreme heat, constant touching, and any and all chemicals we put on our bodies.
Interesting, and you bought the car new ? Was not added. Must have been a couple months earlier then the etk states. I have seen allot of 2012 models with this added. Popular upgrade.
So this thread made me curious… and I found a fascinating article on the state of soft-touch paint technology from the American Coatings Association: Formulating Soft-Touch Coatings: A Balancing Act
I had never really thought about the chemical-resistance requirement of interior car surfaces, at least no further than seating surfaces. I can see where a steering wheel would be a particular challenge, as it's exposed to direct sunlight, extreme heat, constant touching, and any and all chemicals we put on our bodies.
I don't handle the steering wheel by the center spoke and I don't wear hand cream. I also have tinted windows and the only person who drives this car.
The matter is really about wrong preparation of the surface before the coating is applied. I know very well about this industry for 35 years.
Interesting, and you bought the car new ? Was not added. Must have been a couple months earlier then the etk states. I have seen allot of 2012 models with this added. Popular upgrade.
I don't think it was added but I can't say, I am the second owner. First owner put 9,000 miles between October 13 and May 16, but she got 99% of the bells and whistles you could possibly get so perhaps this was one of them. She even bought what looks like the MINI seat belt holders (and after doing research I found that they are notoriously poorly designed).
Yea, so she might had seen it on a newer MINI and said , I want that, at some time. Same here with mine, the person before got everything, did not like the black top and had it painted BMW Alpine white , with new stripes and mirror caps painted to the tune of $3,500. So I can understand non stock add ons.
