Hi, all.

I am freezing my exhaust pipe off in Chicago. To keep myself warm, I think of the day I take delivery of my Mini. Also tiding me over while fighting Season Affect Disorder are thoughts of personalizing my Mini.

I am looking for people to sell me decals for my roof and bonnet and perhaps produce decals I design. I also want somone with experience to install them. Keep in mind that I am leaning toward getting a sunroof.

Further, I am interested in quality driving lights. Some owners have posted complaints about the quality of the ones the dealers are selling. I also want the driving lights to be able to be on with the main beams and not just the highbeams.

Please let me know if you could provide any of these services and how to get in touch with you. I am willing to drive a couple of hours if I feel confident it will be worth the trip. Any assistance from local Mini owners who have had similar work done would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
-Otto

 

MINI branded auxillary driving lights are little more than a generic set of $50 lights with $350 plastic covers with MINI written on them. Even more insane is the $400 that a dealership charges for installation

Highly suggest getting your own set of PIAA's or Hella's or similar high quality lights. What exactly you get is up to you though. You can get the MINI mounting brackets separately from some of the online aftermarket sellers pretty cheaply.

You should be able to buy a quality set of lights for less than $200 and have them installed for about $50 by any decent automobile electrician.

Then kick back and decide what you are going to do with the extra $500 you just saved buying top-quality stuff instead of cheap generic crap.

 

Thanks, YuccaPatrol! Your advice will probably save me OVER $500. Motor on!

The Mini Madness driving lights are getting some good press on MCO. The dust guards they come with are also a nice option. If I was brave (and had the right tools), I'd do it myself since Mini Madness is supposed to send some pretty good directions.

If anyone out there can recommend a good auto electrician in or around the Chicago area (I'll even drive out to Rockford), I'd appreciate it if you can send their info my way.

Any help on the roof and bonnet decal issue would be great too.

Thanks again.
-Otto

 

Hiya!

As far as decals go, contact http://www.carvogue.co.uk if you want them to make your designs or photos into vinyl art for your MINI. I highly recommend them!!!!! CLICK HERE for roof decal info and some pictures.

Get the PIAA lights with the MINI brackets and install them yourself. You can turn them on whenever you darn well please (assuming they're legal in your area). :smile: CLICK HERE for Rally light thread and installation photos.


Search the forums and you will find a wealth of information on both subjects. Goodluck in your MINI-modding quest!

 

And the guy I spoke to at MINI Madness was great and offered to sell me the stock light mounting brackets without his lighting system. His stuff is great and a pretty good price for very high quality stuff. I think his stuff is PIAA, and since it comes with a top-notch wiring harness, it is a good deal even though they are listed at around $350 if my memory is correct.

Maybe the installations is a little more than $50, but it should take no longer than 2 billable hours to complete such a simple job that does not require tapping into the vehicle''s main electrical systems.

CMINGO, thanks for posting that link to the thread about installing them yourself. I will reference it when/if I do this myself.

_________________
~Yucca Patrol~

2003 MCS, BRG/W on the truck to my dealer!

"Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement."

 

>>As far as decals go, contact http://www.carvogue.co.uk if you want them to make your designs or photos into vinyl art for your MINI. I highly recommend them!!!!! CLICK HERE for roof decal info and some pictures.
>>
>>Get the PIAA lights with the MINI brackets and install them yourself. You can turn them on whenever you darn well please (assuming they're legal in your area). :smile: CLICK HERE for Rally light thread and installation photos.
>>
>>
>>

CMINGO, you and YuccaPatrol may have inspired me to do my own install on the lights. Great directions, BTW.

As for the decals, I do like the Carvogue ones as well as what I've seen from Cooperflags. Both have the perforated ones for sunroofers like me (and CMINGO?). I just wish I knew someone closer than Texas (Cooperflags) or Carvogue's U.S. partners (which I believe are in New York). I may take a drive out to Washington state once I get my Mini if anyone can point me to someone between Chicago and Seattle. It doesn't take too long for a profesisonal install, right?

 

hey let me know if you find any good mechanics in chicago, i'm looking too!
i'm gonna do all my mod's after this crappy winter ends!
cya!

 

Hello! My boyfriend and I do work on all sorts of cars. Right now we are doing a sound system in a Mini and I have fallen in love with this car. That has led me to this site. I am eagerly waiting next week when the Mini gets dropped off for a few days. Anyways, Eric is an ASE certified tech and he does pretty much anything and everything! He is a very talented mechanic and an electrical genious. We live in the NW burbs of chicago so if anyone needs anything or has a question, feel free to email me. Our garage is heated, we have a lift, a 60 gallon compressor and a whole lot of tools. We are both experts with fiberglass and body filler and we make very light and space specific sub encosures. We are very talented with paint and could paint the molding on the Mini. (I saw that the dealer in Naperville charges around $500 and that is just a waste of money) Well, I just wanted to say hello and let everyone know that if they need anything let me know. Eric loves to talk and give advice and technical help. He works at a small repair shop but their prices are ridiculous and for all our friends and family, we work out of our garage. I will be taking pics of the silver Mini next to our silver DeLorean, should look nice and I'll post them if anyone is interested. Also, we always attend the British Car Show so hopefully we will be seeing some of you in September, hot hot September! A guy in our club has the only monster truck DeLorean (D-Rex) That would be a cool photo! The D-Rex next to a Mini! Someone could probably back up and fit between the front two tires. Well, this is long enough for my first post. Take care all you lucky Mini owners!!

 

Freezing in Chicago?? Do you have heated seats? I love em!

 

Wouldn't that be cool to meld the deLorean with the Mini - A Stainless Steele scrubbie-pad cleanable beast????

 

Hey Otto,

That mod should be easy for someone with moderate mechanical ability - the instructions are detailed.

I have the PIAA kit from MINI-Madness in stock that includes the factory brackets, wiring harness, switch, and detailed instructions for $375.

If you've already done the install, how did it go? Any recommendations on the instruction booklet?

Randy Webb
Owner, MINI-Motorsport
randy@mini-motorsport.com
720-841-1002